UFC Top 15: Part One

Instead of being excited for a huge UFC event this weekend, the California Governor and Disney pussyfooted around, and unfortunately forced Dana White's hand. UFC 249 became just the fourth pay-per view event in company history to be canceled. It joins the infamous list below.

UFC 233 - The planned January 26, 2019 event was cancelled after it's planned main event of Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw was earmarked instead for the promotion's debut on ESPN+ that same month. In lieu of a replacement main event, the show was scrapped.

UFC 176 - The show, scheduled for August 2, 2014 was cancelled after Jose Aldo suffered an injury less than a month before the show.

UFC 151 - This show set the precedent of pay-per view events being cancelled due to a suitable main event. Scheduled for September 2, 2012 with a main event of Jon Jones and Dan Henderson was cancelled on August 23rd. After getting injured, Hendo had to pull out of the title match, and Jon Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice. The Sonnen fight eventually happened at UFC 159.

But don't you dare be sour, since it gave me time to reflect on my almost eleven year fandom of the sport of mixed martial arts. As we head into a freshly announced May 9th card that may or may not be the milestone UFC 250, I'm going to look back at the top 15 UFC events from UFC 100-248. This three week countdown will hopefully lead us into the May 9th supershow.

My list favors events of the past five years of the sport. The rise of Women's MMA has allowed the UFC to stack shows with multiple title fights, which was almost unheard of in the early 2010s. Going through some events, I was even surprised to see how many Pay Per Views went off without a title on the line.

15) UFC 229 -October 6th, 2018

UFC 229 was the culmination of one of the ugliest feuds in UFC history. Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov hatred for each other bubbled over after the now infamous UFC 223 press conference in Brooklyn, where Conor threw a dolly through a bus window to go after Khabib and his team. In McGregor's first fight back in the Octagon after almost two years, the Irishman looked rusty and was handily beaten by Khabib, eventually submitting in 3:03 of the fourth round. The fight itself took an immediate backseat to the post fight brawl, similar to Strikeforce Nashville incident, when Khabib attacked McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis. This caused all hell to break loose, and is still one of the most unforgettable moments in UFC history.

In the co-main event of this show, Tony Ferguson defeated Anthony Pettis due to a corner stoppage after the second round. That set up another potential for the Khabib-Tony superfight that had to get cancelled once again this month. On the undercard, the Black Beast won on a last second knockout and dropped the famous "My balls was hot" line during a post-fight interview with Rogan. Future light heavyweight challenger Dominick Reyes defeated OSP as well.

14) UFC 167 - November 16, 2013

UFC 167 will be remembered as the night the GOAT almost lost his welterweight crown. GSP was in the midst of his legendary 10 consecutive title defenses, and won a controversial decision over up and comer Johny Hendricks. In the shocking post-fight press conference, St Pierre gave his intentions that he would be walking away from the sport, and officially relinquished the belt on December 13th. Georges has only fought once since this event, defeating Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at UFC 217.

Johny Hendricks went on to defeat Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 to win the title in another controversial decision, and lost the immediate rematch at UFC 181. Hendricks would go on to lose five of his next seven fights and be cut by the UFC.

In the undercard, Rashad Evans knocked out Chael Sonnen in the first round. Robbie Lawler defeated Rory MacDonald by decision which eventually set up the war they'd have in the rematch. Future welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley, had his 3rd fight in the UFC knocking out Josh Koscheck.

13) UFC 202 - August 20, 2016

After suffering his first lost in the UFC to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, McGregor and Diaz had an insane brawl that is remembered as one of the best fights in the sports' history. Both warriors landed over 150 strikes over the course of five rounds, in which every judge gave Conor rounds 1, 2, and 4. The third round saw Diaz come close to finishing McGregor after getting him up against the cage and landing blow after blow. I hope we see a completion of this trilogy.

Personally, this was a memorable night for me. After seeing NXT Takeover in Brooklyn, I got back to Manhattan in time for the main event. Watching McGregor fight in an Irish bar a few blocks away from MSG was an awesome experience.

Fireworks were going off on the undercard, with every fight ending in a stoppage. Rumble Johnson defeated Glover Teixeira in :13 seconds in the co-main event. Donald Cerrone, Mike Perry, and Tim Means all won by TKO in this event.

12) UFC 165 - September 21, 2013

In his 6th light heavyweight title defense, Jon Jones and Alexander Gustaffson had one of the most exciting title fights in UFC history. The two men traded 244 significant strikes, which broke the record for a title fight. Jones' mettle was tested as the Swede became one of the first fighters to stand and trade with Bones, and even win two of the first three rounds. A spinning elbow in the fourth round sparked enough momentum in the championship rounds for Jones to retain the belt.

In the co-main event, Rena Barao knocked out Eddie Wineland with a vicious spinning head kick :35 into the second round to retain the interim bantamweight title. The card also featured future champ Khabib's fifth fight in the UFC defeating Pat Healy.

11) UFC 232 - December 29, 2018

In a card that was shrouded in controversy, after having to move from Vegas to Inglewood, CA on less than week's notice. Jon Jones tested for a minor amount of turinabol is his system, the Nevada State Athletic Commission wouldn't sanction his fight, so instead of cancelling his main event, Dana and the UFC just moved it.

In the rematch of UFC 165, Jones defeated Gustaffson in 2:02 of the third round landing a takedown and finishing Gustaffson with strikes from the top position. Unlike their first fight, Jone kept his distance from the Swede, and was much more calculating.

The co-main event featured Amanda Nunes stopping Cris Cyborg's twenty-fight (and 13 year) win streak in just :51. This fight cemented Nunes' female GOAT status, knocking off Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, and Valentina Shevchenko in a 24 month period.

On Tuesday night, Dana White gave MMA fans hope again, announcing a May 9th return to action. I'm cautiously optimistic about this, since I doubt the Baldfather would want to eat his shorts again after having to cancel the April 18th show. Crossing my fingers that we'll be getting fights at least once a week for the near future, since the UFC needs to fulfill 42 events this events this year. WWE opened the door for the UFC to hold events in Florida, with Governor Ron DeSantis announcing sporting events as essential business.

According to ESPN, the planned full fight card includes:

Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje -- Interim lightweight championship
Henry Cejudo (c) vs. Dominick Cruz -- Bantamweight championship
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Felecia Spencer -- Women's featherweight championship
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar

Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro
Alexei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
Ronaldo Souza vs. Uriah Hall
Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price

In addition to that good news, WWE Money in the Bank is confirmed to be on May 10th. The MITB Ladder matches will be taking a different turn this year, as Superstars have to climb the "Corporate Ladder" fighting from the ground floor to the roof of WWE HQ in Connecticut. The positive reaction of the Boneyard and Firefly Funhouse Wrestlemania matches opened the door for more cinematic wrestling. AEW also confirmed the Double or Nothing PPV will go on as scheduled as an empty arena event on May 23rd. Hopefully team sports won't be too far behind.