Invested doesn't have to mean they like a fighter for doing that kind of stuff. Many "invest" time and energy in the HATE of fighters like that. Look how many fans have Love or Hate relationships with Conor, The Diaz Brothers, Perry, Kos and Sonnen (back in the day). It works, like em or dislike them, those types of fighters make people feel. Proof is right there in front of all of us, count the number of threads on any given forum dedicated to such fighters compared to others who show NO personality.
Hardcore fans, yes. We're tuning in no matter what, so for us it's not a big deal.
I remember trying to get my older brother interested in MMA. He's a hardcore baseball fan, loves college football, watches the NBA, but never saw the appeal of MMA. I was staying with his family over a weekend and talked them into watching the UFC ppv with me that weekend. The card looked like guaranteed fireworks on paper, so I was sure one of the fights would catch his interest.
It was UFC 149. The card opened well enough, with Matt Riddle getting a submission win. Then 4 decisions in a row. And not overly exciting ones. Wall and stalls, inaction, and point fighting. He hasn't watched a fight since.
Now imagine a first time fan channel surfing, or stumbling across these weigh ins online, and pausing to see what's going on. They see Kim there walking across to shake Perry's hand, then he pulls that shit. We laugh, but a lot of people are going to just turn away and take that as validation that mixed martial artist are just mindless savages with no respect, no class, and no finesse. Fighters who just step into a cage and use 'sumo style wrestling" and brute strength to mindlessly beat the shit out of each other and never watch again.
