#2 Demetrious Johnson
The case of Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson is somewhat the opposite of Conor McGregor's. In Johnson's case, the hardcore fans and experts absolutely adore his martial arts brilliance as well as respectful persona. However, most of the casual fans don't really care to follow the former pound-for-pound MMA king.
Johnson is the longest-reigning champion in UFC history, with the most number of title defenses, and held the UFC Flyweight Title from 2012 until his split-decision loss to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 in 2018. Most fight pundits believe that the aforesaid decision could've gone either way, and following his loss to Cejudo, Johnson parted ways with the UFC.
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'Mighty Mouse' subsequently signed with One Championship as a part of a fighter trade deal between One Championship and the UFC; Johnson would fight for the former, and Ben Askren would fight for the UFC.
It's indeed undeniable that despite his popularity in the hardcore MMA community, Johnson was one of the most unpopular UFC Champions in the sport's history...