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The UFC is not just in the combat sports business, it's also in the entertainment business. Thus, the promotion pours a tremendous amount of effort into ensuring that it schedules the most thrilling and exciting fights it possibly can. But it's not just knockouts and submissions that earn attention.
Sometimes, UFC fighters make waves due to having moments of near-supernatural brilliance inside the octagon. These are typically moments that seem so extraordinary that they'd make more sense in movies or dramatizations of MMA than MMA itself. But as history shows, they all happened inside the octagon.
A series of images pop up in every MMA fan's mind when the topic of the coldest UFC moments is brought up. While fans may disagree about the order of each moment, they're well-known and this list compiles five of the promotion's coldest.
#5 Conor McGregor at UFC 205
UFC 205 represented the peak of Conor McGregor's achievements inside the octagon. At the time, the Irishman sought to make MMA history by becoming the promotion's first-ever simultaneous two-division champion. The only obstacle standing in his way was Eddie Alvarez, the then lightweight kingpin.
'The Underground King' is a decorated champion, having held 155 lbs titles in both Bellator and the UFC. Back then, he was adamant about being too good for 'The Notorious'. Unfortunately, his assessment was only half-right. Come fight night, one of them was too good for the other, but it wasn't Alvarez.
McGregor effortlessly outstruck his opponent, scoring two knockdowns in the first round. Alvarez looked far out of his depth, so much so that in the second round, the Irishman gave fans the most outstanding image of the bout by folding his arms behind his back en route to securing a TKO win just a minute later.
#4 Max Holloway at UFC on ABC 1
Back in 2021, Max Holloway was in desperate need of something to erase the bitter taste of his split-decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski. The loss cost him his seat on the featherweight throne. Despite losing twice to the same man, the second loss was especially rough as 'Blessed' felt robbed of a win.
So after the promotion booked him to face the power-punching Calvin Kattar, the Hawaiian great sought to make a strong statement. He did so by breaking numerous strike differential records against 'The Boston Bomber'. Ahead of their clash, Kattar dismissed Holloway's boxing by calling him a freshman.
The former titleholder took that comment to heart. After drowning him in an avalanche of significant strikes throughout their bout, 'Blessed' punctuated his performance with a legendary moment in the fifth round.
He shouted at the commentary team that he was the best boxer in the promotion, all while effortlessly dodging and slipping Kattar's punches without ever paying him a glance.
#3 Jon Jones at UFC 140
Fans are still in awe of Jon Jones' recent title-winning effort against former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. As impressive as it was to watch 'Bones' finish a high-level 265'er within two minutes of his return from a three-year hiatus, he has a history of impressive feats inside the octagon.
Perhaps none is colder than his decisive win against Lyoto Machida. Back then, 'Bones' was still a light heavyweight in search of his second title defense. The pair squared off at UFC 140 in a stylistic clash that saw Jones face more trouble than ever before. Machida's lightning-fast counterpunching stunned him.
In the second round, however, divisional order was restored. Jones intercepted Machida mid-blitz with a straight left, dropping him. As 'The Dragon' scrambled back to his feet, 'Bones' pounced with a standing guillotine-choke against the fence. As Machida refused to tap, Jones choked him unconscious.
Referee John McCarthy stepped in to call an end to the bout, and 'Bones' simply walked away as Machida, his slain prey, slumped to the mat.
#2 Anderson Silva at UFC 101
Sometimes, fighters are overmatched against foes that are many times their superior. In rarer but more extreme cases, some mixed martial artists are so helpless against their opponents that they look as if they do not belong in the same cage together. That was the case at UFC 101.
The former middleweight titleholder faced one-time light heavyweight champion and TUF winner Forrest Griffin. The results of their bout were about as humiliating as possible for Griffin, while the proceedings gave 'The Spider' some of his most legendary moments inside the octagon.
On the heels of his first knockdown of the evening, Silva allowed his foe to get back on his feet. What happened next became a staple of the Brazilian's highlight reel. With both hands low, he effortlessly slipped and dodged all of Griffin's punches before dropping him with a single shot.
Moments later, he scored a KO by simply jabbing Griffin once as his opponent marched towards him.
#1 Nate Diaz at UFC 279
UFC 279 was originally propped up as a showcase for undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev. Back then, the promotion hoped to use MMA superstar Nate Diaz as a stepping stone for the young wolf. Stockton's finest is the second-most popular fighter besides Conor McGregor.
So the UFC hoped that 'Borz' beating him would give him the rub and introduce him to a massive casual fanbase. Instead, the unbeaten Chechen grappler missed weight by a significant margin and Nate Diaz faced former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in the main event.
When the two men locked horns, they looked more than past their prime. They were slow and lacked agility. Regardless, Diaz outstruck Ferguson before securing a guillotine-choke in the fourth round. Not only did he become the first UFC fighter to defeat 'El Cucuy' via submission, he did so with 2:09 minutes left in the round.
Diaz has always repped his 209 area code. So for him to win his last fight before exiting the promotion with 2:09 minutes left in the round was as legendary as moments get.
