What more does Aljo got to do to be respected??

Killer Kadoogan said:
if he would have just said, "hey yall, give it up for Cejudo, dudes a warrior and it was a close fight, could have gone either way," it would have done so much better for him. but he can't read a room, doesn't understand how he got there, and is cocky, following close ass fights where the fans and his hometown think he lost. thats it. be more humble. respectful. grateful. its hard for aljo fans to see this, but literally everyone else can see it. hilarious.
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Nah that's bullshit. They were booing him regardless. He knows people just don't like him no matter what.
 
Aljo has put in the work to be champ and deserves respect for it imo. It's mixed martial arts.
 
This is a good question.

I think he needs to finish someone inside of 2 rounds to get respect.
 
The Yan fights have made a huge stain on Aljo’s reputation in the MMA community.


Him turning heel and trolling wasn’t executed incredibly well he’s not Chael or Conor on the mic and it can come off as forced.

If he just acted like himself I think he’d win a few fans back.
 
markantony20 said:
Yeah I think this is definitely a problem with his popularity honestly.

He’s too caught up in his heel/troll persona after the Yan fights when he could just be himself.
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I never thought he turned heel. Maybe it's because I thought he was in the right the whole time.
 
Prob won’t happen, he didn’t honour the made up Sherdog meat head code of morality when Yan blasted him with an illegal knee.

It’ll be nothing but criticism until he loses then it’ll be “ha told you he sucks”
 
Someone who gets booed in his hometown... That can't possibly be other thing than the guy deserving all the hate. I have never seen anything like this before.
 
Dreyga Hates Alex Pereira said:
Most consecutive UFC BW title defenses

Longest winstreak in BW history

Tied for most win in BW history

UFC world champion

Never gets in trouble outside the cage. Model citizen

But this guy gets boo’d in New Jersey when he is a New Yorker.

There are actual criminals on the UFC roster who are respected more.
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He's incredible, for sure.
And despite beating Yan in the rematch, I think the ending of their first fight has just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
Split decision wins and beating an injured Dillisnake doesn't help.
Too bad thought, because he seems to be a great dude and a top-tier fighter.
 
fortheo said:
I never thought he turned heel. Maybe it's because I thought he was in the right the whole time.
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Maybe not heel but he definitely leaned into a sort of villain persona after the first Yan fight in my opinion he got a lot more pro wrestling in his approach to marketing himself.
 
Dreyga Hates Alex Pereira said:
Most consecutive UFC BW title defenses

Longest winstreak in BW history

Tied for most win in BW history

UFC world champion

Never gets in trouble outside the cage. Model citizen

But this guy gets boo’d in New Jersey when he is a New Yorker.

There are actual criminals on the UFC roster who are respected more.
Click to expand...

He needs a good, decisive victory over a douchebag. Fortunately for him, he has a date with Sean O’Malley.

It would also help if he finds a lane from a promotional standpoint.

The way he won the belt was unfortunate. Not his fault but it started him behind the eight ball with a lot of fans. Then he eeked out a controversial split decision via backpack stalling and tried to take a victory lap. I get that he was trying to embrace the heel role, which was smart, but I think he’s naturally a nice guy who would prefer to be liked. Then TJ, a guy nobody likes who could have put Aljo over, shows up injured and ruins another title fight. Now the Henry fight was super close and he spent the 5th coasting.

I still think there’s a path to popularity for him. He just needs to keep winning and be genuine IMO.
 
As everyone else keeps saying, he desperately needs a clean win. Literally all of his fights have been close/controversial in some way since winning the belt via DQ. He needs to beat a top BW contender convincingly, with zero asterisks next to it. I'd say O'Malley could be that, but people could argue that O'Malley shouldn't have this fight in the first place, since most feel he was gifted the decision vs Yan.
 
markantony20 said:
Maybe not heel but he definitely leaned into a sort of villain persona after the first Yan fight in my opinion he got a lot more pro wrestling in his approach to marketing himself.
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Agree. I just don’t think it’s his natural persona so it didn’t quite work.
 
Dreyga Hates Alex Pereira said:
Most consecutive UFC BW title defenses

Longest winstreak in BW history

Tied for most win in BW history

UFC world champion

Never gets in trouble outside the cage. Model citizen

But this guy gets boo’d in New Jersey when he is a New Yorker.

There are actual criminals on the UFC roster who are respected more.
Click to expand...
Nothing against Aljo, but all 4 of his championship wins have an asterisk beside them.

In the first Yan fight, he got his ass whooped and took the easy way out as soon as he got a chance. Sure it wasn’t his fault that he got fouled, but at the same time people are not stupid and no one actually believes that he couldn’t continue.

In the rematch many feel he got a gift decision in a fight where he was unable to do much other than hold onto his opponent and do zero damage.

Then he gets a squash match against an injured dillashaw, who had no business being in the cage.

And now he steals a narrow decision over a guy who’s been in active for the past three years.

Again, nothing against Sterling, there’s not much to dislike about him, but it’s very easy to see why he doesn’t get as much respect as other champs. That said, I will be rooting for him like never before when he fights that clown.
 
I actually like and root for Aljo, but I understand some of the pushback against him.

1) Many of his wins during title reigns have an asterisks attached to them. (The DQ, TJ’s bum shoulder, Cejudo 3 years off…)

But the problem with this argument is he didn’t CAUSE any of those to happen. They were from his opponent. So he doesn’t shoulder any responsibility for those. As for the DQ, I legit believe he was concussed and had no obligation to continue after the foul.

2) After he won the title, he was naturally positioned more as a heel than as a face. Most people hated him. He even leaned into it a little after people got pissy seeing pics of him at a party and holding the belt. Aljo doesn’t want to be a heel tho, he wants to be liked. Him playing a face while not naturally one is a little annoying.

3) Him not fighting Merab is a real problem, and it’s annoying. Merab is clearly one of the best in the division, and seeing him gatekeep for Aljo (knocking off potential contenders like a 3rd Yan fight) feels wrong.

While Aljo has fought everyone they put in front of him, you can’t help but get the sense that his title reign is a little unusual. The perception is that It doesn’t feel entirely based on merit, even though he has legitimately won following the rules every time. Like I said not his fault, but that’s how it ends up looking
 
fortheo said:
I never thought he turned heel. Maybe it's because I thought he was in the right the whole time.
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I don’t think he consciously turned heel, and I don’t see him as that now either, but after the first Yan fight he was kinda positioned that way. He leaned into it a little bit after those pictures of him holding the belt at a party surfaced and people had a problem with that.

I think he actually wants to be a face and be liked but he just isn’t that guy. At this point it would be easier to turn heel rather than a face because he can’t escape the perception of how people feel about him after Yan 1.
 
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