The Countdown: The 10 Greatest Non-Title UFC Main Events of All Time

This weekend the UFC will hit Dallas, Texas for the first time ever for UFC 103. The card is stacked from top to bottom and headlined by a 195-pound catch-weight bout between former champions Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort.

The only thing missing from this explosive card is a five-round title fight which was missing from the last UFC event as well. Fans will have to wait until UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun to see a championship contested in the Octagon.

With the UFC’s new business strategy of stringing together more cards in a year it is becoming difficult to set up title fights to headline each event. However this isn’t a bad thing at all because as proven in past events a headliner does not need to be a championship bout in order to produce fireworks.

In fact let’s take a look at the ten greatest non-title UFC Pay-Per-View main events of all time.

10. UFC 96: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Keith Jardine (3/1/2009)

Eight months prior to this fight Jackson lost his Light Heavyweight strap in a five-round war to Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. Suddenly the scariest man in the 205-pound division didn’t seem so terrifying anymore.

Then Jackson took on arch rival Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 and knocked ‘The Axe Murderer’ out with a crushing left hook in the first round. The Mike Tyson of the MMA world was back and ready to reclaim his championship.

But before challenging for the title Jackson would first have to get through top Light Heavyweight contender “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine at UFC 96.

Heading into this fight most expected an easy victory for Jackson but Jardine proved the naysayers wrong standing toe-to-toe with Jackson for three full rounds in a back and forth battle.

The end result saw Jackson winning the judge’s decision unanimously but it was later revealed afterward that had Jardine not been dropped in the final seconds of the third round he would have won the fight.

9. UFC 93: Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson (1/17/2009)

For years fans would talk about what would happen if Franklin were to take on Henderson so when the opportunity presented itself UFC matchmaker Joe Silva was quick to sign the matchup as the headliner for the UFC’s very first event in beautiful Dublin, Ireland.

The Irish fans were treated to an entertaining battle which saw Henderson winning the judge’s decision and also earning a spot as a coach for Team USA on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter alongside Team U.K’s Michael Bisping.

The Dublin fans went absolutely crazy during this fight and throughout the entire event. Ireland MMA is on the rise, there is a huge fan base out there that is constantly growing larger every day. UFC President Dana White was so impressed with the passion from the crowd that he promised there would be many more events in Dublin in the future.


8. UFC 85: Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves (6/7/2008)

When two main events fell out due to injury the UFC called former Welterweight champion Hughes up on short notice to battle rising prospect Alves in London, England.

Hughes was just five months removed from screaming uncle at the hands of current 170-pound champ Georges St. Pierre and was looking to work his way back into the mix. Alves on the other-hand, although a tough prospect was relatively unknown by casual fans at the time. He was on a five-fight win streak and coming off an impressive knockout over Karo Parisyan.

Due to a sprained ankle injury Alves failed to make weight but Hughes agreed to proceed with the fight at a catch-weight of 175-pounds. However come fight time Alves was clearly well over 190 and looked like a Brazilian version of The Incredible Hulk compared to Hughes.

Alves knocked the former champion out with a flying knee that was heard around the world just one minute into the second round. The Pitbull went from relatively unknown to top welterweight contender in just one night.

7. UFC 76: Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine (9/22/2007)

After losing his Light Heavyweight title to Jackson by way of a brutal first round knockout Liddell was looking to rebound against Jardine. Funnily enough Jardine was also coming off a crushing first round knockout at the hands of then-UFC newcomer Houston Alexander.

This may have been the first and only time you will see two fighters headline a UFC event after being finished early in their last bout. This was supposed to be the fight to get The Iceman back on track, an early Christmas present in the form of an easy victory but things didn’t go as planned.

Jardine’s herky-jerky style gave Liddell fits and after spending three rounds battering the eventual Hall of Famer with bone shattering leg and body kicks The Dean of Mean was awarded the split decision victory.

Not only did Jardine beat Liddell but he turned him into a mutant leaving welts all over his body as a result of the kicks.

6. UFC 70: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (4/21/2007)

When Croation head-kicking sensation Cro Cop made the move over to the UFC from PRIDE everyone expected big things from him. After all this is a man who was knocking out everyone in the PRIDE Fighting Championships left from right including Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, and Aleksander Emelianenko.

After stopping Eddie Sanchez in his UFC debut Cro Cop was matched up with Gonzaga to determine the number one contender to then-Heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

Everyone was betting against Gonzaga and predicting Cro Cop to begin his reign of UFC dominance and then the next thing you know Gonzaga knocks Cro Cop out cold with a thunderous head kick in the first round earning the title shot against Couture.

Gonzaga not only scored one of the biggest knockouts in UFC history but also one of the biggest upsets as well.


5. UFC 88: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans (9/6/2008)

Fresh off his victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 Liddell was set to take on then-unbeaten Evans at UFC 85 but a torn hamstring kept him off the card. The Iceman wasn’t out of action for long however and the fight was rebooked for the UFC’s very first event in Atlanta, GA.

The speculation heading into this bout was that if Liddell were to win he would be granted an immediate title shot against the champion at that time—Forrest Griffin. Liddell fans were adamant that the former champion would triumph over Evans and then conquer Griffin to reclaim his Light Heavyweight crown.

Those dreams were crushed as Liddell went for an uppercut and left himself open for an explosive overhand right from Evans that dropped Liddell like a sack of bricks. The entire arena went to complete silence the moment Liddell hit the canvas.

4.  UFC 99: Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva (6/13/2009)

Five months following a disappointing decision loss to Henderson in Ireland Franklin met MMA legend Silva in the UFC’s first trip to Cologne, Germany. Much like Franklin’s next bout with Belfort this Saturday night, Franklin fought Silva at a catch-weight of 195 pounds.

Both fighters were coming off losses and needed a win to prove their relevancy in the sport. What made things even more interesting was the fact that Franklin had decided to train with current UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva leading up to this fight.

Not only has Anderson completely dismantled Franklin on two separate occasions but he has also trained with Wanderlei for many years until they had a falling out.

The UFC were hopeful that Wanderlei would defeat Franklin that way they could set up a high profile bout between the two Silva’s for the 185-pound strap but things didn’t go according to plan.

Franklin outpointed Wanderlei in an exciting three round war to earn the split decision victory. The German crowd definitely appreciated the battle between these two legendary fighters.

3.  UFC 47: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz I (4/2/2004)

The feud between former friends Ortiz and Liddell led to what at the time would be the biggest fight in UFC history.

Back when Ortiz was the Light Heavyweight champion he seemed to be avoiding Liddell, who was at the time the clear cut number one contender to Ortiz’s title. Ortiz refused to accept the fight because he claimed the two were close friends and that they made a pact that they would never fight each other.

Liddell denied such claims and expressed his desire to square off with Ortiz in the Octagon for the championship but the fight took two years to put together.

It wasn’t until after Ortiz lost his title to Couture that the bout between Ortiz and Liddell was finally signed.

Liddell scored a second-round TKO in the fight, but not without a little controversy. Liddell appeared to poke Ortiz in the eye just before the final closing sequence on the cage, when Liddell rained combinations on Ortiz before Ortiz fell to the floor and the referee stopped the fight.

Ortiz said afterward that he couldn’t see properly because of the eye poke, which aggravated Liddell even more.

2. UFC 60: Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie (5/27/2006)

This matchup pitted MMA’s most dominant champion at the time in Hughes up against the hall of famer and UFC pioneer in Gracie. It was the new-school fighter taking on the old-school fighter and the new-school fighter wanted to prove to the old veteran that the sport has passed him by.

In the early days of the UFC Gracie introduced Jiu-Jitsu to millions of fans in America and used it to dominate much larger opponents. Back in Gracie’s day there weren’t any rules and there weren’t any weight divisions.

Prior to facing Hughes the last time Gracie competed in the Octagon was all the way back at UFC 5 and the sport had evolved tremendously since then and Gracie didn’t keep up.

Hughes basically had his way with the Brazilian and flattened Gracie out on his back before pounding him out with strikes for a first round TKO.

1. UFC 102: Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (8/29/2009)

Not only is Couture vs. Nogueira an early candidate for fight of the year but it may rank as one of the greatest MMA fights of all time.

Prior to the bout some fans were fearful these two legends would put on a stalemate in front of the Oregon crowd but boy were they wrong or what? The speculation heading into the fight was that Couture was too old and Nogueira was past his prime.

Well for an old man Couture can still perform on a very impressive athletic level and Nogueira didn’t look past his prime whatsoever. This fight was an explosive three round battle that saw Nogueira win the majority of the rounds to earn the unanimous decision.

Clearly both fighters still have a lot left in the gas tank and aren’t ready for retirement just yet.