The 50 Greatest UFC PPV Events In Company History

What is the best martial arts discipline out there?

This is the question that a fighting family from Brazil was determined to answer back in 1993 with the idea of creating an event that would allow fighters of different disciplines to test their skill against each other and prove that their art, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, was the best of all.

This test is what would become globally known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship or simply, The UFC.

Including UFC 1 there have been over 100 UFC pay-per-view events, and with the growing popularity of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as a whole, I don't see that number slowing down anytime soon.

Which begs the question, what is the best Pay-Per-View event to date?

Oh...that's a tricky one isn't it? With so many cards over the past 16+ years, it's pretty tough to narrow down the No. 1 event of all time, but at Bleacher Report MMA we are going try our best to answer that for you.

Now, keep in mind that we are talking about an overall UFC Pay-Per-View event here, not a greatest fights list. For simplicity, we’ve narrowed down the list to the Top 50. The criteria used will involve looking at some of the following factors:

- Historical Impact of the event.
- Buzz Surrounding the Card.
- Number of Quality of Fights and Fighters Involved

So now it’s time to sit back, relax, and take a trip down memory lane. Don’t be too surprised if you start having flashbacks back to the times when you watched these events either on TV with your buddies or attended a live show, I know I did.

Enjoy!

No. 50 - UFC 41: Onslaught

I would like to start this countdown off with a card that is very near and dear to me as it was the first UFC Event that I ever attended.

Some Key Fights and Features were:
-A Heavyweight Title fight between Ricco Rodriguez and Tim Sylvia.
-A Lightweight Championship Bout between BJ Penn and Caol Uno.
-The event also marked the return of Tank Abbott to the UFC, where he was met with an ankle lock administered by Frank Mir.

It was truly a great night.

No. 49 - UFC 68: The Uprising

Key Fights / Feature

-Featured the return of Randy Couture to the Heavyweight Division. Of course he took an easy fight facing off against the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia, who stands at 6’8” and probably had about 60 pounds on Couture, but none of that mattered as ‘The Natural’ took the giant down limb by limb to achieve what was once thought impossible. This fight is what cemented his status as an MMA legend.
-Holds the record for the largest attendance for a MMA event in the United States to date.

No. 48 - UFC 65: Bad Intentions

The card featured the anticipated re-match between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre for the Welterweight Championship.

During their first meeting, St. Pierre was overwhelmed by the opportunity to face his idol and he let that get to him. This time would be much, much different. A faster, stronger, and more confident GSP destroyed Matt Hughes.

No. 47 - UFC 61: Bitter Rivals

This card featured a great co-main event.

Ortiz / Shamrock had these two fighters meeting up for a re-match on the heels of serving as opposing coaches on Ultimate Fighter season three and there was definitely no love lost between them.

The Arlovski / Sylvia matchup would be their rubber match.

No. 46- UFC 48: Payback

This event featured a fight between two MMA Legends in Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo. It would be the first time that they would face off since UFC 8 where Shamrock was the winner.

Also notable from this card was the Tim Sylvia / Frank Mir Heavyweight Title bout. Mir, a Jiu Jitsu black belt, was able to get Sylvia in an armbar which broke his arm in multiple places.

No. 45 - UFC 47: It's On!

The long awaited matchup between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell was finally going to happen.

The two former training partners knew each other pretty well, and some suspected that Liddell was just in Tito's head. Liddell's pure punching power and take down defense was just too much for Ortiz.

No. 44 - UFC 44: Undisputed

This was a great card that featured the return of Tito Ortiz to reclaim his hold on the 205 lb division by facing off against the interim champion, Randy Couture.

It would be one of the most humiliating nights in Ortiz's career.

At one point in the fight he was trapped beneath Couture in a very vulnerable position—one that most of us would never want to be in. So what did the 'The Natural' do? Well since Tito's been such a bad boy, he gave him a spanking...literally.

No. 43 - UFC 43: Meltdown

Key Fights / Feature:
An Interim Light Heavyweight Championship match was created between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell due to contract issues between the previous champion Tito Ortiz and the UFC.

This would be the first time that these two MMA greats would meet in what would become one of the greatest MMA trilogies of all time.

No. 42 - UFC 40: Vendetta

Key Fights / Feature:
UFC 40 had a ton on the line for the Zuffa as a whole. It pitted Ken Shamrock, the old school bad boy from UFC’s early days against the resident bad boy, Tito Ortiz.

This event received major press from Fox Sports Net and could prove that MMA can be something that sponsors can invest in. There was a huge build up for the event and anticipation was high which resulted in four times the pay-per-view buys over the previous show.

The fact that there were two more meetings between these two proved that the fans really enjoyed seeing these two go at it.

No. 41 - UFC 39: The Warriors Return

Key Fights / Feature:
-Randy Couture v. Ricco Rodriguez for the vacant title, which was stripped from Josh Barnett after testing positive for steroids.

-UFC debut of future/former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.

No. 40 - UFC 36: Worlds Collide

Key Fights / Feature:

-A Heavyweight Championship bout between Randy Couture and Josh Barnett

-A Welterweight Title Bout between Matt Hughes and Hayato Sakurai.

-This was the final UFC appearance of Pat Miletich.

-After beating Randy Couture in their Heavyweight title fight, Barnett would be stripped of the UFC Heavyweight title for testing positive for steroids.

Of course this would not be the last time that "The Babyfaced Assasin" would be prohibited from fighting an MMA legend due to his need to use performance enhancing drugs.

No. 39 - UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk

Key Fights / Features:

-This was the game changer for the entire industry. It was the first UFC event held by new owners Zuffa LLC. Managed by Dana White, Zuffa acquired the UFC in January 2001 from former owners SEG, who were on the verge of going bankrupt.
-There were two main championship bouts featuring Tito Ortiz versus Evan Tanner for what would later be renamed the Light Heavyweight title. The second fight was a Lightweight Title fight between Jens Pulver and Caol Uno. Back then the title was known as the bantamweight championship.

No. 38 - UFC 22: Only One Can be Champion

Key Fights / Features:

-The Ortiz-Shamrock fight is highly regarded in MMA circles as being considered one of the best MMA fights of its time. This was due to the full display of skills shown by both fighters. It was a back and forth fight which finally ended with Shamrock gaining the advantage through striking late in round four.

-The UFC debut of Matt Hughes and Jens Pulver.

-It also was the last UFC event that Frank Shamrock would ever participate in

No. 37 - UFC 19: Ultimate Young Guns

Key Fights / Features:

This was the card which sparked one of the more popular rivalries in MMA between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.

It all started when Ortiz faced off against Lion's Den fighter, Guy Megzer. After the bout Ortiz proceeded to be a sore winner and taunt Megzer and the entire Lion's Den team which sent Shamrock into a rage, from there a trilogy was born.

No. 36 - UFC 111: St-Pierre vs Hardy

Key Fights / Features:

-The UFC Primetime series returned to build up the UFC Welterweight Championship fight between the two fighters.

-It was the first time a British fighter had ever fought for a UFC title.

- The Interim Heavyweight title was up for grabs between Shane Carwin and Frank Mir with the winner facing a now recovered Brock Lesnar.

- Rousimar Palhares would be suspended for 90 days following his victory over Tomasz Drwal in which Palhares administered a nasty heel hook that the officials felt he held on to a bit too long.

# 35 - UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil

Key Fights / Features:

-This was the first UFC in Brazil.

-Middleweight champ, Frank Shamrock successfully defends his title over John Lober.

-The UFC Debut of Wanderlei Silva who took on another Brazilian figher by the name of Vitor Belfort. Belfort's speed was just too much for Silva, which had him out within a minute of the first round.

No. 34 - UFC 101: Declaration

Key Fights / Features:

-This was tThe first UFC in Pensylvannia

-Anderson Silva moved up to 205 in order to take on former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. Silva made the fight look effortless en route to another win.

-BJ Penn v Kenny Florian: This would be Penn's first fight after his controversial loss to GSP at UFC 94. He had since began working with a strength and conditioning coach to improve his performance, and it showed in this fight. While Kenny is an incredible fighter, Penn is on another level.

No. 33 - UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar

I actually attended this one, and the energy surrounding this fight was amazing. If you have ever been to Las Vegas for a UFC event, you know exactly what I am talking about. For those of you who have yet to go to either, you owe it to yourself to put that on your bucket list.

All the fights were great, with each one ending in either a knockout, TKO, or submission. My two best memories of this card would have to be the KO victory by Jeremy Stephens over Rafael dos Anjos.

The knockout resembled something out a Mortal Kombat video game, where Stephens dug low and deep for a vicious uppercut that put dos Anjos to sleep.

The other memory would have to be the Couture/ Rocky Balboa moment when everyone at MGM Grand began cheering "Randy, Randy, Randy" as the fight between Couture and Lesnar was about to begin.

Ah...good times.

No. 32 - UFC 53: Heavy Hitters

Key Fights / Features:

-Rich Franklin became the UFC middleweight champion by beating Evan Tanner.

-Forrest Griffin wins by rear naked choke over Bill Mahood.

No. 31 - UFC 50: The War of '04

Key Fights / Features:

-Ortiz v Cote for the Light Heavyweight Title

-Hughes v. GSP 1 for the Welterweight Title

No. 30 - UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou

Key Fights / Features:

-The Debut of Pat Miletich.

-A key battle between Frank Shamrock and Igor Zinoviev in which Shamrock ended Zinoviev's career by breaking his collarbone with a slam.

No. 29 - UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2

Key Fights / Features:

-This was the highly anticipated re-match between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua. In their first meeting at UFC 104, Rua pushed Machida to the limit and exposed many holes in the champion’s game. Yet the decision went for the champion.

However, this time around it would be drastically different. ‘Shogun’ went straight at Machida and never let up until he was out cold on the mat all within the first few minutes of the first round.

-We also saw the end of internet sensation Kimbo Slice’s run in the UFC with his loss to fellow Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Alum Matt Mitrione.

-The most shocking part of the card had to be after the Koscheck v. Daley match in which a frustrated Daley sucker punched Koscheck after the third round had ended. This prompted UFC President, Dana White to toss Daley from the promotion for good.

No. 28 - UFC 13: Ultimate Force

Key Fights / Features:
-Superfight between Vitor Belfort and Tank Abbott. Belfort disposed of Abbott with his well known and explosive striking.

-UFC debut of future MMA legends and UFC Champions Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz.

No. 27 - UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin

Key Fights / Features:

-In one of the most anticipated UFC bouts in the history of the promotion. This Pay–Per–View was a source of debate for many MMA fans. Would the battle between two of the biggest Heavyweights in the division live up to the hype? Would the fact that there wasn’t really a strong co-main event to help support the card be a factor?

Surprisingly, UFC 116 had a lot of great fights without the big names. Here is a run down:

Stephan Bonnar defeated Krzysztof Soszynski via TKO.

Chris Lytle defeated Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown with a beautifully set up mounted triangle/straight armbar.

Chris Leben defeated YoshihiroAkiyama via triangle.

And, of course, the most surprising of all the victories came from Brock Lesnar’s ever expanding MMA skill set. He weathered the storm of power shots from Shane Carwin to regain his footing and secure an arm triangle choke. The match not only secured his place amongst the top heavyweights in MMA, but he’s proven he’s got heart.

No. 26 - UFC 12: Judgement Day

Key Fights / Features:

-The first UFC event to feature weight classes.

-The key match of the event was a Superfight between Dan Severn and Mark Coleman to determine the first UFC Heavyweight Champion. Coleman ended up demolishing Severn using a technique which would later be coined as the "ground and pound."

-The event also featured the UFC debuts of Vitor Belfort and commentator Joe Rogan, who handled backstage interviews for the event.

No. 25 - UFC 9: Motor City Madness

Key Fights / Features:
- This was the first event in the pre-Zuffa era which featured n card consisting of all superfights and no tournament.

- In addition, UFC 9 marked the start of the push by John McCain to get the UFC shut down for good by successfully getting cable providers to pull UFC pay-per-view broadcasts from their schedules which really put a dent in sales of the event.

No. 24 - UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie

Key Fights / Features:
- This was the return of the originator. The first ever UFC champion facing off against the new school warriors. Royce Gracie was coming back to the UFC after 11 years of being away and he would be going against the perfect representation of the new, Zuffa version of the UFC: Matt Hughes.

The fight was a non-title catch-weight (175 lb) match in which Hughes used his strength and athletic ability to destroy Gracie within the first round.

No. 23 - UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3

Key Fights / Features:

- The key feature of this knockout and submission filled card was the final and deciding match in MMA’s first major trilogy: Couture v. Liddell.

No. 22 - UFC 5: The Return of the Beast

Key Fights / Features:

-In order to ensure that there was nothing stopping Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock from fighting each other, the first-ever UFC Superfight was created. It was the first non-tournament singles match in UFC history. Ironically, the superfight, singles match was what would later become the standard in the UFC in order to make it more appealing to opposing politicians who wanted to see the sport get shut down.

-With the institution of time limits, it would mark the final UFC that involved UFC co-creator Rorion Gracie since he felt that the introduction of rules and time limits takes away from the perfect vision that they had for MMA.

No. 21 - UFC 3: The American Dream

Key Fights / Features:

-In the old tournament format, the highly anticipated re-match between two–time UFC tournament champion Royce Gracie and rival Ken Shamrock would not happen due to a knee injury to Shamrock and Gracie’s withdrawl from the tournament citing exhaustion after his epic battle with the massive bruiser Kimo Leoplodo.

-This would mark the first time that someone other than Gracie had won the tournament.

No. 20 - UFC 49: Unfinished Business

Key Fights / Features:

-Solid card which highlighted the rubber match between the then-Light Heavyweight Champion, Vitor Belfort, and Randy Couture.

No. 19 - UFC 54: Boiling Point

Key Fights / Features:

-All the fights on the main card ended in either a submission, TKO, KO.

-The UFC debut of Diego Sanchez.

-Randy Couture returns to the UFC to secure a submission victory via anaconda choke over Mike Van Arsdale.

- Tim Sylvia takes Tra Telligman’s head off with a vicious head kick to secure a victory.

- GSP gets a rear naked choke on Frank Trigg.

- Chuck Liddell secured a win over Jeremy Horn to successfully defend his Light Heavyweight belt.

No. 18 - UFC 80: Rapid Fire

Key Fights / Features:

-Due to then-champion Sean Sherk being stripped of his title due to testing positive for steroids, the interim title bout between BJ Penn and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson became an undisputed title fight.

I have to say that if you had never tuned into the UFC before this fight you might have been turned off to MMA all-together after it. During the fight, Penn managed to open a nasty cut on Stevenson’s face that poured out blood all over the mat. Pretty gnarly.

No. 17 - UFC 64: Unstoppable

Key Fights / Features:

-The main event focused on the UFC Middleweight Championship defense by Rich Franklin against the very dangerous Anderson Silva. This would be Silva’s first title match since joining the UFC, and he did not disappoint.

"The Spider" made short work of Franklin by using his incredible striking skills to become the UFC Middleweight Champ, a title that he still holds nearly 4 years later. Good Luck Mr. Sonnen, you’ll need it.

-Also on the card was a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Ultimate Fighter alumnus Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk. This would be the first Lightweight Championship fight since UFC 41, and while Florian showed heart, he was no match for Sherk.

No. 16 - UFC 69: Shootout

Key Fights / Features:

-Georges St. Pierre defends his welterweight title against The Ultimate Fighter 4 welterweight winner Matt Serra and loses in a stunning upset from a solid hook that rocked St. Pierre. While GSP was able to come back and avenge this loss to win his title back, it forever changed him as a fighter.

He now fights with more caution during the stand up and employs more of a ground attack to win/frustrate opponents. While not always the most popular or flashy means of winning fights in the eyes of some MMA fans, it’s been effective.

-Josh Koscheck hands the Welterweight version of Diego Sanchez his first loss.

-It was announced that former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be fighting in the UFC.

-Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans were in a brief ringside altercation which led to them settling their beef at UFC 73.

No. 15 - UFC 100

UFC 100 was a milestone event not only for the company, but for MMA in general. Since 1993, the UFC has been the leader in providing Mixed Martial Arts, and while there were many promotions that tried to compete with or take out the UFC, none of them lasted.

All credit would have to be due to the Fertitta’s for having the vision to trust their friend Dana White and invest in a then-banned sport which only really existed underground. They saved MMA, and brought it to the popularity that it’s currently enjoying today.

I feel like UFC 100 was a celebration for all the hardcore fans who stuck it out all of those years, a welcome to the new fans who were just getting in to MMA from what they’ve seen of The Ultimate Fighter, and a huge middle finger to its major opponent: Arizona Senator John McCain.

Key Fights/Features:

Ultimate Fighter Coaches Square Off: Bisbing v. Henderson
-In what became a favorite fight of many MMA fans, former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson took on his opposing coach from season nine, Michael Bisbing. During the show, Henderson did his best to hold back his annoyance with Bisbing’s rudeness and smack talk. All of this tension was bottled up and stored in the form of a vicious knockout that everyone except Bisbing seemed to know was coming.

GSP tames the ‘Pitbull’
-Welterweight champ George St. Pierre took on Thiago Alves in what many thought to be a huge threat for the champion. Once again Alves and many GSP non believers were proven wrong, and ‘Rush’ handed Alves an excellent combination of takedowns mixed with ground and pound to secure the win.

Brock Lesnar: Undisputed
-In their previous meeting, Brock Lesnar showed glimpses of the kind of Mixed Martial Artist he could become. On July 11th, 2009 he ascended to what we all feared he would be: a juggernaut in the Heavyweight division.

Never have we seen a grown man get handled as easily on the ground as Brock did with Mir. By the end of the fight, Frank Mir’s face resembled ground meat. The lasting effects of that fight will haunt Mir for the rest of his days.

No. 14 - UFC 81: Breaking Point

Key Fights/Features:

-With the UFC debut of former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir we saw a glimpse of the future. Brock Lesnar brought speed, size, strength, and millions of new fans who would be checking out MMA for the first time just to see how their favorite pro wrestler would fair in a real, unscripted fight.

- In 2007, Randy Couture left the UFC due to contract disputes. This became the start of a little soap opera for the UFC Heavyweight title which ended earlier this month when Brock Lesnar once again unified the title.

Originally, Randy Couture was the title holder, but with his departure, it forced UFC President to create an Interim UFC title which was the focal point of the main event for this card. Former champ Tim Sylvia would take on Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira and lost via a guillotine choke by Big Nog.

No.13 - UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson

Key Fights/Features:

-You gotta love PRIDE. It served as the base for quite a few UFC rivalries once the company was purchased by Zuffa in 2007. A large portion of its popular fighters came over to the UFC as a result and hence the main event for this card came to reality.

This would feature a re-match between then-UFC Light Heavyweight Champion "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. At the time of the event, Jackson was the only fighter to have beaten Liddell without it being avenged.

The significance of Liddell’s second loss to Rampage would start a musical chairs game for the 205 title that doesn’t seem to let up. You see, Liddell is the last UFC Light Heavyweight champion to hold the belt for more than one successful title defense.

Since then nobody else besides Rampage has been able to hold on to the belt beyond their initial winning of the title. Let’s see if current champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua can break the cycle.

- This was the point where mainstream sports media, particularly ESPN, began to cover the UFC , which was huge for both the promotion and MMA.

No. 12 - UFC 79: Nemesis

Key Fights/Features:

- After years of anticipation, the fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva was finally going to happen, and it surely did not disappoint. These two legends went at it for a three round slug fest in what many MMA fighters ranked as one of the top fights of 2007.

- In the rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes for the interim Welterweight belt, GSP showed his utter dominance by breaking Hughes down from the stand up, and then polishing him off on the ground with an armbar to secure the victory.

This fight was originally supposed to have opposing Ultimate Fighter 6 coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes against each other for Serra's UFC Welterweight Championship but due to a back injury, Serra had to withdraw and St. Pierre stepped in to take on Hughes.

This fight actually started the domino effect which has GSP in the spot of dominant champion that he is today. By defeating Hughes, and then going on to unify the title against a healed up Serra at UFC 83, he’s ensured that his status as the best pound for pound fighter in the world was complete.

- PRIDE light heavyweight Sokoudjou made his UFC debut against then-undefeated Lyoto Machida.

No. 11 - UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2

Key Fights/Features:

- A highly anticipated rematch between Light Heavyweight Champion, Chuck Liddell and the former champion Tito Ortiz.

- As part of the co-main event, Forrest Griffin took on Keith Jardine

- Former Heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski, came back to win his first fight since losing to Tim Sylvia.

- The UFC debut of Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner Michael Bisping.

- During the event, the UFC announced that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic had signed with the company.

- Achieved the highest live gate revenue in North American mixed martial arts history at 5.3 Million.

No. 10 - UFC 42: Sudden Impact

Key Fights/Features:

- The first UFC event to take place in Florida.
- Matt Hughes v. Sean Sherk for the Welterweight title.
- The UFC debut future/former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. He defeats Evan Tanner via TKO.

No. 9 - UFC 45: Revolution

Key Fights/Features:

- The 10th Anniversary of the UFC.

- Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock become the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame.

-Evan Tanner v. Phil Baroni

- Robbie Lawler v. Chris Lytle

- Tank Abbott v. Wesley Correira

THE TANK GETS RUN OVER

Once an intimidator in the Octagon, by this point Abbott’s brawling power style was quickly becoming obsolete against faster more well rounded fighters. Correira was able to get a doctor stoppage due to the devastating knees that opened a gash on Abbott’s face.

- The first fight between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg

No. 8 - UFC 34: High Voltage

Key Fights/Features:

- Randy Couture v. Pedro Rizzo for the Heavyweight Title

- Matt Hughes v. Carlos Newton for the Welterweight Title

THE SLAM

During this fight, Matt Hughes created a highlight of legendary proportions when he got caught in Newton’s triangle choke. In order to escape passing out or tapping out, Hughes picked Newton up, and walked him over to the fence and rested him up on the top of the cage to gather his thoughts.

Once he realized that Newton was not going to relinquish the hold, he proceeded to drop him straight down, sending Newton’s head bouncing off the mat in devastating fashion, knocking him out cold. Hughes wins and becomes the new Welterweight Champion.

- The UFC debut of future/former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.

No. 7 - UFC 46: Supernatural

Key Fights/Features:
-Light Heavyweight championship bout between Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort. Belfort wins the title due to a doctor stoppage, when a nasty cut is opened on the eyelid of Couture due to a grazing punch.

-The UFC debut of current welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre. He defeated Judo standout Karo Parisyan.

-BJ Penn defeats Matt Hughes with a rear naked choke to win the Welterweight Title.

-Frank Mir wins over Wes Sims via TKO

No. 6 - UFC 1: The Beginning

You know we couldn’t get out of the top 10 without paying honor to the event that started it all. UFC 1 was the beginning, the nucleus of it all. Without it you wouldn’t be reading this countdown now, so let’s see why we should respect this ground breaking event:

THE IDEA

The whole premise of the event was to display how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was the most dominant form of martial arts. The main proponent of the movement was the legendary Gracie family.

The Gracies were a family from Brazil which were bred to fight. They would take on all comers in Brazil in order to prove that their brand of Jiu Jitsu named “Gracie Jiu Jitsu” was the greatest and most effective form of fighting.

The idea for the tournament was the brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie. It consisted of a single-elimination tournament that had very few rules. The winner would end up getting $50,000.
In order to truly show the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, the Davie and Rorion decided to have Royce represent the family since due to his slim and frail frame.

The seven other fighters which were involved in the event came from different disciplines, and it truly looked like a fighting madhouse.

THE WILD FIGHTS

Going in to this event, I am pretty sure that the fighters didn’t know what to expect. Well they managed to get their answer pretty quickly in the first fight of the night.

Gerrard Gordeau, a savate fighter from The Netherlands faced off against a huge sumo wrestler from Hawaii named Telia Tuli.

At first glance it looked as though Tuli would destroy the much slimmer Gordeau. After launching a rushing attack at the Dutchman, Tuli fell to the mat after losing his footing. While on the ground against the cage, Gordeau launched a devastating kick to Tuli’s face that launched one of his teeth into the crowd.

This definitely set the tone for the entire card, as most of the fights were so wild due to the “anything goes” rules that the fighters involved were just doing whatever it took to win. Once of my favorite fights of the evening has to be the matchup between Kevin Rosier and Zane Frazier, where Rosier literally defined the words “beatdown”, by ending the fight with stomps to Frazier’s face and body.

THE BIRTH OF TWO MMA LEGENDS

UFC 1 marked the debut of two men who would later be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. Their semi final matchup was essentially the finals match, and it was a great one.

With Shamrock’s shoot wrestling/grappling background, he was a pretty formidable foe for Gracie who, up until then, had been rolling through the tournament with ease. Gracie would go on to win the tournament two more times after UFC 1, while Shamrock would go on to take part in some pretty legendary fights including a three fight war with Tito Ortiz, and a great PRIDE battle with another future UFC legend Don Frye.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF JIU JITSU

Recently, I re-watched the entire card for UFC 1 and was truly amazed at what Royce Gracie was able to do. He confused his opponents with a style that not many people were familiar with then.

He was able to show the world that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was a highly formidable martial art, which in turn created the start of the modern day Mixed Martial Artist. As the UFC began to grow in popularity it was becoming obvious to incoming fighters that in order to be really great at this sport you need a blend of both stand up skills and a great Jiu Jitsu game.

This sparked the growth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the United States, and as a BJJ practitioner myself, I’m thankful.

No. 5 - UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2

This event had a ton of buzz surrounding it. UFC 52 was what most MMA fans consider to be the card that started the push for MMA into the mainstream popularity that it's experiencing currently. Here’s a look at why:

-The main event featured the opposing coaches from the first season of the highly successful reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. The season finale ended up bringing in millions of viewers due to the slug fest between the show’s finalists Stephen Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. Just a week later UFC 52 was able to ride the wave of notoriety that TUF generated, and it did not disappoint.

-Along with appearances from GSP, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and Renato “Babalu” Sobral this card had some strong performances.

KEY FIGHTS:
-Matt Hughes v. Frank Trigg: This welterweight title fight involved a rematch between two fighters who frankly could not stand each other, which made the fight all the more entertaining when it ended with Hughes administering a rear naked choke while Trigg was still on his feet in round one. As he began pass out, Trigg took fall right to the mat which sealed the victory for Hughes.

-Randy Couture v. Chuck Liddell: The main event of the evening featured a rematch between two standout fighters in the Light Heavyweight division. With the title on the line, it only added to the excitement of what could happen.

During their first meeting Couture was able to use his effective standup skills to secure a knockout victory over “The Iceman” to become the 205 pound champ. However, Liddell decided to deliver some chin music of his own during the second fight and knocked “The Natural” out in the middle of first round.

No. 4 - UFC 58: USA vs Canada

This international themed UFC pitted a battle between fighters from US and Canada. It featured some key matchups which featured some standout fighters on a solid card:

-Sam Stout v. Spencer Fisher: This would be the first 155 pound fight since 2004 when the UFC suspended the division.

-This would be Middleweight standout Nate Marquart’s first appearance on a UFC pay-per-view.

-Mike “Quick” Swick showed us all how he earned his nickname by finishing off Steve Vigneault in the first round with a great guillotine choke.

-Perhaps one of the best rivalries in MMA, started on this card. This is where BJ Penn made his return to the UFC after leaving the organization nearly two years earlier due to contract disputes.

So with the grand return of this former champion, who would they pit against him? Well, GSP of course. Future Welterweight juggernaut, George St. Pierre was on a hot streak in the division, and Penn was the man in his way to a title shot with Matt Hughes.

The fight showed how equally matched these two fighters were, and the fight, which ended in a split decision victory for GSP, would be perfect fuel for their rematch at UFC 94.

No. 3 - UFC 84: Ill Will

This card really lived up to its title. Ill Will offered a solid card which was highlighted by two brutal knockouts:

Wanderlei Silva v. Keith Jardine: During his days in PRIDE, Mr.Silva developed the ability to end fights in the most brutal ways possible. His savagery is what made him so popular amongst MMA fans, and during his battle with “The Dean Of Mean” he continued this tradition by holding Jardine down by the neck and pounding him into dust till the ref stopped the fight.

Sean Sherk v. Lightweight Champ, BJ Penn: This fight went back and forth for the most part, with Penn getting the better of Sherk in some cases, but what put an end to Sherk’s night in the third round was a devastating knee to the face by Penn as “The Muscle Shark” went in for a takedown.

The timing could not have been more perfect. Penn then finished a stunned Sherk with a barrage of punches for the referee stoppage.

No. 2 - UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

The No. 2 spot on this countdown belongs to UFC 92: Ultimate 2008.

Think about the name of the card, Ultimate. That says it all when it comes to this card. Coming off the heels of one of the biggest UFC events in recent history, UFC 91: Couture v. Lesnar; UFC 92 was a perfect way to end off on a high note for 2008. One of the most unique aspects of this PPV was that every fight on the main card ended in a knockout.

KEY FIGHTS
Rashad Evans v. Light Heavyweight Champ, Forrest Griffin: This was a battle of two champions from the first 2 seasons of the wildly popular Ultimate Fighter reality show. Evans had the speed and athleticism, while Griffin was a gutsy fighter with very raw talent.
-Winner: Evans via TKO in round 3

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira v. Frank Mir: The winner of this match would win the interim heavyweight title, and go on to face Brock Lesnar for a unification of the Heavyweight belt. While Mir looked phenomenal against “Big Nog”; showing great stand up combos, we all know what would happen just 7 months later when he met up with Lesnar. Ouch.
-Winner: Mir via TKO round 2

Rampage Jackson v. Wanderlei Silva: This was a match of redemption for Jackson. After getting utterly destroyed with one of the most vicious knockouts ever seen in MMA during their PRIDE days, Rampage was looking for the knockout. Well, at just two minutes into the first round, Mr. Jackson got his wish.
-Winner: Jackson via KO Round 1

No. 1 - UFC 31: Locked and Loaded

And here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the No. 1 UFC Pay-Per-View of all time.

Why UFC 31, you ask? Well, after looking at all the cards which have taken place over the past 16+ years, this card stood as having all the key factors in abundance:

-From a historical standpoint, UFC 31 saw a change to the weight classes which are now the standard that we are now used to. The Bantamweight class was renamed Lightweight and raised from 150 to 155. The Welterweight Class got a boost to 170 pounds, Middleweights were set at 185, and Light Heavyweights at 205.

-In addition, this was the second event held by new owners Zuffa LLC which acquired the UFC in January 2001 from former owners SEG, who were on the verge of going bankrupt.

-On the star power side, you had a great mix of established favorites and future superstars making their UFC debut. The card featured a co-main event featuring Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo for the Heavyweight title, and a Welterweight Title bout between Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton.

-As if that wasn’t enough, the card also featured the debut of future and soon to be again 155 pound champion BJ Penn, as well as future/former Welterweight champ Matt Serra. Both of these guys were incredible Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelts, so there was a lot of hype surrounding these two getting into MMA.

-Even the “The Monster” Kevin Randleman got into the fray by dropping to 205 from heavyweight.

To top it all off the fights on this card are what really proved that Zuffa was a serious company trying to build a brand with the UFC, and it's the PPV that gained enough interest from hardcore fans to spark the movement towards bringing MMA out from the underground.

Nearly all the fights on this card ended with either a knock out or submission. A true highlight of the night was the legendary battle between Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo for the Heavyweight Title; Rizzo’s brutal leg kicks were so devastating during their five round match, that “The Natural” was laid up for weeks unable to walk after the fight.

According to a recount of this fight in his book, “Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage," Couture says that to this day he has a sizable dent in his leg from taking all of those shots. What a souvenir...