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Over the last decade the UFC has moved from Spike TV to the FOX network and now to ESPN, but one thing regarding their shows has remained constant: their biggest and best fights are still on pay-per-view.
Ignoring the debate over the merits of the pay-per-view system – is any UFC show really worth over $50? – it’s undisputable that since 2010, the UFC has put together some absolutely fantastic pay-per-view shows, to the point where it’s almost impossible to whittle them down to a top five!
That’s exactly what I’ve done though – here are the top 5 UFC pay-per-views of the decade (2010-2019).
#5 UFC 178
2014 was a relatively lean year for the UFC when it came to pay-per-views, as main draws Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva stepped away from the promotion, leaving a void when it came to big-name headliners.
UFC 178 was the first show to really give a glimpse of who would become the promotion’s biggest star going forward, as despite not being in the main event, a certain Conor McGregor dominated the build-up with his trash talk towards opponent Dustin Poirier.
Despite sporting a main event that was hardly enthralling – Demetrious Johnson submitted an overmatched Chris Cariaso to defend his Flyweight title – UFC 178 turned out to be a fantastic show, opening with two of the best fights of 2014; a phenomenal comeback from Cat Zingano to TKO future Bantamweight and Featherweight champion Amanda Nunes, and a wild brawl between Middleweights Yoel Romero and Tim Kennedy that ended with Romero winning by TKO.
Later on the card, we saw the debut of former Bellator Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez spoiled by stalwart Donald Cerrone, who destroyed the legs of ‘The Underground King’ with low kicks to take a decision, in what was another great fight. As for McGregor? He KO’d Poirier in the first round – just as he said he would – and went on to more ‘Notoriety’, pun intended.
Overall, this was a tremendous show and was by far the best on offer in 2014. It also remains one of the best of the decade.
#4 UFC 132
When the WEC’s roster was folded into the UFC at the start of 2011, the MMA world was buzzing about the possibility of the lighter weight classes – at the time, Featherweight (145lbs) and Bantamweight (135lbs) – being able to show their talents off in the world’s biggest MMA promotion, and that’s what happened in the main event of UFC 132.
Dominick Cruz defended his Bantamweight title against bitter rival Urijah Faber, and the two put on an instant classic over five rounds, a back-and-forth fight that ended with Cruz retaining by unanimous decision.
The whole card was ridiculously action-packed, too; Carlos Condit opened the show with an incredibly flying knee knockout of Dong Hyun Kim to state his claim for a Welterweight title shot, and that wasn’t the only highlight reel worthy finish we were treated to.
In the first of two semi-main events, legendary former Light-Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz rescued his UFC career from the brink by knocking down and submitting future Bellator champion Ryan Bader, and in the second, Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva fought in a wild brawl for less than a minute before Leben knocked out the Brazilian veteran with a series of uppercuts.
Essentially, when a fight as good as Cruz vs. Faber is basically the icing on the cake, you’ve got a genuinely tremendous show – and one worthy of being considered one of the best of the decade.
#3 UFC 166
The day after it’d taken place, 2013’s UFC 166 was christened by UFC President Dana White as probably the greatest show the promotion had ever put on. Six years later it largely holds up, although I’d argue that it’s been surpassed a couple of times since.
The show started off like a rocket with a pair of vicious knockouts; first, John Dodson turned the lights out on newcomer Darrell Montague in brutal fashion, knocking him face-first to the mat. And to follow that, Gabriel Gonzaga knocked Shawn Jordan out with a vicious right hand in the first round.
The best was yet to come, though; Gilbert Melendez faced Diego Sanchez in a highly-anticipated Lightweight battle, and to say the fight exceeded expectations would be a ridiculous understatement. The two men simply threw caution to the wind and brawled wildly for fifteen minutes, treating the crowd in Houston, Texas, to one of the greatest fights in MMA history.
Things did slow down for the next fight; Daniel Cormier simply outfought a game Roy Nelson to take a unanimous decision, but then the action picked up with a crazy main event – the final part of the trilogy between UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and his biggest rival, former champ Junior Dos Santos.
‘JDS’ put up a good fight, but in the end he was no match for the juggernaut that was Velasquez – and succumbed to a fifth round TKO in a stunning fight to watch. At the time, it felt as if we were watching perhaps the most dominant UFC champion of all time; a fitting ending to one of the best shows of the decade.
#2 UFC 217
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.
#1 UFC 189
Quite often, we’ve seen that some of the UFC’s biggest shows on paper simply don’t deliver in execution; think UFC 200, for instance. 2015’s UFC 189 on the other hand not only lived up to its pre-event hype, but it somehow surpassed it, and four years on it remains probably the greatest MMA show of all time, full stop.
This was Conor McGregor’s first UFC pay-per-view main event; he faced Chad Mendes for the Interim Featherweight title after champion Jose Aldo was sidelined with a rib injury, and despite being badly cut in the opening round, ‘The Notorious One’ was able to TKO ‘Money’ in the second round, cementing his place as the UFC’s top star.
But the McGregor victory was just the cherry on the top of a seriously great cake; the show started off with a bang, as prospect Thomas Almeida knocked out veteran Brad Pickett with a flying knee, and from there the hits kept coming. Gunnar Nelson knocked down and choked out Brandon Thatch in the first round, and then Jeremy Stephens took out Dennis Bermudez with an even better flying knee than Almeida’s, ending a crazy brawl in style.
The award for ‘Fight of the Night’ though was reserved for the semi-main event; Robbie Lawler defended his Welterweight crown against Rory MacDonald in one of the greatest fights of all time, a slow-burner that exploded to life in the later rounds, with Lawler somehow recovering from an incredible barrage from ‘The Red King’ to come back and smash his nose to pieces, winning by TKO in the fifth round.
Essentially, every fight on this card was full of must-see action, and there’s no doubt that it remains the best UFC pay-per-view of the decade.
