UFC Events

Introduction UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2. August 20, 2016. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Conor McGregor defeated Nate Diaz by majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47) in a five-round war at welterweight. The first event under new WME-IMG ownership. 1,650,000 PPV buys — the highest-selling UFC PPV of all time at that point. McGregor controlled the first two rounds with his boxing, landing the bigger shots and opening cuts above Diaz’s eye. Diaz stormed back in round three, ou

Introduction UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley. July 30, 2016. Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia. Tyron Woodley knocked out Robbie Lawler with an overhand right and follow-up punches 2:12 into round one to win the UFC Welterweight Championship. Lawler had been champion for nearly 22 months; the reign was over in an instant. Woodley was patient in the fight’s opening minute, measuring distance. He cut off the cage and threw a lightning right hand that caught Lawler cleanly. The fo

Introduction UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes. July 9, 2016. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas — the venue’s debut event. Amanda Nunes stopped Miesha Tate with a rear-naked choke 3:16 into round one to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Nunes became the first Brazilian female UFC champion and landed 40 significant strikes in the process of setting up the choke. The event was supposed to be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier 2 for the LHW Championship Unification. Three

Introduction UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2. June 4, 2016. The Forum, Inglewood, California. Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold with a left hook and follow-up punches 3:36 into round one. Accepted on 17 days’ notice as the third-choice replacement. A 10-1 underdog. First title shot of his career at 37. First British UFC champion in a major division. The original main event was Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman rematch — Weidman withdrew May 17 with a neck herniation. Ron

Introduction UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic. May 14, 2016. Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, Brazil. Stipe Miocic walked into a stadium of 45,000 hostile Brazilians and knocked out champion Fabricio Werdum with a single counter right hand 2:47 into round one to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Only the second man in Werdum’s career to stop him. Miocic backpedaled from Werdum’s aggressive forward movement and caught him rushing in with a short right hand to the chin. Werdum fel

Introduction UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux. April 23, 2016. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Jon Jones returned to the UFC Octagon after his April 2015 suspension for the hit-and-run incident, winning the interim LHW title by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-45, 50-45) over Ovince Saint Preux. Jones dominated all five rounds and won his 13th consecutive UFC fight, the second-longest win streak in the promotion’s history at the time. The event was originally planned as Jon

Introduction UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz. March 5, 2016. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Nate Diaz submitted Conor McGregor with a rear-naked choke 4:12 into round two. It was the biggest upset of 2016 and the moment that created the sport’s most commercially successful rivalry. The event drew 1,317,000 PPV buys. The original main event had been McGregor challenging Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC LW Championship. Dos Anjos withdrew with a broken foot 11 days before. Diaz

Introduction UFC 195: Lawler vs. Condit. January 2, 2016. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Robbie Lawler retained the UFC Welterweight Championship against Carlos Condit by split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) in five brutal rounds. Both fighters had knockdowns. Condit outlanded Lawler 198-78 in total strikes — and lost on the scorecards. The fight was originally planned as the co-main event of UFC 193, with Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm as the co-main. After Lawler’s thu

Introduction UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor. December 12, 2015. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo with a left hook 13 seconds into round one — the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. The shot ended Aldo’s 15-fight win streak spanning the WEC and UFC, including nine combined title defences. McGregor became the undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion. In the co-main event, Luke Rockhold stopped Chris Weidman by TKO in round four to win

Introduction UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm. November 14, 2015. Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia. Holly Holm stopped Ronda Rousey with a head kick and hammer fists 59 seconds into round two to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. The biggest upset in women’s MMA history. Rousey’s unbeaten streak ended at 12-0; her three-year WBW title reign was over. She spent the night in hospital. The event drew 56,214 to Etihad Stadium — the most attended UFC event in the promo

Introduction UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson. October 3, 2015. Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. Daniel Cormier made his first UFC Light Heavyweight Championship defence, retaining the title against Alexander Gustafsson by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46). For the second time in two LHW title fights, Gustafsson pushed the champion to the absolute limit and came away without the belt. Gustafsson had been given the title shot coming off a KO loss to Anthony Johnson in Janu

Introduction UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson 2. September 5, 2015. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Demetrious Johnson defended the UFC Flyweight Championship against John Dodson for the second time, winning by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46). It was his seventh consecutive FW title defence, tying Jose Aldo for the most consecutive title defences in UFC history. Johnson nearly pitched a shutout in the rematch. He outlanded Dodson 94-70 in significant strikes. His r

Introduction UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia. August 1, 2015. HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ronda Rousey stopped Bethe Correia with punches 34 seconds into round one to retain the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. It was her third consecutive win in under one minute (Cat Zingano: 14 seconds; Alexis Davis: 16 seconds). The 14,723 in attendance were overwhelmingly pro-Correia; they left in near silence. Correia had said ‘Don’t cry’ to Rousey during the weigh-in stare

Introduction UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor. July 11, 2015. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. One of the most significant events in UFC history and arguably one of the finest single cards ever presented. Conor McGregor won the interim UFC Featherweight Championship by TKO of Chad Mendes in round two. Robbie Lawler defended the WW title against Rory MacDonald in a fight inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as one of the greatest in the promotion’s history. 825,000 PPV buys. The

Introduction UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum. June 13, 2015. Arena Ciudad de México, Mexico City, Mexico. The second UFC event in Mexico. Fabricio Werdum unified the UFC Heavyweight Championship by submitting Cain Velasquez with a guillotine choke on the ground in the third round, at 2:13. This was the fight that had been planned for UFC 180 in November 2014 before Velasquez withdrew with a knee injury three weeks out. Werdum had beaten Mark Hunt for the interim title at UF

Introduction UFC 187: Johnson vs. Cormier. May 23, 2015. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The event was originally headlined by Jon Jones (c) defending the LHW title against Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. On April 26, Jones was named a suspect in a hit-and-run car accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A pregnant woman sustained a broken arm. Jones had fled the scene before returning to retrieve a large handful of cash. On April 28, the UFC stripped Jones of the title and suspen

Introduction UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi. April 25, 2015. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Demetrious Johnson submitted Kyoji Horiguchi with an armbar at 4:59 of round five — with one second remaining in the championship fight. It was the latest submission finish in UFC history and Johnson’s sixth consecutive FW title defence. No one has broken the record. The event was originally planned to be headlined by a BW Championship rematch between TJ Dillashaw and Renan

Introduction UFC 185: Pettis vs. dos Anjos. March 14, 2015. American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas. Rafael dos Anjos won the UFC Lightweight Championship by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) over defending champion Anthony Pettis. It was one of the biggest upsets in LW title history. Dos Anjos scored nine takedowns, outlanded Pettis 90-54 in significant strikes, and fractured his orbital bone in the process. In the co-main event, Joanna Jędrzejczyk won the UFC Wom

Introduction UFC 184: Rousey vs. Zingano. February 28, 2015. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. Ronda Rousey submitted Cat Zingano with an armbar 14 seconds into round one — the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. It was her fifth Women’s Bantamweight Championship defence. The event was originally planned to be headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort. Weidman withdrew with a rib injury weeks before the event. The

Introduction UFC 183: Silva vs. Diaz. January 31, 2015. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Anderson Silva returned to the Octagon for the first time since breaking his leg at UFC 168 on December 28, 2013 — a 13-month absence. His opponent was Nick Diaz, who had been out since losing to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158 in March 2013. Silva won a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) by dissecting Diaz with leg kicks and outstriking him over five rounds. The result was subse