5 best UFC pay-per-views of 2018

#1 UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor

UFC 229 lived up to its billing as the biggest UFC show of all time

We’ve seen plenty of times in the past that the UFC hyping a show as one of the biggest of all time doesn’t necessarily guarantee great action inside the Octagon. UFC 200, for instance, was a huge disappointment in execution, while UFC 182 – the first meeting between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier – was a card full of stinkers.

UFC 229 was pushed as the biggest show ever – literally – thanks to its main event of Khabib Nurmagomedov defending the Lightweight title against Conor McGregor, but a robust undercard featuring some of the best prospects and contenders in the promotion meant that this was far more than a one-fight deal.

And thankfully, pretty much all of the fights delivered hugely. Felice Herrig vs. Michelle Waterson was a somewhat slow opener, but on a lesser show, it would’ve been one of the better fights on the card. But what followed was spectacular. Firstly, Derrick Lewis pulled off one of the all-time great UFC comebacks – knocking out Alexander Volkov after being beaten up for practically the entire 15-minute fight. It was enough to earn him a Heavyweight title shot a month later.

Next, Dominick Reyes – arguably the hottest prospect in the Light-Heavyweight division – lived up to that billing by picking Ovince St. Preux apart over three rounds and was robbed of a TKO win by some poor refereeing – he had to settle for a decision victory instead.

The best was yet to come, though; Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis – apparently determined to out-do the main event – put on a brawl for the ages, with Ferguson somehow coming back from a bad knockdown in the second round to destroy Pettis, forcing his corner to stop the fight before the third round. The fight was widely considered possibly the best of the year, point blank.

But could Khabib vs. Conor deliver? Of course, it could. Most fans will probably remember the fight as a one-sided beating in Nurmagomedov’s favour, but that wasn’t really the case – sure, McGregor was on the defensive for most of the fight, but he did well to survive Khabib’s barrage in the second round and actually won the third round before being submitted in the fourth.

Of course, the thing that sticks in most people’s minds about this event is the wild brawl that took place after Khabib vs. McGregor was over, but while it didn’t show the sport in the best light, it was certainly memorable and received plenty of press coverage for weeks following the event.

And it was a box office hit, too – drawing a monstrous 2.4m buys, making it the best selling UFC pay-per-view of all time. Essentially, UFC 229 was the most hyped card of all time and somehow, some way, it delivered everything it promised and more. It was by far the best show of 2018.