My Top 10 Favorite UFC Fights of 2020
With the UFC getting ready to kick off for 2021 this coming weekend, I wanted to take a look back at 2020. So, we all know because of Covid-19 how crappy 2020 was. But man. As a fight fan. As a UFC fan, in spite of the fact that we only got one Conor McGregor fight (my favorite fighter), in spite of the fact that we only got one Khabib fight, one Jon Jones fight, NO Nate Diaz fights and only one Jorge Masvidal fight, we had an amazing, amazing year as fight fans. The bubbles of the UFC's Apex Center and Fight Island in Abu Dhabi kept me very, very entertained this year.
We had several rising stars; first of all the UFC. Their ratings have never been better, they clearly laid the path for other sports leagues to be able to resume after Covid-19 hit the world and they really don't get enough credit for that. Going to the athletes though, Bobby Green, who was amazing in the Octagon and off, his interviews were must see stuff. Deiveson Figueiredo, igniting a very stagnant and dormant division. Khamzat Chimaev, I mean, we can't forget this dude and while the real tests and competition lie ahead for him, man did he mow through every fighter that was put in front of him. Gilbert Burns, a super version of that as well that I think a lot of people forget about because he hasn't fought in awhile. Joaquin Buckley with that crazy knockout of the year, where he threw a kick that was caught, spun around with his opposite foot and landed it right on the dude's face! Robert Whitaker fought off some tough competition and proved he's the best Middleweight that's not Israel Adesanya this year. Amanda Ribas, the UFC has a real star in the making with her and Cody Garbrandt, former champ who, you know with TJ Dillashaw having his issues, makes you take another look at him with his knockout of Assuncao (sorry, can't do accent marks without messing up the font, soon as I figure out how to do that I'll add them to my posts ✊).
That said, here are my ten favorite fights of 2020.
10.) Conor McGregor vs. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone (UFC 246, Jan. 19th)
9.) Charles Oliveira vs. Tony Ferguson (UFC 256, Dec. 12th)
I'll speak to another fight, soon. But I think the world was wanting to know how Tony Ferguson would respond after his most recent fight before this one and, well, he had nothing for Oliveira. Oliveira took Ferguson down at will, completely controlled him on the ground and as seen above, got close to breaking Tony's arm with a vicious arm bar and when they kept the fight standing, Oliveira did really well there too. He's going to be a problem for the top of this division.
8.) Israel Adesanya vs. Paola Costa (UFC 253, Sept. 27th)
I think it's fair to say that Adesanya's fight against Yoel Romero was, underwhelming and so the hype deflated a bit. Well, the hype burst after this fight. Costa had taken the fight to Romero in a classic fight to get the number one contender spot and due to injury, had to sit to the side while Adesanya defended against Romero. A lot of hype aaaand... Adesanya just dominated Costa. It's pretty amazing, the dude just keeps getting better and the way he makes these really, really good fighters look average is so impressive. I'm very, very interested in seeing what happens as he moves up to challenge for the Light Heavyweight belt this year.
7.) Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade 2 (UFC 251, July 12th.)
In a year with some amazing Women's MMA, this fight lived up to the hype and while there wasn't a belt on the line, it was very clear that these two former champions were some of the best fighters on the planet. And man was it a great fight, Rose looked as good on the feet as she ever has, but Andrade really showed improvements in that area during this fight as well and you can make a really good argument that if this fight had gone 5 rounds instead of 3, Andrade might have been able to pull this fight off. Both women looked amazing though.
6.) Justin Gaethje vs. Tony Ferguson (UFC 249, May 9th)
This event was so crazy, UFC 249 was the first event after all of the sports leagues had shut down because of Covid-19. A previous version of this event was also the fifth time that Lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson, who at the time was on a twelve fight winning streak and was the fifth time that fight had been canceled, this time due to Covid-19. So massive amounts of excitement and anticipation of this fight, Gaethje had looked great, but we weren't sure if he could hang with the top of the division and man, he completely just goes out there and dominates someone who had been dominating everyone. Save for one moment, it was a pretty one sided fight and Gaethje looked prime to be a real contender for Khabib's belt.
Like I said, Figueiredo has brought some real excitement to the flyweight division and now with Moreno showing up real good in a championship fight, there's getting to be some real talent in a division that struggled to make people care about it in the past. This fight was just an amazing, technical fight. I think without the point deductions, Figueiredo wins it, so I'm excited to see what adjustments Moreno can make to try to take the belt when these two rematch and really, how good Figueiredo will look with a full training camp, as both fighters agreed to this fight on three weeks notice!
4.) Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC 254, Oct. 24th)
So, I'm a Conor McGregor fan. So by proxy I almost have to not like Khabib. But man, if UFC 254 is indeed Khabib's last fight, what a fight to go out on. As I said with the Ferguson fight, Gaethje just dominated a guy thought to be the biggest challenge to Khabib. So that story was interesting, coupled with the fact that we knew Gaethje, though he doesn't use it, has a base in wrestling. So Khabib, discounting the fight where he "won" the belt, goes on to defend against Conor McGregor, taps him out in Round 4 and for whatever reason, knocks Conor down with a strike, as far as I know, the first knockdown of his UFC career. Defends against Dustin Poirier, then the Interim Lightweight Champion, gets a rear naked choke and chokes him out in Round 3. Before this fight, loses his father, who among other things I'm sure, trained him. Fights Gaethje, who is also the Interim Lightweight Champion and looking like the best in his career, walks Gaethje down in the fight, almost taps him out at the end of the first round via armbar and then gets the submission win in Round 2. Then we have the moment above, Khabib's emotions overwhelming him and then the retirement announcement at the end of the fight. One of the most touching moments I've seen in the Octagon.
3.) Dominick Reyes vs. Jon Jones (UFC 247, Feb. 8th)
So, I forget that this fight was from 2020, that's how crazy of a year 2020 was. I fully believe that Dominick Reyes won this fight, so that's why I've given him the headliner, I think it was a close fight, but I had it 3 rounds to Reyes, 2 to Jones. I do not subscribe to "to be the champ you have to beat the champ" because the UFC is the sport of mixed martial arts. There are tons of ways to win, Reyes is a counter striker, so using "Jones walked forward and controlled the Octagon" as a justification of his win is a little lame to me, of course he did, because Reyes is at his best in those moments. So in my opinion, Reyes was defending the belt against Blachowicz and lost the belt there. Do I think Jones can beat Reyes? Sure, I think he underestimated him here. But, I think he lost fair and square here.
2.) Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker, Jun. 27th)
So Dustin Poirier is my third favorite fighter, well, second now (Conor, then Daniel Cormier then Dustin Poirier), he is almost always involved in a Fight of the Night contender, so of course I'm a little conflicted about this upcoming bout, the rematch between Conor and Poirier. That said, I was very curious to see how Poirier would bounce back after the demoralizing loss to Khabib and well, at first Hooker was really bringing it to Poirier and got close to finishing him. But man, this was just a crazy back and forth fight, Hooker proved he belonged at the top of the division and Poirier proved, at least for the time being, that he's the second best Lightweight in terms technical boxing skill and the best Lightweight that's not Khabib, he just finds ways to win.
1.) Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248, Mar. 7th)
What a crazy fight! Joanna of course, the former champ of the division, had a very close fight to Rose Namajunas for Rose's first defense of the belt, who then went on to lose the belt to Jessica Andrade, who then lost the belt to Zhang Weili. So that was how we got to this fight, champ beat the champ beat the champ beat the champ who was going to fight the former champ and man, what a fight. To me, it's hands down the best fight in Women's Mixed Martial Arts history, but not only that because I don't want that to sound like a slight, it's one of the best fights of all time. A back and forth, crazy, technical fight with tons of skill, heart and determination on display by both women here. They completely re-arranged each others faces and man, I felt so bad because of how self conscious Joanna was after the fight when she saw the hematoma that had developed on her forehead. Anyway, if Weili gets through Rose this year (and I would expect her to be the favorite) then I would absolutely be willing to watch another bout between these two.
So there we have it; quick preview of 2021, fights I'm looking forward to...Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas, excited to see if Ribas can continue her climb, if so she definitely needs a top 5 opponent after this. Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler, Chandler is a tough dude and interested in seeing what or how Hooker has grown from his loss to Poirier and seeing how Chandler does against the top of the UFC. Poirier vs. McGregor 2, of course. How's Conor look after he didn't get his "season" and had to sit out a year? How's Poirier look in the rematch a division up? Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso, two up and coming women who have had their ups and downs, interested in seeing how Barber bounces back after a pretty devastating loss to Roxanne Modaferri. Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya, so far other than Thiago Santos, Middleweights have not looked good going up to Light Heavyweight, but Adesanya is the best of them, so we'll see but Blachowicz is on fire right now. Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling, two of the best Bantamweights out there and long overdue for Sterling to get his title shot.
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