UFC 122: Ranking the UFC's 10 Most Entertaining International Events

As UFC has gained in popularity, they have started to expand their worldwide audience outside of the United States. Lately, they have taken more and more events outside the friendly confines of the US and have begun to make their mark in other countries throughout the world.

By the end of this year, UFC will have held 24 events outside of the USA, and it has been a mixed bag in terms of entertainment and spectacle when the events are taken outside of the country. Some of these events have been really good, and others have been a trainwreck (I'm talking about you UFC 112). Here are the 10 best, most entertaining international UFC Events.

10. UFC 8

The first UFC Event held outside of the United States took place on February 16, 1996. It featured Ken Shamrock taking on Kimo Leopoldo for the Superfight Championship. Also, it featured a "David vs. Goliath" Tournament in which larger fighters would take on smaller ones.

In retrospect, the event was noteworthy because it had this tournament concept. In execution, it was extremely dangerous to make these guys fight more than one time in a night. In fact, one fighter, Paul Varelans, won his fight via decision but was injured and unable to continue in the tournament.

9. UFC 115

The most recent UFC event on this list took place in Vancouver and is notable because it is (or at least should be) the final time that Chuck Liddell steps into the Octagon. No one can deny what Chuck Liddell meant to UFC and how great he once was.

However, on this night his fate was sealed when he was dominating Rich Franklin the entire first round until there was about five seconds left when Franklin caught him with a shot to the jaw and down goes Liddell.

Main Fight Card:

Carlos Condit def. Rory MacDonald

Ben Rothwell def. Gilbert Yvel

Martin Kampmann def. Paulo Thiago

Mirko Cro Cop def. Pat Berry

Rich Franklin def. Chuck Liddell

8. UFC 38

Matt Hughes went into UFC 38, which emanated from London, England, as the always rare underdog champion. He was defending his welterweight championship against Carlos Newton. This was a Jekyll-Hyde fight in that it started out really well with takedowns and near submissions. Then, it settled into a boring ground fight where nothing was happening. Finally, late in the third and carrying into the fourth round, it ended with Hughes being able to trap Newton's arms and pound his face causing a stoppage.

Also, on the card Frank Mir got absolutely obliterated by Ian Freeman in what was actually a scary fight, when Mir got up after being beaten on then was able to take a few steps and ended up falling over.

Main Fight Card:

Phillip Miller def. James Zikic

Genki Sudo def. Leigh Remedios

Mark Weir def. Eugene Jackson

Ian Freeman def. Frank Mir

Matt Hughes def. Carlos Newton

7. UFC 93

UFC 93 took place in Dublin, Ireland, and while not among the best events in the history of UFC, it did feature one of the more interesting/surprising fights in recent memory. Mauricio Rua, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, took on Mark Coleman, who was a 44-year-old Hall of Famer. Not to take anything away from Coleman, but Rua should have dominated him. He was younger, stronger and better in every aspect of fighting.

However, Mark Coleman didn't get the memo and proceeded to put on one of the more memorable performances in UFC history. He was able to stick with Rua into the third round using a combination of guts and heart. In the end, Rua got the TKO late in the third, but Coleman was the story of the event.

Main Fight Card:

Marcus Davis def. Chris Lytle

Alan Belcher def. Denis Kang

Rousimar Palhares def. Jeremy Horn

Mauricio Rua def. Mark Coleman

Dan Henderson def. Rich Franklin

6. UFC Ultimate Japan

The first UFC Ultimate Japan event took place four days before Christmas 1997. It featured the crowning of the first ever Middleweight Champion when Frank Shamrock defeated Kevin Jackson. The title would later go on to become the Light-Heavyweight Championship.

Also, some guy named Couture would capture his first ever UFC Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Maurice Smith via decision, setting into motion one of the greatest careers in MMA history and beginning his run as one of the best and most popular fighters in UFC.

Main Fight Card:

Tra Telligman def. Brad Kohler

Frank Shamrock def. Kevin Jackson

Vitor Belfort def. Joe Charles

Kazushi Sakuraba wins UFC Japan Tournament

Randy Couture def. Maurice Smith

5. UFC 95

Maybe, I am in the minority, but I love an event that has a lot of knockouts. If a fight doesn't have a knockout, hopefully there is still a lot of action to make the fight exciting. Some fighters win, but they are boring when they do it (see: Jake Shields). UFC 95 saw a number of knockouts, and then the main event was a really good fight that came down to the judges decision.

It wasn't the most noteworthy show ever, but as far as UFC events go, it was entertaining. There were good fighters having good fights and nothing was outright offensive.

Main Fight Card:

Paulo Thiago def. Josh Koscheck

Demian Maia def. Chael Sonnen

Nate Marquardt def. Wilson Gouveia

Dan Hardy def. Rory Markham

Diego Sanchez def. Joe Stevenson

4. UFC 105

A little controversy always makes a mediocre event good and a good event that much more enjoyable. The main event was Randy Couture taking on Brandon Vera in a light heavyweight matchup. Couture really controlled everything about the fight.

It looked as though Vera could have ended the fight a couple of times, and he landed the biggest shot in the fight. However, since Couture seemed to dictate the fight, he was able to get the decision. It was really a split fight that a lot of people thought Vera won, but it's not the most eggregious decision in UFC history.

Main Fight Card:

Ross Pearson def. Aaron Riley

Matt Brown def. James Wilks

Michael Bisping def. Denis Kang

Dan Hardy def. Mike Swick

Randy Couture def. Brandon Vera

3. UFC 99

Looking back on this event one thing stands out—Cheick Kongo gave Cain Velasquez his most competitive fight since Cain has been in MMA. Early on, Cheick tagged Cain with a punch and rattled him. However, Cain didn't go down and was able to hang in there and really take control of the fight from that point. To this point, it's the only Velasquez fight that has gone into the third round.

The main event was Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, and it was a fun, exciting fight. Silva was able to work the crowd and just kept throwing punches like a madman with no real plan on where they were going; he just wanted to throw them and try and knock Franklin out. It didn't work as Franklin got the unanimous decision, but given the styles clash in this fight, it was something to see.

Main Fight Card:

Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis

Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno

Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders

Mirko Cro Cop def. Mostapha Al-turk

Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo

Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva

2. UFC 110

This event did one thing and one thing only—it made Cain Velasquez a star. Not quite the star that he would become eight months later but a star in MMA. He took on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the main event and completely destroyed one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Cain started the fight with vicious kicks and punch combos that Nogueira clearly had no answer for, and then before you know it, Cain has him on the ground and just pounds away, and Cain Velasquez becomes the No. 1 contender for the Heavyweight title.

Main Fight Card:

Mirko Cro Cop def. Anthony Perosh

Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine

George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson

Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping

Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

1. UFC 83

On a personal level, UFC 83 is the most noteworthy and entertaining International event that the company has ever run. First, there was GSP taking on Matt Serra in a Welterweight Unification fight with GSP winning and taking revenge for one of the worst performances of his illustrious career. Every fight on the main card except for one ended in TKO or submission. The only fight that didn't feature one of the most interesting judges' scores that you will ever see.

The fight was Kalib Starnes vs. Nate Quarry. Quarry won via unanimous decision with scores of 30-26, 30-27, 30-24. 30-24!

If you watched the fight, you would understand the margin and why the judge who scored it, did it that way. Starnes fought like he was afraid or didn't want to be there. I'm not sure, but it was a sight to see. He just kept backing away from Quarry to the point where Quarry was just mocking him in the third round of the fight. It was entertaining to see a fighter who was actually afraid to fight. Starnes was fired, and rightfully so, shortly after the fight.

Main Fight Card:

Mac Danzig def. Mark Bocek

Nate Quarry def. Kalib Starnes

Michael Bisping def. Charles McCarthy

Rich Franklin def. Travis Lutter

Georges St. Pierre def. Matt Serra