Spanning from the first September event to the most recent, this collection includes Hall of Famers, current and former champions, and a couple contests that hold a place in the pantheon of the greatest fights in UFC history.
Enjoy!
Royce Gracie def. Kimo Leopoldo (UFC 3)
Gracie went 7-0 to claim victory in the first two UFC tournaments, spending more than two minutes inside the Octagon only twice and more than three minutes in the UFC cage just once during those initial seven fights.
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He entered UFC 3 as the prohibitive favorite and a showdown with Ken Shamrock loomed as a potential finals matchup, but it wouldn’t come to pass, as Gracie withdrew from the competition after an exhaustive first bout against Leopoldo.
After carrying a giant wooden cross to the Octagon on his back, the Hawaiian taekwondo stylist made Gracie work harder than anyone else had during his previous seven bouts. Leopoldo fought off Gracie’s initial attempts to drag the fight to the canvas and even had moments where he was in dominant positions on the ground before eventually succumbing to an armbar and exhaustion just prior to the five-minute mark.
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This was the first moment Royce Gracie looked human inside the Octagon, and a truly memorable September scuffle.
Frank Shamrock def. Tito Ortiz (UFC 22)
Shamrock and Ortiz were two of the top fighters on the planet the time, battling for what was then called the UFC middleweight title and is now known as the light heavyweight title. Ortiz dominated for three, grinding away from top position. The pace wore on “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” while Shamrock looked fresh at the outset of the fourth before getting put on his back in the center of the Octagon by an opportunistic Ortiz.
Late in the round, Shamrock swept Ortiz and eventually got to his feet, pushing the pace and taking the fight to the flagging 24-year-old. When Ortiz shot for a desperation takedown, Shamrock attacked a guillotine choke before landing a series of short, heavy blows that forced Ortiz to tap.
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An incredibly gutsy effort from Shamrock and a turning point in the career of Ortiz that remains one of the best fights in UFC history.
Randy Couture def. Tito Ortiz (UFC 44)
Couture won the interim light heavyweight title in his divisional debut against Chuck Liddell at UFC 43, and looked to unify the belts in a clash with reigning champ Tito Ortiz three months later.
Jackson had claimed the UFC light heavyweight title with a jarring first-round knockout win over Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 just a few months earlier, while Henderson was making his promotional debut after claiming the PRIDE middleweight title with a third-round knockout win over Jackson’s rival Wanderlei Silva in February. This was the MMA equivalent of the Champions League Final — the UFC champ versus the PRIDE titleholder — and the anticipation was incredible.
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Henderson was the better of the two early, utilizing his wrestling in the clinch, his control on the canvas, and his ability to dictate the terms of engagement to neutralize Jackson’s striking power. But “Rampage” had some success in the first half of the second and third, stung Henderson early in the fourth, and closed things out by swarming the PRIDE champion.
Jackson won a unanimous decision to defend his UFC light heavyweight title and establish himself as the top light heavyweight in the world.
Demetrious Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez (UFC 152)
The first flyweight title fight in UFC history was an absolute barnburner between two men that would go on to lead the new division for the majority of the next decade.
Johnson earned his place in the inaugural championship pairing with a dominant win over Ian McCall after their first encounter was declared a draw, while Benavidez entered as the favorite, having stopped Yasuhiro Urushitani and been a dominant force up a division at bantamweight before that.
For five rounds, they battled in every phase at a frenetic pace, exhibiting outstanding technique, conditioning, and skill throughout. Neither man was able to establish clear dominance, one responding each time the other found success and started to push for control, until there was no time remaining on the clock.
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The judges were split — one seeing it 48-47 for each fighter, and the third turning in a 49-46 score for Johnson, making “Mighty Mouse” the first flyweight champion, a title he wouldn’t relinquish until after establishing a new record for the most consecutive successful title defenses in UFC history.
Jon Jones def. Alexander Gustafsson (UFC 165)
Going into this contest, most expected the dominant champion Jones to turn back the challenger with relative ease, given he’d done the same to a host of legendary names to cement his place atop the light heavyweight division, but Gustafsson had no intention of letting that happen.
This was the kind of fight that grabbed your attention immediately and never let go.
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The challenger put the champion on the deck in the first round and from that point forward, it was a dogfight, each man battling hard to establish their dominance, and neither allowing the other to ever quite get there. Late in the fourth round, with a massive gash above his eye, Jones hit a spinning elbow that staggered Gustafsson and finally swung the momentum fully in his favor.
Jones survived to retain his title, but Gustafsson didn’t lose anything in the loss. Instantly heralded as one of the best championship fights in UFC history, it was enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020.
Cat Zingano def. Amanda Nunes (UFC 178)
In order to understand the significance of this fight, you first have to know everything Zingano battled through on her way to UFC 178.
Seventeen months earlier, she scored a come-from-behind stoppage win over Miesha Tate to earn a championship opportunity and a chance to coach on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Ronda Rousey, only to suffer a serious knee injury and be forced from the fight and the show. While she was rehabbing, Zingano’s husband committed suicide.
Just making it back to the Octagon was a victory, but in the opening round, it looked like a win was not coming. Nunes dominated early, pummeling the returning Zingano, before the former Olympic wrestling hopeful started to have some success in the final minute. She parlayed that into controlling things the moment the second round began, and early in the third, a throw in the center of the Octagon gave her the opportunity to climb into mount.
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From there, the ground-and-pound rained down, the blood started spilling from Nunes’ head, and the fight was waved off. Zingano rose to her feet, a mix of elation, sadness, satisfaction, and heartbreak showing on her face.
This wasn’t just a comeback victory in the cage, but a comeback victory in life for the first mother to earn a victory inside the Octagon.
Amanda Nunes def. Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 215)
Nunes and Shevchenko first faced off at UFC 196, opening up the main card just a couple bouts before Miesha Tate would rally to submit Holly Holm and claim the bantamweight title. While Nunes started well, Shevchenko, then in just her second UFC appearance, rallied late, and most in attendance believed had the fight continued into the championship rounds, the promising sophomore would have secured the victory.
Following Nunes’ championship win at UFC 200 and one scheduled meeting that was scuttled at the last minute, the two would run it back with five rounds to work at UFC 215 and it was even more competitive than their initial encounter.
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To this day, bringing up the outcome of this fight can spark arguments — some folks steadfast in their belief the champion did enough to secure the win, while others are vehement that a new champion should have been crowned. The judges were split on how they saw the fight as well, with Nunes eking out a split decision win.
Almost five years later, “The Lioness” is back on top of the bantamweight division, while Shevchenko has been a dominant force at flyweight. Might we finally be moving towards a third meeting between the two?
Merab Dvalishvili def. Marlon Moraes (UFC 266)
The first half of the opening round of this fight was technical and tactical, Moraes attacking with heavy low kicks before Dvalishvili caught one and used it to secure a takedown. When they got back to their feet, they were each respectful of the other’s strength, neither wanting to get caught.
Just before the halfway point, Dvalishvili ate a massive left hand that put him on gelatin legs, and from there, chaos ensued.
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Maroes chased a finish, but Dvalishvili endured, taking the best the Brazilian had to offer until he punched himself out. From there, the grappler from the nation of Georgia slowly started chipping away after putting Moraes on the deck, unloading big blows in the final 20 seconds to nearly secure the finish.
When they started up again in the second, Moraes was spent and Dvalishvili showed why his nickname is “The Machine,” coming out and putting a pace on the exhausted Brazilian that allowed him to finish Moraes late in the frame.
This was an insane comeback and a dominant effort by Dvalishvili all in one.
Alexander Volkanovski def. Brian Ortega (UFC 266)
“I thought it was over. I thought he was done. I thought I finished him and he was about to tap out, but he didn’t, and I was shocked.”
That’s what Ortega said when I asked him about Volkanovski slipping out of the mounted guillotine he locked up with just over two minutes remaining in the third round of this fight. The featherweight champion from Australia had dominated to that point, but Ortega had clamped onto one of his signature finishes, in the center of the Octagon, and seemed poised to finish.
Volkanovski wriggled free and, in the ensuing scramble, Ortega attacked another of his favorite submissions, a triangle choke off his back, and damn near locked that up too.
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“Obviously you’re like, ‘What the f***?’” explained Ortega. “The fight keeps going, you shoot another submission, and you’re like, ‘Well this one’s going to stick’ and he gets out of that one, and you’re like double ‘What the f***?’”
WTF indeed.
Volkanovski earned a unanimous decision win to retain his title and further cement his standing as the top featherweight on the planet, but those two moments from the challenger were the kind of moments that make your heart skip a beat while you’re watching them play out.
