Fighters who flipped your opinion on them.

Sean O'Malley

Didn't like how he avoided tough fights early, but then he started answering every challenge. Watching him KO Aljo was terrific and now I'm honestly a huge fan.

I like that he's calling out Ilia and Merab also.
 
Michael Birmingham. Ross Pointon was my guy on season 3 of TUF. Bisping stuck me as the annoying Brit. Eventually he grew on me
 
666 said:
I have watched Jorge Masvidal since the Kimbo Slice backyard brawl days. I was a fan for years.

After watching an interview about how he described himself as the sucker punch king and then sucker punching Colby after getting beat fair and square I think he's a dirty mofo.

On the flip side I used to hate Jon Jones. Every fight I wanted him to lose early in his career. I root for him now though. Maybe because I respect how he throws caution to the wind and I can relate with his fuck ups.

Any fighters you used to love or hate that changed your mind in the other direction?
Click to expand...

I tend to keep the same opinion of a fighter but occasionally change opinions. Masvidal lost alot of fans when he punched Colby. I lowered my opinion of him too. They have personal issues but he should not have done that.
 
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Warmed up to Chael once I got old enough to understand what a heel is.
Started out disliking Volk, but I'm a fan now.
Couldn't stand Poirier starting out, but that documentary won me over.
Meeting Woodley a few times made me like him. Dude would be better off learning when not to talk though.

It usually takes me a few years to warm up to fighters, so typically by the time I'm supporting them, they start losing.
 
Strickland stands out. Once you got to know him, you understand where he’s coming from. Plus, the Izzy performance was super impressive.

I’ve also come around to O’Malley because of his fighting style. I still can’t stand that Zoomer/Tiktok personality but he’s a solid fighter and proved himself.
 
Used to hate Colby, before I found out he was playing a character. I also wasn't familiar with his actual fighting style, so I just assumed he kind of sucked, because he seemed like a clown. I remember rooting for RDA to beat his ass, and I think that was actually the first Colby fight I watched and was impressed by his pace and wrestling. I stopped hating just from his fighting, but afterwards I also found out the whole story about how he was going to get cut, and I think it might be from one of those 'Watch this if you hate X' type videos
 
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Arm Barbarian said:
The exact polar opposite on Jones.

I initially loved him, and his spinning elbow shit.

Over the years with the endless drug fails, criminality, dirty tactics, being stripped, fake Christian while coked to the gills tweet and delete nonsense, he's probably my least liked fighter.
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Man, you would've fucking HATED Mike Tyson
 
SkinnyClaw said:
Used to hate Colby, before I found out he was playing a character. I also wasn't familiar with his actual fighting style, so I just assumed he kind of sucked, because he seemed like a clown. I remember rooting for RDA to beat his ass, and I think that was actually the first Colby fight I watched and was impressed by his pace and wrestling. I stopped hating just from his fighting, but afterwards I also found out the whole story about how he was going to get cut, and I think it might be from one of those 'Watch this if you hate X' type videos
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Buddy of mine said he met Colby at a bar and he was genuinely the coolest most humble guy you'd ever meet.

I still think he's an insufferable cunt though lol
 
Dan Hardy, Reshard Evans and Jon Jones are 3 guys a I flip back and forth on
 
Not sure if it is exactly the same thing but several cocky, douchebag-ish fighters have earned my respect over time by proving they were, at least at their peak, elite world class martial artists.

Ex:
Koscheck
Rashad

And as fucking annoying as it is to say it, Ian Garry is a legit cocksmoking douchebag who is also a legit high level fighter.

However, I think I hold onto "once a dickbag always a dickbag" as generally that type of behavior is a core trait in my opinion, though I suppose time, age and experience can help.
 
Anderson Silva

When he debuted I was like big deal, one-dimensional striker takes out brawler in Leben. Then he beat Franklin and I thought it was a fluke. Then he gets taken down and mounted by an unworthy challenger in Lutter but somehow pulls off the win. Thought for sure Marquardt would humble him but no. Destroys Rich again WTF this guy might actually be that good. Was rooting for Hendo to H-bomb him into bolivian but sometimes we just can't have nice things.

At that point I was like fuck it, no one's beating this dude until he ages out. So I started rooting for him and he became my favorite fighter. No shame in finally losing to Weidman at 38 when he clearly didn't give a shit at that point. And pissing hot a few months shy of 40, barely a year after breaking his leg in half...

80fabc966a33050d75a6c0648fdbc003.gif
 
666 said:
I have watched Jorge Masvidal since the Kimbo Slice backyard brawl days. I was a fan for years.

After watching an interview about how he described himself as the sucker punch king and then sucker punching Colby after getting beat fair and square I think he's a dirty mofo.

On the flip side I used to hate Jon Jones. Every fight I wanted him to lose early in his career. I root for him now though. Maybe because I respect how he throws caution to the wind and I can relate with his fuck ups.

Any fighters you used to love or hate that changed your mind in the other direction?
Click to expand...

I was a fan of Conor MacGregor, during his earlier years.

Always willing to push himself, experimenting with gymnastics, techniques, was A TRUE Martial artist, with killer instinct and a deadly punch.
His bragging was backed up with his actions.

However, following Nate, Conor became a megalomaniac, a narcissist, constantly over-estimating himself, with all humility removed.

An insufferable ass — and I have enjoyed every defeat and humiliation he has suffered, because of his unchecked ego, ever since.

Have smiled at every KO, and every quit, since.
 
Idk of any that have really changed my feelings overall, except maybe guys like War Machine where I semi- enjoyed their focus but they ended up being legit POS criminals. I tend to mostly focus on in- cage stuff.

But I do have a lot of conflicting feelings about different ones. Can't stand Colby, but his Lawler win made me kinda have to accept he was better than my bias allowed to me believe. O'Malley is similar, plenty of others too where I just didn't care for the person but in cage they've pulled my respect.
 
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I hated Michael Bisping when he was a fighter

I love him in the media/booth

I enjoyed Chael the fighter

I hate him as a commentator/media personality
 
With Jones I was a fan when he started and when he won the title. The way things went with he and Evans I didn't like. That turned me away and as we went further along with all the other stuff I just developed more disdain toward him.
 
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