Which is the greatest year of fights and drama in UFC history? Ariel Helwani pulls out all the receipts to make undeniable argument
MMA reporter Ariel Helwani deployed his grasp of the evolution of the UFC to articulate his case for the greatest year of fights and drama in the organization's history. He weighed in on the current landscape of the sport, Mount Rushmore of the UFC, among other topics in a discussion on Steve-O's Wild Ride! - Podcast.
During the discourse, Helwani pointed out that 2016 was the "greatest year in UFC history." According to him:
"The fight of the year happened on the second day of the year on January 2. It was Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit [at] UFC 195. UFC 196 was Conor [McGregor] getting submitted by Nate [Diaz]. Meisha [Tate] vs. Holly Holm. UFC 197 was a crazy weekend. If you recall the night before they had a press conference for UFC 200, and it was Diaz who showed up and Conor didn't. There was an empty seat and they were combining together because Conor was unhappy and Nate ended up siding with Conor which is wild."
Helwani added:
"UFC 198 Stipe Miocic knocks out Fabricio Werdum in a stadium in Curitiba [Brazil] with around 45,000 people... CM Punk made his debut. 205 Conor at Madison Square Garden. Five pay-per-views that did over a million buys. Greatest year in UFC history."
Helwani's argument was also based on the fact that the organization staged the monumental UFC 200 card that year, besides notable moments like Ronda Rousey's return to action against Amanda Nunes. While the greatest year in UFC history is subjective and open to interpretation, Helwani laid out a strong case for the 2016 calendar year to be considered in the mix.
Catch Helwani's comments below:
Check out the full podcast episode below:
Ariel Helwani reveals his Mount Rushmore for UFC fighters
Ariel Helwani stirred up a lively discussion with his take on the UFC Mount Rushmore following Demetrious Johnson's retirement from the sport.
Helwani’s comments offer a fascinating glimpse into how the greatest UFC champions are evaluated, highlighting that the men's and women's lists should be kept separate. Speaking about his picks in the aforementioned podcast with Steve O, Helwani said:
"I would separate the men and women So I have two lists. The UFC champion list is the easiest debate of all time. In no particular order, Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, and Anderson Silva. If you want to add a fifth it's Jose Aldo. In the women's side of things, it is Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk."