Whether you’re of the brand who only tunes in when Anderson Silva steps into the cage or the type that watches every single MMA event regardless of the shape of the cage, one thing is almost certain: most fight fans prefer their cage wars to be the standup kind.
Most fans don’t want to see the Lyoto Machida who picked his spots during the first three rounds in his title fight against Chris Weidman at UFC 175; they want to see the guy who threw caution to the wind in Rounds 4 and 5. They want the Machida who knew the only manner in which he could possibly walk out of the Octagon with Weidman’s gold would not come by way of an official’s objectivity, but by the most subjective method any ultimate fighter knows: the finish.
Really, there’s a reason most casual fans would rather watch any of the following fighters than sit through Demetrious Johnson’s next bout. For as undeniably skilled as Johnson is in every facet of the MMA game, he simply doesn’t have what it takes to captivate fans on a consistent basis.
Scroll on to see what fighters prefer to bite down on their mouthpiece and move forward than sit back and pick opponents apart.