Top 5 UFC pay-per-views of the decade (2010-2019)

#2 UFC 217

UFC 217 was an instant classic main evented by Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre

The UFC’s first effort in New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden – UFC 205 in November 2016 – was a strong show, ending with Conor McGregor stopping Eddie Alvarez to become the new UFC Lightweight champion, but it wasn’t a stone cold classic. The promotion’s second visit, on the other hand, gifted us with one of the greatest UFC shows of all time, let alone this decade.

UFC 217 was headlined by a Middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and an unexpected challenger – former Welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, who was returning from a leave of absence of almost four years. And we were also treated to two more title fights; a Bantamweight title clash between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, and a Strawweight title match between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas.

In a rare display, all three title fights delivered above and beyond expectations going in. First, Namajunas pulled off one of the all-time great upsets, knocking out Jedrzejczyk – who had been unbeaten in 8 UFC fights – in the first round. Next, Dillashaw survived a near TKO loss in the first round to somehow take Garbrandt out with a head kick and a flurry in the second.

Finally, we got a third title change, as St-Pierre was able to overcome Bisping in a war of attrition, knocking him down before choking him out in the third round – cementing himself as perhaps the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Even if the opening two matches had been weaker this would’ve been a great card, but here we got another pair of great fights – Paulo Costa stopping Johny Hendricks in violent fashion and Stephen Thompson using his pinpoint striking to pick apart Jorge Masvidal. Overall, this show delivered like few others from start to finish.