5 classic forgotten UFC events that new fans ought to revisit
This weekend marks a rarity of sorts, as there is no UFC show on the horizon for fans to look forward to. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to watch some action inside the octagon.
Thanks to the Fight Pass service, fans are able to watch any UFC event that they wish. Naturally, there are plenty of classics in the archives.
May 24, 2008
10 years ago today, BJ Penn defeated Sean Sherk via TKO due to a flying knee & punches at 5:00 of the 3rd round to defend his Lightweight title at UFC 84.
The win moved Penn to 13-4-1 with ten wins via stoppage. https://t.co/c9zCYjNRAl
While every fan remembers big events like McGregor vs. Diaz well, there are numerous other shows that also stand as classics, but have somehow become unfairly overlooked over the years.
With this considered, then, here are five classic forgotten events that fans ought to revisit.
#5. UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso
Had UFC 178 retained its original main event of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, then it’d probably be far better remembered than it is today.
However, despite replacing that huge fight with a much lesser, one-sided flyweight title bout between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso, the show is undoubtedly amongst the best the promotion has ever produced.
The best-remembered fight on the show, of course, saw Conor McGregor knock out Dustin Poirier in a fight that really pushed him into featherweight title contention. The Irishman proved he could back up every bit of his trash talk.
Rewind the clocks ⏳
⏮ Look back on @DustinPoirier vs @TheNotoriousMMA from #UFC178 now. #UFC257 https://t.co/fgl3FuQ60l
However, this show was far more than just McGregor vs. Poirier. It also featured three of the better fights of 2014, if not the decade. They were back-and-forth wars between Yoel Romero and Tim Kennedy, Cat Zingano and Amanda Nunes, and Donald Cerrone and Eddie Alvarez.
The first fight on that list also saw one of the wildest and most controversial finishes in the promotion’s history. Romero seemingly took too much rest time between rounds before coming from behind to finish Kennedy, an incident that quickly became known as ‘Stoolgate’.
Elsewhere on the card, former bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz returned from over three years on the shelf. He stopped Takeya Mizugaki in a truly remarkable performance.
Overall, modern fans might look back at this event as a one-fight card – the one fight being McGregor vs. Poirier. However, that’s really not the case, making this one a must-see for anyone who missed it the first time around.