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#4 Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes – UFC 50, UFC 65, UFC 79
This epic trilogy in the UFC’s welterweight division could’ve come straight out of the Hollywood playbook. It saw a young fighter lose to a champion at the top of his game, only to return a few years later as a better fighter than anyone could’ve imagined to topple said champion in a true passing-of-the-torch moment.
Georges St. Pierre’s first fight with Matt Hughes came at UFC 50, back in October 2004. The two men fought for the vacant UFC welterweight title, and from the off, it felt like GSP was out of his depth.
The Canadian only had two UFC fights to his name – Hughes had more title defenses than that – and despite showing flashes of his huge potential, he eventually fell to a first round armbar.
It was a strange fight in that it felt like GSP had the tools to win, but simply didn’t believe in his ability quite enough at that point – allowing Hughes to take advantage of what was a rookie error in giving up the submission.
Even then, it felt like a rematch was inevitable. Sure enough, two years later, GSP had won four consecutive UFC fights to earn himself another shot.
This time, he came in full of confidence and systematically took Hughes apart, stuffing his takedowns and destroying him on the feet, eventually stopping him with a second-round head kick to win UFC gold.
For fans that’d followed the Canadian since the first fight with Hughes, it was cathartic to watch.
Fascinatingly, a third bout between the two wasn’t initially planned by the UFC. Instead, it took place at UFC 79 when St. Pierre stepped in on late notice to replace the injured Matt Serra – the man who had upset him for the title – and saw an interim UFC welterweight title on the line.
And as at UFC 65, St. Pierre won in one-sided fashion – bullying Hughes with his grappling before submitting him with an armbar, completing the circle, if you will.
This time, there was no cathartic feeling when GSP won – simply a feeling that Hughes’ time had come and gone, and the torch was well and truly passed.
#3 Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin – UFC 59, UFC 106, UFC 148
The trilogy between UFC light-heavyweight stars Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin often gets overlooked in the bigger picture, probably because none of the three fights had a UFC title on the line.
However, in terms of sheer drama, it’s hard to dispute the rivalry’s position in UFC history. The first fight was about proving that a so-called “reality TV star” could hang with a real UFC legend. The second was about proving that Ortiz’s time had come and gone.
The third and final fight saw two aging legends doing battle for one last time, with nothing but pride on the line.
Ortiz and Griffin’s first clash – at UFC 59 – remains their most dramatic meeting. Early on, it felt like Griffin’s doubters would be proven right. Ortiz powered through him with a takedown in the opening moments of the fight and began to brutalize him with elbows, slicing him open.
But then something strange happened. Griffin refused to go away or back down, and began to take the fight to the tiring Ortiz in the later rounds, landing clean combinations that had him in trouble.
The Huntington Beach Bad Boy edged out a tight decision in the end, but in the process, Griffin had earned his respect – as well as the respect of longtime UFC fans who derided him following his star turn on The Ultimate Fighter.
It was three and a half years before the two men did battle again. After another back-and-forth battle that saw both fighters get their fair share of shots in, Griffin was the one with his hand raised.
At that stage there was no question that the UFC would look to book the trilogy fight at some stage, and that stage turned out to be UFC 148 – one of the biggest UFC events of all time.
Again, it was a back-and-forth battle with both men having their moments. Although Ortiz landed the more memorable blows – knocking Griffin down twice – it was Griffin’s volume that really told the story, and he came away with the victory.
Neither man would fight in the UFC again after this bout, and despite both being intrinsically linked with other rivals during their UFC tenures, it’s arguable that this trilogy summed them up more than anything else.
