Recently I posted about what martial arts does and doesn't give its practitioners, which was more or less me talking about both the beautiful and ugly sides of the martial arts world. After writing the piece, I started thinking about my time in the MMA world specifically. I thought about all the cool fights I've seen and all I've learned as a martial artist from watching them. Then a friend on Twitter asked what our favorite MMA fight was and I just kept thinking of all the fights I love. So, I decided to make a top 10 list for fun.
This is, of course, my list, not an objective list of the 10 "best" fights of all time (if such a thing even exists). As a martial artist who not only trains but studies fight craft, I have a bias toward fights that are both exciting and technically impressive in some way or another, rather than fights that are just slugfests (though I do have a couple of those on my list as well). Also, I'm much more likely to have fights on this list that I saw as they were happening, since there's something more exciting about watching a fight you don't know the outcome of ahead of time. Some of the most beloved fights of all time (like the Yoel Romero vs Robert Whitaker and Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald fights, for example) are fights I like, but I caught them on replay and just don't feel the same connection to them.
Anyway, enjoy! Just to be clear, these are listed chronologically, not in order. I'm not sure I could neatly rank these fights because they're all great in different ways.
1. Lyoto Machida vs Rashad Evans (May 2009)
This one is a little different than the other fights on this list. While it's a good one, it's not quite as good as the others listed here. But this is the fight that actually got me into MMA. Before that I would catch a fight here and there, but really didn't like the sport. In large part because I hated the subculture around it (it really was the sport of shitty white guys who drive raised trucks). This fight changed my perception of the sport and drew me in. Machida's expert ability to use the timing and control of range he had cultivated in his karate days was truly something to behold. Seeing him become champion while retaining his character as a real martial artist made me a fan.
2. Dustin Poirier vs Korean Zombie (May 2012)
Dustin Poirier is so popular now as a lightweight that his featherweight career is often overlooked. And to an extent, for good reason- he had a lot of room for growth in his earlier years. The trademark excitement he is known for, however, was there since the beginning. Put him against the Korean Zombie, one of the most exciting fighters of all time, and you get one of the most entertaining fights of all time, exciting whether on the feet or on the ground. Bonus points for Korean Zombie finishing the fight with my favorite submission of all time, the d'arce choke!
3. Carlos Condit vs Johny Hendricks (Mar 2013)
The ultimate "kickboxer with good jiu-jitsu vs wrestler with heavy hands" fight. Often when you have that match up, the wrestler tries to smother their opponent and the fight you get is a boring one. This... is not that type of fight. Not only because of Condit's exciting pace, whether striking or grappling, but also because Hendricks clearly wasn't just trying to lay on top of Condit, either. Both fighters wanted to put on an exciting fight just as much as they wanted to win. Few times in MMA history have these two styles of fighter actually delivered in such an exciting way against one another.
4. Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson I (Sept 2013)
As I said at the top, this list isn't ranked. If it were, though, this might be my number one choice. You see every aspect of mixed martial arts here. Against Jon's well-rounded game, Gustasson really helped keep himself competitive through his boxing, but he was by no means one dimensional. Heck, he became the first fighter to ever take down Jon Jones, despite having no wrestling background against Jon's decorated background in Greco-Roman wrestling! What's incredible about this fight, though, is how both fighters adapt throughout against each other's tactics. You actually see them get better throughout the bout in real time. While there is a lot to criticize about both the light heavyweight division in general and Jon Jones in particular, this is both of those at their best.
5. Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez (Oct 2013)
Even the most technically astute fight fan has that all-out slugfest that they remember for nothing more than its primal intensity. For me, this is that fight. Gilbert Melendez was definitely a technical fighter with tricks up his sleeve (which is why he had the clear upper hand and ultimately won the fight), but my goodness. Sanchez was as tough as they come. That third round is barely a professional fight; it's an absolute brawl. Fight commentators often over-use the phrase "all-out war", but that's exactly what this was.
6. Tony Ferguson vs Edson Barboza (Dec 2015)
Tony Ferguson in his prime was really something to behold. His combination of pace, creativity, and mastery of fight tactics (despite having generally clumsy actual technique) overwhelmed just about every opponent he fought until the wheels started falling off around 2020. Edson Barboza, of course, is one of the most entertaining fighters of both the lightweight and featherweight divisions. In this fight the two were competitive in the beginning, with Barboza having the upper hand thanks in large part to his fast kicks and better overall striking technique. In the second round Ferguson's pace seemed to be tiring Barboza, though it was still a very competitive fight. When Barboza threw a sloppy shot, Ferguson capitalized and sunk in the d'arce (my favorite choke once showing up!). A beautiful fight between two fighters with a great combination of skill and entertainment value.
7. Amanda Nunes vs Cris Cyborg (Dec 2018)
This is a special one for me because the event at which this fight happened, UFC 232, is the one UFC event I actually attended in person. I came into the event primarily to see the Jones/Gustafsson rematch and root for Carlos Condit against Michael Chiesa, but I was interested in this fight too. Very few people gave Nunes a chance. The conventional wisdom was that while both Nunes and Cyborg where scary, impressive fighters, Nunes was ultimately just a smaller version of Cyborg and therefore have no real advantages. Things played out differently. When the fight began, the two women went all-out against each other. Nunes caught Cyborg early and pounced on that advantage, defeating her a mere 51 seconds into the fight. The whole crowd was on its feet. While the rest of the card may not have gone how I wanted, this one moment may be my favorite moment as an MMA fan.
8. Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington I (Dec 2019)
It's hard to explain to people who weren't MMA fans at the time of this fight what the stakes felt like going in. Colby was the loudmouth MAGA guy who was (and remains to this day) easy to hate, Kamaru Usman the humble immigrant from Nigeria who was going to shut him up. The reality is more complicated (Kamaru himself flirted with the right at the time, and later endorsed Trump in 2024), but in the moment the narrative mattered more than the reality. Then the two fought an exciting, high-energy fight. Then Usman shut Colby and his corny ass up in the fifth round by knowing him out. It's the only time I've ever yelled in excitement at a TV screen over a fight result.
9. Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk I (Mar 2020)
A lot of people call this the greatest women's MMA fight of all time, which I agree with. But to stop there is selling it short. Zhang and Joanna put on a fight leagues better than 99% of fights in all of combat sports history, regardless of the participants' gender. It's that ideal combination of aggressively entertaining and technically impressive, especially with Joanna's gorgeous muay thai technique. Her head may have looked like an alien's head by the time the fight concluded, but both women cemented their legacy in the halls of Valhalla with this fight.
10. Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon Moreno I (Dec 2020)
For some reason, casual MMA fans often dismiss fighters at the lower weight classes. This sometimes means dismissing the men's featherweight and bantamweight divisions, but always means dismissing men's flyweight. It's pretty unfair considering the pace and technique the smaller fights put on, but ultimately a lot of casual fans want to see power and finishes/near finishes. Welp, this fight is the best of both worlds. It truly includes everything any MMA fan, casual or hardcore, could ever hope for. It really helped revitalize the men's flyweight division, which was rumored to be in danger of being dropped entirely. Luckily, this fight came along just when it needed to. After watching such a masterpiece of a fight, no one could say men's flyweight is boring.
