The Blog

 Introduction UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2. October 8, 2016. Manchester Arena, Manchester, England. Michael Bisping retained the UFC Middleweight Championship in his hometown, defeating Dan Henderson by UD (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in a five-round war. Henderson knocked Bisping down twice with his overhand right and still lost. Their first fight was UFC 100 in 2009 — Henderson knocked Bisping cold with the H-Bomb in round two in one of the most celebrated KOs in UFC history. Seven years later, B

 Introduction UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem. September 10, 2016. Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse), Cleveland, Ohio. Stipe Miocic made his first UFC Heavyweight Championship defence, knocking out Alistair Overeem with ground-and-pound at 4:27 of round one. In front of 18,000 fans in his hometown, Miocic survived an early knockdown and a guillotine attempt before closing the show. Overeem dropped Miocic with a left hand in the opening seconds and locked in a guillotine choke on t

 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, outlanding McGregor 49-26

 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 approximately 20 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 follow-up punches

 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 days before the event,

 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. Ronaldo Souza was next in

 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 fell face-first to the can

 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 Jones vs. Daniel Cormier 2

 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 accepted on 11 days’ no

 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 main event of UFC 193, with Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm as the main event of UFC 195 on Jan 2, 2016. After Lawler’s

 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 18-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 the UFC Middleweight C

 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 promotion’s history at that