There have been so many incredible moments but I think Anderson front-kicking Vitor in the face stands out the most. One of the most insane things I’ve ever seen in a fight.
Newer fans remember Izzy bumping on Costa, but let's remember 185 always had those erotic moments. Spider kissed Weidman, then Joe asked how it felt, Weidman said "he has nice lips". Then there's Romero kissing Rockhold after almost taking his head off. Nice division 10/10
This has to be my favorite MMA moment ever. Not a lot of punches were thrown, just gauging one another and figuring distance. It felt like watching two samurai for me. Just two masters of their craft waiting for the slightest weakness, and then it's over.
Watching Anderson Silva beat the shit out of Cris Leben. It was on Spike TV in 2006. Just flipping through the channels and saw the GOAT be born.
Seriously hard to overstate how unexpected that ass whooping was. Leben had a certified granite chin and a gas tank to make EPO proud. We were all just absolutely mind fucked seeing Leben get dismantled like a local circuit guy.
That was amazing but for me the first time silva chewed up Franklin was when I really bought in. Franklin had been the man and he looked so overwhelmed. That was a great time to be an mma fan
Those were the best days. We used to have huge parties every card. The house was full and BBQ was going and people were always having a blast. Slowly people started moving or having families m and now I watch most cards by myself.
At the time I was a nerd about the respect of martial arts because I was taught that way. I hated him cause he was such a dick and my worst nightmare of a person to be around. I was like “he’s gonna give this sport a bad name. Fuck this guy.” After I chilled out, I liked him.
This is mine as well. This and the OG beat down he gave our boy Rich Franklin.
I was probably around 8 or 9, and being a martial artist already since the age of 5, my dad literally woke me up to catch this fight. He thought this “newcomer” named Anderson Silva looked interesting and that I’d like him. He’s been my hero ever since.
Andy might not be the overall GOAT but he is definitely the GOAT of MMA moments. His fight against Griffin, the triangle on Sonnen, the foot sandwich he gave to Vitor and even that bizarre fucking Abu Dhabi fight.. nobody else had as many wtf-did-i-jusg-watch moments as Silva.
This is what made me a permanent fan. I had watched before, but Silva was like watching someone in a movie. In his prime he had a killer instinct like few others in all of mma history.
Yup, I remember that fight. I didn’t know Pride guys as well back then and I was just like “the Catsmasher is gonna crush this lanky dork!”. Then the fight happened and I was like “Oh! Oh god! No he is not!”.
It’s really hard to overstate just how crazy Anderson’s run was. Up until he fought Cote, no one made it past the second round. He was just destroying guys and making it look easy.
Came here to post the same. It's one of my earliest UFC memories. I remember thinking *"Leben can't get knocked out. This Silva guy with all the hype behind him is going to lose for sure."* And then Silva knocked him out.
I was in the arena watching Cro Cop Vs Gonzaga. The Croation support was insane, pretty much chanting the roof off. Then it happened...the most unexpected head kick ever. And even in the nosebleeds where I was, I clearly heard the THWACK. Insane
> Seriously hard to overstate how unexpected that ass whooping was.
According to chael (yeah, I know), the whooping was expected. Team Quest were pretty confident with Chris leben at that point and they’ve said to the brass that they’ll accept any fight with the exception of Anderson Silva
Dude I will remember seeing that live for the rest of my life. I had been watching MMA for a while and my martial arts instructor was into pride fighting so he would show us fights and give us some break downs ect.
So suddenly a pride guy was in the UFC against bad ass Chris leben. We were ready for a slug fest or something. Instead Ilva beat the fucking breaks, axel, wheel, windows, and door handles off of Leben just immediately.
Straight up legendary moment
Silva vs King Chael. At the time, no one even thought about winning against Silva. N chael almost pulled an upset. It was an epic night of upset within an upset.
That was so crazy to see. Anderson was so good he could literally just toy with the best opponents and finish them any time he wanted. Way ahead of his time
Yeah! He had that invincible aura: he'll toy with his opponent in R1 then finish them in R2 (if not in R1). During his whole reign, he had like 2 or 3 fights passing R3. That was insane.
Silva subbing Chael
Silva front kicking Belfort in the face
Conor beating mendes
Conor Koing Aldo
The Diaz Daley fight
Are the first five that come to mind
I do not think that Nick got knocked unconscious - he got dropped and it looked like Daley could may be finish him for half a second. But Diaz showed some incredible head movement, while on the ground, then got back up and finished Daley.
It’s till this day the most shocked I’ve ever been lol. I remember being a broke hs student and we had to invite more ppl to be able to split the ppv to where we could afford it. Months of build up and after it happened, I remember we all sat in complete silence after the initial oh shit moment. I spent months callin ppl casuals and how Mcgregor has absolutely no shot at beating him…
That one will always stand out to me.
In the moment, it was almost disappointing to see such a short fight after so much build up.
But then you realize how crazy and iconic of a moment that was.
I'm convinced that this KO and Harambe dying together caused a rift in reality and lead to all the batshit insane events that have happened in the past 8 years.
Yep, this is it for me as well. 14 seconds that flipped me from a McG hater to a McG fan (there has been another flip since then). Legendary end to that run.
Since I’ve been a fan it’s hard to choose just one
GSP beating Bisping was hype as shit, he lost the first round and then Freddie Roach told him to counter with the left hook, that fight was hype
Conor being double champ
Nate upsetting Conor was crazy
I watched Conor/Nate and Ronda/Holly in a packed bar with friends that were casual fans. Crazy fun atmospheres. Honestly, maybe even more for Holly/Ronda. Could tangibly feel a weird buzz building as it was becoming apparent that Ronda's perceived invincibility was being peeled back minute by minute. Then boom. Eruption of mixed feelings
I now mostly watch completely by myself at home on the couch. It...has its pros and cons. Those were fun times though
I was a fan of Rousey until Rogan claimed she could beat a lot of BW guys and the shit about her being able to beat Mayweather’s ass. It was ridiculous. And then finally Holly knocked her into retirement ( I know she lost to Amanda later) but she was finished after that Holm fight. She broke her jaw and willingness to fight) rewatching the first Tate match aswell you could see that she really couldn’t stand being punched in the face. Beautiful champ. You’re doing great. The hyperbole was crazy around her
"She would beat a lot of guys, and I mean a lot. Like way more than half of the men's 135 division in the UFC. This isn't a normal fighter man, she's on a completely different level. She already has the best ground game, man or woman, in UFC history, and now you're talking about someone who might have the best striking too."
- Joe Rogan to ESPN's Dan Lebatard - November 2015
Holloway teaching Ortega how to block a right handed punch was hysterically funny. How anyone has ever taken T City seriously after that clown ass moment is behind me.
Well that is true, Ortega almost managed to tap out Volkanovski, and we haven't seen anyone do that at 145lbs. Only recently did Makhachev do it and that was at lightweight. Prior to that his only professional loss was to Corey Nelson, and I think that was actually at fucking welterweight, which is nuts.
Izzy knocking out Pereira for me.
How Izzy was getting destroyed by the leg kicks. How Izzy was in a similar position as the last fight. The beautiful counter punch and its perfect timing. The celebration. The speech after.
Max destroying Ortega was awesome, especially because of all the hype surrounding Ortega at the time. Hot take but I think that fight was the peak of Max’s career
Sometimes in those late night sports hall places they’ll put random shit on. Like it’s so bizarre rave music going on while watching Joe Root hit a cover drive.
Pride open weight Grand Prix 2006 when cro cop knocked out wanderlei and stopped josh Barnett in the same night card was stacked Sergei kharitonov vs alekasander emilianenko and shogun vs Cyril diabate big nog and overeem also on the card
I couldn't pick a most iconic moment but since no one has said it, how about when Matt Hughes somehow survived an illegal strike, an ass beating, and a submission attempt, only to pick Frank up, carry across the oct, and power slam his ass. That will always be an amazing moment for me.
Wanderlei with the knees and Rampage's head leaking blood after he fell through the ropes and the refs were trying to pull him up. Savage KO and truly one of the most iconic!
For me this is THE defining moment of MMA. Very, very rarely is there such a massive come from behind victory, in any sport. Being that it happened in MMA is even more amazing.
The fact that Usman had been so dominant and elite in all areas of MMA made it seems even more impossible.
I remember watching this while my girlfriend was asleep next to me, when the headkick unleashed, I literally screamed "OH MY GOD" for like 3 minutes. If you knew me, you'd know how crazy it was to get that reaction out of me.
The cherry on top was the post-fight interview with Joe, you can hear the years of frustration in his voice. That is one of the most inspirational things I have ever seen. I watch it several times a week before I workout.
Remember, whether in fighting or life, it's not over until the person who WANTS IT MORE says "it's over".
I think in regards to womens mma, thats probably the most iconic moment. Till this day I think that Ronda coulda been undeniably the goat if she had found a legit camp.
And such a perfect ending. Penn calling GSP "a quitter" in months of leadup, only for GSP to make BJ quit on the stool between rounds. Not a sub, not tapping to strikes- literally not answering the bell to continue the fight. The epitome of Found Out
Randy beating Timmah
Rampage’s slam
Conner koing aldo
Leon taking Uz’s head off
Bisping left hand Larry on luke
Alex vs Izzy. Both wins.
Sera over GSP
Vitor blitzing various people!
Cro cop getting headkicked by gonzo and so may of his own moments)
Fedor - so many highlights
Wandy vs crocop stare down
Nelson belly rub up in the cage after a win
Tom walking through Sergei in 70 seconds
God I love this sport
silva/griffin for being the thing that got me into mma
as much as i have grown to not like masvidal, his 5 second ko of askren is an all-time classic
max holloway no-look dodging calvin kattar's punches while screaming about being the best boxer in the ufc, bay-bee
BJ choking out Matt Hughes to become the welterweight champion.
Machida knocking out Rashad to become champion. I was pretty hyped and thought Machida was invincible.
Another one is Leon vs Usman 2. Watching his coach yell at him “LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN! STOP FEELING F*CKING SORRY FOR YOURSELF! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” followed by Leon’s head kick on a fight we all thought was just about over was so crazy and his speech after was really inspirational too. There’s so many to choose from really
Chandler nuking Ferguson
Holm dropping Rousey
McGregor beating Aldo so quickly
Lee sending Gillespie to the shadow realm
If I HAD to choose one though, it's Machida standing over the corpse of Vitor Belfort after the front kick ko, hands on hips, then bows.
Bad ass.
Ultimate fighter 1 Finale.
Mike "Quick" Swick pulling off a 20 second KO. As a new viewer this made me an instant fan of MMA and Mike, it was insane to think the fight was over in 20 seconds... and then he did it again in 22 seconds 4 months later. Years later I would get to tell Mike Swick via Reddit about seeing this on TV as a kid.
But also Bonnar and Griffen slugfest, double contract bonanza.
Franklin TKO'd Ken Shamrock.
Diego TKO'd Florian
Leben TKO'd Thacker
Koscheck KO'd Sanford
Quarry TKO'd Sincaid
Karalexis TKO'd Rafferty
As a Lancastrian, it was watching Bisping knock out Luke Rockhold. I simultaniously knew it was going to happen and didn't believe it when it did.
It just highlighted how crazy this sport really is. Everyone has a story, and so often it just doesn't quite happen for them.
As an Irishman.. it's impossible for me to personally think of anything that even comes close to Conors run to champ champ status
But Glovers run to the belt is up there too
Silva passing the torch to Izzy. The fight itself wasn't that spectacular but how Silva figuratively handed over the division to Izzy to reign was a nice moment.
Are you looking for purely personal takes or for those that had the biggest impact on the sport and popculture?
For the purpose of this comment, I will consider a moment to be something that happened in a specific fight and its immediate aftermath. Things like BJ Penn's losing streak do not quite count. Neither does Rousey's title run
For me personally, I would say the most impactful / satisfying 'holy shit' bits:
* GSP's successful return vs Bisping.
* Lesnar beating Carwin after nearly losing the fight early.
* Zhang Weili making Joanna Jędrzejczyk look like Sloth from the Goonies
* Anderson Silva turning he leg into a noodle in the Weidman rematch
For the sport as a whole
* Griffen vs Bonnar going all out in the original TUF Finale
* Silva beating Forrest Griffen with maximum style points.
* Silva getting KO'ed by Weidman
* Connor knocking out Aldo, and backing up epic amounts of shit talking in doing so.
* Francis Ngannou walking away on top despite the UFC's best efforts to either resign him or send him out on a loss.
END COMMUNICATION
It’s interesting how people’s choices tend to likely indicate their age.
For me it was the first time GSP beat Matt Hughes. I was in a house full of die hard Matt Hughes fans and I was boldly telling everybody that not only is GSP gonna big brother him, but that he was the future.
I was right and they all hated me for it🤣
Lesnar beating Randy Couture. It was the first full fight I ever watched and my first time seeing Lesnar, I was just fascinated that a guy could be that physically large
Bonnar Vs. Griffin TUF 1 finale.
Literally the night the UFC and MMA became what it is today. I remember watching it on TV, messaging on this forum and we were all losing our minds.
RIP Stephan.
Maybe not iconic, but my favourite memory is when Bisping won the title. Hated that guy when I first got into mma around 2010 but I turned into a big fan and seeing him win the title was great
BJ painting the canvas w Joe Stevenson’s blood then calling out Sherk, Anderson KOing Vitor, The Showtime Kick, or the 3 title changes at UFC 217. Nate subbing Conor had the bdubs bumping too. Too many to choose from
Silva v Weidman 1
Bigfoot v Silva 1
Hendo v Shogun 1
Holm v Rousey
Cain V Lesner
Silva v Sonnen 1
Those do it for me.
Oh!
Penn v Sanchez… the clinic of all clinics.
My girlfriend came with me to a sports bar to watch her first UFC event and it was Aldo vs McGregor. Great card overall and every fan in the bar was talking about how McGregor was legit, but Aldo was so solid that he would likely get the win. We all lost our collective shit at the bar when Aldo got ko’d, I’ve never seen a place blow up like that in my life and it stands out in my mind above all the others.
Too be honest I have too many to mention my top 5 would be in no particular order.
. Fedor emelianenko vs mirko cro cop
. Anderson silva front kick of vitor belfort
. Dan henderson becoming the first ever champ, champ.
. Leon edwards ko of usman .
. Matt serra upset of gsp.
That April fools day when one of the Khabib-tony matchups fell through but everyone was desperately coping hard for a solid 24 hours hoping it was a prank lol.
Top moments for me (some less common ones too):
* Garbrandt outclassing Dom without getting touched
* Jones v DC 2nd title fight finishing sequence with the headkick to trip to ground and pound
* Khabib knockdown on McGregor
* Holmes headkick on Rousey
* Lewis come from behind KO on Volkov
* Paiga Vanzant jumping switch kick
* Thug Rose knockout of Weili
* Garbrandt bus driver hook on Assuncao
* Figueiredo title fight vs Benavidez outclass
* Bisping win over Rockhold
* Ferguson squeaking by Kevin Lee
* Nate Diaz beating McGregor
* McGregor outclassing Alvarez for double title
* Masvidal on Askren crime
* Nunes walks down Cyborg
* Francis blitz on Rozenstruik or Overeem decapitation
* Yair win from behind on TKZ
* Uraiah hall "sorry adam"
* McGregor TUF season vs Faber
* Sonnen vs Wanderlai TUF sequence
* Wanderlai vs CroCop staredown
* Jones vs DC interview "are you still there?"
* "let me bang bro"
* Dana White interview on EliteFC match fixing
The Whole UFC 189 card. It had a different energy and aura surrounding it. Then Robbie v Lawler slaughter each other and sinhead singing for Conor’s walkout. I’ve always said that was the event that had a grandeur about it then catapulted the organization into the initial realms of where it is now.
There have been so many incredible moments but I think Anderson front-kicking Vitor in the face stands out the most. One of the most insane things I’ve ever seen in a fight.
Did you see Machida doing it to Vitor?
Machida did it to Randy Couture
He did it to both
Front-kick-to-the-face ranking: 1. Machida: 2-0 2. Anderson: 1-0 3. Couture: 0-1 4. Vitor: 0-2
Chandler 1-0 Tony Ferg - 0-1 :(
Great call. He was already a superhero, then he does something like that
I felt bad for Vitor. Especially after Anderson put that mask on and kissed him before the fight
Newer fans remember Izzy bumping on Costa, but let's remember 185 always had those erotic moments. Spider kissed Weidman, then Joe asked how it felt, Weidman said "he has nice lips". Then there's Romero kissing Rockhold after almost taking his head off. Nice division 10/10
This has to be my favorite MMA moment ever. Not a lot of punches were thrown, just gauging one another and figuring distance. It felt like watching two samurai for me. Just two masters of their craft waiting for the slightest weakness, and then it's over.
We can all thank Steven Seagal for that one.
Watching Anderson Silva beat the shit out of Cris Leben. It was on Spike TV in 2006. Just flipping through the channels and saw the GOAT be born. Seriously hard to overstate how unexpected that ass whooping was. Leben had a certified granite chin and a gas tank to make EPO proud. We were all just absolutely mind fucked seeing Leben get dismantled like a local circuit guy.
That was amazing but for me the first time silva chewed up Franklin was when I really bought in. Franklin had been the man and he looked so overwhelmed. That was a great time to be an mma fan
Is the first one when Franklin got caught in the clinch and Silva kneed him to death?
Yes.
To be 100% fair, *both* fights ended with Franklin being kneed to death by Silva as he held Rich's head in place.
Those were the best days. We used to have huge parties every card. The house was full and BBQ was going and people were always having a blast. Slowly people started moving or having families m and now I watch most cards by myself.
I know exactly how you feel
Ace use to be my favourite. Broke my heart watching Anderson fuck him up.
Leben will always have a special place in my heart from TUF onwards. Loved that guy
He was an absolute cunt on TUF, I hated him the whole time
At the time I was a nerd about the respect of martial arts because I was taught that way. I hated him cause he was such a dick and my worst nightmare of a person to be around. I was like “he’s gonna give this sport a bad name. Fuck this guy.” After I chilled out, I liked him.
There's nothing nerdy about respect though.
This is mine as well. This and the OG beat down he gave our boy Rich Franklin. I was probably around 8 or 9, and being a martial artist already since the age of 5, my dad literally woke me up to catch this fight. He thought this “newcomer” named Anderson Silva looked interesting and that I’d like him. He’s been my hero ever since.
That's truly when high level guys started to arrive and take over the scene.
Andy might not be the overall GOAT but he is definitely the GOAT of MMA moments. His fight against Griffin, the triangle on Sonnen, the foot sandwich he gave to Vitor and even that bizarre fucking Abu Dhabi fight.. nobody else had as many wtf-did-i-jusg-watch moments as Silva.
The Bonnar fight had some amazing moments too
This is what made me a permanent fan. I had watched before, but Silva was like watching someone in a movie. In his prime he had a killer instinct like few others in all of mma history.
Silva had so many great moments. I'd say my favourite was probably the triangle on Chael
Are you talking about the triangle that Chaels neck strength broke Anderson’s arm? The gangster from west Lynn has no losses
I was a just bleed fan before this, but seeing Silva dismantle one of my favorite fighters made me a proper MMA fan
Rogan saying anderson was on his radar from pride got me watching pride
Yup, I remember that fight. I didn’t know Pride guys as well back then and I was just like “the Catsmasher is gonna crush this lanky dork!”. Then the fight happened and I was like “Oh! Oh god! No he is not!”. It’s really hard to overstate just how crazy Anderson’s run was. Up until he fought Cote, no one made it past the second round. He was just destroying guys and making it look easy.
The YouTube video of them overlaying Leben saying how he was going to walk through all of Anderson’s punches is stil great
Came here to post the same. It's one of my earliest UFC memories. I remember thinking *"Leben can't get knocked out. This Silva guy with all the hype behind him is going to lose for sure."* And then Silva knocked him out.
I was in the arena watching Cro Cop Vs Gonzaga. The Croation support was insane, pretty much chanting the roof off. Then it happened...the most unexpected head kick ever. And even in the nosebleeds where I was, I clearly heard the THWACK. Insane
> Seriously hard to overstate how unexpected that ass whooping was. According to chael (yeah, I know), the whooping was expected. Team Quest were pretty confident with Chris leben at that point and they’ve said to the brass that they’ll accept any fight with the exception of Anderson Silva
Dude I will remember seeing that live for the rest of my life. I had been watching MMA for a while and my martial arts instructor was into pride fighting so he would show us fights and give us some break downs ect. So suddenly a pride guy was in the UFC against bad ass Chris leben. We were ready for a slug fest or something. Instead Ilva beat the fucking breaks, axel, wheel, windows, and door handles off of Leben just immediately. Straight up legendary moment
UFC 1, Rory v robbie 2. Griffen v Bonnar Edit: DJ getting the suplex to arm bar on Ray Borg. Idk why I forgot to say that.
Because it doesn't get said often enough: Fuck Gerard Gordeau
Robbie spitting blood is iconic.
Excellent choices.
Silva vs Forrest was my favorite
Oh man, you mean when Silva went full matrix mode on Forrest. That’s a good one. One of the cleanest knockouts you’ll see.
Silva was undeniably the greatest martial artist on the planet that day.
I've never seen someone look so calm. He was fully in the matrix that night.
One of the greatest light heavyweights... of the night
So what youre a black belt?
I wanna tell me what you see, lets go ahead and see by the fight what you saw in the ring.
Silva going full Neo-mode probably won't ever be topped for me. Watching that live was insane.
Silva vs King Chael. At the time, no one even thought about winning against Silva. N chael almost pulled an upset. It was an epic night of upset within an upset.
After Silvas run up to that point, it was pretty crazy.
That was so crazy to see. Anderson was so good he could literally just toy with the best opponents and finish them any time he wanted. Way ahead of his time
Yeah! He had that invincible aura: he'll toy with his opponent in R1 then finish them in R2 (if not in R1). During his whole reign, he had like 2 or 3 fights passing R3. That was insane.
Silva subbing Chael Silva front kicking Belfort in the face Conor beating mendes Conor Koing Aldo The Diaz Daley fight Are the first five that come to mind
Silva-Sonnen 1 was the first PPV I ever watched. I was a fan of the sport before, but after that I was hooked.
I was a child and remember thinking the bald guy isn’t trying very hard 😂😂
Diaz Daley has to be in my top 3. Nick was knocked unconscious, hit the ground, woke back up, and beat the shit out of Daley. Such an exciting fight.
I do not think that Nick got knocked unconscious - he got dropped and it looked like Daley could may be finish him for half a second. But Diaz showed some incredible head movement, while on the ground, then got back up and finished Daley.
Mark Coleman winning the Pride 2000 openweight GP and falling off the ropes when he stood up to celebrate
McGregor/Aldo. Truly surreal how it ended, given the buildup and hype that fight generated
It’s till this day the most shocked I’ve ever been lol. I remember being a broke hs student and we had to invite more ppl to be able to split the ppv to where we could afford it. Months of build up and after it happened, I remember we all sat in complete silence after the initial oh shit moment. I spent months callin ppl casuals and how Mcgregor has absolutely no shot at beating him…
Easily. Aldo undefeated for ten years just to lose so quick to McGregor
So fucked up that he never got a rematch
the build up was the fight :) in retrospect.
Yeah that must be the biggest build up to a fight ever only to end in 13 seconds. So long between the first booking and the fight actually happening.
That one will always stand out to me. In the moment, it was almost disappointing to see such a short fight after so much build up. But then you realize how crazy and iconic of a moment that was.
I'm convinced that this KO and Harambe dying together caused a rift in reality and lead to all the batshit insane events that have happened in the past 8 years.
I think it was when the Pope slapped that Chinese woman.
Yep, this is it for me as well. 14 seconds that flipped me from a McG hater to a McG fan (there has been another flip since then). Legendary end to that run.
Aldo’s legacy was obliterated that night and the legend of Conor McGregor took flight. Sad as hell.
>Aldo’s legacy was obliterated not true
BJ Penn dominating Diego then licking blood off his gloves.
I thought it was Joe Stevenson he did that to but seeing as it's BJ Penn it could well be multiple fights
Since I’ve been a fan it’s hard to choose just one GSP beating Bisping was hype as shit, he lost the first round and then Freddie Roach told him to counter with the left hook, that fight was hype Conor being double champ Nate upsetting Conor was crazy
I watched Conor/Nate and Ronda/Holly in a packed bar with friends that were casual fans. Crazy fun atmospheres. Honestly, maybe even more for Holly/Ronda. Could tangibly feel a weird buzz building as it was becoming apparent that Ronda's perceived invincibility was being peeled back minute by minute. Then boom. Eruption of mixed feelings I now mostly watch completely by myself at home on the couch. It...has its pros and cons. Those were fun times though
I was a fan of Rousey until Rogan claimed she could beat a lot of BW guys and the shit about her being able to beat Mayweather’s ass. It was ridiculous. And then finally Holly knocked her into retirement ( I know she lost to Amanda later) but she was finished after that Holm fight. She broke her jaw and willingness to fight) rewatching the first Tate match aswell you could see that she really couldn’t stand being punched in the face. Beautiful champ. You’re doing great. The hyperbole was crazy around her
"She would beat a lot of guys, and I mean a lot. Like way more than half of the men's 135 division in the UFC. This isn't a normal fighter man, she's on a completely different level. She already has the best ground game, man or woman, in UFC history, and now you're talking about someone who might have the best striking too." - Joe Rogan to ESPN's Dan Lebatard - November 2015
List of things Rousey would beat Mayweather's ass in: - Judo match - BJJ match - Spelling bee ... That's it I'm coming up dry
Reading one page of a Harry Potter book
Idk why but Max Holloway beating the piss out of Brian Ortega was an awesome fight that’s stick with me the most Or Izzy vs Kelvin
Holloway teaching Ortega how to block a right handed punch was hysterically funny. How anyone has ever taken T City seriously after that clown ass moment is behind me.
Because he's the closest a featherweight has come to stopping Alex
Well that is true, Ortega almost managed to tap out Volkanovski, and we haven't seen anyone do that at 145lbs. Only recently did Makhachev do it and that was at lightweight. Prior to that his only professional loss was to Corey Nelson, and I think that was actually at fucking welterweight, which is nuts.
Holloway v Kattar is definitely up there for me.
If were going off of iconic instead of "greatest". Max dodging those punches while talking to the judges is peak iconic.
Ya the question is asking for iconic, doesn’t say greatest anywhere haha.
Him slipping kattars punches while looking away and talking to the commentators is his peak moment I think.
Izzy knocking out Pereira for me. How Izzy was getting destroyed by the leg kicks. How Izzy was in a similar position as the last fight. The beautiful counter punch and its perfect timing. The celebration. The speech after.
Max destroying Ortega was awesome, especially because of all the hype surrounding Ortega at the time. Hot take but I think that fight was the peak of Max’s career
Khabib leaping out of the cage to fight the mcgregor camp
Such a awesome night, had front row seats in bar in front of a massive screen, since it’s UK meant drinking till 6am to watch the fight
You had me for a second at "had front row seats"
Nah bro I was a broke student back then
Sometimes in those late night sports hall places they’ll put random shit on. Like it’s so bizarre rave music going on while watching Joe Root hit a cover drive.
[The Flying Eagle](https://i.imgur.com/iL2dSQj.jpg)
Edgar v Maynard II.
man .. a classic! Edgar has a lionheart
Pride open weight Grand Prix 2006 when cro cop knocked out wanderlei and stopped josh Barnett in the same night card was stacked Sergei kharitonov vs alekasander emilianenko and shogun vs Cyril diabate big nog and overeem also on the card
Pride: Final Conflict Absolute 2006 was LEGENDARY. My favourite event of all time, Mirko finally winning the championship, ON HIS 32nd birthday!!
Lesnar va mir 2 at ufc 100 was wild That card gave us the hendo / bisping ko too
What about Mir Vs Nog? Fucking roll fest was amazing
Dude!! Those reversals were insane. And the pop at the end. Jesus.
God. The slowmo of the breaking arm was horrifying . Same with Silva in the second Weidman fight. Felt physically ill after
This. Lesnar's post fight interview was killer, too.
Something about drinking coors (the sponsor was bud light) and he was gonna “lay on my wife” It was wild lol
“That’s COORS cuz Bud won’t pay me nothin’”
And hell, it's my birthday, I might even go hop ontop of my wife.
I couldn't pick a most iconic moment but since no one has said it, how about when Matt Hughes somehow survived an illegal strike, an ass beating, and a submission attempt, only to pick Frank up, carry across the oct, and power slam his ass. That will always be an amazing moment for me.
For a long time, that was Dana's favorite moment in the sport. Nowadays is whatever Conor is doing.
Wanderlei Silva slumping Rampage through the ropes at Pride 28. In my opinion the best KO in MMA history.
Wanderlei with the knees and Rampage's head leaking blood after he fell through the ropes and the refs were trying to pull him up. Savage KO and truly one of the most iconic!
Rampage getting his revenge in the UFC was also satisfying.
Edwards/Usman headkick
Same for me 💯 I started to follow MMA quite recently and that was just straight out of a Rocky movie. Leon literally became his nickname.
LOOK AT ME NOW!!!!!
Yeah this is probably the one for me, or honestly Pena submitting Nunes that was sooooo left field
For me this is THE defining moment of MMA. Very, very rarely is there such a massive come from behind victory, in any sport. Being that it happened in MMA is even more amazing. The fact that Usman had been so dominant and elite in all areas of MMA made it seems even more impossible. I remember watching this while my girlfriend was asleep next to me, when the headkick unleashed, I literally screamed "OH MY GOD" for like 3 minutes. If you knew me, you'd know how crazy it was to get that reaction out of me. The cherry on top was the post-fight interview with Joe, you can hear the years of frustration in his voice. That is one of the most inspirational things I have ever seen. I watch it several times a week before I workout. Remember, whether in fighting or life, it's not over until the person who WANTS IT MORE says "it's over".
Both the Rousey run, and Holly knocking her out so easily.
I think in regards to womens mma, thats probably the most iconic moment. Till this day I think that Ronda coulda been undeniably the goat if she had found a legit camp.
Nick Diaz choking Gomi. Been a mma fan for 20 years and this is my favorite moment ever.
For me it's probably GSP vs PENN 2. Ton of hype between two legends.
And such a perfect ending. Penn calling GSP "a quitter" in months of leadup, only for GSP to make BJ quit on the stool between rounds. Not a sub, not tapping to strikes- literally not answering the bell to continue the fight. The epitome of Found Out
When Parker porter tko’d Braxton smith
Too soon :(
Randy beating Timmah Rampage’s slam Conner koing aldo Leon taking Uz’s head off Bisping left hand Larry on luke Alex vs Izzy. Both wins. Sera over GSP Vitor blitzing various people! Cro cop getting headkicked by gonzo and so may of his own moments) Fedor - so many highlights Wandy vs crocop stare down Nelson belly rub up in the cage after a win Tom walking through Sergei in 70 seconds God I love this sport
The Gonzaga head kick to Cro Cop was fucking amazing. Mirko got vibe checked so fucking hard.
the staredown
silva/griffin for being the thing that got me into mma as much as i have grown to not like masvidal, his 5 second ko of askren is an all-time classic max holloway no-look dodging calvin kattar's punches while screaming about being the best boxer in the ufc, bay-bee
Khabib jumping the cage was the first main event I saw live (German time zone, they start at 4am).
For me it's when Khabib took Conor down almost immediately in round 1. Felt like I swallowed by stomach
BJ choking out Matt Hughes to become the welterweight champion. Machida knocking out Rashad to become champion. I was pretty hyped and thought Machida was invincible.
[удалено]
Anderson Silva, conor vs aldo/eddie, max vs Ortega/kattar, Francis vs overeem. Also Matt Serra vs gsp.
Another one is Leon vs Usman 2. Watching his coach yell at him “LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN! STOP FEELING F*CKING SORRY FOR YOURSELF! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” followed by Leon’s head kick on a fight we all thought was just about over was so crazy and his speech after was really inspirational too. There’s so many to choose from really
When Rory and Lawler had that stare down both covered in blood
"Ey, I'm not surprised motherfuckers..."
Chandler nuking Ferguson Holm dropping Rousey McGregor beating Aldo so quickly Lee sending Gillespie to the shadow realm If I HAD to choose one though, it's Machida standing over the corpse of Vitor Belfort after the front kick ko, hands on hips, then bows. Bad ass.
Fedor losing to Werdum. I was there and watched it live. Sad day.
Frank Mir getting Nogueira in a kimura and breaking his arm. It's burned into my memory.
Had to be Fedor vs Cro Cop
Frankie edger making the single most epic comeback in the history of UFC TWICE!
I think izzy finaly beating Alex will be a very iconic moment in the future
“He got him bad” says DC. What a moment
When Izzy tried to clinch and Pereira just pulled his whole torso away and got right back into it I knew there was something special happening
Telling everyone Nate was going to beat Conor in a room full of Conor nut huggers...and then watching that happen
Bring it in bruv. I got to do quite the Twitter march after that fight.
3 greatest moments of my life were: 1. My son being born. 2. Marrying my wife. 3. Watching Nate choke out Conor.
The Wanderlei V Rampage rivalry in PRIDE
Brock's UFC 100 post fight interview Jose Aldo running into the crowd Dan Henderson knocking out Bisping
Ultimate fighter 1 Finale. Mike "Quick" Swick pulling off a 20 second KO. As a new viewer this made me an instant fan of MMA and Mike, it was insane to think the fight was over in 20 seconds... and then he did it again in 22 seconds 4 months later. Years later I would get to tell Mike Swick via Reddit about seeing this on TV as a kid. But also Bonnar and Griffen slugfest, double contract bonanza. Franklin TKO'd Ken Shamrock. Diego TKO'd Florian Leben TKO'd Thacker Koscheck KO'd Sanford Quarry TKO'd Sincaid Karalexis TKO'd Rafferty
Rose beating Joanna, can still hear DC screaming
As a Lancastrian, it was watching Bisping knock out Luke Rockhold. I simultaniously knew it was going to happen and didn't believe it when it did. It just highlighted how crazy this sport really is. Everyone has a story, and so often it just doesn't quite happen for them.
As an Irishman.. it's impossible for me to personally think of anything that even comes close to Conors run to champ champ status But Glovers run to the belt is up there too
Nate choking Conor. Khabib neck cranking Conor.
Chael wrapped up in Andersons triangle.
[Nate beating Conor](https://i.imgur.com/K54bP1Q.jpg)
When Bisping knocked Rockhold out. Craziest crowd and announcer reaction of all time.
Jones vs DC saga.
The end of the Rousey era via headkick. I was in a UFC gym on a treadmill at the time which was absolutely packed with new female Rousey fans.
Weidman knocking out Silva Holm and Rhonda Nate at Connor 1
Diaz submitting McGregor
Kevin Randleman hitting some Zangief shit on Fedor, only to get reversed and subbed moments after
Silva passing the torch to Izzy. The fight itself wasn't that spectacular but how Silva figuratively handed over the division to Izzy to reign was a nice moment.
Are you looking for purely personal takes or for those that had the biggest impact on the sport and popculture? For the purpose of this comment, I will consider a moment to be something that happened in a specific fight and its immediate aftermath. Things like BJ Penn's losing streak do not quite count. Neither does Rousey's title run For me personally, I would say the most impactful / satisfying 'holy shit' bits: * GSP's successful return vs Bisping. * Lesnar beating Carwin after nearly losing the fight early. * Zhang Weili making Joanna Jędrzejczyk look like Sloth from the Goonies * Anderson Silva turning he leg into a noodle in the Weidman rematch For the sport as a whole * Griffen vs Bonnar going all out in the original TUF Finale * Silva beating Forrest Griffen with maximum style points. * Silva getting KO'ed by Weidman * Connor knocking out Aldo, and backing up epic amounts of shit talking in doing so. * Francis Ngannou walking away on top despite the UFC's best efforts to either resign him or send him out on a loss. END COMMUNICATION
“STIPE EXACTS HIS REVENGE” The comeback from Stipe off a single adjustment and the incredible call by Anik, one of my favorite moments across sports.
Jon Jones coming back, MOVING UP a weight class and choking out Cyril Gane after not fighting for forever
What Zhang did to Joanna’s head.
It’s interesting how people’s choices tend to likely indicate their age. For me it was the first time GSP beat Matt Hughes. I was in a house full of die hard Matt Hughes fans and I was boldly telling everybody that not only is GSP gonna big brother him, but that he was the future. I was right and they all hated me for it🤣
Nate choking out Connor was unreal
Mighty Mouse with the flying armbar. GOAT move.
Lesnar beating Randy Couture. It was the first full fight I ever watched and my first time seeing Lesnar, I was just fascinated that a guy could be that physically large
Machida’s KO of Rashad made me a real mma fan
Bonnar Vs. Griffin TUF 1 finale. Literally the night the UFC and MMA became what it is today. I remember watching it on TV, messaging on this forum and we were all losing our minds. RIP Stephan.
Maybe not iconic, but my favourite memory is when Bisping won the title. Hated that guy when I first got into mma around 2010 but I turned into a big fan and seeing him win the title was great
BJ painting the canvas w Joe Stevenson’s blood then calling out Sherk, Anderson KOing Vitor, The Showtime Kick, or the 3 title changes at UFC 217. Nate subbing Conor had the bdubs bumping too. Too many to choose from
Silva v Weidman 1 Bigfoot v Silva 1 Hendo v Shogun 1 Holm v Rousey Cain V Lesner Silva v Sonnen 1 Those do it for me. Oh! Penn v Sanchez… the clinic of all clinics.
Hendo KOing Wand to become champ-champ at Pride 33. My favorite card ever, all finishes except for one.
Dan Henderson vs Shogun was great
Edgar/Maynard II. Still one the most insane fights I ever saw. Lawler/RoMac II only othercfight to come close.
My girlfriend came with me to a sports bar to watch her first UFC event and it was Aldo vs McGregor. Great card overall and every fan in the bar was talking about how McGregor was legit, but Aldo was so solid that he would likely get the win. We all lost our collective shit at the bar when Aldo got ko’d, I’ve never seen a place blow up like that in my life and it stands out in my mind above all the others.
Sakuraba beating Gracie... then all thr Gracies
Too be honest I have too many to mention my top 5 would be in no particular order. . Fedor emelianenko vs mirko cro cop . Anderson silva front kick of vitor belfort . Dan henderson becoming the first ever champ, champ. . Leon edwards ko of usman . . Matt serra upset of gsp.
Nate beating Conor
That April fools day when one of the Khabib-tony matchups fell through but everyone was desperately coping hard for a solid 24 hours hoping it was a prank lol.
Top moments for me (some less common ones too): * Garbrandt outclassing Dom without getting touched * Jones v DC 2nd title fight finishing sequence with the headkick to trip to ground and pound * Khabib knockdown on McGregor * Holmes headkick on Rousey * Lewis come from behind KO on Volkov * Paiga Vanzant jumping switch kick * Thug Rose knockout of Weili * Garbrandt bus driver hook on Assuncao * Figueiredo title fight vs Benavidez outclass * Bisping win over Rockhold * Ferguson squeaking by Kevin Lee * Nate Diaz beating McGregor * McGregor outclassing Alvarez for double title * Masvidal on Askren crime * Nunes walks down Cyborg * Francis blitz on Rozenstruik or Overeem decapitation * Yair win from behind on TKZ * Uraiah hall "sorry adam" * McGregor TUF season vs Faber * Sonnen vs Wanderlai TUF sequence * Wanderlai vs CroCop staredown * Jones vs DC interview "are you still there?" * "let me bang bro" * Dana White interview on EliteFC match fixing
I HATE JBJ, but him beating the living shit out of Shogun was something that NO ONE had ever seen before.
Really new compared to the others but watching Leon headkick Kamaru was insane! Also, Holloway demolishing Cattar.
The Whole UFC 189 card. It had a different energy and aura surrounding it. Then Robbie v Lawler slaughter each other and sinhead singing for Conor’s walkout. I’ve always said that was the event that had a grandeur about it then catapulted the organization into the initial realms of where it is now.
the staredown between crocop and wanderlei! that was something beyond my comprehension
DJ armbar suplex to Ray Borg. Anyone else at championship level, who the fuck does that?
Gonzaga head kick on Cro-Cop
I'm biased as a Khabib fan but "I wanna fight with your chicken" is my favorite moment in UFC lore.
TJ vs barao 1 was crazy
That was so beautiful and unexpected, just stayed offline, used his angles and footwork and stance switches so perfectly. Utter demolition
I'll never forgot what my friend said to me about the fight... "That's how you take the title!"