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#4. David Terrell – vs. Matt Lindland, UFC 49
Back in 2004, the UFC’s middleweight division wasn’t nearly as deep as it is today. In fact, there wasn’t even a champion, as Murilo Bustamante had vacated his title a year prior and the UFC hadn’t bothered to crown a new one.
Part of this reluctance was supposedly due to the fact that the UFC’s top middleweight – Matt Lindland – was perceived to fight with a dull style. This meant the promotion didn’t really want to end up using him as one of their poster boys.
‘The Law’ kept winning fights though, and for a while it seemed inevitable that he’d be involved in a fight for the vacant title.
That was until UFC 49. At the event, Lindland was matched with newcomer David Terrell. Terrell was a Gracie jiu-jitsu student whose grappling prowess was practically legendary.
However, ‘The Soul Assassin’ was largely unproven in MMA, with a record of just 4-1 showing how sporadic he’d been while competing in the sport. Furthermore, nobody knew a thing about his stand-up ability.
When his fight with Lindland began, Terrell showed exactly what he was capable of. He decked ‘The Law’ with the first punch he threw – a brutal left hook – and then bounced his head off the mat with some follow-up strikes.
The fight lasted all of 24 seconds, and, in the eyes of the Las Vegas crowd at least, a new UFC star was born. Terrell got arguably the biggest reaction of the night on a show that saw Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Vitor Belfort competing.
While he never reached his full potential in the octagon, clamor over his potential returns showed the impact his debut had made on the UFC fanbase.
#3. Michael Chandler – vs. Dan Hooker, UFC 257
When the UFC inked former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler to a contract in late 2020, many fans questioned how successful he’d be. After all, other former Bellator champs had struggled in the octagon, and there were also worries that Chandler was past his prime.
However, those fears were put to bed in Chandler’s debut at UFC 257. He was faced with not only one of the best lightweights in the world, but one of the toughest too in the form of Dan Hooker. It was expected that Chandler would have to go through hell to gain a victory.
Nobody told Chandler that, however. And so, ‘Iron' Mike came flying out of the traps, pressuring Hooker back before decking ‘The Hangman’ with a leaping left hook.
A series of follow-up punches sealed the deal for the former Bellator champion. Unsurprisingly, the crowd in attendance on Abu Dhabi’s Fight Island went wild.
As if that wasn’t enough to get Chandler over as a big star in the UFC, a charismatic post-fight promo followed. It saw him throw insults at Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov while proclaiming himself the new king of the division.
Even at an event that saw the big rematch between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, it was arguable that Chandler stole the show. The fact that Dana White proclaimed his performance the “best debut in UFC history” didn’t harm matters either.
