Wild Beatdowns! : Top 5 Bad Boys of MMA

courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

With Rampage's arrest and re-arrest in a span of less than 24 hours, it is time to re-evaluate the state of troublemaking in MMA with a list of the Top 5 Bad Boys of MMA :

5. Chris Leben : Leben spent 35 days in prison for probation violation on a DUI charge. His scheduled fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 85 was cancelled due to this, but he will get another chance to fight Bisping at UFC 89.

4. Rampage Jackson : Rampage's sage of getting arrested for reckless driving and getting re-arrested after friends turn him in out of concern for his safety is the ongoing saga of Rampage's sudden and bizarre meltdown.

3. Jesse Taylor : He got drunk, he pissed his pants. He got drunk, he kicked the window out of a limousine, and he terrorized some female bar patrons at the hotel and boasted that he was a UFC fighter, singlehandedly almost putting UFC on the watchlist of Interpol.

Needless to say, Taylor got kicked out of The Ultmate Fighter, but he will get a chance to redeem himself against CB Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19.

2. Devin Cole : Cole is accused of felony rape. More specifically, he has been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual penetration and two counts of first-degree sodomy. Sounds pretty Mike Tyson to me.

1. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (pictured) : In UFC 74, Sobral defeated David Heath via anaconda choke - and didn't let go. Referee Steve Mazzagatti, begged Sobral to let go, and even tried to break it up himself, but to no avail. David Heath went unconscious, the fans booed, and Sobral was cut from the UFC.

Sobral's excuse? David Heath called him a "motherfucker," so Sobral felt that Heath deserved the unconscious choking. Babalu even dismissed the boos from the fans, saying that they "at least they had a reaction." excuse. What made Sobral's offense worse was that he was arrested for battery and trespassing at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa.

You can experience Babalu's defiant attitude here.

In no way do I condone the actions of these "Bad Boys," but let us reminds ourselves that MMA fighters are humans. They will do good, and they will do evil. Also, they didn't take up MMA to become sages or monks; they most likely started in MMA to knock people out or submit them in the cage. Just because they are "martial artists" doesn't mean they are a cut above boxers, football players or any other athletes in staying out of trouble or living the clean life.

Let us lower our expectations of MMA fighters as beacons of light, and let us save ourselves from the inevitable - and preventable - disappointment.

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