For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of the UFC. For those of you who don’t know, the UFC, which stands for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a mixed martial arts promotion that is widely considered to be the highest tier in the sport. Even if you’re unaware of the sport at all, names like Conor McGregor and Anderson Silva are synonymous with elite athleticism and have crossed over into the popular culture.
Like I said, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of the UFC. It started when my dad had his friends over to watch fights on Wednesday nights after church. I would come in and sit on the floor and would react as the adults did. When a head kick would land to the side of their skull, I would audibly wince like the rest of them, and if one fighter put the other in a particularly gruesome headlock, I would echo the chorus of, “It’s over, no way he gets out of that.”
As I grew up, my relationship with MMA was on-again, off-again. I would go years without watching a full fight, but then a particularly eccentric fighter, like Brock Lesnar or Conor McGregor, would appear, and I would be all in. My enthusiasm came to a head last summer when, in that weird limbo between basketball and football, I was craving a high-profile athletic event to invest in and stumbled back upon the world of UFC.
In the past year since, I have watched almost every card the UFC has put on in their entirety, and still find a great passion in keeping up with the over-the-top characters, next-level techniques and blood-boiling rivalries. In an attempt to sway you over into the world of mixed martial arts, I have prepared this list of five fights anyone should watch if they want to get into the sport.
- Aldo v. McGregor (UFC 194)
The name Conor McGregor has already been mentioned a lot. His charisma and ability to back up his trash talk are what catapulted him into the spotlight in 2015. This is McGregor in his purest form. Forget about the Floyd Mayweather cash grab or the Khabib disaster; this was the sport’s most electrifying superstar cementing his legacy.
At the same time, José Aldo, the Featherweight champion at the time, was already considered one of the greatest to ever fight in his division. Aldo hadn’t lost a fight since 2005, meaning he was going on ten years of being undefeated, and while McGregor had the hype, most expected Aldo’s experience to conquer Conor’s spunk.
What followed was McGregor’s star-making performance. Both men came out ready to scrap, but thirteen seconds later, McGregor stood over an unconscious Aldo as the arena erupted. If you truly want to understand the hype and see why McGregor is the star he has become, you have to watch this fight.
- Gastelum v. Adesanya (UFC 236)
I warmed you up with a short fight because this one is a doozy. A five-round war between two Middleweights with an interim championship on the line. Kelvin Gastelum was an established veteran who had earned an official title shot before having the champion pull out at the last minute, and Israel Adesanya was a superstar on the rise with a McGregor-type gravitas surrounding him.
Adesanya was untested in the UFC, having fought a few other rising stars with much higher future upsides, and one aging Anderson Silva, who wasn’t the dominant champion he once was. Gastelum had fought the best in the division, and often times made quick work of them. The match-up was highly anticipated, and rightly so.
What ensued was a five-round slobberknocker of kicks, punches, standing submission attempts and an overwhelming amount of talent. Both fighters put on a show of epic proportions, and I won’t spoil the ending of this fight. You just need to watch.
- Lewis v. Volkov (UFC 229)
If the first two fights are showcases for meteoric rises, this one is a showcase for the spontaneity of the sport. Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov are both 260 pound behemoths, and the match-up looked to be exciting because of their out-of-nowhere knockout power.
To make a long story short, Volkov, a bruting Russian, absolutely dominated Lewis for 2.9 rounds before succumbing to Lewis’ knockout power in the last 15 seconds. Lewis allowed his power to out-punch Volkov’s technical prowess and became a fan-favorite based off both his never-give-up attitude and his impeccable mic skills.
- Kongo v. Berry (UFC Live: Kongo v Berry)
While this isn’t a recent fight (it took place in 2011), this fight will forever have a place in my heart. To this day, if anyone asks why I enjoyed the “barbaric” sport of MMA, I show them this clip.
Once again, we see two Heavyweight fighters throwing their weight around, except this time, we see Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo, two heavyweights that are less known for the technical aspect of fighting, and more for the “run at your opponent, close your eyes and start swinging” style. This fight is what I believe to be the equivalent of Thor and Hulk facing off in a fight.
In a fight that has about as many twists and turns as an M. Night Shyamalan movie, Kongo and Barry continue to knock each other out, while being able to instantly recover and retaliate. The fight is super human and reminds me of a firework: not around for long, but incredibly spectacular.
- Jones v. Everybody
I’m cheating here, but only because I can’t pick a favorite fight from Jon “Bones” Jones. Jones is by far the most dominant fighter to have ever fought in the UFC and still maintains his unbeaten record, having been active since 2008. Jones’s athleticism cannot be understated. The middle brother of NFL staples Arthur and Chandler Jones, Jon Jones can’t be touched in the Octagon.
All five of these highlights are from a range of different years, highlighting just how easy Jones’s run in the UFC has been for him. Jones is the perfect athlete to help lead a launch into the mainstream for the UFC, with his charm, mic skills and ability.
Unfortunately, his personal life makes Antonio Brown look like Bill Gates. Because of Jones’s constant excursions in potential doping scandals, hit and runs and other nefarious activities, he will never reach his fullest potential, and what that could mean for the UFC. With that being said, the potential he has reached right now seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of those against him, and now he seems to be on a collision course with the “Stylebender” Israel Adesanya, which will be appointment viewing for anyone even mildly interested in the sport.
While all five of these fights are great introductions into the world of MMA, there are thousands of other matches and highlights that are just as entertaining. There is nothing quite like watch a full UFC card. They can go on for hours, and when they’re slow, they’re really slow. But when they’re high, there is nothing like it.