Shogun wasn't the only all-time great war on this card. In the end, the judges gave the win to Henderson by unanimous decision, but that verdict is still debated to this day.Īmazingly, Henderson vs.
This fight ended up going down as one of the greatest wars in UFC history-it was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame-as the two light heavyweights pelted each other into unrecognizable purple blobs for five frenzied rounds. The event was headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between former Pride stars Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson, who had somehow managed to avoid each other until that point despite having similar career trajectories. Unlike UFC 189 and UFC 205, UFC 139 didn’t look to be an all-time great card from the early vantage point, but the San Jose event sure ended up being one. The undercard included Frankie Edgar’s exciting decision win over Jeremy Stephens, and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s infamous submission win over Michael Johnson-you know, the one where he kept telling Johnson to " give up" as he pelted him with ground-and-pound. Although this fight ended with an unsatisfying majority draw, it was a thrilling contest complete with plenty of momentum swings.Įlsewhere on the main card, we saw Joanna Jedrzejczyk defend the UFC strawweight title with a decision win over fellow undefeated Pole, Karolina Kowalkiewicz.Įlsewhere, Yoel Romero asserted himself as a legitimate middleweight contender with a rocket-fuelled, flying knee KO of former champ Chris Weidman, while Miesha Tate retired after a decision loss to Raquel Pennington. The card was co-headlined by a welterweight title fight between former champ Tyron Woodley and his challenger Stephen Thompson. The Irish star succeeded on his mission, earning immortality with a dazzling second-round KO. In the main event, McGregor, still the featherweight champion, battled lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez in a bid to become the first concurrent two-division champ in UFC history. It marked the UFC’s long-awaited debut in New York City, after a longstanding battle to get MMA legalized in New York State, and the promotion stacked the lineup accordingly. That’s partly due to his individual handiwork-he has a propensity for unforgettable fights-but also because the UFC often puts him in the main event of its most important cards. You’re going to see Conor McGregor’s name a lot over the course of this article. Other highlights included a war between Jeremy Stephens and Dennis Bermudez, which Stephens won via a late KO, and highlight-reel finishes from fighters like Gunnar Nelson, Thomas Almeida, and Matt Brown. Though Lawler won with a decisive, fifth-round TKO, the action was as competitive as it gets until the finish. The co-main event of the card, a welterweight title fight between then-champ Robbie Lawler and challenger Rory MacDonald, is still regarded by many fans and pundits as one of the greatest UFC fights of all time. That’s not all UFC 189 had to offer, though. The Irishman ended up winning via a second-round TKO, getting his hands on UFC gold for the first time. When Aldo was forced out of the fight with a rib injury, however, McGregor accepted a short-notice interim title fight with Chad Mendes. The event, which went down in Las Vegas, was supposed to be headlined by a featherweight title fight between then-champion Jose Aldo and challenger Conor McGregor.
Forget the last decade: UFC 189 might be the greatest UFC card of all time.