5 best UFC pay-per-views of 2018

#2 UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till

Tyron Woodley's finish of Darren Till was just one highlight on UFC 228

September’s UFC 228 was largely overshadowed by the build to UFC 229 a month later, but the show from Dallas, Texas was absolutely brilliant in its own right. Of the main card fights, four ended in the kind of finishes that are likely to be shown on highlight reels for years to come – often a rarity in the modern-day, closely-matched UFC.

The show opened with one of the wildest brawls of the year – and one of the shortest, too, as Abdul Razak Al-Hassan knocked Niko Price unconscious in just 43 seconds. A slower fight between Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson followed, but any bad taste that might’ve been left by that fight was erased by the genius of Zabit Magomedsharipov, who somehow used a completely unique submission – a hybrid of a kneebar, hamstring stretcher and banana split – to submit Brandon Davis in the second round.

In the co-main event, the Strawweights took centre stage and not to be outdone by Al-Hassan earlier in the night, Jessica Andrade landed a rare (for the division) one-punch knockout of the usually durable Karolina Kowalkiewicz. It was the kind of knockout that you simply couldn’t forget.

Finally, after a trio of less-than-inspiring title defences, Tyron Woodley returned to scintillating form in the main event. Faced with a monstrous, unbeaten challenger in Darren Till, Woodley stepped up to the plate in the second round, and knocked the Liverpudlian down with a massive right hand before submitting him with a D’Arce choke – earning his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the process.

The show might not have been box office gold – only drawing 130,000 buys on pay-per-view – but in terms of the action in the Octagon, UFC 228 delivered like few others.