15 UFC Fight Nights That Aged Well
UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Sandhagen took place this past Saturday in San Antonio, and with so many prospects on the card, it seemed like a good time to look back at past Fight Night cards. To my surprise, some of the best fighters that fans now look up to as some of the best in the sport have started as far down as on a non-PPV prelim. On today's program, let's look at some UFC Fight Nights that aged well over time.
Disclaimer: This list is in chronological order, not in order of superiority. Which one did you think was the best?
15. UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen – August 17, 2013
This fight card gave American fans their first taste of the Notorious one. UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen occurred at TD Garden in Boston, MA, and featured a prelim banger between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. That fight alone would merit a spot on this list. The early prelims included Ovince Saint Preux, who would go on to fight Jon Jones for interim gold and would also introduce us to James Vick, who made his debut in a first-round submission over Ramsey Nijem. Though James Vick ended his UFC career with several consecutive losses, his win over Nijem would cap off a 9-1 streak in the Octagon with five finishes. The main card featured roster staples like Michael Johnson, Joe Lauzon, Uriah Hall, Matt Brown, Urijah Faber, Alistair Overeem, and of course, the headlining matchup between Chael Sonnen and Maurício "Shogun" Rua.
14. UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas – April 4, 2015
Fairfax, Virginia, got a card that only totaled nine fights but certainly got its fair share of names that would go on to achieve more extraordinary things. The prelims saw Shamil Abdurakhimov lose by first-round TKO to current Bellator heavyweight Tim Johnson. Shamil would make a 5-1 run in the division after this, eventually reaching the heavyweight rankings. The prelim headliner featured Liz Carmouche vs Lauren Murphy. Both fighters would go on to lose a title fight against former flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko. Carmouche would leave the UFC after losing to Shevchenko and add to her legacy by going undefeated in Bellator and winning the flyweight belt. At 39 years old, she currently holds champ status in Bellator with a defense against Juliana Velasquez and is one of the most underrated stories in MMA today.
Dustin Poirier opened the main card with a knockout win over Carlos Diego Ferreira in his first fight since his KO loss to Conor McGregor. Juliana Peña scored a first-round TKO win in her second fight in the UFC a few fights later. She would take the Women's Bantamweight belt from Amanda Nunes in one of the biggest upsets of all time later down the line. In the co-main event, fans would see one of the most controversial decisions ever in a fight between Al Iaquinta and Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal would set his sights on Welterweight after a hilarious post-fight interview from Iaquinta. Other names like Clay Guida, Gray Maynard, Michael Chiesa, Chad Mendes, and Ricardo Lamas are also featured on the card.
13. UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez – July 7, 2016
This card may be a welterweight showcase. Vicente Luque opened up the card in a second-round submission win. Two fights later, Luque's best friend and current welterweight title contender Gilbert Burns would also earn a submission win, this time in the first round. Burns still fought at lightweight at this time but was able to implement his world-class jiu-jitsu to find success. Two fights after that, bantamweight staple Pedro Munhoz would also submit his opponent in the first round.
On the main card, an undefeated Belal Muhammad would debut in a close decision loss to Alan Jouban. Derrick Lewis would slot into the co-main with a split decision win against "Big Country" Roy Nelson, and a title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Rafael Dos Anjos would finish the night. Alvarez would earn a first-round TKO in four fights after becoming the Bellator Lightweight Champion.
12. UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. Korean Zombie – February 4, 2017
Houston got a fight card that ended up looking pretty stacked in hindsight. The early prelims featured wins from Niko Price and Khalil Rountree Jr., two fighters with fruitful and exciting UFC careers. The regular prelims also had their fair share of household names, including strawweight contender Tecia Torres (who is currently taking a break from the fight game to have a baby) and Ricardo Ramos, who has two spinning back-elbow KOs in the UFC. The headlining bout on the prelims featured heavyweight title contender Curtis Blaydes, whose TKO win would be overturned due to a positive marijuana test.
Moving on to the main card, fans witnessed a bonus-earning opening fight between Jéssica Andrade and Angela Hill, followed a few fights later by a banger between Volkan Oezdemir and Ovince Saint Preux. Next, James Vick would return from a scary KO loss against Beneil Dariush to submit Abel Trujillo in the third round. The co-main event gave UFC fans their second taste of Alexa Grasso, who picked up a decision loss to Felice Herrig. Grasso would trade wins and losses for the next four fights until she could finally put together a solid five-fight win streak that culminated in a UFC Women's Flyweight Championship. In the main event, Chan Sung Jung made quick work of an aging Dennis Bermudez in his first fight back from military service. All in all, a solid card.
11. UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch – September 16, 2017
This is the kind of card that makes this list so interesting. Who would think a random Fight Night in Pittsburgh, headlined by Luke Rockhold and David Branch, with only ten total fights on the card, would age like fine wine? The entire card had only two decisions, starting with a KO win by Gilbert Burns in the second round. Uriah Hall would match burns with a second-round KO in the next fight, and we're still in the prelims. Recent PFL $1 million winner Olivier Aubin-Mercier would finish the prelim with a split decision win.
The main card featured some legitimate talent, starting with all-time great Kamaru Usman, who earned a first-round KO against Sergio Moraes. This was Usman's first KO in the UFC, and Gregor Gillespie would find his first submission in the UFC in the next fight. A middleweight Anthony Smith TKO'd Hector Lombard in the third round in the next bout, and Mike Perry had a quick night in the office with a first-round KO in the co-main event. Rockhold's submission win over Branch was his return from losing the UFC Middleweight Championship to Michael Bisping.
10. UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Machida – October 28, 2017
This Fight Night in São Paulo has to be one of the most stacked non-PPV events in recent history. Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo earned a split decision win on the early prelims to cap off the card. Solid veterans like Jared Gordon, Max Griffin, and Antônio Carlos Júnior featured on the prelims, but the headlining preliminary fight stole the early part of the card. Vicente Luque vs Niko Price is dream matchmaking at work, and Luque took home a second-round submission to bounce back after a decision loss to current champion Leon Edwards.
The main card also ages nicely – John Lineker vs Marlon Vera capped off the main card, followed by middleweight Thiago Santos vs Jack Hermansson. Santos excitingly finished Hermansson, needing only one round to find a TKO via jumping body kick. Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font also needed one round, and Munhoz only needed one round to submit the New England Cartel product in front of the home Brazilian crowd. The co-main event was possibly the most memorable fight of the card because after Colby Covington defeated Demian Maia in São Paulo, he insulted the entire country, thus kick-starting his rise as one of the biggest heels in the sport. Derek Brunson would stylishly finish the card by earning a Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round finish against an aged Lyoto Machida. A card to remember!
9. UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 – November 24, 2018
Would you have guessed from the main event that this Fight Night occurred in China? The UFC made their second overall visit to mainland China and their first visit to Beijing for this stacked card, which helped introduce us to some of the best talents on the other side of the world—in the first fight of the card, ranked UFC flyweight Su Mudaerji made his debut in a submission loss to Louis Smolka. He would follow this disappointing performance with three consecutive wins but recently picked up a loss to Matt Schnell in a Fight of the Night that he was winning. Next, Kevin Holland got his first UFC fight with a full camp after picking up a short-notice decision loss to Thiago Santos in his debut. Then, he found a third-round submission against John Phillips, starting one of modern history's most memorable UFC runs. 6th ranked strawweight Yan Xiaonan fought next, taking home an easy decision win. A few fights later, current strawweight champion Zhang Weili earned her first UFC finish, submitting Jessica Aguilar in the first round. This would be one of two fight nights featuring Zhang Weili; her exciting style has merited a spot on PPVs in her other UFC fights. The always game Alex Morono finished the prelims against Song Kenan and won by decision to pass it along to the main card.
Li Jingliang kicked off the main card with a third-round TKO win that won performance of the night. To follow, Song Yadong won by decision against Vince Morales, marking the most recent time he fought in his native China. The last two fights of the card belonged to the big boys. Alistair Overeem's first-round TKO against Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event has aged beautifully – the loss was Pavlovich's debut in the promotion and remained the only loss on his record, as he stares down a potential title eliminator fight. Curtis Blaydes lost a first-round TKO to Francis Ngannou in the main event, but Blaydes has gone 7-1 since taking that loss. Funny enough, the two losers of the last two fights are scheduled to face off on April 22 in another UFC Fight Night.
8. UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw – January 19, 2019
This Fight Night was the first event the UFC hosted in partnership with ESPN after signing a five-year contract with them. Over 500K new ESPN subscribers made their way to the network, paving the way for what is sure to be a long-lasting partnership. The fight card was also stacked, starting with an early-prelim matchup between Geoff Neal and Belal Muhammad. Neal won the fight unanimously, with both fighters making their way toward becoming welterweight contenders. The fight would be Belal's last loss to date and set Neal up to be a staple in the division. Next, Cory Sandhagen submitted Mario Bautista in the first round to open the regular prelims. Sandhagen recently cemented himself as a long-time bantamweight contender, while Mario Bautista would go 6-1 since the loss, putting him one fight away from a spot in the rankings. Alonzo Menifield and Joanne Calderwood (now Joanne Wood) won in the next two matchups on the prelims. Next, Donald Cerrone went up against Alexander Hernandez in a highly touted prelim headliner. The fight received plenty of coverage due to Hernandez's trash talk before the fight – he dismissed Cerrone as washed up, to the ire of MMA fans. However, Cowboy would show he had more left in the tank, stylishly finishing Hernandez with a POTN head kick TKO.
The main card continued to step on the gas, with an opening matchup of Glover Teixeira submitting Karl Roberson in the first round. This was Glover's first win since losing to Corey Anderson the year before, and he wouldn't lose again until his title defense against Jiří Procházka. A few fights later, Joseph Benavidez would win a decision, and Gregor Gillespie would TKO Yancy Medeiros in the second round. All these fights led to a flyweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw, which Cejudo would win by TKO in only 32 seconds. Dillashaw would test positive for EPO after the fight in addition to the loss. This card made history on many levels and deserves a place on this list.
7. UFC Fight Night: Assunção vs. Moraes 2 – February 2, 2019
The UFC returned to Brazil with a Fight Night card that included only three non-Brazilian winners. Rogério Bontorin, Thiago Alves and Mara Romero Borella all won split decisions on the prelims. Alves beat Max Griffin, who has gone 4-1 in his five most recent fights, and Borella defeated Taila Santos, who lost a close split decision to Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight title fight last year. Even Magomed Bibulatov (who Bontorin defeated) has found great success after the UFC loss, going 5-1 in the Russian promotion ACA afterward and winning the Bantamweight title there. Elsewhere on the prelims, Said Nurmagomedov TKO'd Ricardo Ramos with a spinning back kick to the body followed by punches, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik would make his UFC debut with a head kick TKO. Lastly, Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez would lose the headlining prelim to hometown kid Markus Perez. Despite the result, Hernandez went on to go 4-1 from there as he currently stares down a spot in the middleweight rankings.
The main card was star-studded with Brazilian legends – Johnny Walker earned a 15-second TKO via spinning back fist, and Charles Oliveira submitted David Teymur in the second round. Demian Maia would follow Oliveira's submission performance with a submission of his own, choking out Lyman Good in one round. The co-main and main events featured two Brazilians when José Aldo fought Renato Moicano and Marlon Moraes fought Raphael Assunção. Aldo won his fight via second-round TKO in his last win at the featherweight division, and Moraes avenged his 2017 split decision loss to Assunção by submitting him with a guillotine in the first round. Funny enough, Moraes would only win one more fight against a bantamweight Aldo in his career.
6. UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleinik – April 20, 2019
Russia was the setting for the second time in UFC history, and they brought a great set of fights. To start the card, Magomed Mustafaev earned a first-round TKO off of a spinning back kick against Rafael Fiziev. Mustafaev has only competed five times since joining the UFC in 2015; Fiziev recently made a deep run into the lightweight rankings. The rest of the prelims also featured some great talent, including Polish prospect Michał Oleksiejczuk and a matchup between Shamil Abdurakhimov and Marcin Tybura, two ranked heavyweights. Tybura lost this one via TKO, but he would eventually find his groove in the Octagon, going 7-2 since the loss. Finally, the featured prelim gave us a debut to remember when Movsar Evloev beat Seung Woo Choi by a dominant decision. This was Evloev's first fight in the Octagon after he collected the M-1 bantamweight title and defended it two times. The Russian featherweight has yet to find his first finish in the UFC but rides a solid six-fight win streak on the way to a tenth spot in the rankings.
The main card started with recognizable names, with winning performances from Krzysztof Jotko and Roxanne Modafferi. In the next fight, Sergei Pavlovich earned his first UFC victory after just a minute of action against Marcelo Golm. This short octagon time would be commonplace for the Russian heavyweight contender. The co-main event gave us an exciting barnburner between a young Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev. The fight would earn FOTN honors after a competitive three rounds. Still, Islam would take home a pivotal victory that extended his win streak to five and enabled him to continue trekking toward the lightweight title he would eventually attain. In the night's final fight, Alistair Overeem defeated Aleksei Oleinik in just one round to earn a win in foreign territory.
5. UFC Fight Night: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 – August 10, 2019
This Fight Night card marked the first UFC event in Uraguay, continuing to show the furthered global reach of the promotion—some solid names featured across the entire card, starting with the prelims. Veronica Macedo opened the fight with a first-round armbar, and 13th-ranked bantamweight Chris Gutiérrez earned a split decision a few fights later. Gutiérrez was on the right side of a scorecard with 30-27 going the other way, showing that poor judging has always been a problem in the sport. Next was a flyweight banger between former ranked 125er Rogério Bontorin and Raulian Paiva, ending in a first-round TKO by doctor stoppage. The next three fights would be on any main card today; the first one featured women's strawweight contenders Marina Rodriguez and Tecia Torres facing off in a standup battle, followed by a submission win from a debuting Cyril Gane, and finally, a decision win for Gilbert Burns, who made his return to Welterweight. Burns would stay at 170 until today, and he has a colossal matchup scheduled against Jorge Masvidal in April.
The main card would include some legitimate names but didn't age as well as the prelims. Bellator contender Enrique Barzola led off the card, followed by grappling ace Rodolfo Vieira in a signature submission win. Next, Volkan Oezdemir KO'd Ilir Latifi in a POTN performance, and Vicente Luque went to a split decision with Mike Perry in the co-main. Finally, Valentina Shevchenko cruised to a UD win against Liz Carmouche in a main championship event, scoring 50-45 on all three scorecards.
4. UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson – October 12, 2019
Tampa, FL, had a great set of fights, and the card is also the last Fight Night on this list before the pandemic. In the second fight of the prelims, Marvin Vettori fought former TUF winner Andrew Sanchez and won by UD. This would be the second win on a streak, eventually leading him to a title shot against former opponent Israel Adesanya. Marlon Vera defeated Andre Ewell by TKO a few fights later, earning a POTN bonus in the win. The next fight was a banger between Deiveson Figueiredo and Tim Elliot, where Figueireido found a first-round submission. Just one fight later, after the prelim spot, Figgy led his own Fight Night card, where he captured the UFC Flyweight Championship against Joseph Benavidez. Alex Morono defeated Max Griffin in a fight of solid veterans next and ranked LHW Ryan Spann submitted Devin Clark in the second round to finish the prelims.
As if this wasn't enough violence, Eryk Anders defeated Gerald Meerschaert in a solid main card opener, followed by a split decision win by Matt Frevola. Next, Amanda Ribas beat Mackenzie Dern over three rounds in a battle of current strawweight contenders, and Niko Price would end the legend of James Vick with an exciting upkick KO in the first round, winning a bonus. The final two fights featured a few legends, with Cub Swanson and Joanna Jędrzejczyk each earning UD wins.
3. UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 – July 19, 2020
The last three fight cards on the list are what we could label modern-day classics. This Abu Dhabi card was the third of four "Fight Island" UFC events as part of the promotion's means of continuing to put on events amid the pandemic. Ranked heavyweight Sergey Spivak won a decision in the opening fight of the prelims, and ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan would win similarly in the next fight. Ranked flyweight Amir Albazi had a quick night at the office against Malcolm Gordon when he won via submission in the first round. Lightweight prospect Joel Álvarez won via first-round submission later on the prelims, and ranked lightweight Grant Dawson won via UD shortly after. In a prelim headliner, Roman Dolidze TKO'd his opponent in the first round to end the first half of a loaded card.
The opening fight of the main card featured a pivotal flyweight matchup between Askar Askarov and Alexandre Pantoja, which Askarov would win by close UD. Rafel Fiziev continued his lightweight rise a few fights later with a win against Marc Diakiese in an exciting fight between two kickboxers. Jack Hermansson made quick work of Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event with a first-round heel hook submission. Finally, Figueiredo would end his one-sided rivalry with Joseph Benavidez, finishing him by submission in the first round. Considering the lack of contenders on some of the more recent Fight Night cards, it's interesting to see a Fight Night card like this one, with nine total fights that featured currently ranked fighters.
2. UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen – October 11, 2020
Another fan-less Abu Dhabi card was in store for UFC fans in October 2020, but the card would make up for the lack of audience with exciting matchups. Tagir Ulanbekov beat currently ranked flyweight Bruno Silva over three rounds in the prelim opening. Tracy Cortez would follow with her UD win against Stephanie Egger in the next fight. Ranked featherweight Giga Chikadze won the next fight via UD, giving him four UFC wins in a row and keeping his undefeated promotion record intact. Chikadze had taken five total fights in a year, winning all five. A few fights later, Joaquin Buckley, would KO Impa Kasanganay in the second round in a performance dubbed one of the greatest MMA knockouts ever. Kasanganay caught a kick thrown by Buckley, and Buckley took advantage of the position to spin and catch Kasanganay with another kick that will live forever on the UFC highlight reel. In the next fight, ranked heavyweight Chris Daukus would win via a 45-second KO against Rodrigo Nascimento.
The main card continued to provide quality performances; the opening fight of the main card featured Ilia Topuria's UFC debut, where he took home a decision win. Next, Tom Aspinall would earn his second UFC win with a first-round TKO, setting him up as a mainstay in the heavyweight division. Dricus Du Plessis was the next debutant on the main card, finding a first-round KO against Markus Perez to announce his arrival to the UFC. Marcin Tybura won the next fight against Ben Rothwell via decision in a solid heavyweight bout, and Edson Barboza won via decision against Makwan Amirkhani in the co-main. Finally, Corey Sandhagen won an exciting main event against Marlon Moraes with a spinning wheel kick. While Sandhagen already had several great UFC wins under his belt, this win was instrumental in putting him on the map for UFC fans as a possible future champion.
1. UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev – March 12, 2022
This last Fight Night on the list finally took place after the events of COVID, but it still occurred in the UFC Apex in Nevada in front of minimal fans. Regardless, we got great matchups, including several fighters who will be talked about for years. The opening fight of the prelims featured a flying knee KO win from Azamat Murzakanov, who is now ranked at LHW. A few fights later, women's flyweight prospect Miranda Maverick earned a second-round submission, followed by a second-round submission from featherweight veteran Damon Jackson. In the next fight, undefeated prospect Javid Basharat won his UFC debut unanimously. He has accrued two more wins after this performance, putting him on the precipice of the UFC rankings. In a prelim headliner banger, Matthew Semelsberger defeated debuting A.J. Fletcher by unanimous decision.
The main card of this one is where the fireworks are. The opening fight of the main card featured middleweight champion Alex Pereira in an exciting decision win against Bruno Silva. Pereira's rise in the UFC was quick, but he got champ status less than a year after that fight. Drew Dober fought Terrance McKinney in the next fight on the main card in one of UFC history's most exciting one-round fights. It looked like McKinney would run away with a quick win, but Dober managed to come back and finish McKinney using his iron chin and tenacity. Khalil Rountree Jr. pummeled Karl Roberson in the second round, hitting him with a body kick that was so precise it earned him an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. Sodiq Yusuff beat Alex Caceres in the next fight between two ranked featherweights. In the co-main event, Song Yadong would show his blistering hand speed in a first-round masterclass KO win against Marlon Moraes (he's on many of these!). The primary fight of the card featured Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev. Ankalaev took home the unanimous decision, extending his win streak to eight.
Which Fight Night card was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
