Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem know all too well that bad blood between opponents helps sell fights. Take their most recent matchups for instance.
Werdum is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Travis Browne, who hurled insults at him prior to their UFC 203 bout. After the win, Browne's coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, nearly tried to start a brawl of his own in the Octagon before the decision was announced.
Overeem faced similar verbal attacks from Mark Hunt. Overeem, who fought despite having food poisoning on the day of weigh-ins, admitted his knockout of Hunt was "extra sweet because he was smack-talking a lot."
But if you're hoping for more of the same as the No. 1 and No. 3 heavyweight contenders, respectively, battle on at UFC 213 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, think again.
Both fighters only want their skills to do the talking.
"He's smart and has a lot of experience," Werdum says of Overeem. "He is just waiting for you to do the wrong things and he'll counter. He's waiting a lot. He changes his base a lot. He has a lot of experience but I just want to beat him for sure."
Adds Overeem: "For me there's only admiration and respect. Fabricio Werdum makes me a better fighter. He's an elite fighter. He's 39 years old and still competing at the highest level, so he's very dedicated. I think we share that in common."
Those amicable feelings between them, however, won't last once the Octagon cage doors are closed. The fight is essentially a No. 1 contender bout where the winner will next face current champion Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight belt. Miocic already defeated both, Overeem and Werdum in 2016.
And if that wasn't enough to get them motivated, this is the deciding fight in a three-bout rivalry which began in 2006. That Pride FC matchup ended with Werdum submitting Overeem with a Kimura. The Netherlands native got his revenge five years later in Strikeforce with a unanimous decision win.
"When you're 1-1, of course there has to be a third fight," Overeem says. "We've changed tremendously [since then]. He's a far more complete fighter now than he was even a year ago. He's constantly improving and that's something that I respect a lot."
Werdum agrees with that sentiment, admitting that he was a limited fighter when they initially faced off in Pride.
"The first [fight] I only knew jiu-jitsu," he says. "The second time -- and it's not an excuse -- I over trained. I was tired ... I pulled the guard all the time. It was more self-defense, which is my base jiu-jitsu. It helped me a lot as he only beat me by a point. But it's a different time now."
Overeem is an elite kickboxer with knockout power rarely seen in the UFC. A winner of five of his past six matchups, he has arguably MMA's best knee strike when in the clinch. Werdum is a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion who holds black belts in jiu-jitsu, judo and Muay Thai. His expert grappling ability has opponents typically shying away from taking the fight to the ground.
This clash of styles will be showcased on Saturday night, and both fighters couldn't be more excited to prove once and for all who the better heavyweight is.
"My mom always says 'when they lift your arm, that's most important. It doesn't matter who or how,'" Werdum says. "But I want to knock him out or finish him."