5 UFC champions who weren't given the respect they deserved
This past weekend saw Aljamain Sterling successfully defend his UFC bantamweight title against former champ Petr Yan. However,partly due to the controversial nature of his decision win, he still doesn’t seem to be getting the respect he deserves.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of highly-talented UFC champions who simply didn’t get the respect they deserved from the fans, meaning that Aljamain Sterling isn’t the first fighter to suffer this.
Why didn’t these champions get respect? Sometimes it was down to their performances not being all that exciting, but other times it felt simply unfair and seemed to come down to personality more than anything else.
With this in mind, here are five UFC champions who weren’t given the respect they deserved.
#5. Tyron Woodley – former UFC welterweight champion
It’s safe to say that Georges St-Pierre remains the UFC’s most successful welterweight champion, while current titleholder Kamaru Usman appears to have the ability to come closest to surpassing the Canadian in the future.
However, while his credentials cannot be compared to GSP’s or Usman’s, it’s hard to dispute the idea that Tyron Woodley should also be remembered as one of the greatest welterweights in the history of the promotion, too.
Unfortunately, during his reign as champion, which came between July 2016 and March 2019, ‘The Chosen One’ was largely disrespected by both the fans and members of the MMA media alike. It’s arguable that he was never given the credit he deserved.
After downing Robbie Lawler to claim gold, Woodley defended his title successfully on three occasions, defeating Stephen Thompson (after drawing with him in an initial fight), Demian Maia and Darren Till.
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So why was Woodley not widely respected after pulling off what were three huge title defenses at the time? There are a number of reasons worth bringing up.
Firstly, his wins over Thompson and Maia both came in hugely dull fights, with his performances essentially turning live crowds against him. In turn, these bouts earned the derision of Dana White, whose opinions tend to hold a lot of sway with fans.
Secondly, Woodley was often portrayed as a prima donna during his time as champion. His demands for so-called “money fights” against the Diaz brothers, rather than bouts against fighters seen as the top contenders, didn’t seem to impress people.
Overall, while Woodley was clearly a successful and dominant champion, he didn’t get the respect he probably deserved, although it’s arguable that he brought a lot of disrespect onto himself.