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The decade between the start of 2010 and the end of 2019 has treated us to some truly exceptional fights in the UFC’s Octagon, with every year producing at least a handful of classics.
With just a handful of days remaining in the decade, here’s a list of the best fights of the last ten years – one for each year – with clashes between some of the UFC’s biggest stars amongst the selection.
2010: Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen – UFC 117
The opening year of the decade was filled with tremendous fights, with other bouts like Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin, Chris Leben vs Yoshihiro Akiyama and Alan Belcher vs Patrick Cote all lighting up the Octagon, but standing head and shoulders above the rest was Anderson Silva’s epic title defense against top contender Chael Sonnen.
Silva had never been beaten in the UFC in 11 fights prior to this clash, but Sonnen came into the fight talking a ridiculous amount of trash, promising to be the one to end the title reign of ‘The Spider’. And to everyone’s surprise, it looked like he was going to pull it off, as he landed huge shots on the Brazilian standing before taking him down to beat him up for essentially five straight rounds.
By the fifth round Silva was looking like a beaten man; the most offense he’d had during the fight were some elbows from his back that had cut Sonnen but hadn’t really hurt him. Somehow though, with just under two minutes to go, ‘The Spider’ threw a triangle choke up from nowhere, caught Sonnen in the submission, and forced him to submit.
It was a comeback for the ages to end one of the greatest title fights in UFC history, and was comfortably the best fight of 2010.
2011: Pat Barry vs Cheick Kongo – UFC on Versus 4
Either one of the wild brawls between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Dan Henderson, and Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann could’ve been named as 2011’s Fight of the Year, but probably the most exciting fight of all that year came in June between Heavyweights Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo.
The two were thrust into the main event of UFC on Versus 4 on late notice after a fight between Nate Marquardt and Rick Story was cancelled, and to say they stepped up to the plate would be an understatement. The big men came out to strike, and it was Barry who struck first and hardest, dropping his French opponent with a big overhand right.
Kongo somehow got to his feet, only for Barry to catch him with more clean punches, putting him down for a second time. It looked like the fight was over, but the Frenchman scrambled to his feet again, his legs looking like jelly – and as ‘HD’ closed in for the kill, Kongo froze him in his tracks with a right hand, and then added another to knock him silly.
It was a ludicrous comeback, summed up by the fact that Kongo fell onto Barry’s unconscious body as his legs simply couldn’t carry his own weight. As far as Heavyweight fights go across the last decade, this one has to be considered near the top of the tree.
2012: Donald Cerrone vs Melvin Guillard – UFC 150
UFC 150 was never the most stacked card in terms of name value, but the co-main event between Lightweights Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Melvin Guillard seemed to guarantee fireworks based on the exciting styles of both men. Former teammates at Greg Jackson’s Albuquerque gym, Cerrone and Guillard were reportedly good friends outside of the Octagon – but you’d have never known that watching this fight.
Cerrone started fast, throwing a head kick at Guillard, but ‘The Young Assassin’ countered, dropping ‘Cowboy’ with a left hook. Cerrone got to his feet, but Guillard was all over him, hitting him with more heavy punches and knees as ‘Cowboy’ simply attempted to survive.
Guillard eventually slowed down somewhat, but Cerrone still appeared to be wobbly – until he suddenly uncorked a huge left head kick that landed to the side of Guillard’s head, freezing him in time. ‘Cowboy’ followed up with a brutal right hand that knocked ‘The Young Assassin’ out, and showing some compassion, didn’t even follow up.
It was a signature win for Cerrone and despite putting on some tremendous fights in the years that have followed, this might remain his most exciting UFC fight, point blank. Nothing from 2012 can touch it in my opinion.
2013: Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez – UFC 166
October 2013’s UFC 166 is arguably the greatest UFC show of all time, and a great part of why it’s so highly regarded is the presence of 2013’s best fight, the wild Lightweight clash between Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez. Both men promised a war coming in – playing up their Mexican backgrounds – and a war was exactly what they delivered.
From the off, both men came out firing punches at one another, and while it was Melendez who was the more accurate of the two, catching ‘The Nightmare’ and bloodying him up early in the fight, it was clear that Sanchez was going nowhere and that his chin could hold up to anything that ‘El Nino’ could throw at him.
Incredibly, in the third round Sanchez was still coming forward despite taking inhuman punishment, and when Melendez landed on him, he simply roared him on. With the deafening crowd behind him, somehow Diego managed to drop Melendez with an uppercut, stunning everyone – but he couldn’t finish him off, and the fight went to the judges, who awarded Melendez a unanimous decision.
In the end though, this was a fight with no true loser; Melendez came away from it with a huge new contract and a title shot, while Sanchez’s reputation as perhaps the most exciting fighter in UFC history was only enhanced. It remains an all-time classic today.
2014: Matt Brown vs Erick Silva – UFC Fight Night 40
Coming into 2014, brawler Matt Brown had gone from journeyman to legitimate title contender at Welterweight thanks to a 6-fight winning streak dating back to the beginning of 2012. Matched with Brazilian wildman Erick Silva in his hometown of Cincinnati at Fight Night 40, it was expected that Brown could receive a title shot with a win. Quite how hard he’d have to fight for that win proved to be a surprise.
‘The Immortal’ came out aggressively, only for Silva to destroy him in the opening minutes with a body kick before locking on a rear naked choke. It looked like curtains for Brown, but somehow the hometown fighter willed himself free, and then he unleashed hell on the Brazilian in the form of every strike you could possibly imagine.
Silva played his part, managing to come back on Brown with body kicks on more than one occasion, but this was always Brown’s fight, and ‘The Immortal’ continued to bombard ‘The Tiger’ like a force of nature, until finally, the Brazilian wilted in the third round, succumbing to a TKO.
Brown never did receive his title shot – champion Johny Hendricks was out with an injury and before he returned, ‘The Immortal’ lost to Robbie Lawler, but this fight with Silva remains a classic and should definitely be remembered as the best fight of 2014.
2015: Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald – UFC 189
Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald had already met once inside the Octagon prior to their Welterweight title fight at UFC 189, with Lawler edging a close decision. That was a decent enough fight, but nothing could’ve prepared UFC fans for what they were about to see in their rematch in Las Vegas.
Strangely enough, the fight started slowly, with both men looking tentative throughout the first round. The second round though saw the champion Lawler begin to find his range, and he used his heavy boxing combinations to bust his Canadian challenger up, leaving his face a mess.
The third round seemed to be following the same pattern – until MacDonald suddenly caught ‘Ruthless Robbie’ with a head kick, stunning him. Now it was ‘The Red King’ on the attack, as he assaulted the champion with a barrage of punches and elbows, leaving him almost out on his feet. Somehow, Lawler survived the round, but he appeared to be on borrowed time.
The fourth started in the same way, with Lawler desperately trying to defend himself from MacDonald’s attack, but midway through the round something changed, and the champion’s inner animal came out. ‘Ruthless Robbie’ was now snarling at MacDonald, a giant tear in his bottom lip, and he began to land heavy punches, busting the Canadian’s nose up again. When the buzzer sounded for the end of the round, Lawler spat blood onto the Octagon floor and stared MacDonald down – and the Canadian stared right back.
The fight remained in the balance as the fifth round began, but it didn’t last too long. Lawler landed a left hand to the smashed nose of ‘The Red King’ again and this time, MacDonald simply couldn’t take any more. He collapsed to the ground in a heap, and the fight was mercifully over. Both men had shown an insane amount of heart and desire, but in the end, it was Lawler who could withstand more pain.
In the years that have followed, neither man has quite been the same – they’ve both lost more fights than they’ve won – but that’s the price you pay for putting on what I’d consider to be the fight of the decade.
2016: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz – UFC 202
2016’s Fight of the Year was a tricky one to decide, with the general consensus coming down to either Conor McGregor’s rematch with Nate Diaz, or Cub Swanson’s wild brawl with Doo Ho Choi. The former was a better fight to me, as more was at stake, with the pay-per-view the fight featured on breaking the UFC’s buyrate record at the time.
The first time the two men faced off, McGregor had teed off on Diaz with punches, bloodying the Californian up but not being able to put him away. Eventually ‘The Notorious One’ ran out of steam and succumbed to a rear naked choke from Stockton’s favourite son. The second time around, he was determined not to let that happen.
The Irishman came out with a different gameplan, kicking at Nate Diaz’s lead leg to slow him down, and it seemed to work, as McGregor scored three knockdowns in the first two rounds. But by the third round, he’d once again ran out of steam – and Diaz began to open up on him with his trademark combinations, having him on the verge of a TKO on a couple of occasions, but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t put ‘The Notorious One’ away.
In the fourth round, McGregor came out with a second wind – and began to tee off on Diaz again with his left hand and the leg kicks, and once again the Stockton native was on the defensive, his face looking like he’d been hit with a machete. The fifth round was simply a wild brawl – both men throwing all they had at one another until the fight finally ended with the last buzzer.
The judges awarded McGregor a majority decision, ending the rivalry for a while at least and redeeming his reputation following the first loss. Not only did this fight live up to all the hype it had going in, it surpassed it – and while it’s not the best fight in UFC history as the promotion has suggested, it belongs up there with the best of the decade.
2017: Justin Gaethje vs Michael Johnson – Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale
Former WSOF and PFL champion Justin Gaethje signed with the UFC in 2017, and brought with him a reputation for putting on incredibly exciting fights. Matched with Michael Johnson in his promotional debut, ‘The Highlight’ didn’t disappoint, putting on the best fight of 2017 in an unforgettable brawl.
Gaethje was happy to exchange with Johnson from the off, pressuring ‘The Menace’ back with his punches, combinations and leg kicks, but Johnson remained dangerous and landed shots of his own – only for ‘The Highlight’ to tell him to bring it on. Johnson obliged, and as the first round drew to a close, he was able to hurt Gaethje, buckling him with a big right hand and a follow-up combination as the former WSOF champion hung on.
He came out smiling in the second round though, and despite Johnson putting him on rubber legs again, Gaethje simply wouldn’t stop coming forward. Eventually, despite landing clean shots throughout, ‘The Menace’ began to wilt under the pressure. Gaethje continued to pour his offense forward, and used a couple of heavy uppercuts to stun Johnson, and from there, he hit him with everything in his arsenal until the veteran collapsed.
Gaethje has since gone on to put on more exciting fights in the Octagon, but this one remains probably his best to date – even above his wild fights with Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez – and it was almost certainly the best of 2017.
2018: Yair Rodriguez vs Chan Sung Jung – UFC Fight Night 139
The UFC’s 25th anniversary show, UFC Fight Night 139 needed a big main event to really push it into classic territory, and UFC fans were definitely given that in the form of the wild brawl between Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung – the best fight of 2018.
Both men came in with a reputation for putting on incredibly exciting fights, and they didn’t disappoint, exchanging strikes from the opening minute of the fight right until the final minute of the fifth round. Early on it appeared that ‘The Korean Zombie’ had the edge, landing the sharper punches by using his jab to set them up, but Rodriguez was never really out of the fight, and he kept on throwing strikes back.
By the end of the fight both men appeared to be close to exhaustion, but neither would back down – and as the clock ticked down with seconds to go, the fight looked like it belonged to the Korean. But as he waded forward for a final time, ‘El Pantera’ dropped his head and threw an upwards back elbow – without looking at his target – that landed cleanly and knocked ‘The Korean Zombie’ senseless.
The finish came at 4:59 of the final round – literally with one second to go, Rodriguez had pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat. But again, this was the kind of fight where there was no true loser, as the level of action meant that both fighters walked away with their reputations enhanced in the eyes of the fans.
2019: Israel Adesanya vs Kelvin Gastelum – UFC 236
UFC 236 was always going to be a huge show thanks to the presence of two interim title fights – one in the Lightweight division between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway, and one at Middleweight between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum. And while the Lightweight fight turned out to be excellent, Adesanya vs Gastelum surpassed all expectations to become an instant classic.
Early on the fight was all Gastelum; he found that he could nullify Adesanya’s timing and reach advantage by simply wading forward swinging, and he had the Aussie hurt in the first round, but by the second, Adesanya managed to find his range and began to tee off, hurting the former TUF winner on numerous occasions as the fight went into the later rounds.
By the fifth round, the fight was dead even – but somehow, Adesanya turned things up a notch and came out with renewed vigour, taking the fight to Gastelum to the point where the only thing that kept him in the fight was a simply insane chin. In the end, ‘The Last Stylebender’ saw his hand raised, but Gastelum earned almost as much respect for his sheer toughness.
This was a stone-cold classic fight, and while we don’t know how much it’s taken out of both fighters yet, it goes down as the best fight of 2019 – ahead of other tremendous battles like Yoel Romero vs Paulo Costa and Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz.
