The Blog

 Introduction UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2 — August 4, 2018, Staples Center, Los Angeles. ~300,000 PPV buys. T.J. Dillashaw retained the UFC Bantamweight Championship, stopping bitter rival and former teammate Cody Garbrandt by TKO (knee and punches) at 4:10 of round one — an exact repeat of his first-round finish at UFC 217. Their rivalry, built on a fractured Team Alpha Male locker room and genuine personal animosity, was the most intense the bantamweight division had seen in years. The

 Introduction UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier took place on July 7, 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of International Fight Week. The arena was sold out with 17,464 fans, the gate reached $5,677,238, and the event drew an estimated 380,000 PPV buys — one of the largest in UFC history to that point. It was the headline event of the UFC’s flagship annual week, and it delivered something historic: Daniel Cormier knocked out reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic at 4:33

Introduction UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2 — June 9, 2018, United Center, Chicago. 18,117 fans, gate of $2,550,000, an estimated 250,000 PPV buys. The night arrived already compromised: Yoel Romero weighed 186.0 lbs on his first attempt at the 185 lb middleweight limit, came back at 185.2 lbs in extra time, and was declared non-title by the Illinois commission at the one-hour mark. He was fined 30% of his purse — approximately $150,000 — payable to Whittaker. His previous miss had come at UFC

 Introduction UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta. April 7, 2018. Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York. Khabib Nurmagomedov became the undisputed UFC Lightweight Champion, defeating Al Iaquinta by UD (50-45, 50-44, 50-45) in the most chaotic fight week in UFC history. The card was the fourth attempt at a Khabib-Ferguson unification fight; the third time Iaquinta was the headliner; and the week the UFC learned that Conor McGregor was capable of anything. The week’s timeline: Ferguson tore his knee on Apr

 Introduction UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington. May 12, 2018. Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Amanda Nunes made her third UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship defence, stopping Raquel Pennington with hammer fists at 2:36 of round five. UFC 224 was the first event in UFC history headlined by two openly gay fighters. The fight’s most discussed moment came at the end of round four: Pennington, her nose broken and face battered, told her corner she wanted to stop. Her corner sent her out for r

 Introduction UFC 222: Cyborg vs. Kunitskaya. March 3, 2018. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Cris Cyborg made her second UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship defence, stopping Yana Kunitskaya by TKO (ground-and-pound) at 3:25 of round one. Cyborg post-fight: ‘I want Amanda Nunes next. She called me out and I want to fight her.’ The card was significantly reshuffled. The originally planned main event — Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar for the FW Championship — collapsed when Holloway withdrew with a l

 Introduction UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou. January 20, 2018. TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts — the first UFC event at the newly built venue. Stipe Miocic retained the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Francis Ngannou by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44). The win was his third consecutive HW title defence — a new UFC record. Ngannou entered as the most feared puncher in the HW division. Miocic neutralised the power with relentless wrestling, completing 6 of 14 takedowns and wearing Nga

 Introduction UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold. February 11, 2018. Perth Arena, Perth, Western Australia — the first UFC event in Perth and in Western Australia, after the state government overturned its ban on cage fighting. Yoel Romero defeated Luke Rockhold by TKO at 1:48 of round three with a ferocious overhand left and follow-up uppercut. Romero had missed weight at 187.7 lbs — two pounds over — meaning only Rockhold was eligible to win the interim MW title. The event was originally planned as

 Introduction UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm. December 30, 2017. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Cris Cyborg retained the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship against Holly Holm by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) in the toughest test of Cyborg’s career. Holm became the first woman to go the distance against Cyborg in nine years. Holm bloodied Cyborg’s nose with a left hand in round one and won the first two rounds on two judges’ scorecards. Cyborg took over from round three, her volume and power

 Introduction UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre. November 4, 2017. Madison Square Garden, New York City. The second UFC event at MSG produced the most stunning title-fight night in the promotion’s history: three title fights, three new champions. All three champions — Michael Bisping, Cody Garbrandt, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk — left without their belts. Georges St-Pierre returned from a 4-year absence to submit Bisping in round three and win the UFC Middleweight Championship. TJ Dillashaw stopped Garb

 Introduction UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2. December 2, 2017. Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan — the first UFC event at the newly built venue. Max Holloway made his first UFC Featherweight Championship defence, stopping José Aldo by TKO at 4:51 of round three. The same round as their first fight at UFC 212. Francis Ngannou knocked out Alistair Overeem with a single left uppercut at 1:42 of round one to earn the UFC HW title shot against Stipe Miocic. It was one of the most devastating sin

 Introduction UFC 216: Ferguson vs. Lee. October 7, 2017. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Tony Ferguson submitted Kevin Lee with a triangle choke at 4:02 of round three to win the interim UFC Lightweight Championship. Demetrious Johnson broke Anderson Silva’s all-time record for consecutive UFC title defences, stopping Ray Borg with a suplex armbar in round five — possibly the greatest submission finish in the sport’s history. The event was the first major Las Vegas sporting event following the Octob