Sherdog’s Top 10: Trash Talkers

Wanderlei Silva backed up his words with frightening actions. | Photo: Marcelo Alonso/Sherdog.com

7. Wanderlei Silva

Silva’s long and storied career has seen more than its share of trash talk, and his mastery of it made even the highest-profile matchups feel even bigger. His reputation as a no-nonsense purveyor of the most shocking violence aside, the mouth of “The Axe Murderer” always added a little something extra to what his fists and knees already brought to the equation.

Although many have been forgotten by a newer generation of fans, Silva uttered a series of now-classic lines. “I promise violence,” he famously said, and no one has ever summed up his or her approach more succinctly or more accurately. While we never got to see a matchup with fellow PED abuser Chael Sonnen, Silva invested years in hyping that fight, both in person and through a series of YouTube videos. He promised Sonnen that he would send him to the dentist, among many other things.

Whatever one thinks about the ignominious end to his career, it is undeniable that Silva was a master of trash talking and fight promotion, and more often than not, he backed it up.

Number 6 » Twitter is the medium of choice for fighters to express themselves, and nobody has done as much with it as this NCAA wrestling great and former Olympian. He is a fixture during fight nights and any major goings-on and is always ready to lay the trash-talking foundation for a future fight with a few pointed comments.