Conor McGregor, Michael Jordan in Rat Race as UFC Legends Name Their Top 3 Trash-Talkers

In the world of combat sports and beyond, trash talk has become a weapon of choice. As Sun Tzu said in ‘The Art of War’, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” But who owns the crown as the greatest trash-talker of all time? That was the question asked in a recent ‘Barstool Sports’ video that has gone viral online.

While the question may have been simple, the answers? Not so much. Conor McGregor, Chael Sonnen, and even basketball legend Michael Jordan were thrown into the mix. And with legends like Daniel Cormier throwing out their picks, the debate caught fire. So, who are the uncrowned kings of verbal jabs? Let’s dive in!

Conor McGregor and Michael Jordan hailed as the ‘best trash talkers’ in viral debate

Conor McGregor shared the video on his Instagram story, and who could blame him? No debate about trash-talking would feel complete without ‘The Notorious’ involved. Just ask Jeremy Stephens! To this day, ‘the hardest hitting 145fer’ is brought up in conversations for reasons that he would like to forget. Let’s talk about the content of the videos!

First up in the video was former ‘champ-champ’ Daniel Cormier, who gave props to the Irishman as he stated, “Honestly, Conor McGregor, but Chael Sonnen was close. I remember watching Chael in Brazil, and he had those people ready to kill him.” For those unaware, Sonnen’s infamous Brazil promo nearly got him run out of the country. But then came the wildcard as Cormier further shared, “Colby Covington did a good job in Rio after he beat Demian Maia, too. So I’ve been in there around some good ones, but, ultimately, I think Conor McGregor still is the best one.”

For Cormier, those three, McGregor, Sonnen, and Covington, stand above the rest. The common thread? They all talked the talk and made the world listen. Chael Sonnen, though, wasn’t handing over the mic just yet. When asked the same question, he admitted McGregor was “very good,” but quoted Eminem instead.

Acccording to ‘The Bad Guy’, “Marshall Mathers put it best when he simply said they can try to walk like me, talk like me, dress, act, not give a damn like me, and they just might be the next best thing, but they’re not quite me.” The Irishman may have perfected the act, but Sonnen practically invented it! In short, Sonnen walked so McGregor could run!

Then there’s Michael Jordan. He wasn’t just the king of the court, he was the king of mind games. According to a Barstool office employee in the video, “When it comes to NBA, I think there was nobody better trash talker than, I mean, Jordan was a great trash talker…”

Jordan’s trash-talking game was so intense that Shaquille O’Neal once told a story on the ‘Dan Patrick Show’ about how ‘His Airness’ told Nick Anderson exactly what was going to happen to him. How? O’Neal revealed, “I’m coming down. I’m going to dribble it between my legs twice. I’m going to pump fake and then I’m going to shoot a jumper. And then I’m going to look at you. And that’s exactly what he did.”

While Larry Bird gets his well-deserved flowers in the NBA’s trash talk debate, it’s MJ who crosses over into this MMA-laced conversation. His brand of verbal warfare wasn’t just about being loud, it was about being right. That’s something Conor McGregor did himself with his ‘Mystic Mac’ predictions!

But not everyone is cut from that same cloth. For some, throwing verbal jabs doesn’t come as naturally as their fists. And for Cory Sandhagen, the answer came in the form of AI!

Cory Sandhagen outsources his trash-talking duties to AI

So, what does a soft-spoken fighter do when trash talk becomes unavoidable? Cory Sandhagen found his answer with ChatGPT. Yes, the AI chatbot. And he wasn’t joking either. In a vlog on his YouTube channel before he took on Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines, Sandhagen revealed, “So, I’m not really much of a trash talker, so I kind of need to use modern-day technology to help me be prepared for, you know, all of the trash talk. ChatGPT helps me write these.”

The result? Pure digital venom. One line jabbed, “Figueiredo fights like a guy who knows his prime ended the night Moreno took his soul.” Another? “His ego is still in the title picture, but his skills are stuck in the prelims.” Even Chael Sonnen would have been proud of that one!

Sandhagen further shared, “I didn’t make this up, this is ChatGPT saying all this mean stuff. Definitely gonna have these ready, you know, just in case I gotta hit him with some one-liners.”

In the end, trash talk in sports isn’t just about noise. It’s about timing, wit, and knowing exactly which nerve to strike. From McGregor’s ‘Mystic Mac’ swagger to Sonnen’s razor-sharp sarcasm and MJ’s on-court mind games, the greats knew how to win without throwing a single punch. And now? Even AI is getting in on the action. So, who’s really the GOAT of verbal warfare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!