Who can win or retain a title and be liked less afterwards?
No. I think Diego Sanchez and Rashad Evans will also fall into that category if they end up being title holders.
You forgot Sylvia.
Is he really the champ? UFC champ, yes. But not THE champ!
With Crocop, Mino, Fedor, Barnett, etc how can you consider him champ.
I will agree though that he is liked less even when he wins. I think he is liked less everytime they show his face on TV!
i think it's kinda frustrating to watch really good wrestlers as it is obviously frustrating to fight them. alot of their game is control (hughes, tito are perfect examples) so the unpredictability that makes fights suspenseful and exiting in kinda drained. Hughes lately fighting guys like trigg, st. pierre, and penn has provided some drama becuase these guys are actually better than him in some areas but more often than not his fights are predictable. Tito is the worst in my opinion cause he always says he's gonna ko people and whatever, but it always turns into g n p. just my opinion.
Shit, if Sylvia fought Fedor and by some act of God found a way to win, the UG hatred would intensify ten fold.
Chuck was also a big hero of the internet fans back when most people felt that Tito was ducking him... until he actually ended up first beating Tito and then winning the title. Then more started bashing him after each title defense. The same would happen to any fighter, losers dislike winners.