5 times when UFC fighters proved their doubters wrong in the octagon

#2. Frankie Edgar vs. Sean Sherk – UFC 98

Frankie Edgar silenced his critics when he defeated Sean Sherk at UFC 98

Frankie Edgar is undoubtedly one of the best UFC fighters of his generation. A former UFC lightweight champion who also found success at featherweight and bantamweight, ‘The Answer’ has victories over the likes of B.J. Penn, Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber on his ledger.

However, in his earlier days with the UFC, Edgar was regularly doubted by the fans, despite putting on some tremendous performances, simply because he was a smaller fighter at 155 pounds. Back then, prior to 2011, the UFC didn’t promote the featherweight and lightweight weight classes. Although it was clear Edgar could’ve made either weight, he was practically forced to face off with larger fighters at 155 pounds.

One such fighter was Sean Sherk. A former UFC lightweight champion in his own right, Sherk ended up losing his title after testing positive for banned substances, but by 2009, looked to be on his way to securing another title shot. ‘The Muscle Shark’ was matched with Edgar at UFC 98 and most fans believed that he’d run right through ‘The Answer’, who seemed to be at best a smaller version of Sherk himself.

When it came time to fight, though, Edgar shut all of those doubters up immediately. He might’ve been smaller than Sherk, but he was substantially faster and used that speed to not only outstrike ‘The Muscle Shark’, but to outwrestle him too.

‘The Answer’ ended up stunning everyone by pulling off a unanimous decision triumph. Just two fights later, he’d prove his doubters wrong again by edging out B.J. Penn to claim UFC gold.

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#1. Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 262

Charles Oliveira proved he was no glass cannon with his win over Michael Chandler

By 2021, while it was clear that Charles Oliveira was one of the most talented lightweights on the planet, ‘Do Bronx’ still had plenty of doubters. The Brazilian had put together a lengthy eight-fight winning streak in the UFC, but despite looking fantastic in those bouts, it was worth noting that none of them had managed to hurt him before being finished.

That meant that due to his earlier fights with the UFC, in which he suffered eight defeats, seven of which came via knockout or submission, Oliveira still carried a reputation for fragility with him. To many fans, he was the very definition of a glass cannon.

When the UFC matched him against Michael Chandler for the vacant UFC lightweight title, then, many fans were favoring the former Bellator MMA champion to claim gold in his new promotion, doubting Oliveira’s ability to absorb the punishment that ‘Iron' could dish out.

Early on, it looked like the Brazilian’s doubters would be proven right. Chandler crushed Oliveira with a series of huge punches early on. He then began to smash him with punches and elbows on the ground, too.

It looked like ‘Do Bronx’ would be put away as he’d been in his previous UFC defeats. Instead, he was somehow able to gut it out, showing the kind of toughness he’d always seemed to lack before.

When the fight moved into the second round, ‘Do Bronx’ stunned Chandler by leveling him with a left hook of his own. He swiftly followed up to put ‘Iron’ away. The turnaround was phenomenal and Oliveira had shut his doubters up entirely, proving once and for all that his glass cannon reputation was a false one.