Do you care if fighters are douchebags? Is that a criteria for your interest level in watching them?

Yeah for me it's part of it.

I like the nice guys, Machida, Maia & GSP.
 
I only really care about how good a fighter is and how fun they are to watch.
 
Combat sports have always relied heavily on the good guy/bad guy concept, when it comes to entertainment. There should always be a balance between the two.

Whether someone is a jerk in RL, or just playing one for the cameras, you should always be grateful for them because they engage the viewer (you) in wanting to watch them win or lose a fight.

I don’t want MMA to be too heavily saturated with positive ethics, morals, and behavior. That would take a lot of emotion out of the contests.
 
yes I care. treat others how you would like to be treated
 
sapporo ichiban said:
Would you like him with the same style if he were a prick?
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Of course I wouldn’t.

Just like I couldn’t care less about Chael Sonnen who is supposed to be some kind of shit-talker extraordinaire.

Then again I just watch fights for the most part so I’m not really tainted by pre-show antics and TUF drama.
 
MMA fans pretend not to care but fact is that they are one of, if not the most, fragile fan base in all of sports. Conor and especially Honda is a perfect example of that.
 
MMAfanboy4life said:
Combat sports have always relied heavily on the good guy/bad guy concept, when it comes to entertainment. There should always be a balance between the two.

Whether someone is a jerk in RL, or just playing one for the cameras, you should always be grateful for them because they engage the viewer (you) in wanting to watch them win or lose a fight.

I don’t want MMA to be too heavily saturated with positive ethics, morals, and behavior. That would take a lot of emotion out of the contests.
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That's a bit insulting to fighters in general.

How many fighters of note do you think are adversely affected because their opponent is nice or a jerk?

Real fighters don't need to manufacture emotions derived from their out of the cage perceptions of their opponents.

Even average fighters are waaay more mentally strong than a casual fan thinks.
 
Douchebags who fight well: Yay!
Douchebags who are boring/fight terribly: Boo!
 
It doesn't get any douchier than Jon Jones, but I will always watch his fights.
 
The Big Bang said:
While I respect the viewpoint of wanting to watch fights regardless of whether or not a given fighter or fighters are assholes, I simply cannot do that.

I find myself rooting against assholes and rooting for class acts.

I used to enjoy watching Conor when he was first starting out...just like I enjoyed watching Ronda in Strikeforce...but in both cases, they both started projecting their own (VAST) insecurities onto the world in the most CRINGE sort of way... Disgusting.

I used to like JJ too...but much like Conor and Ronda, her fragile ego was on display for all to see, combined with the WORST cringe shit talking...

Whereas WMMA fighters like Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Valentina Schevchenko EXUDE class and charm.

If only a fighter like Maia (who is truly honorable) was the norm instead of the exception...

If only the UFC was more like Pride and less like the WWE...
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Well, I agree to an extent but I'll watch a fighter I dislike almost as eagerly as I want to see them lose. I made a small dance of joy when I saw Gus, Weidman, Ronda (2x) and Rockhold get knocked out for example.
 
Criteria is that they are good, or are entertaining. One or the other. Both is a plus.
 
I'd much rather watch a fun build-up that leads to a huge event than hear the same old boring ass comments that lead to just another event. Has to be good stuff though, and just a few can do it well.

Of course there are match-ups where nothing needs to be said. But JJ and DC brawling in the lobby makes the event more intense.

Most of these dudes aren't assholes, but it's either (or both) part of fighting or their media persona. I don't think Joanna ex-champ is a bad person at all, for example. Though she has delusions of grandeur, like most athletes. Neither is Conor. Ronda...tougher to defend.
 
The Big Bang said:
That's a bit insulting to fighters in general.

How many fighters of note do you think are adversely affected because their opponent is nice or a jerk?

Real fighters don't need to manufacture emotions derived from their out of the cage perceptions of their opponents.

Even average fighters are waaay more mentally strong than a casual fan thinks.
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It’s not about mental strength, though. It’s about generating interest in your fight amongst as many people as you can.

People love fights to be meaningful on a dramatic level. It’s not just the competitive aspect that gets the crowd to show up.

These are prize fighters, and they will often do whatever is necessary to give themselves money and legacy.
 
It absolutely is. If a fighter is an asshole in my opinion, I can't care about their skill level anymore. I might enjoy seeing them get beat up one time or two, but then I just want them gone from the sport. And I don't care whether they're actual idiots like Mike Perry or just trying to raise their stock like Colby Covington, I have no interest in watching them compete. I'd rather see a snoozefest build-up and fight between guys like Demian Maia and Lyoto Machida than have some intense feud and a monumental fight between Nate Diaz and Kamaru Usman. If I can't respect the personality, I can't appreciate the fighter.

But often it's a lot about perception. For example I never perceived Joanna as a douchebag and Conor only very recently. With Ronda though I'm 100% with you, I always found her unberable and ridiculous as a person and it's a shame that she's now going to get to continue her media hype and feed her hungry, fragile ego through the WWE.
 
I watch everything replayed on fight pass and use the markers. (yeah, late) If it weren't for lurking around here, I wouldn't know who was a dick or who had honor.

But, no.
 
I don't care who they are as a person. I am a fan of Donald Cerrone, Jeremy Stevens, and Matt Hughes and the impression I get from them is they are probably real assholes. Maybe I'm way off and they are all nice guys but either way I like them as fighters.
 
Douchebags create intrigue, which in turn sells fights.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Machidas and Fedors of MMA. I enjoy watching a humble, unassuming guy KO someone senseless.
 
The Big Bang said:
If only the UFC was more like Pride and less like the WWE...
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Pride was more like WWF than UFC was in the early 2000s. UFC thinks that what all you Pride nuthuggers want, so they are giving it to you.
 
If a fighter is considered a douchebag by Sherdtards then I like him that much more. It means he is a real man, and better than the fighters worshipped by Shertards.
 
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