UFC 138: Power Ranking the Free UFC Events of 2011

If it's free it's for me.

As Dana White loves to point out, people love free fights and the UFC is happy to deliver the goods. From Melvin Guillard's impressive performance to the Ultimate Fighter Season 14 finale, the UFC will have given fans 11 chances to watch the best in the world.

This list is composed of events that have already happened along with some that have yet to occur. When ranking these I not only looked at the quality of the fights, but also the impact the event had or will have.

11. The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 will be the last to air on Spike TV.

It will of course feature the final fight to decide who is the Ultimate Fighter and some fights between guys from the show. But this finale will also show the clash of coaches between Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Michael "The Count" Bisping.

The coaches have arguably become more important than the contestants in recent years. I feel this season will be no different as Mayhem's and Bisping's personality are sure to out-shine the fighters.

Bisping has the chance to rise into title contention with a win and Mayhem has a chance to be everyone's hero if he can beat down one of the top UFC's bad boys in his return to the company.

10. The Ultimate Fighter Season 13

Disappointment.

That's one word that can describe season 13 of the Ultimate Fighter. Not only were most of the fights bland, the coaches were even more boring.

When Dana White told people that he got Brock Lesnar to agree to be on film for six weeks, fans and media people alike were foaming at the mouth at the anticipation of a media goldmine.

Instead, Lesnar chose to walk around talking about chicken salad and chicken ****. His opposing coach, "Mr. Nice Guy" Junior Dos Santos somehow managed to out-stage Lesnar by showing his ability to coach and dealing with some coaching drama.

Besides the lack luster fights, it also didn't help that Brock was forced to pull out of his fight with Dos Santos.

9. UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis

Although both main events were rather lackluster, the show did have on shining moment for fans to remember.

In their first match up, Chan Sung Jung and Leonard Garcia had one of the most exciting fights in MMA history. Many fans felt that Garcia was lucky to escape the fight with a victory.

Garcia's luck ran out in their rematch as Jung made him tap with one of the most unorthodox submissions fans will ever see. As Joe Rogan was announcing a manual for the move, fans were in awe of Jung's twister submission.

The show's main event consisted of Dan Hardy being out-wrestled (a common theme these days) and Phil Davis using his wrestling to defeat Antonio Rogerio Noguera. We saw Hardy's stock in the company fall while Davis showed that although his skills are still fairly raw, he has a lot of potential to be a UFC star one day.

8. UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger

I found myself in limbo about the show's end results.

Personally I don't care for Jake Shields, but after hearing about what happened with his dad you couldn't help but root for him that night. Unfortunately for Shields, Jake Ellenberger had no intentions of laying down.

Ellenberger brought the fight to Shields and made him face plant into the canvas in under a minute. Ellenberger is riding a five fight win streak now and it will be interesting to see what the UFC does with him.

The event also saw the return of Alan Belcher to the UFC octagon. Following a near career threatening injury, Belcher's return ended on a high note as he finished the Canadian, Jason MacDonald.

7. UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle

Coming into the event, all the talk centered on Dan Hardy.

Most fighters find themselves on the chopping block after three straight losses, but Hardy was still collecting a paycheck. After hand picking yet another opponent, Hardy's career seemed to be on it's death bed.

Although all the pre-fight talk focused on Hardy, the limelight soon shifted towards Chris Lytle.

Following his victory, Lytle announced his retirement from MMA. Lytle won't be considered for any greatest fighter of all time awards, but he will always be a top five fan favorite for his ability to put on exciting fights.

In a more meaningful fight (rankings wise), Ben Henderson showed everyone why he's nicknamed "Smooth." Henderson dominated perennial contender Jim Miller in every fashion en route to a victory.

6. UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson

What's better than a free UFC fight? A free UFC title fight!

On Saturday, October 1st, Dominick Cruz puts his belt on the line against "Mighty Mouse" Demetrious Johnson.

Not only is this fight important because the title is on the line, but it's also important to the 135lb division as a whole. The UFC has been very reserved in its attempts to promote the lighter weight classes. Most of the WEC guys are finding it hard to make a name for themselves and the 145/135lb divisions.

To the UFC it may be sink or swim with promoting the 135lb division depending on how the fight plays out.

Also on the card, perhaps one of the more comical scenes in a UFC fight, 5'11" Pat Barry squares off against 6'11" Stefan Struve. Both men are coming off knock out losses and will be looking to get back into PPV status.

5. UFC 138

The UFC returns to England for UFC 138 in November. On tap is a middleweight showdown between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.

Leben has always been an exciting fighter and will be looking to build another winning streak following his knockout of Wanderlei Silva. Munoz will be looking to cement his place among the elite in the 185lb division.

This fight will send one of the men back to the ranks of gatekeepers and vault the winner "into the mix."

Oh and did I mention Thiago Alves is fighting? That's must see TV!

4. UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry

UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry featured a lot of finishes. Both inside and outside the octagon.

In the main event, Pat Barry was seconds away from finishing Cheick Kongo. But then Kongo landed a desperation punch and dropped Barry to the canvas. Although it only lasted a few seconds, the back and forth action caused many fans to jump out of their seats.

The event is also noted for the end of Nate Marquardt's UFC career. Following some medical complications on the day of weigh-ins, White made the decision to cut Marquardt from the roster.

Marquardt's last second replacement, Charlie Brenneman derailed the Rick Story hype train and used the opportunity to make a name for himself.

3. UFC Fight for the Troops 2

The UFC's second event of the year provided fans with a lot of excitement.

In the main event, Melvin Guillard, who somehow is a "Young Assassin" after 40 professional bouts, finished young up and comer, Evan Dunham. In his post-fight speech, Guillard mentioned fighting for the title soon and he may be well on his way to achieving that goal.

Three out of the five scheduled feature fights ended in a finish and fans also witnessed the destruction of Joey Beltran's leg.

In the co-main event of the night, Matt Mitrione showed impressive striking ability and finished Tim Hague rather quickly. Mitrione's performance added validation to his place among UFC heavyweights and set him up for a very successful 2011 campaign. 

2. UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann

That is what Diego Sanchez's face looked like after he won.

Now if the winner looks like he just finished being hit in the head with a sledgehammer, you know it was a good fight.

Indeed the main event between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann was exciting from beginning to end. Kampmann's technique seemed enough to earn a victory but Sanchez's power shots propelled him to victory.

And if one of the preliminary fights provides a highlight that nearly out shines the main event, the show definitely was good.

Shane Roller's knockout of Thiago Tavares was scary. Roller landed a clean shot that sent Tavares flailing back to the canvas and rightfully earned him an extra $40,000.

1. UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

It may have only one scheduled fight to appear on TV, but this event could be the single most important event in UFC history.

The fight itself is important because Velasquez is coming back from shoulder surgery to make his first title defense. Both men have exciting styles that will surely provide fireworks on November 12th.

This fight could be what Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar I was in 2005. That fight put the UFC in the mainstream and gained thousands of fans overnight.

Velasquez vs. Dos Santos could provide another injection of new fans to the UFC. Fight fans love a good heavyweight battle and this will no doubt give us a heavyweight classic. Even if the fight doesn't last very long, the UFC has Clay Guida and Ben Henderson on tap as a back up.

The UFC on Fox is the first event in the brand new UFC-Fox TV deal that looks to bring even more eyes to the UFC and MMA. Years from now we will be looking back at this fight and say, "This is what made the UFC what it is today."