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When you want to see fighting at its best, you watch the UFC.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s top MMA promotion and as such, most of the best fighters in the world are signed to the promotion. Since its humble beginnings in the 1990s, we’ve seen tons of fantastic fights under the UFC banner.
But some fights stood out. Some of these fights went the distance, others did not. Some ended sooner while others finished much later. Regardless, we were treated with greatness by these bouts.
Let’s take a look at the 10 greatest fights in the history of the UFC:
10. Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva, UFC 79
This was one of the most anticipated fights ever. Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva were murderers during their prime but the only problem was that they fought for different promotions. While Lidell fought for the UFC, Silva plied his trade at PRIDE. When Silva finally went to the UFC in 2007. His first UFC assignment? Chuck Liddell.
The fight started slow but once the action picked up in the final minute of round one, it was all fireworks. Round 2 was all action and by the end of the round, both fighters were bloodied. Lidell sealed the win with a pair of takedowns in Round 3 and the fight won Fight of the Night honors. It would end up as Liddell’s last win in the UFC as he would go on to lose his next three fights and retire for good.
9. Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida, TUF 9 Finale
When you have two madmen facing each other, it’s not just going to be war. It’s going to be chaos. Diego Sanchez was the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter show and he was one hell of a mad man. Clay Guida was an equally intense fighter. When you look at the video of this fight, these two looked like they were ready to kill each other just before the fight.
When the bell rang, they immediately rushed into each other and traded punches with reckless abandon. Forgive the lack of defense, this was what fans wanted to see. Joe Rogan couldn’t say anything at first except: “Oh my God.” I mean this was a crazy fight between two crazy fighters. Things slowed down in the third round although they were still throwing punches. Sanchez won the fight via split decision.
8. Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg 2, UFC 52
In their first bout, Matt Hughes defeated Frank Trigg via standing rear-naked choke to defend his UFC welterweight title. Two years later, these two fought again at UFC 52 and even before the fight began, Hughes already pushed Trigg after the latter stepped into him during the staredown.
Trigg landed an accidental knee to the groin that hurt Hughes but since the referee didn’t stop action, Trigg pounced on Hughes by taking the fight to the ground. Hughes survived and even fought off a choke. After getting back to his feet, Hughes lifted Trigg off his feet, carried him across the octagon, and slammed him on the mat. He mounted Trigg and rained down elbows on him. Trigg gave up his back and Hughes went in and sank in a rare-naked choke with 1:05 left in round one.
7. Mark Hunt vs Antonio Silva 1, UFC Fight Night 33
Many consider this as the greatest heavyweight fight of all-time. Mark Hunt and Bigfoot Silva were two of the hardest hitting big men in the UFC. When they met at UFC Fight Night 33, they spent 25 minutes trying to cut each other’s head off and to no avail.
At first, it didn’t look like we were going to see a classic. But once they started to open up, fists began to fly back and forth. Both men had their moments in this fight and both were hurt at several moments during the bout. But at the end of 25 minutes, both were still standing. The fight ended in a majority draw, and rightfully so.
6. Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustaffson, UFC 165
Jon Jones was a -800 favorite at Bovada while Gustaffson came back as a +500 underdog when these two met for Jones’ UFC lightweight title. This was Jones’ 6th defense of his belt and at that time, he looked unstoppable and wasn’t even in his prime. Many thought that this would be another easy outing for Bones but Gus had other plans.
The Swede cut Jones with a right hand and took him down early in the fight. The champ fought back in round two but the challenger refused to go away. By the fifth round, Jones’ face was bloody and puffy while Gus was also bleeding. Somehow, Jones dug deep and managed to pull off a split decision win in the greatest light heavyweight fight of all-time.
5. Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 3, UFC 136
When two fighters fight for the third time, there must be a good story behind it. Maynard defeated Edgar by unanimous decision when they first fought in 2008. In 2011, they fought again for Edgar’s lightweight title. The fight ended in a draw so a third fight was booked for UFC 136.
Maynard hurt Edgar in round one with an uppercut but could not finish off the champion. At the end of one, Edgar had suffered a beating but somehow was still upon his feet. Edgar tried to recover in the next two rounds, using his boxing skills to keep Maynard off him. Edgar took over in the fourth round and knocked Maynard out in a fight that earned Knockout of the Night honors.
4. Dan Henderson vs Shogun Rua, UFC 139
Dana White said that this was one of the greatest fights ever and he was correct. The fight marked Henderson’s return to the UFC after spending the previous two years fighting for Strikeforce. This five-round striking war heated up right from the opening minute with Henderson leaving Rua’s face bloody after one round.
Hendo controlled the first three rounds of the fight but Shogun mounted a furious comeback in the final 10 minutes. Henderson’s tank looked empty from round four and Shogun tried to finish him but Hendo wouldn’t go down. The final bell sounded and Henderson won the fight 48-47 across all scorecards.
3. Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald, UFC 189
Robbie Lawler is known as Ruthless for a reason. When Rory MacDonald challenged him at UFC 189, it was a bloody mess. These two fought previously in 2013 and the bout ended in a split decision win for Lawler. The rematch was more compelling with a lot of action and blood.
Both men took turns at beating each other up and after four rounds, the fight was pretty much even and both fighters had taken significant damage. In the final round, Lawler took over and broke MacDonald’s nose. That strike dropped MacDonald and left him in extreme pain. Lawler won via stoppage and the fight was the 2015 Fight of the Year by most MMA outlets.
2. Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen, UFC 117
Anderson Silva entered this fight with an 11-bout winning streak. Chael Sonnen talked a lot of trash heading to the fight and he was ready to back his words. Sonnen hurt Silva early on with strikes and he took the fight to the ground where he was able to neutralize the Spider’s offensive arsenal.
Sonnen dominated the fight from rounds one to five and he outstruck Silva 320-64 and soon it was only time that stood between Sonnen and the UFC middleweight title. But in a sudden twist of fate, Sonnen made a costly error that allowed Silva to secure a triangle choke. Seconds after Silva locked the choke, Sonnen tapped in one of the most stunning endings to a UFC fight.
1. Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar, TUF 1 Finale
The UFC wouldn’t be here today if not for this incredible fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. These two men spent the whole night trying to knock each other out, to no avail. When the bell rang to end the first round, they received a standing ovation from a crowd that would not sit down until the end of the fight.
The second round was the same and many wondered if both would have enough in their tank to finish the fight. Both fighters were dead tired in the third round but they still managed to engage in back and forth toe to toe action. At the end of the fight, both men raised their hands but it was Griffin who was awarded the victory. Griffin and Bonnar were inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013.
