Khamzat Chimaev and 4 other UFC fighters who embraced heel personas

#2. Khamzat Chimaev

UFC 279 was designed to be Khamzat Chimaev's crowning moment. Nate Diaz was easily his most high-profile opponent to date. No star in the UFC, and indeed all of MMA, shines brighter than Diaz with the exception of Conor McGregor.

Not only was the matchup one of great visibility, but it was a bout that Chimaev was expected to win in dominant fashion. The Chechen phenom was a source of excitement for fight fans.

Undefeated and bearing stylistic similarities to another undefeated sensation by the name of Khabib Nurmagomedov, 'Borz' generated enormous intrigue. Before his matchup with Gilbert Burns, he steamrolled every opponent he ever faced, finishing them all by either knockout or submission.

His quick back-to-back fights endeared him to upper management in the UFC, and many believed he was a future champion in the making.

His gritty war with Burns only magnified fan interest as he showed enough heart to defeat a top-three welterweight even under suboptimal circumstances. Unfortunately, that all changed at the weigh-ins for UFC 279 when Chimaev stepped on the scale and was 7.5 lbs over the welterweight limit.

He was widely criticized for how unprofessional it was, but even more so for his reaction as he merely shrugged, smirked, and flipped off the crowd.

After being forced to face Kevin Holland instead of Diaz, Chimaev earned an easy 1st round win. When the crowd booed him during his post-fight interview, 'Borz' antagonized them before telling the journalists at the post-fight press conference that he wasn't concerned with what anyone was saying.

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#1. Jon Jones

There is a night and day difference between the Jon Jones of today who can't seem to keep himself out of legal trouble and the version fans sighted earlier in his career.

When Jones first embarked on his unbeaten run in the UFC light heavyweight division, he styled himself as a man of Christian ethics. Jones exhibited a humble streak that is far from what he's become. However, according to some, Jones never became anything, he simply embraced who he always was.

Rashad Evans, Jones' former best friend, was the first fighter to claim Jones was disingenuous. Those sentiments were later echoed by Jones' most heated rival, Daniel Cormier.

Still, for much of his time in the UFC, Jones maintained the image of a good-natured athlete and always sought to endear himself to fans. However, once he began failing drug tests, fans soured on him. The nail in the coffin was a hit-and-run incident he caused, which involved a pregnant woman.

However, Jones has himself embraced the heel persona by deriding fighters on social media. He even went so far as to claim that Francis Ngannou and Israel Adesanya combined will never match the accomplishments he's made.

Additionally, Jones routinely got into arguments with fans on social media and took every opportunity to remind the world that Khabib Nurmagomedov should not be ranked close to him on the GOAT list.