Aljamain Sterling and 4 other UFC fighters the fans once rejected as champions

#2. Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier could have been a UFC heavyweight champion sooner rather than later had he not opted against challenging his good friend Cain Velasquez for the title that the latter held at the time.

Instead, Cormier dropped to the light heavyweight division in pursuit of a hotly anticipated matchup with the then reigning champion and his heated rival Jon Jones.

After a meteoric buildup, Cormier finally crossed paths with 'Bones' at UFC 182. While neither fighter truly dominated the other in the manner that they claimed they would, 'DC' was outworked and outwrestled by Jones in a clear unanimous decision win in his rival's favor.

However, after Jones' hit-and-run incident, 'Bones' was stripped of the light heavyweight title and Cormier was booked into a matchup for the vacant title with Anthony Johnson.

While 'DC' captured the title against 'Rumble', his loss to Jones was a shadow that loomed overhead. Cormier was subsequently described as a paper champion and rejected by fans, experiencing frequent boos before finally rematching Jones after mounting two successful title defenses.

Cormier again lost to Jones, further fueling talks of him being a paper champion until 'Bones' tested positive for PEDs and 'DC' went on to capture the heavyweight championship.

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#1. Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling is the first fighter in UFC history to win a world championship via disqualification. Before UFC 259, Sterling had disparaged the strength of Petr Yan's competition to dispute the Russian's status as the best bantamweight in the world.

However, when both fighters finally crossed paths at UFC 259, 'The Funkmaster' found himself facing a stiffer test than he had expected.

Yan defended most of Sterling's takedowns before securing his own, while also dropping his foe once. In the fourth round, with a victory all but secured, 'No Mercy' made the ill-advised decision to throw an illegal knee while Sterling was a downed opponent.

The resulting blow left 'The Funkmaster' unable to continue the bout, awarding him the win via DQ.

In the aftermath of the bout, fans everywhere criticized Sterling for what they perceived to be Sterling exaggerating and faking the effects of the illegal knee to win the title in a fight he was losing.

Sterling became the subject of countless memes, while being mocked further for opting for surgery instead of immediately rematching Yan. Finally, a year later at UFC 273, Sterling silenced his doubters by outgrappling his rival en route to a split-decision win.