5 of the most memorable European events in UFC history
This upcoming weekend will see the UFC visit Paris, France for an event that should be an entertaining one. The event will mark the promotion's latest excursion into Europe.
Over the years, the UFC has visited Europe on numerous occasions, producing some truly eventful and memorable shows along the way.
With some of the best and most enthusiastic crowds, as well as some crazy fights, these events are still fondly looked back upon.
With that in mind, here are five of the most memorable European events in UFC history.
#5 UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson - Stockholm, Sweden (2015)
The UFC had already visited Stockholm on three prior occasions before this 2015 event, but those shows had taken place in the smaller Avicii Arena. This one took things to another level by heading to the larger Tele2 Arena.
That made it, at the time, only the second event to take place in a stadium, and unsurprisingly, it drew both a huge crowd (30,000) and an equally huge gate ($3.1m).
Unsurprisingly, the event was built around the star power of Sweden's favorite son, Alexander Gustafsson. 'The Mauler' had shot to fame after his titanic 2013 battle with Jon Jones, and was hunting another title fight.
Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan for him here. In one of the wildest knockouts of 2015, he was stopped in violent fashion by Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson, although a clash of heads may have contributed to his downfall.
Despite the Swedish crowd going home unhappy, though, thankfully they'd already seen plenty of excellent action.
The event featured brutal knockouts like Gegard Mousasi's finish of the legendary Dan Henderson, as well as a crazy eight-second finish from Finland's Makwan Amirkhani.
Overall, then, despite the flat ending, this was a hugely memorable European event in front of a huge, hot crowd, and it definitely belongs on this list.
#4 UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Spivak - Paris, France (2023)
This weekend's event will be the UFC's third one in Paris. While the promotion's 2022 debut in the French capital featured a raucous crowd, it's safe to say that the 2023 visit to the 'City of Love' was the better show.
While things started slowly on the preliminary card, with a number of fights going the distance, the event kicked into overdrive once the main card began.
Five of the six bouts on offer ended in finishes, with four of them being brutal knockouts for French favorites.
Ciryl Gane turned out the lights on a game Sergei Spivak in the headliner, but perhaps the most memorable finish came from Benoit Saint Denis, who will headline this weekend's event.
'God of War' destroyed Thiago Moises in the second round with a salvo of strikes, with each one that landed being wildly cheered by the crowd.
In the end, French fighters went 4-1 against overseas opponents at this event, a mark of how far MMA had come in the country. It felt like a coming-out party for French MMA, making it easily one of the UFC's most memorable European nights.
#3 UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski - Rotterdam, Netherlands (2016)
The Netherlands had always been a hotbed for both MMA and kickboxing and so it's surprising that it took until 2016 for the UFC to visit the country.
When they did, though, they produced a classic that, almost a decade on, stands up with the very best Fight Night events in the promotion's history.
The event in Rotterdam was headlined by the most successful Dutch MMA fighter of all time - Alistair Overeem - and it's safe to say that 'The Demolition Man' delivered the goods.
He claimed a heavyweight title shot by shutting down former champion Andrei Arlovski in the second round with a Karate Kid-esque leaping front kick, lighting up an already rabid crowd.
Part of what made the crowd so loud was the success of other Dutch fighters earlier in the night.
Both Germaine de Randamie and Stefan Struve were greeted by huge reactions upon their arrival, and both fighters delivered the finishes their fans wanted, with Struve needing just 16 seconds to dispatch Antonio Silva.
Overall, this event was a genuine thriller from start to finish, and it's a mystery as to why the promotion hasn't returned to the Netherlands more often since.
#2 UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera - Manchester, UK (2009)
The UK has been the most common European stomping ground for the UFC over the past few decades. Beginning in 2002, the promotion has tended to visit multiple times a year, usually hitting cities like London, Manchester and Birmingham.
There have, then, been a number of major pay-per-views and title fights in the country over the years, making for a number of memorable moments.
It's arguable that UFC 105, which took place in Manchester in November 2009, outshone them all, though.
The event essentially felt like a huge night for British MMA, as a number of UK favorites were able to overcome the odds to beat highly-favored opponents from elsewhere, namely the US.
The likes of Ross Pearson, Nick Osipczak and Terry Etim all produced stellar showings in front of their home crowd, but the best came in the event's two co-headliners.
First, Dan Hardy captured a welterweight title shot by dominating Mike Swick. After that, Michael Bisping produced one of the best - and gutsiest - performances of his career by coming back from a knockdown to destroy the highly-touted Denis Kang.
Sure, the main event between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera wasn't up to much and featured a controversial call from the judges, but by that stage, the partisan crowd were already going home happy.
Since this event, the UK has had three UFC champions, but it's arguable that without events like this one, none of them would've climbed that high.
#1 UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao - Dublin, Ireland (2014)
While it didn't feature a title fight and initially aired live on the Fight Pass streaming service, it's still arguable that the most memorable European UFC event took place in Dublin in July 2014.
It was this event that saw Conor McGregor - who had been on the shelf for a year with a knee injury - explode back onto the scene and really become the promotion's next big superstar.
'The Notorious' took on Brazilian veteran Diego Brandao in the night's headliner, and easily dispatched him in the first round via TKO.
When he took to the microphone after the bout to proclaim that the Irish "weren't here to take part, (they) were here to take over", it wasn't just a soundbite: it summed up what the fans in Dublin had seen to that point.
The crowd were already raucous when local favorite Paddy Holohan opened the night with a surprise win over the favored Josh Sampo, and didn't quiten down for a second.
From there, Irish fighters Cathal Pendred, Neil Seery and Norman Parke all produced big wins to lead up to McGregor's huge moment, which felt like a watershed moment.
Sure, Irish MMA hasn't quite taken off in the way that fans felt it might do after this event, but as a moment, the UFC's 2014 visit to Dublin remains an all-time classic. It stands as the promotion's most memorable European event a decade on.