2005 Fight of the Year. Ranked one of the biggest fights in MMA history. Emelianenko put on a master-class performance, dominating the fight in all aspects. Cro Cop had no answers on the feet, and despite showing some impressive defensive grappling to survive Fedor’s onslaught, no answers on the mat. Emelianenko avenged his brother’s loss and continued to serve as the face of European MMA for years ahead.

UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk was held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 23, 2001. UFC 30 marked a major turning point for the UFC, as it was the first UFC event held by new owners Zuffa, LLC

At UFC 152 in Toronto, Demetrious Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez by split decision to become the UFC's inaugural flyweight champion. Johnson would go on to defend his UFC title a record breaking 11 times.

At UFC 117 on August 7, 2010, Chael Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship.  Sonnen had trash talked to hype the fight, stating he was going to retire Silva.  Sonnen put on a dominant performance, stunning Silva early with his boxing, and then dominating the fight with his wrestling, heading into the fifth round, Sonnen was ahead on the judges' scorecards. At 3:10 into the final round, Silva caught Sonnen in a triangle armbar and made him tap out. The fight earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors, and was considered to be the best fight of the year by many critics. The fight was later awarded 'Fight of the Year' by World MMA Awards.

At UFC 248  that took place on March 7, 2020 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Joanna Jędrzejczyk faced Zhang Weili for UFC Women's Strawweight Championship.  She lost the the back–and–forth fight via split decision. This fight earned her the Fight of the Night award, and was considered by many pundits as the greatest fight in women's MMA history.

MieshaTate's first title defense was expected to be against former opponent Sarah Kaufman.  Strikeforce officials eventually announced that Rousey would be Tate's first challenger.

Tate did not believe that Rousey had earned a title shot, and felt that Rousey was largely gaining the opportunity due to being "pretty."  The two engaged in a variety of trash-talk.  Ultimately, Tate and Rousey headlined a Strikeforce show on March 3, 2012. This marked a then-rare occurrence of women being placed in the main event of an MMA card.  After a back-and-forth session of grappling, Tate lost the title when Rousey secured a second armbar near the end of the first round, forcing her to submit.

One biggest and most highly anticipated fight in early UFC history.  The fight everyone wanted to see, and had all the elements of a legendary rivalry: bad blood, a former friendship, and two fighters on top of their game.

In a packed house at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz finally got it on in the main event of UFC 47 on April 2, 2004. 

UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche was held on February 23, 2013, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The headline bout between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche was the first-ever women's fight in UFC history. The two fought in the newly created 135-pound bantamweight division for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. Rousey was the defending champion, as she was awarded the championship at a UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz pre-event press conference on December 6, 2012, prior to which she was the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.

Matt Serra shocked the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 with a stunning 1st round TKO. This fight is still considered to be one of the greatest upsets in MMA history,

UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre was held on November 4, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Nearly four years since GSP last fought. St-Pierre defeated Bisping via technical submission in the third round to become the Middleweight Champion.

On this night three champions defended their titles, and all fell short.  Making Rose Namajunas, TJ Dillashaw, and Georges St-Pierre the new UFC champions in their individual weight classes.

UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz was held on March 5, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

With Diaz only having eleven days notice, the fight took place at welterweight (170 lbs) due to lack of time to cut weight.  Shocking Connor fans Diaz won the fight via submission in the second round.   Both fighters were awarded Fight of the Night honors and Diaz was also awarded with the Performance of the Night bonus.

UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 was held on August 20, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

McGregor won the rematch via majority decision. The bout was once again awarded "Fight of the Night" honors.  The event broke the record previously held by UFC 100 for the highest selling pay-per-view in UFC history, with 1,650,000 buys.

At UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo thirteen seconds into the first round with a left hook, snapping his seven-year-long WEC and UFC title reign and eighteen-fight win streak to claim the title, earning the "Performance of the Night" bonus as well. This finish marked the fastest knockout in a title bout in UFC history.

UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson was held on September 21, 2013, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Despite being looked at as a big underdog coming into this fight, Gustafsson challenged Jones unlike any previous contender.  The fight was critically acclaimed by mixed martial arts media outlets and fighters, with many considering it to be the greatest light heavyweight title fight of all time. The fight was later named 2013 Fight of the Year by World MMA Awards along with various other major MMA media outlets.

UFC 100 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 11, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event was the most bought UFC pay-per-view of all time with a buyrate of 1.6 million, until UFC 202 broke the record with 1.65 million.

UFC 81: Breaking Point was held on February 2, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip, which was the UFC debut of WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar in a bout against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

UFC 17: Redemption was held on May 15, 1998, at the Mobile Civic Center, in Mobile, Alabama. The event featured the first UFC appearance of both Dan Henderson and Carlos Newton, as well as the UFC Hall of Fame member Chuck Liddell.

Pete Williams def. Mark Coleman by head-kick KO, the second head-kick KO in UFC history after Gordeau vs Tuli (UFC 1) at UFC 17. One of the biggest upsets in early UFC history.

Anderson Silva fought Rich Franklin at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006, and defeated him by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 in the first round. Silva was crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, and would defend his title 10 times.

Jones made his UFC debut against Andre Gusmão at UFC 87 on August 9, 2008 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Jones would later become the youngest champion in UFC history.

Georges St-Pierre made his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut on January 31, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC 46, where he defeated highly ranked Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision.  St-Pierre would go on to be one of the greatest MMA fighters of his time.

The fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar at the Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale is regarded as one of the greatest fights in UFC history. It marked a turning point for the UFC in terms of its journey to mainstream acceptance of MMA as a popular, legitimate sport.

The 2000 Finals were held at the Tokyo Dome, where competitors who survived the opening round of the tournament competed in a single-elimination format to determine the greatest Pride fighter of the year. In the Quarterfinals, one of the most famous matches of all time took place when Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba and Brazilian superstar and former UFC champion Royce Gracie met in an untimed competition. After 90 minutes of continuous fighting, Gracie’s corner threw in the towel, giving Sakuraba his second victory over a member of the Gracie clan.

Pride 1 was an inaugural mma event held on October 11, 1997, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Rickson Gracie submitted Japanese pro wrestling superstar Nobuhiko Takada, continuing his undefeated streak in professional competition.. Pride would end in 2007 after 10 years and 68 events.

On November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York Connor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to became the first fighter in the promotion's history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.  This was the first time the UFC held an event in NYC.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship held its first mixed martial arts event at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States, on November 12, 1993, and changed the world of Martial Arts.