The UFC over the past few decades has outgrown its competitors, largely by catering to the viewers’ discretion. There have been countless fights that have transcended the sport, etched down in the fandom’s minds. Recently, the promotion’s President, Dana White, and his men declared the top 10 fights that will forever be in the annals of history as the “Fights Guaranteed to Make You a Fight Fan.”
Starting off the list was the epic UFC 196: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz war where the Stockton slugger shook the world, stopping the Irishman’s blitzkrieg.
After a bloody R1 with ‘The Notorious’ peppering Diaz with shots, the younger Diaz brother turned the tide in the second, stunning the southpaw with a perfect 1-2.
Capitalizing on his patented shot, Diaz jumped McGregor who tried to grapple the grappler, giving us the iconic quote – “Oh, you’re a wrestler now?”
Nate, without much trouble found the Irishman’s neck and sank a rear naked choke in. Eventually, McGregor tapped, and Diaz showing his Stockton swagger walked straight for the camera, all bloodied, bruised, victorious but still talking smack.
Second is the absolute war between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit.
Condit as usual started out, feeling his opponent, sizing up the then champion, Lawler’s heart with a few kicks.
But the champion did not falter and kept on the pace, and on that day in 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the fandom got a barnburner of a main event with ‘Ruthless’ barely scrapping through with a split decision win.
Then we go to Glendale when UFC featured Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje.
Poirier’s unorthodox boxing was on full display here in this fight as the former interim champion gracefully danced around ‘The Highlight.’ To, Gaethje’s credit, he did try his best to touch Poirier up but on that fine evening, the Louisiana native was zoned in and eventually TKOed the former college wrestler in R4.
Next in line is UFC 229’s Tony Ferguson vs Anthony Pettis.
Coming off a vicious knee injury after busting his ACL, Tony proved to the whole world why he goes by the name – ‘El Cucuy.’
From the get-go, ‘Showtime’ targeted Ferguson’s hurt knee. Despite this, the boogeyman imposed his will on ‘Showtime,’ restricting his movement, and cutting off the ring while catching the lightweight with some brilliant shots.
It was “Tony time” that day with the boogeyman slicing up Pettis against the cage. Eventually, Pettis’ corner saw enough and Tony was awarded the win via TKO before the third round even started.
As a matter of fact, no ardent fight fan can forget the highlight reel of Ferguson bouncing on his toes, covered in Pettis’ blood, showing his ferocity ready to tear him down.
UFC’s super fights – Romero vs Whittaker 2 and more
At a time when the whole middleweight division was avoiding the Cuban missile, Yoel Romero, a courageous Robert Whittaker decided to take the challenge head-on.
In fact, the gutsy Aussie took on the Olympic wrestler not once but twice. The UFC listed their second meeting as one of their super-fights; a masterclass in striking and grappling. Despite getting dropped, ‘The Reaper’ rallied back and beat the Cuban to the punch with a SD after going five rounds at UFC 225.
Jose Aldo also made it into the list with the organization deeming his second scrap against Chad Mendes getting into the top 10.
Then there was the Gilbert Milendes‘ bout with Diego Sanchez back in 2013 that occupies the next spot.
Veteran and former lightweight champ, Frankie Edgar is another individual whose legacy has been etched into MMA history. His trilogy against Grey Maynard is stuff of legends and for this list, the promotion has picked their second fight from January 2011 for their list.
Korean Zombie‘s encounter with Mexican KO artist Yair Rodrigues in 2018 is one that requires a mention and the promotion has given it due credit. The two featherweights met for the main event where the Mexican defeated the Korean via KO in R4.
Filling in the last spot is Dan Henderson‘s spectacular fight with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua way back in 2011 at UFC 139.
The two light heavyweights held back nothing and gave the fandom something to cherish for decades giving us one hell of a fight.
In a nutshell, Hendo was not able to KO the Brazilian and Rua couldn’t finish the American either but in their efforts to do so, both fighters gave the community a text-book classic with the former picking the win via decision.
That is one heck of a list but fans would probably miss the Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk fight from UFC 275 on the list.
For the unversed, Jedrzejczyk landed 186 significant strikes, while the champion landed 165 significant strikes to seal what was a 5-round brawl, with the Polish fighter’s disfigured forehead becoming one of Google’s most searched UFC photos.
