The 50 Best UFC Fights

In what many call the fight of the year in the UFC in 2020, both Zhang and Jędrzejczyk went for five rounds to a split decision for the strawweight title. It was Zhang’s first defense but don’t be surprised if these two see each other again in the octagon.

Felder “The Irish Dragon” lost this match but displayed great heart in what a lot of fight fans were ready to give “fight of the year” nods to since it was before UFC 248. While he did lose, both men won over a lot of fans.

Diaz has a future as a matchmaker as long as he is one of the men in the match. Coming in as an alternate for UFC 196 against McGregor happened because he called him out. The rest is history.

A rematch that made it into the UFC Hall of Fame was for the welterweight title. This matchup had everything that adds to a fight drama, groin shot, bad refereeing, and a comeback win. Worth watching and noting this was a rematch.

Another match where one fighter seemingly had it won, and things turned into an all-out war for three rounds. One of the best judo players versus jiu-jitsu players in UFC history. Fans of high paced grappling should definitely watch.

A rivalry that recently got it’s own ESPN 30 for 30 episode, Liddell and Ortiz were friends turned rivals when it came to the UFC light heavyweight title. The director Micah Brown said, “Chuck & Tito’ is about identity, friendship, and the cost of chasing your dream.”

Grappler versus striker comes up a lot in MMA, but the best matchup would happen several times. This is the first between these two that would go for best two-out-of-three, with the grappler in Couture winning this one.

MMA fighters are always evolving and Liddell showed that he could evolve better than anyone during his reign as the champ in the UFC. He would avenge his loss against Couture and win the next one, but this one is where he showed his growth in the sport.

St-Pierre became a top welterweight quickly in the UFC, so when he faced Hughes, he was young, hungry, and inexperienced. A counter submission by Hughes would earn him a victory and would only fuel the competitive fire for St-Pierre to get a rematch.

Another example of losses being lessons and fighter evolution. St-Pierre not only avenged his loss to Hughes, but did so in dominant fashion showing that he would not only become the welterweight champion but one of the best in the UFC’s history.

Fans of MMA and the UFC know Royce Gracie as the original champion before there were rules. The biggest threat he had in that tournament was Shamrock, whose background in shootfighting made him the only other submission artist on the bracket. Gracie won, but a small rivalry came of it.

“Fight of the Year” in 1999 had a young Ortiz face one of the first men considered to be the definition of a well-rounded mixed martial artist in Shamrock. The brother of Ken Shamrock would be the one to beat Ortiz for the light heavyweight title.

Rutten made his name in Pancrase as a three-time champion. There he was not allowed to use closed-fist blows to the head. As a striker, he was able to showcase one of his best combo finishes at UFC 18 with no restrictions. 

If ever there were a match where both men left a little of themselves in the cage when it was over this fight was it. Both men beat each other to the final round that had the then champion, Lawler wanting to win more and defend his welterweight title.

Another war that ends in a spectacular finish. Jung, known for his pressure and seemingly unbeatable drive, gets finished in a move that could only be described as something out of a video game. You have to see it to believe it.

Two of the Northeast's greatest lightweights go at it for three rounds. Boston's Lauzon versus New Jersey's Miller is a three-round war worth watching. Be warned, this one gets bloody but the sigh of relief from both men makes this one a classic.

This one is great for a few reasons. One, because it featured Sonnen’s best performance against a world-class champion and two because he came very close to winning. Silva isn’t recognized as one of the best middleweights for nothing.

If you ask the average MMA fan, the ones that were around before the Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey title reigns, they will tell you this is the fight that made them MMA fans. Both men fought for UFC contracts, both got them.

Jon Jones makes fighting look easy, but it is rare that he finds someone that gives as good as they get. Gustaffson did that in their first fight that went to a decision for Jones and some argued it could have gone the other way.

Brown’s nickname is “The Immortal” and if one asks why this fight with Silva makes for a good example. Nearly finished more than a few times, these two put everything into this fight. Silva and Brown swang for the fences in this one.

When a world-class jiu-jitsu player meets a world-class wrestler, the two are forced to see who has the better striking. It is also a great example of how the varied skill set of each fighter changes as the rounds go on.

Smith, when he competed he came from the world of kickboxing and had to adapt to the ever-changing world of early MMA. Many fighters that won were submission specialists or freestyle wrestlers but Smith versus Coleman is one where the striker shines.

Newton was probably one of the most entertaining grapplers of the early days of MMA. But it’s not that he faced a great wrestler in Hughes’ that makes this interesting, it’s the way that it ends. Officially, Hughes won, but did he really?

At the time, Sherk and Penn were considered the best lightweights in the UFC. Sherk was stripped of the belt for a doping violation and Penn was there to prove he was the true king of the lightweights. Penn wins in the final round, but the fight is a classic.

This match is another example of how fast MMA evolves. Rousey’s return to competition was marketed so much it overshadowed how good Nunes’ had gotten to that point, and still is today. If actions speak louder than words, Nunes proved it in this fight.

Sometimes, when a fighter starts being looked at as “too old”, they do something to show the difference between old and being experienced. While his next match after this would be his last, he still showed that his power was still there.

Penn and Edgar would face each other a total of three times in pursuit of lightweight gold. While all three matches are worth a watch, this is the one that started it. Penn is one of the greatest lightweights in UFC history, but this match was definitely a changing of the guard.

This fight is one that Adesanya probably took the most damage in his UFC career while making his way to the title. If there is a blueprint to beating the “Stylebender”, Gastelum built in this match.

Gaethje and Alvarez have their own resumes of entertaining fights in the sport of MMA. However, this one is significant because Gaethje was undefeated before facing “The Underground King” in Alvarez. It would be a “fight of the night” for the event.

Gaethje’s first fight in the UFC coming from another promotion where he left as champion. Fans unaware of why he is called “The Highlight” found out in this fight. Since, win or lose Gaethje has claimed “fight of the night”, or “performance of the night” bonuses.

Silva, the legend and former champ versus Adesanya, an up and coming soon to be champ after this event. Two very good MMA strikers faced off and while Adesanya won by unanimous decision, some argue he did not win every round.

Jones will likely go down as one of the most dominant light heavyweights of all time. Currently, his only loss is a disqualification from early in his career, but this fight is where he became champion.

What makes this fight special is the fact that it was one Bisping took on short notice against someone who beat him before. He was not supposed to win with only 17 days' notice and seemingly at the end of his career but he did.

Wanderlei Silva fighting in Japan is a throwback to the days of Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC). The UFC purchased Pride FC so this event in Japan was symbolic of the change, but Silva’s win echoed a phrase only the hardcore fans know, “Pride never die.”

Cormier will likely go down as one of the greatest heavyweights and light-heavyweight champions in the UFC. This is the fight where he picked up his first UFC heavyweight title from one of the longest-running heavyweight champs in Miocic.

A great example of never settling, Miocic refused any other fights until he would get his rematch against Cormier. The second time seemed to almost go the way the first did, but Miocic would turn it around in the rematch.

Ngannou was being pushed as the next big thing. So much so, marketing would have fans think he was going to beat Miocic for the title. However, they would be wrong as Miocic somehow avoided the power of Ngannou to get the decisive victory.

Lesnar was not the first pro-wrestler to come into MMA, but he was the first to come in and win the title in a short time. Velasquez put an end to that when he faced him and won the heavyweight title.

Velasquez and Dos Santos would face each other a total of three times. However, the second bout is the best example of how heavyweight MMA differs from the weight class in other combat sports. Velasquez won two, out of the three matches.

In this fight, Couture showed that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Couture was the older man in the match up but somehow, the wrestler brought some new boxing technique into this fight against Sylvia. He won by decision.

Both men were touted as UFC prospects at the time and coming off of their own respective win streaks in MMA. Both men had strong wrestling backgrounds but Davis’ athleticism is put on display in this match.

Machida is one of a few karate based fighters in the sport of MMA. That is significant in this fight because of the move he uses to finish the former champ. Only seen in the 1984 film, The Karate Kid Machida scores the knock out with a “crane kick.”

Weidman tore his way up to the UFC and an eventual title fight with Silva. After the long reign in the middleweight division for Silva, Weidman would end it and become champion. He would defend it in the rematch as well.

The fight is rewarding in more ways than one if you look at the build-up to it and the eventual result. However, outside of the trash talk and political antics that lead up to the fight, the fight itself is great. The outcome just makes it greater.

The flyweight division in the UFC is where the little guys get their time to shine. Johnson shined as the champ for almost seven years. He lost the title to Cejudo in this fight via split decision, which means not everyone thought he lost.

Cejudo showed in this match the reason Olympic gold medalists are different from other athletes. He went in against a very tough bantamweight in Moraes and won. Later, fans would find out Cejudo injured himself days before and was still able to win.

Gaethje was already back in the win column in this fight against another fighter known for devastating leg kicks in Barbosa. As predicted, there was a point where both men just fired away at each other's legs, but it would be Gaethje that won that battle and the fight.

It is the first fight that dos Anjos would go five rounds in and what makes it significant is that he won the title from Pettis, who had been enjoying his time as the lightweight champion. It’s a methodical fight worth a look.

This is a fight that has a particular highlight that runs in any marketing for a Nate Diaz fight. The fight itself was a true test for a young Diaz still making his way in the UFC. Pellegrino was the aggressor, but Diaz pulled off a very famous win.

In 2007 it was absolutely the fight of the year. Constant attacking from both men with a finish nearly coming for Guida. Somehow, in the third round, Huerta was able to reverse a position and score a submission victory but nearly lost before that.