I have been a fan of mixed martial arts for as long as I can remember. I have stayed up way too late on a Saturday night to watch the main event, and I have yelled at my TV screen more times than I can count. Over the years, people always ask me the same question: "If I want to watch a real war, what fights should I watch?"
It is a tough question, but it is also my favorite one to answer. Today, I am going to share my personal list of the MMA best fights of all time. We are going to talk about the brawls, the bloody battles, and the technical masterpieces that made me fall in love with this sport.
Let’s be real, we all love a good knockout. But the fights that stick with us forever are the ones where two warriors refuse to quit. These are the battles where legends are made. If you are new to the sport, this is your roadmap. If you are a longtime fan, well, this is just a fun trip down memory lane.
What Makes a Fight One of the Greatest MMA Fights of All Time?
We cannot get into the list without discussing what makes a fight great. It is not only regarding great hits. In my case, a fight is one of the nominees to MMA best fights of all times when it encompasses a little of it all. To begin with, there must be action back and forth.
I do not want to watch one guy simply kick the other around 15 minutes. I want to see momentum swings. I would have Fighter A injure Fighter B, and then would have Fighter B scramble down and get back to stun Fighter A.
Second, the heart and the guts that such athletes exhibit are everything. It is when you look at a fighter that has a swollen face, blood dripping into their eyes, and yet they are going on throwing bombs, this is what makes me chilled. That is the human spirit in a nutshell.
The Fight That Saved the UFC: Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar
This is perhaps the only fight to watch on this list. I also recall that I was watching this live and thinking nothing but that I was watching history. You must have to be there to appreciate why this is always at the top of the list of MMA best fights of all time.
The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale
It was April 9, 2005. UFC was not the giant that it is today. As a matter of fact, the company was very much in distress. They were on the verge of permanently going off pay-per-view. However they had this reality show named The Ultimate Fighter. The last one was a live and free-TV finale.
In the major match, two men that no one knew so well as Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar had entered the Octagon to earn a contract. There followed magic itself.
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The Pride FC Era: Where Legends Were Made
Pride Fighting Championships in Japan predated the UFC to control the world. The multitudess were massive, the ring was dissimilar and the fights were completely insane. When you consider the history of the MMA best fights of all time, you must consider Pride library.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson 2
The definition of violence is this battle. The initial encounter they had, the Axe Murderer Wanderlei Silva halted Rampage using knees. They continued with the same in the rematch in Pride 28.
Rampage had come in to take revenge. They were in the middle of the circle and simply opened fire on each other. No feeling out process. It was just bombs away. Rampage ended up in that salad Silva was competing in (where you pull the back of the head of a person and drag him/her in a knees position). He landed knee after knee. The last one struck squarely on the face of Rampage and he pitchedchedched into the ropes.
It was a very savage blow-out I ever witnessed. I have the picture of Rampage bouncing off the ropes imprinted in my forest. A frightening knockout, but a beautiful showing of finishing instinct.
Unforgettable UFC Title Fights
Fighters have an alternative gear when a championship belt is at stake. Such are the title fights which are automatic entries when discussing the MMA best fights ever.
Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2
I must tell you the truth about this contention; it is not an easy one to witness. It is gorgeous, yet it is savage. During UFC 189, Robbie Lawler has challenged his welterweight championship against Rory MacDonald.
The initial four rounds was a violence of chess match. However, it is the fifth round that made this a legend. Both men were beaten up. Rory's nose was broken badly. It was leaned to the right and he could hardly breathe. Yet there they were in the middle of the cage, and began swinging at one another on the face.
They did not take defense into consideration. They simply wanted to injure one another. Eventually, Rory was hit by a perfect punch by Lawler who brought him down and Lawler completed it. Lawler was looking at the crowd after the fight with this bloody, scary face. It was the physique of a real champion. This battle characterizes the term back-and-forth war.
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson
It was the first time in his career that Jon Jones looked human. In the match of UFC 165, the reigning champion Jon Jones, at the age of 27, was against the taller Swede Alexander Gustafsson.
Gustafsson did so much that nobody believed it to be possible. He outboxed Jones. He took Jones down. He bloodied the champion. I can recall the swelling of the face of Jones, and I believed we would see him beaten the next moment.
But Jones demonstrated why he is one of the greatest. During the championships, he excavated. On the fourth round, Jones was able to land a spinning elbow that was able to cut Gustafsson and shifted the momentum. It was a tight call between Jones and the other guy, yet the two men have my admiration that evening. It was an MMA fight of the highest form.
Modern Classics You Have to See
The sport continues to change and new fights continue to enter the discourse. These contemporary fights are already regarded as the some of MMA best fights of all times.
Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum
This was an interim middle weight championship fight at UFC 236. It contained all that you might desire. Kelvin Gastelum was a huge underdog and he came to fight.
During the first round, Gastelum knocked Adesanya down. They were playing a deadly game of tag in the following four rounds. Adesanya would hit these gorgeous, technical punches and Gastelum would simply stroll over them and drop his own bombs.
During the finals, the action was unbelievable. Both were punching with knock out blows in the fifth round. At the end, Adesanya retreated, yet Gastelum demonstrated that he is a warrior. It was a technical impactful battle that kept me on my seat throughout.
The Heavyweight Bangers
When the giants tussle, it may end at any second. These are heavyweight battles that are very exciting.
Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier 2
During the initial encounter, Cormier put Stipe to sleep. It appeared as the same thing was transpiring in the rematch at UFC 241. Cormier was disemboweling Stipe round after round. Stipe's face was a mess. But the corner of Stipe said to him go to the body.
These were the perfect punches Stipe began to deliver to Cormier in the belly in the first half of the fourth round. you can see the breathing out of the lungs of DC. His hands fell and his pace decreased. Stipe spotted his opportunity and fired at Cormier on the face which knocked him out and won his title again. It was among the best revolutions in MMA history.
Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos 2
JDS won their first fight by a knock out. But the second fight? It was a lesson in amount of fighting. UFC 155 saw Cain Velasquez enter into a plan to demolish JDS.
He pushed an impossible pace. He brought JDS to the ground, stood up and punched him in the face and brought him to the ground. Cain never ceased round after round. He landed more than 300 blows in the combat. JDS is a very rough guy and he was beaten savagely. This battle demonstrated that speed and pressure can defeat even the most successful boxers.
Fights with Insane Comebacks
Everybody loves an underdog story. These matches were finished by out of nowhere.
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
During this 25 minutes title fight at UFC 117, Chael Sonnen was annihilating Anderson Silva in this 23 minutes. The giant underdog Sonnen brought the biggest striker of all times to the ground and hit him there. A masterpiece in wrestling.
I was preparing to see the hand of Sonnen up. However, having a little less than two minutes remaining, Silva proceeded to raise a triangle choke on the ground. It came out of nowhere. Sonnen made an attempt to struggle against it, but he was forced to tap.
It was the most sensational ending I had ever witnessed. Silva maintained his status, and it turned out that there is never a time when it is not over in the field of MMA till the bell sounds.
Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
It was a fight that did not take a whole round but the craziest round ever. At UFC live 4, Pat Barry was knocking Kongo around the cage. Barry felled him three times. Kongo was on his legs, stumbling like a Weeble.
Barry walked in to complete the fight. He made a mad swing, and Kongo instinctively made a right swing at the same moment. The punch of Kongo struck Barry on the chin, and he fell as a sack of potatoes. Kongo was seconds away of getting knocked out but he won by knockout instead. It was insane.
Honorable Mentions: The Greatest Fights That Almost Made the List
The fights are so many that I could not even enumerate them. I cannot pass without mentioning some other wars which are worth your time. Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida (The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale): these two are human tornadoes. It was simply non-stop during 15 minutes.
- Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler 1 (Bellator 58): They had both a back and forth before they were in the UFC which made Bellator a household name.
- Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 and 3 (UFC 125 and UFC 136): Maynard hit Edgar three times in the first round of the second fight, then Edgar survived to the draw. During the third encounter, Edgar returned after falling on another knockdown in the first round and had Maynard on the ground.
Conclusion: Why We Love This Sport
With this list of the best fights of all time in the MMA, I realize why I like this sport that much. It is not just about violence. It is about the human will. It is the sight of a person who has reached the stage of fatigue, the stage of suffering, to pursue excellence.
We witnessed how styles of fighting have evolved over the years since the days of the brawling of the days of Griffin vs. Bonnar in fights to high-level chess fighting as witnessed in Adesanya vs. Gastelum. We also experienced the effect of various promotions such as Pride and WEC. We saw great-grand Myths rise And great-grand Myths decline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered the single greatest MMA fight of all time?
Most experts and fans agree that Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale is the most important and one of the greatest fights ever. It saved the UFC and brought the sport to the mainstream. In terms of pure back-and-forth violence, Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2 is often mentioned as the greatest title fight.
Why are there so many UFC fights on the list?
The UFC is the biggest promotion in the world, so they have the most content. However, fights from Pride FC (like Fedor vs. Nogueira and Silva vs. Jackson) and WEC are just as important. They showcase the evolution of fighting styles from different eras.
Where can I watch these classic fights?
Most of these fights are available on UFC Fight Pass, which is the official streaming service for the UFC library. You can also find many full fights on YouTube, though the quality varies.
Who has been in the most "best fights" lists?
Fighters like Robbie Lawler, Diego Sanchez, Wanderlei Silva, and Justin Gaethje are known for their exciting styles. They almost always deliver action, win or lose. They are fan favorites for a reason.
What makes a fight "technical" vs. a "brawl"?
A technical fight is like a chess match. Think Israel Adesanya using feints and range to pick apart his opponent. A brawl, or "slugfest," is like Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, where both fighters stand in the pocket and trade heavy shots with less regard for defense. The best fights often have a mix of both.
