People weren't down on Abel for him being an MMA guy, people were down because Abel is boring ass character with 0 personality and a stupid looking moveset.
And no, every time you shoe horn something totally non combat related into a fighting game it comes off looking really corny. So MMA lady is leagues better than soccer.
Corny and Street Fighter go hand in hand, see: the world warriors. It's referred to as "iconic" now. Dudley is into horticulture and shit, which is totally non combat related; what's cornier than a boxer who holds roses with his gloves on? Still a cool character. And for that matter, how is Sean's bball bad but nobody complains about Dudley? Nobody says "I like Dudley except for the Rose/never takes his gloves off thing."
:-\