You can learn a lot about a fighter from their nickname (or lack thereof). Oftentimes the nickname is used to try and describe the type of fighting style that they’ve adopted while other times it is used to show a sense of humor as well. In the UFC, there’s a generous mixture of the two, as well as a ton of unimaginative, A-Rod type nicknames that combine the first letter of the first name and the first syllable portion of the last name.

                                                                                                  via mmacrack.com

In the interest of trying to gain a bit of clarity into the best of the best fighter nicknames, I’ve gone ahead and made a Top 10 list consisting of the elite nicknames in the UFC today. Many factors were taken into account in selecting the hollowed few who managed to crack this list. One of the biggest factors was the rhyming combination of the nickname when combined with the fighter’s actual name. Two that come to mind that narrowly missed out making the list are Nate "The Great" Marquardt and Matt "The Hammer" Hamill.

A rhyming fighter nickname is, of course, important in the sense that when you say the name out loud, it… rhymes. Yes, that’s right, there’s nothing as phonetically pleasing as hearing something that rhymes. You really can’t put it into words – it just feels and sounds right, like a chocolate Jello-O pudding pop on a steamy summer’s day.

Another big factor in cracking the list is how the nickname may or may not have described or related to the fighting style of its owner. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is certainly one that is a fine example. The way Jackson fights is almost certainly rampage-esque – he literally just goes out there with reckless abandon and throws down – often in a rampage-like state.

Are you still with me? Good. We’re almost there, so you can stop your bitching.

The last two factors that were taken into account were the hilarity factor as well as whether or not the fighter was still relevant or not. Although they have great fighter nicknames, Jason "Dooms" Day and John "Buckets of Blood" Polakowski just weren’t big enough name draws to be included on the list. Sorry fellas…

With the qualification guidelines out of the way, let’s get right into it. And please don’t think for a minute that I took this as seriously as I’m making it sound.

Cue the list! (After the jump..)

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In the interests of mapping out a "state of the nation" type outlook on each of the current situations in the UFC weight class divisions, I've gone and done exactly that because... well, because I thought it would be fun. I also thought it would lend itself to some good old fashioned heated debate among the wonderful Bloody Elbow community we have around these parts.

The fact of the matter is, the rest of the write-up was a heck of a lot easier to write than this introduction, so I'm just going to give up trying to make this sound important and instead will leave you with a sensory/auditory description to get you in the... mood:

Cue the UFC PPV intro/gladiator music in your head and delve into this juicy morsel of an article after the jump!

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