5 UFC fighters who the fans turned on
In the UFC, just like everywhere else, everyone’s a critic. No matter how skilled or how charismatic a fighter may be, they’re always going to come across detractors eventually.
However, there’s a difference between the occasional hater and fans doing a 180 on a fighter in droves. For a variety of reasons, some initially popular fighters incur the wrath of the UFC faithful.
From not quite living up to their expectations to talking out of turn, all manner of reasons both fair and unfair have popped up over the years. For UFC fighters, it has to be incredibly frustrating. Worse still, there’s always the fear that audiences will be less likely to tune in for the disliked athlete in question’s fights.
Unless of course one goes the way of Brock Lesnar and infuriates the UFC faithful so much they can’t look away.
Here are five famous UFC fighters who the fans turned on:
#5. Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier
‘DC’ found himself on the receiving end of jeers during his lengthy feud with Jon Jones. The former Olympian and Strikeforce king’s verbal burials of Jones’ various personal calamities between their two fights ultimately turned him heel in the eyes of many.
Despite his typically affable demeanor and exceptional, almost superhuman work ethic, Cormier had ticked off viewers. Why? It all starts with Jon Jones’ frank and rather depressing interview with Ariel Helwani in 2015. Discussing in detail his arrest, suspension and personal problems, Jones came across as a troubled but remorseful figure.
Cormier, meanwhile, had still not forgiven Jones for the lead-up to their original clash at UFC 182. Still live during a press conference, an oblivious Jones threatened to outright murder Cormier. In the lead up to both UFC 200 (where a failed drug test canceled Jones vs. Cormier II) and UFC 214, Cormier was pitiless in his verbal takedowns of ‘Bones’.
Jones, meanwhile, played it cool and, beyond an outrageous comment on his cocaine use during a press conference, kept most fans on side. Following Jones’ post-UFC 214 suspension, fans grew more sympathetic to ’DC’ again as he gradually made the move to heavyweight.