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UFC 266 is set to go down in September, and the UFC has now confirmed the top three fights for the event – a featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega, a flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Lauren Murphy, and a welterweight clash between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler.
UFC 266 has two big title fights on tap, but it’s still likely the clash between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler will overshadow both.
However, if this happens it won’t be the first time that a major UFC main event has been overshadowed by a fight sitting underneath it on a card.
So with that in mind, here are five times that an undercard fight overshadowed the main event of a UFC event.
#5 Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards overshadowed Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori – UFC 263
Interestingly enough, the most recent example of an undercard fight overshadowing the main event came at UFC 263 just a handful of weeks ago.
UFC 263 was headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori. It was an interesting contest, but certainly not one that was ever likely to pique the interest of casual fans.
However, the third bout on the main card – between welterweights Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz – had the whole fanbase, casuals and purists alike, absolutely buzzing.
Naturally, the main reason for that was the presence of Diaz. One of the UFC’s biggest-drawing superstars, ‘The Stockton Slugger’ had not fought for well over a year prior to UFC 263. So, fans were naturally clamoring for his comeback, particularly against a high-level contender like Edwards.
What’s more, the UFC clearly recognized that they had a drawing card in the form of this fight. They made it the first non-title undercard fight in the promotion’s history to be scheduled for five rounds, upping its importance and putting it on the same level as Adesanya vs. Vettori.
And in the end, the fans were quite right to give more attention to Diaz vs. Edwards than the main event. While Adesanya vs. Vettori turned out to be a straightforward win for ‘The Last Stylebender,’ Diaz vs. Edwards was a tremendous fight that almost saw Diaz pull out one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history.
#4 Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt overshadowed Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 200
This entry comes with a caveat, as the UFC bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes was never intended to be the main event of UFC 200. That spot was initially supposed to go to Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz and then Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier – but both fights fell through.
Had a landmark show like UFC 200 been headlined by Tate vs. Nunes alone, it would undoubtedly have gone down as one of the UFC’s all-time biggest letdowns. However, thankfully the promotion pulled a rabbit out of their hat.
Desperate for a big-name fight, the UFC managed to bring former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar back from WWE for his first octagon appearance in five years and match him with legendary knockout artist Mark Hunt.
To say that the Lesnar vs. Hunt fight overshadowed Tate vs. Nunes would be an understatement. Tate and Nunes were – and still are – undoubtedly great fighters. In fact, their clash was a far better fight than the three-round plod that the two heavyweights put on.
However, the fans in attendance at UFC 200 – and the millions who watched the show on pay-per-view – were clearly there to see ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in action, and had the show been stopped following his victory, few would’ve minded.
#3 Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir overshadowed Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia – UFC 81
UFC 200 wasn’t the first time that the presence of Brock Lesnar overshadowed a big-time UFC main event. UFC 81 featured an all-time great heavyweight bout, and yet when the event was over, Lesnar was the only name on fans’ lips.
The event was headlined by a fight between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the interim heavyweight title. Not only was it an excellent clash of styles, but it was also one of those long-awaited UFC vs. PRIDE meetings that fans had clamored over for years.
And yet what fans were really watching UFC 81 for was the debut of former WWE champion Lesnar, who arrived in the promotion with plenty of fanfare despite only holding a 1-0 MMA record.
Faced with former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, Lesnar seemed more than happy to play the villain and was roundly booed by the fans in attendance who believed him to be nothing but a pro-wrestling pretender.
Seconds into that fight – when he took Mir down and brutalized him with punches and elbows – it became clear that Lesnar was far more than just a WWE star. And despite falling prey to a kneebar, it was clear that Lesnar was for real.
And while Nogueira overcame Sylvia in a tremendous main event, by the end of 2008, it was Lesnar who was holding the UFC heavyweight title – arguably justifying the overshadowing he’d done at UFC 81.
#2 Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock overshadowed Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski – UFC 61
Tito Ortiz’s rivalry with Ken Shamrock arguably kept the UFC afloat during its most difficult period. When the promotion was looking for another boost despite booming buy-rates in 2006, they turned back to it.
Ortiz and Shamrock took their feud onto the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, where they served as coaches, and their long-awaited rematch was booked at UFC 61 that summer.
However, the non-title fight would not serve as UFC 61’s main event. Instead, the marquee was handed to heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, who was booked to defend his title against the man he’d taken it from three months earlier – Andrei Arlovski.
Given that their first two fights had been dramatic clashes with wild finishes, it’d be a lie to claim that UFC fans weren’t looking forward to this battle of the Titans, but compared to Ortiz vs. Shamrock? It was honestly no contest.
Tito Ortiz and ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ dominated the build to the event, and observers would’ve been forgiven for forgetting all about the UFC heavyweight title bout.
In the end, though, UFC 61’s viewers were disappointed as both fights turned out to be damp squibs. Ortiz vs. Shamrock ended in controversy with a perceived early stoppage. Fans expecting Sylvia and Arlovski to save the show were disappointed when they produced a horrifically dull fight.
#1 Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier overshadowed Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso – UFC 178
Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the biggest star in UFC history, and at this stage, it’d be unthinkable for ‘Notorious’ to fight in anything but a big-time pay-per-view main event.
However, during his rise to fame – from his UFC debut in 2013 to his first UFC featherweight title win in 2015 – it only made sense that McGregor was treated like any other rising star and was positioned on the undercard of UFC events.
But after he headlined UFC Fight Night in Dublin in 2014, it was clear that the promotion had something special on their hands.
It was made clearer when his fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 overshadowed the show’s main event of Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso for the UFC flyweight title and the co-main event between Donald Cerrone and Eddie Alvarez.
UFC 178 turned out to be an all-time classic show with countless great fights, but there was no doubt who the fans in attendance were there to see. This was the UFC’s first real McGregor-driven pay-per-view, and ‘The Notorious’ delivered the goods, knocking Poirier out in the first round.
The fact that UFC 178’s buy-rate almost doubled that of the previous Johnson-headlined show tells the story. Following this, McGregor has exclusively fought in main events.
