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Unlike in the world of professional wrestling, the UFC’s fighters don’t outright play heroes and villains – or faces and heels, as they tend to be known. Despite this, some fighters simply can’t help being cheered, while others naturally earn boos.
Over the years, though, we’ve seen a number of fighters in the UFC who started off as fan favorites, only to eventually turn heel and revel in the boos of the fans.
Sometimes, these fighters played up to their heel character so well that eventually, their act became more appreciated – earning them cheers again. For others, though, the boos followed them for good.
Here are five UFC fighters who went from fan favorites to heels.
#5. Michael Bisping – former UFC middleweight champion
It seems hard to believe it these days, but when he first burst onto the UFC scene in 2006 after starring on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Bisping was considered a firm fan favorite with fans across the world, not just in the UK.
‘The Count’ was widely cheered when he won TUF by stopping Josh Haynes. He then garnered one of the biggest crowd pops of the night when he finished Eric Schafer in his octagon debut proper.
Even his controversial decision win over Matt Hamill – and his somewhat ungracious behavior afterwards – didn’t affect his popularity, as he continued to be firmly cheered when he first moved to the middleweight division in 2008.
However, once he coached TUF 9 alongside Dan Henderson in 2009, it didn’t take long for the fans to turn on Bisping – and vice versa.
Sure, his heel turn was initially based on geography, as it was obvious that the US crowds were going to side with Henderson against the loudmouth Brit, but ‘The Count’ was also happy to accept his role as the antagonist.
He began to talk huge amounts of trash to all of his foes. While he continued to be cheered in the UK, an unsavory incident in 2011 that saw him spit at beaten opponent Jorge Rivera only cemented his new spot as the promotion’s biggest heel.
It was only around 2015 – when Bisping’s career seemed to be winding down – that the fans changed their tune. Seemingly appreciating his longevity and toughness inside the octagon, ‘The Count’ began to gain cheers again, particularly when most fans began to agree that his trash talk was actually entertaining.
Bisping’s face turn was fully cemented when he beat Luke Rockhold for the middleweight title in 2016, with many fans believing he’d put the apparently arrogant champion in his place. His later rivalry with Georges St-Pierre saw him embrace villainy again, a persona that clearly suited him well.
#4. Matt Hughes – former UFC welterweight champion
In the period prior to the boom caused by The Ultimate Fighter reality show, Matt Hughes was the UFC’s most dominant welterweight, holding the title for years and defending it successfully on numerous occasions. However, due to his softly-spoken Midwest persona, he simply wasn’t a star.
That all changed, though, when he was chosen to coach the second season of the reality show alongside middleweight champ Rich Franklin. Initially, fans were confused by the choice of coaches, as Hughes and Franklin not only fought in different weight classes, but were also friends who never intended to fight.
In the end, that didn’t matter. While Franklin was portrayed on the show as a respectful, generally nice coach and person, Hughes’ portrayal was very different.
Whether it was down to the editing was debatable, but the welterweight champion was portrayed as an arrogant, dismissive character who loved nothing more than to bully the fighters he was supposed to be coaching.
His feuds on the show with Rashad Evans and Jason Von Flue didn’t set up future fights, but they did turn him into a major heel with fans across the world, particularly when he began a rivalry with the ultra-popular Georges St-Pierre in 2006.
Hughes never seemed too comfortable with his role as the antagonist. If anything, his heel turn with the crowds came a little too late as he was supplanted by ‘GSP’ as the promotion’s top welterweight shortly after.
However, his star turn on TUF did help his drawing power. When he seemed to embrace an even more villainous role during his feud with Matt Serra, particularly when the two men coached on TUF 6, it felt like he finally understood his position with the fans.
#3. Chael Sonnen – former UFC middleweight contender
Perhaps the most successful heel turn in UFC history came when Chael Sonnen embraced a pro-wrestling style outspoken persona in the summer of 2010 prior to his middleweight title bout with longtime champion Anderson Silva.
Prior to that point, while Sonnen was hardly the most vocal fighter, he was widely considered a fan favorite. That was largely because of an unfortunate incident that took place during his career with the WEC.
Late 2008 saw him clearly defeat former PRIDE star Paulo Filho in what was supposed to be a WEC middleweight title bout, but because the Brazilian had missed weight so badly, the title was unable to change hands.
Given Sonnen had promised his dying father that he’d win a world title during his career, it was hard not to feel bad for him as he’d essentially been robbed of the opportunity. When he began to reel off wins in the octagon, then, the fans were firmly behind him.
That was, of course, until he started throwing serious trash talk at the popular Silva – trash talk that bordered on racism and xenophobia at points.
Suddenly, ‘The American Gangster’, as he became known, was MMA’s hottest heel. Although he failed to defeat ‘The Spider’, he parlayed his new outspoken persona to become one of the sport’s biggest stars, headlining multiple big events in the process.
Even when it became clear later in his career that his act was all tongue-in-cheek, Sonnen still revelled in the boos he would receive from fans, famously labeling himself “the bad guy” during his rivalries with Jon Jones and Wanderlei Silva.
#2. T.J. Dillashaw – former UFC bantamweight champion
When T.J. Dillashaw produced one of the best performances in UFC history to dethrone longtime bantamweight champion Renan Barao in the summer of 2014, it was hard not to be thrilled.
A product of Urijah Faber’s famed Team Alpha Male, Dillashaw – like his teammates Joseph Benavidez and Chad Mendes – blended a powerful wrestling game together with some slick striking, but seemed to take things to another level against Barao. A star appeared to have been born.
However, while Dillashaw was a firm fan favorite at that point, it didn’t take long for things to change for him.
Strangely, Dillashaw’s heel turn was essentially thrust upon him by Conor McGregor. During the taping of TUF 22, when McGregor was coaching alongside Faber, ‘The Notorious’ accused Dillashaw of being a “snake in the grass” – essentially suggesting that he’d used Team Alpha Male and was ready to abandon ship along with their head coach Duane Ludwig.
The rest of Faber’s crew were angered by the accusation at the time. However, when McGregor’s prediction came true just under a year later, the fans quickly turned on Dillashaw, particularly when he ended up in a rivalry with his former teammate Cody Garbrandt for the title.
From there, it didn’t take long for Dillashaw to embrace his heel persona, as he essentially began to act more arrogantly than he’d ever done before, clearly trying to rile the fans up.
When he later tested positive for the banned substance EPO, his villainous persona was cemented in the eyes of the fans. It’s now common to see him widely booed whenever he fights or appears at an event.
#1. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC welterweight contender
The latest UFC star to seemingly make a heel turn after initially being a fan favorite is Khamzat Chimaev. Arguably the hottest rising star in the sport, Chimaev burst onto the scene in 2020, destroying his early opponents. It was hard for fans not to be enthralled by him.
‘Borz’ was greeted with huge cheers for his bouts with Li Jingliang and Gilbert Burns. Even when he was matched with cult favorite Nate Diaz in the headliner of UFC 279, which took place last weekend, he still felt like a fan favorite.
That was until he missed weight for the bout horribly, coming in 7.5lbs over the welterweight limit. More importantly, rather than be repentant for the miss, Chimaev didn’t seem to care, seemingly blaming everyone but himself for the error.
The fight with Diaz was subsequently canceled and Chimaev was instead matched with Kevin Holland. When ‘Borz’ arrived for his staredown with ‘Trailblazer’ on the night before the event, he was firmly booed – even flipping the crowd off in response.
A dominant win over Holland didn’t seem to change the crowd’s tune, either, as they continued to boo the Chechen-born Swede, something that didn’t seem to faze him one bit.
Whether he now embraces his new role as a villain remains to be seen, but for now, it’s probably fair to say that Chimaev is the hottest heel in the UFC. It might be a while before the fans decide to forgive him.
