Media My list of the greatest fights of all time: A mix of obscure, underrated gems with absolute classics

I made this list around a year or so ago, and have been adding more fights to it as time goes on. Do feel free to add your own in this thread.

I feel this thread will help newcomers to the sport to witness some of the best MMA fights this sport has to offer, and for hardcore fans to relive some of the most historic fights.

This is my list of the greatest fights I've ever seen. A mix of obscure, underrated gems piled in with all time absolute classics.


Fights are listed In alphabetical order / Link to the fight video (through FP, Youtube, etc.)

Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner (Fight)
Alberto Mina vs. Shinsho Anzai (Fight)
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen I (Fight)
Andre Roberts vs. Ron Waterman (Fight)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne (Fight)
Antoni Hardonk vs. Eddie Sanchez (Fight)
Antonio Banuelos vs. Scott Jorgensen I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Bobby Green vs. Lando Vannata I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura (Fight)
Carlos Newton vs. Dan Henderson (Fight)
Carlos Newton vs. Jose 'Pele' Landi Jons (Fight)
Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier (Fight)
Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz (Fight)
Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (Fight)
Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin (Fight)
Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva (Fight)
Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi (Fight)
Daijiro Matsui vs Bob Schrijber (Fight)
Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard (Fight)
Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Dan Henderson vs. Wanderlei Silva II (Fight)
Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson (Fight)
Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic II (Fight)
Darren Till vs. Nicolas Dalby (Fight)
David Loiseau vs. Solomon Hutcherson (Fight)
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno (Fight)
Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice (Fight)
Derrick Lewis vs. Travis Browne (Fight)
Diego Brandao vs. Dennis Bermudez (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz (Fight)
Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson (Fight)
Don Frye vs. Ken Shamrock (Fight)
Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Fight)
Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard (Fight)
Donald Cerrone vs. Rob McCullough (Fight)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Erick Silva (Fight)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. John Hathaway (Fight)
Dong Sik Yoon vs. Melvin Manhoef (Fight)
Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (Fight)
Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje (Fight)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje (Fight)
Edson Barboza vs. Dan Hooker (Fight)
Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva (Fight)
Fabricio Werdum vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I (Fight)
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado (Fight)
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar (Fight)
Frank Mir vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II & III (Fight II / Fight III)
Frankie Edgar vs. Mark Bocek (Fight)
Frankie Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin (Fight)
Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn I (Fight)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Johnny Hendricks (Fight)
Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez (Fight)
Gilbert Melendez vs. Nobuhiro Obiya (Fight)
Goran Reljic vs. Wilson Gouveia (Fight)
Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (Fight)
James Thompson vs. Don Frye (Fight)
Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jiri Prochazka vs. Volkan Oezdemir (Fight)
Joachim Hansen vs. Caol Uno (Fight)
Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino (Fight)
Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cummo (Fight)
John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera (Fight)
Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner (Fight)
Johnny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson (Fight)
Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki I & II (Fight I (?) / Fight II)
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar I (Fight)
Joseph Benavidez vs. John Moraga (Fight)
Josh Barnett vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I (Fight)
Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (Fight)
Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca (Fight)
Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt (Fight)
Justin Gaethje vs. Luis Palomino I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Johnson (Fight)
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (Fight)
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kestutis Smirnovas (Fight)
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. James Thompson (Fight)
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story (Fight)
As soon as I saw you had Andre Roberts Vs Ron W I fully approved

Nice work homes
 
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Me: "Heh! I bet this noob doesn't have Carlos Condit getting judo-tossed by Hiromitsu Miura, Phillip Miller exchanging brain-damage with Shungo Oyama, or Riki Fukuda knocking Ryuta Sakurai out of the ring (twice!), or Tokoro's Bellator grappling war vs LC Davis, on his precious little list! I'll just slide into this thread and call him a filthy casual to boost my own self-estee... crap! Uuhh... uhhh... OH! OH! OH! You forgot Meisha Tate vs Julia Kedzie in Strikeforce! Ha! I knew it! You TUF noobs never know about the REAL classics. Why don't you join the other Zuffa zombies on Facebook!"

Seriously though, wicked list!

Thanks, mate. :)

Matt Hughes vs Dennis Hallman



Matt Hughes vs Dennis Hallman2



Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson, just for the crazy finish



Dan Miller vs Dave Phillips for the worst guillotine ever.



And Mrs Handy Couture almost dying on Steve Mazzagati's watch is always worth a watch...




Some excellent ones here, cheers mate!

Going to watch a few more you and @Hellowhosthat posted after the weekend.

Silva/Sonnen 1 was incredible to watch live, but it was not an objectively good fight. Similar to Couture/Sylvia (without the comeback).

Oliveira/Lentz 1, 2, or 3? I assume 2?

I don't recall Cruz/Johnson being that great. Cruz/Dillashaw was the far better fight.


Werdum/Bigfoot and Barnett/Nogueira I and II were both fantastic and underrated scraps.


Silva is probably my favourite fighter of all time, the comeback was so fucking amazing when I watched it at home live, I had to include it.

Plus, I needed at least one fight of my all time favourite fighter on the list, the majority of his fights are him demolishing people easily.

Haha, yeah good pointing that out. Definitely meant Oliveira/Lentz 2. Although, their first fight was a fun scrap, as well.

Thanks to everyone else that replied.
 
Sweet!

Glad you added Jhonasky Sojo and Lucas Marte Titan FC May 14, 2021. One of the craziest back and forth fights I ever did see!
 
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I made this list around a year or so ago, and have been adding more fights to it as time goes on. Do feel free to add your own in this thread.

I feel this thread will help newcomers to the sport to witness some of the best MMA fights this sport has to offer, and for hardcore fans to relive some of the most historic fights.

This is my list of the greatest fights I've ever seen. A mix of obscure, underrated gems piled in with all time absolute classics.


Fights are listed In alphabetical order / Link to the fight video (through FP, Youtube, etc.)

Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner (Fight)
Alberto Mina vs. Shinsho Anzai (Fight)
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen I (Fight)
Andre Roberts vs. Ron Waterman (Fight)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne (Fight)
Anthony Johnson vs. Jose Augusto Barros
Antoni Hardonk vs. Eddie Sanchez (Fight)
Antonio Banuelos vs. Scott Jorgensen I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Bobby Green vs. Lando Vannata I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura (Fight)
Carlos Newton vs. Dan Henderson (Fight)
Carlos Newton vs. Jose 'Pele' Landi Jons (Fight)
Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier (Fight)
Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz II (Fight)
Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (Fight)
Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin (Fight)
Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva (Fight)
Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi (Fight)
Daijiro Matsui vs Bob Schrijber (Fight)
Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard (Fight)
Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Dan Henderson vs. Wanderlei Silva II (Fight)
Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson (Fight)
Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic II (Fight)
Darren Till vs. Nicolas Dalby (Fight)
David Loiseau vs. Solomon Hutcherson (Fight)
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno (Fight)
Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice (Fight)
Derrick Lewis vs. Travis Browne (Fight)
Diego Brandao vs. Dennis Bermudez (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan (Fight)
Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz (Fight)
Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson (Fight)
Don Frye vs. Ken Shamrock (Fight)
Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Fight)
Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard (Fight)
Donald Cerrone vs. Rob McCullough (Fight)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Erick Silva (Fight)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. John Hathaway (Fight)
Dong Sik Yoon vs. Melvin Manhoef (Fight)
Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (Fight)
Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje (Fight)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje (Fight)
Edson Barboza vs. Dan Hooker (Fight)
Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva (Fight)
Fabricio Werdum vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I (Fight)
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado (Fight)
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar I (Fight)
Frank Mir vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II & III (Fight II / Fight III)
Frankie Edgar vs. Mark Bocek (Fight)
Frankie Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin (Fight)
Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn I (Fight)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Johnny Hendricks (Fight)
Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez (Fight)
Gilbert Melendez vs. Nobuhiro Obiya (Fight)
Goran Reljic vs. Wilson Gouveia (Fight)
Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (Fight)
James Thompson vs. Don Frye (Fight)
Jeff Molina vs. Qileng Aori
Jhonasky Sojo vs. Lucas Marte
Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jiri Prochazka vs. Volkan Oezdemir (Fight)
Joachim Hansen vs. Caol Uno (Fight)
Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino (Fight)
Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cummo (Fight)
John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera (Fight)
Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner (Fight)
Johnny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson (Fight)
Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki I & II (Fight I (?) / Fight II)
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar I (Fight)
Joseph Benavidez vs. John Moraga (Fight)
Josh Barnett vs. Rodrigo Nogueira I (Fight)
Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (Fight)
Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca (Fight)
Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt (Fight)
Justin Gaethje vs. Luis Palomino I & II (Fight I / Fight II)
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Johnson (Fight)
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (Fight)
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kestutis Smirnovas (Fight)
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. James Thompson (Fight)
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story (Fight)
Quoting for posterity.
Great work man
 
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Updated.

The fights with * are the new fights which I need to link with a video.
 
Yuki Nakai vs Gerard Gordeau... The ultimate display of heart vs the ultimate MMA super villain. Outmatched, one-eyed, and fucked, Yuki destroys all opposition, then retires because of his injury.



And these two legends:



These dwarves showed us a much better fight than some "normal sized" peoples. Thanks for the share.
 
Something i wasn't surprised by: Robbie Lawler has 4 fights on that list.

GSP has 2. Anderson has 1. Khabib has zero. Fedor has 1. Jones has 2. Several fighters have 3.

But only Robbie fucking Lawler has 4 fights on there. He may not be the GOAT but he's the one guy who, every single time, was going to go out and give 100% from bell to bell.

WAR Ruthless Robbie Lawler!
First tier goats shouldn't have multiple mentions ( makes sense) .

Yes, though - Robbie a fucking boss.
 
Updated.

The *'s indicate the new fights added.

You need those two Ricky Turcios TUF fights in there buddeh.

Also Volk Vs Ortega, but I assume you can't link to that on FP yet or something.
 
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Other awesome fights from this year which I can't link to because I'm at work.

Vladimir Mineev Vs Magomed Ismailov II (Fight Nights Global)
Elismar Lima Vs Bekhruz Zukhurov (ACA)
Tae Kyun Kim Vs Nurzhan Akishev (BRAVE)
Paul Hughes Vs Morgan Charriere (Cage Warriors)
Luke Shanks Vs Nicolas Leblond (Cage Warriors)
Christian Lee Vs Ok Rae Yoon (ONE)
Chris Wade Vs Arman Ospinov (PFL)
 
You need those two Ricky Turcios TUF fights in there buddeh.

Also Volk Vs Ortega, but I assume you can't link to that on FP yet or something.

Good shout on those, man.

I've added the Volk/Ortega fight as a new one earlier, I linked the event because that's all that was on FP for it lol.

Other awesome fights from this year which I can't link to because I'm at work.

Vladimir Mineev Vs Magomed Ismailov II (Fight Nights Global)
Elismar Lima Vs Bekhruz Zukhurov (ACA)
Tae Kyun Kim Vs Nurzhan Akishev (BRAVE)
Paul Hughes Vs Morgan Charriere (Cage Warriors)
Luke Shanks Vs Nicolas Leblond (Cage Warriors)
Christian Lee Vs Ok Rae Yoon (ONE)
Chris Wade Vs Arman Ospinov (PFL)

I'll check these out, thanks bud.
 
wow great thread. am i blind(kind of am) or did i not see Zombie vs Porrier

EDIT also thank you for mentioning Cruz vs Mighty mouse. That was an amazing fight to watch live and the pace mighty mouse kept was damn near in human. When people were giving mouse flack about not moving up in weight (those damn part time casual fans) had no idea he was ranked number 2-3 at one point and had one of the best title fights that division has ever seen.

if anyone hasnt watched this fight please do. no one could keep a pace like those 2. not even Thrillashaw
 
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Sensational thread. Should be stickied.

Nice to see Gilbert vs Sanchez on that list. Probably my favourite of all time.

wow great thread. am i blind(kind of am) or did i not see Zombie vs Porrier

Thanks, guys. Much appreciated.

The Zombie/Dustin fight is there, under Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier.

{<redford}
 
great thread. I'll try and talk my girlfriend into going through this together :D
 
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As a Newbie that has binged fights for 2 years now, I’ve always wanted a list of classics to go back to for the more obscure fighters I’ve never watched and you have delivered!

Im very grateful Sherbro!
 
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