5 of the most stacked cards in UFC history
The UFC is undoubtedly the world’s biggest MMA promotion, and so it’s hardly surprising that they’ve been responsible for putting together some of the sport’s most stacked cards.
The UFC doesn’t always stack their cards, often preferring quantity over quality when it comes to events, but when they do, the results are often spectacular.
Sure, even stacked UFC cards don’t always guarantee a night packed full of action, but naturally, the more high-end fighters that an event has, the more likely it is to be entertaining, especially for the more casual fans.
With that in mind, here are five of the most stacked cards in UFC history.
#5. UFC 251: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal
At the height of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC announced that they’d “secured an island” – eventually revealed as part of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island complex – to hold international events on, the promotion’s fanbase was buzzing with excitement.
It came as no surprise, then, when the first pay-per-view event to be held on Fight Island was an absolutely stacked one that ended up drawing over a million buys.
UFC 251 was headlined by a UFC welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Jorge Masvidal. It was one of the most highly anticipated grudge matches in a long time. But that wasn’t the only title fight on tap at the event.
UFC 251 also featured a UFC featherweight title rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, and a fight between top contenders Petr Yan and Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC bantamweight title.
The main card was rounded out by a rematch of a previous UFC strawweight title bout between Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas, and a clash of flyweight contenders pitting Paige VanZant against Amanda Ribas.
Even the preliminary card was stacked, as the likes of Jiri Prochazka, Makwan Amirkhani and Muslim Salikhov were all in action.
In the end, UFC 251 wasn’t one of 2020’s most entertaining shows, as its top two fights both went the distance. However, in terms of how filled it was with sheer star power, it has to be considered one of the most stacked cards in UFC history.