The Best UFC Event from Each of the Last 10 Years

Over the past several years, the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved into the world's fastest growing sport.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, specifically, has become the center stage for mixed martial artists across the globe as it provides fighters with an opportunity to become great.

And, over the years we've seen these fighters put on some of the greatest performances.

We've seen it done recently and we've seen it done years ago.

As the UFC continues to grow, UFC President Dana White will continue to provide fans with some of the greatest fight cards of all-time.

So, the following slides display the best fight card from each of the last 10 years.

Let's take a look.

2002: UFC 40

UFC 40 took place on November 22nd, 2002 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 2002 fight card was considered the best of the year for several different reasons as it presented fans with some of the most electrifying entertainment.

On the preliminary card alone, fans got to witness Vladimir Matyushenko and Andrei Arlovski knockouts in the very first round.

Fans also got to witness Tito Ortiz successfully defend his title against No. 1 contender, Ken Shamrock.

The amazing thing about UFC 40 was that none of the eight fights made the judge's scorecards.

2003: UFC 44

UFC 44 took place on September 23rd, 2003 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Once again, UFC fans across the globe had the privilege of watching a fight card that had just one fight go to the judge's scorecards.

Fans got to see Rich Franklin knockout Edwin DeWees in Round 1 as well as two championship bouts.

Randy Couture defeated Tito Ortiz for the UFC light heavyweight title while Tim Sylvia successfully defended his UFC heavyweight championship against Gan McGee.

2004: UFC 47

The amazing thing about UFC 47 was the fact that there wasn't a championship bout but it still remains one of the greatest fight cards of all time.

UFC 47 took place on April 2nd, 2004 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Once again it was Andrei Arlovski who continued his dominance by knocking out Wesley Correira in Round 1.

UFC legend Chuck Liddell also landed a huge knockout on dominant light heavyweight, Tito Ortiz.

2005: UFC 52

Many fans across the globe consider UFC 52 as the greatest fight card of all time.

UFC 52 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 16th, 2005.

Fans got to witness up-and-coming star George St-Pierre take Jason Miller to a Unanimous Decision victory as well as two championship fights.

In one of the greatest fights of all time, Matt Hughes remained the UFC welterweight champion by submitting Frank Trigg via rear-naked choke.

Chuck Liddell became the new UFC light heavyweight title holder when he knocked out UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture in the first round.

2006: UFC 66

UFC 66 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 30th, 2006.

2006's best event was arguably one of the most jammed-packed fight cards in UFC history as it had Yushin Okami, Gabriel Gonzaga and Thiago Alves on the preliminary card.

Every single fight on the main card was finished before the final bell rang as Forrest Griffin was finished by Keith Jardine, Michael Bisping knocked out Eric Shafer and Andrei Arlovski pounded his way to victory over Marcio Cruz.

In the main event of the evening Chuck Liddell knocked out Tito Ortiz in the third round to remain the UFC light heavyweight champion.

2007: UFC 79

UFC 79 took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 29th, 2007.

The action packed card presented fans with some of the greatest entertainment of the year as they witnessed Lyoto Machida establish himself as a legitimate contender in the light heavyweight division.

Fans also got to witness one of the greatest fights of all time between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.

George St-Pierre also defeated UFC legend Matt Hughes to become the new UFC Interim welterweight champion.

2008: UFC 92

UFC 92 was another loaded fight card that took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 27th, 2008.

Fans across the globe got to witness some of the best fights just on the preliminary card as it consisted of Yushin Okami, Matt Hamill and Pat Barry.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Cheick Kongo knocked their opponents out in the first round while Frank Mir became the UFC Interim heavyweight champion by defeating Antonio Nogueira.

Rashad Evans also dethroned Forrest Griffin to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion via knockout in Round 3.

2009: UFC 100

UFC 100 was one of the biggest days in UFC history as they celebrated their 100th event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 11th, 2009.

On the preliminary card alone, fans got to witness up-and-coming light heavyweight Jon Jones submit Jake O'Brien and Mark Coleman and Stephan Bonnar battle out a Decision.

On the main card, Dan Henderson delivered one of the biggest knockouts in UFC history over Michael Bisping.

George St-Pierre remained the UFC welterweight champion by defeating Thiago Alves and Brock Lesnar got his revenge on Frank Mir by becoming the new UFC heavyweight champion via knockout in Round 2.

2010: UFC 117

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, enter UFC 117 which took place on August 7th, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

On the preliminary card, fans got to witness Phil Davis establish himself as a legitimate 205-pound force while Stefan Struve landed a huge knockout victory over Christian Morecraft.

On the main card, Matt Hughes returned to his normal form when he submitted Ricardo Almeida in spectacular fashion.

But, it was the main event of the evening that left UFC 117 as one of the greatest of all time.

Chael Sonnen had dominated Anderson Silva for four-and-a-half rounds before finding himself in a desperate situation in the fifth and final round.

Then, with just two minutes remaining, Silva pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in any sport by submitting Sonnen via triangle armbar.

2011: UFC 129

While there were many great fight cards to take place throughout 2011, it's hard to deny just how great UFC 129 was which took place on April 30th, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.

It was one of the most jammed-packed fight cards in the history of mixed martial arts as Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger began their runs towards the top of their respected divisions with victories over their opponents.

Fans got to witness Ben Henderson's UFC debut as he defeated Mark Bocek via Unanimous Decision.

Randy Couture was literally kicked out of the UFC as Lyoto Machida landed one of the greatest kicks of all time, which knocked out Couture in just Round 2.

Jose Aldo and George St-Pierre both held on to their titles by defeating Mark Hominick and Jake Shields in championship bouts.