5 best UFC events of 2022 so far

#2. UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall - O2 Arena, London, England

Over the years, English fans have witnessed some unbelievable moments and crazy fights at the O2 Arena in London. Michael Bisping's memorable win over Anderson Silva in 2016 and Jorge Masvidal's shocking KO victory over Darren Till in 2019 stand out as milestone moments in the history of the iconic venue.

When the UFC was set to return to the English capital in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the event from coming to fruition. The famously passionate British fans were starved of any UFC action on home soil throughout 2021, as such, the UFC returned with a bang in 2022.

The fight card delivered from start to finish, evident in the fact that nine post-fight performance bonuses were handed out. Flyweight prospect and UFC debutant Muhammed Mokaev kicked off the action at the O2 Arena, cruising to a first-round submission victory to set the tone for the evening.

Later on in the prelims, unbeaten Welsh star Jack Shore and Scottish grappling phenom Paul Craig emerged victorious in their bouts to move up the rankings in the bantamweight and light heavyweight divisions respectively.

The raucous crowd in attendance was clearly deflated after Mike Grundy and Jai Herbert, two English standouts, suffered disappointing back-to-back defeats. However, Liverpool's Molly McCann got the fans back on their feet with her stunning 'Knockout of the Year' contender.

McCann's teammate Paddy Pimblett added to the party-like atmosphere inside the O2 Arena with his first-round submission victory over Rodrigo Vargas. The crowd erupted once again in the co-main event as top-ranked English featherweight Arnold Allen finished perennial lightweight contender Dan Hooker.

The night ended on a perfect note as Mancunian heavyweight Tom Aspinall turned in a flawless performance against Alexander Volkov to make his way into the upper echelons of the division.

At the post-fight press conference, Dana White was clearly in awe of the electrifying experience that was UFC London. White revealed that he was drenched in beer and lost his voice after the record-breaking Fight Night concluded.

Watch a recap of the event below:

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#1. UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka - Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang, Singapore

UFC 275, the promotion's first pay-per-view in Asia, was without a shadow of a doubt the best event of the first six months of 2022. The stacked fight card went down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, breaking the arena record for attendance and revenue.

The event featured a light heavyweight title fight between two finishers – Glover Teixeira, the champion, and Jiri Prochazka, the challenger – atop the bill. Long-reigning flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko took on Brazilian contender Taila Santos in the co-main event, right after the highly anticipated rematch between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

While the prelims produced some decent fights, the main card stole the show in Singapore.

Aussie welterweight Jack Della Maddalena opened up the pay-per-view portion of the card and looked sensational despite an early scare. The Perth native found himself in a tight submission hold in the first round of his fight against Ramazan Emeev. Somehow, Della Maddalena escaped and proceeded to finish his Russian counterpart via TKO moments later.

Another welterweight from Down Under, Jake Mathews, delivered undoubtedly the best performance of his career, putting away Andre Fialho in the second round of their bout. 'The Celtic Kid' looked like a fighter reborn right from the get-go, repeatedly catching Fialho with accurate and powerful strikes before a right hook put him to sleep.

The Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk rematch picked up where the two strawweights left off in their first bout, which was 2020's 'Fight of the Year'. The two former champions were slinging heavy leather in the first round, until Weili's improved wrestling saw the Chinese star pull ahead.

In the second round, 'Magnum' uncorked a powerful spinning backfist, knocking Jędrzejczyk out cold. Moments after her disappointing defeat, the Polish star announced her retirement and left her gloves inside the octagon.

Valentina Shevchenko endured the toughest fight of her UFC career in the co-main event. The dominant flyweight queen struggled against Taila Santos in the first three rounds of the fight as she repeatedly found herself fighting off submission attempts. 'Bullet' bounced back in the championship rounds and came away with a narrow split-decision win.

The main event clash between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka turned out to be one of the greatest championship fights we've ever seen. Both fighters enjoyed moments of success throughout the bout, with Teixeira struggling in the stand-up exchanges and Prochazka taking significant damage on the ground.

In the final round of their rollercoaster affair, Teixeira caught the challenger with some hard shots and was even in full mount with one minute left in the fight. Out of nowhere, Prochazka escaped and latched onto a rear-naked choke, forcing the champion to tap out with just 28 seconds left on the clock.