Which Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Has The Best Tattoo?

MMA fighter Ivan Salaverry has a fighting rooster tatooed on his side.

Every time a mixed martial artist heads into a fight, they know there's a chance that they'll come out of the ring looking a lot different than when they went in. Cuts, broken noses and other injuries can change the way a fighter looks forever. However, for veteran gladiators of the sport, battle scars are like war medals, badges of honor that are to be worn proudly for the rest of your life.

It's no surprise then that many fighters also share a love of another kind of permanent body modification: tattooing. For some, a tattoo is a way to remember a special time in their lives. Other fighters get tattoos as symbols to unite teammates. Some athletes just get them to look tough.

Bodog Nation caught up with some fighters at recent MMA events to talk about their ink and the stories behind them.

Ivan Salaverry

A UFC veteran, Salaverry has one of the largest single-piece tattoos in the sport, with an enormous fighting rooster that extends from his armpit down to his hip. While many opponents of the sport have compared MMA to human cockfighting, Salaverry says that the comparison isn’t so bad.

"People always talk about the negative part of MMA, the cockfighting part of it," he says. "And I actually think the cockfighting represents truly a good spirit of what we do. It’s the pugilism, the outright man versus man style that really is the element of fighting. I put it on me when I went to Peru and I went to see some of the cockfights over there, and I was like, wow, this is a beautiful sport. It's brutal, but it's a beautiful sport anyways."

Read more about MMA Tattoos at Bodog Nation.