What single fight would have changed UFC history the most if the opposite outcome happened?

sdpdude9

sdpdude9

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I’ll start, Aldo KO’s McGregor in 13 seconds.

-McGregor doesn’t become the mega star which helped bring the UFC firmly into the main stream.

-McGregor doesn’t usher in the double champion era, which for better or worse changed fighter aspirations shifting away from defending the title.

-Khabib doesn’t become nearly as big of a name without this rivalry and the Dagestani presence in the sport likely isn’t as prevalent.

-Nate Diaz doesn’t become as big of a name. The BMF belt doesn’t happen and Masvidal doesn’t become as big of a name either.
 
sdpdude9 said:
That was the second one I thought of. Rousey fails and WMMA would never really take off with Carmouche as champion.
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The same could be said for Cat Zingano.
Had she sat back and boxed Ronda it likely would have been clear to us that Ronda had zero hands. Instead she gifted Ronda an easy win furthering her aura of invincibility.
 
Not really would've changed much but dumbass Rockhold losing to Bisping.

The MW division was at it's finest and it wasted almost two years with his nonsense defense against Henderson and than GSP coming in for a one off.

Created quite the clusterfuck during that period.

I guess Cejudo saving FLW was a big deal too.
 
Ozze said:
Not really would've changed much but dumbass Rockhold losing to Bisping.

The MW division was at it's finest and it wasted almost two years with his nonsense defense against Henderson and than GSP coming in for a one off.

Created quite the clusterfuck during that period.

I guess Cejudo saving FLW was a big deal too.
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Rockhold losing to Bisping is one of my favorite moments in MMA history.

Cejudo winning a controversial decision and then bailing on the division a couple of fights later helped further this double-champ trend that everyone is obsessed with.
 
KO Shotz said:
If Vitor ended up snapping Jon Jones arm.

If Chael never got caught at the end by Anderson.

If Carwin would've finished Brock.
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Chael popped for steroids after the fight and would have been stripped immediately & erased from record books. Why do morons keep insisting he would have been champ "if"??!!
I swear it's the same blatant glazing as when people claim TJ is in the BW goat debates🤦🏽‍♂️
I totally don't see a pattern here👻🇺🇸👻

Edit: I forgot to contribute. Jose Aldo didn't get a fair weight cut & hydration period for his fight with McGregor. They made him parade around for an all champions Q&A after weighing in (he looked like shit), to give Conor every advantage they could manage. Equal treatment may have changed it from a 13sec KO to anything else😓

If Big John awarded Carlos Newton the technical sub victory he deserved, instead of giving it to his friend Matt after he woke up.
 
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Shaolin Alan said:
Chael popped for steroids after the fight. Why do morons keep insisting he would have been champ "if"??!!
I swear it's the same blatant glazing as when people claim TJ is in the BW goat debates🤦🏽‍♂️
I totally don't see a pattern here👻🇺🇸👻
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Calm down there friend. In no reality would Chael have been a reign of terror as champ if he did end up riding out a dominating decision win over Anderson Silva who back then was untouchable. Literally. I'm just saying ufc history would've been drastically changed & both guys careers would be looked at much differently IF Chael didn't get caught by Anderson at the very end with a sub.
 
Can't really top the Aldo/McGregor or the Rousey/Carmouche but for variety, I will also add:

- Machida vs Shogun 1: This is the fight that set the precedent for immediate rematches which IMO was one of the downfalls of the sport.

Upset wins are way less meaningful, the division grinds to a halt, the ex-champion either looks way over the hill (and has to switch divisions) or we're forced to sit through a trilogy. I can't even imagine the money that has been lost due to the laziness of this match-making over the past 15 years; it's no wonder the UFC has no stars left.

Bet they sure wish Sean O'Malley didn't have 2 straight losses and Max Holloway wasn't 0-4 in his last 4 FW title fights because gee... maybe people would still think they're credible if fighters coming off of a loss weren't fed to the wolves over and over again.

If Shogun has just got the decision he earned in the first place, rematches probably would have remained a rare occurence hell even Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell didn't get immediate rematches FFS but oh no... Shogun gets one, then Frankie Edgar becomes the rematch machine, and now the sport is a lot less exciting.

- Matt Hughes vs GSP 2: As I just mentioned, rematches and spammed title shot were NOT common back in the day so it's crazy to think if Matt Hughes had somehow beaten GSP a second time, we likely wouldn't have seen one of the biggest stars/best fighters of all time rise to the top.

This one feels WAY less likely than most as Georges was even whooping Hughes in the 1st fight but if it somehow happened, it's highly unlikely GSP would have ever got a 3rd fight against Hughes who probably would have beaten Serra and continued on as champion. GSP might have even changed divisions!

- Chuck vs Rashad: If Chuck had beaten Rampage, he would have avenged all of his losses and we would have seen belt vs belt with Chuck fighting Dan Henderson at UFC 75. This could have been one of the biggest if not THE biggest fights in MMA history at the time but when Rampage won, "champion vs champion" was so unanticipated that the PPV became free on Spike.

With that being said, Chuck vs Rashad was an ever bigger what if. If Chuck had KO'd Rashad (who looked completely lackluster up until this fight), he would have gotten a title shot against Forrest and actually would have had a decent chance of winning the belt back. Having the biggest star in the sport at the time regain the title would have been a huge moment and even Chuck's last fight against Rich was seconds away from being a TKO win because Rich's arm was broken. Chuck's downfall had multiple opportunities to look somewhat less dramatic but it wasn't to be.

Joanna vs Rose: If Joanna had actually won this fight, would she have gone down as the WMMA GOAT? Who was really coming down the line who could have challenged her?

It's crazy to think that Joanna was on top of the world riding 5 straight title defenses and she ends up crashing down to earth to the point where she is practically forgotten now despite having close fights with Rose/Zhang after this. Rose has 2 wins over the current SW champion too yet feels like she's been borderline retired for a while... what a bizarre career/life she has had.
 
sdpdude9 said:
I’ll start, Aldo KO’s McGregor in 13 seconds.

-McGregor doesn’t become the mega star which helped bring the UFC firmly into the main stream.

-McGregor doesn’t usher in the double champion era, which for better or worse changed fighter aspirations shifting away from defending the title.

-Khabib doesn’t become nearly as big of a name without this rivalry and the Dagestani presence in the sport likely isn’t as prevalent.

-Nate Diaz doesn’t become as big of a name. The BMF belt doesn’t happen and Masvidal doesn’t become as big of a name either.
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If Forrest vs Bonnar 1 turned out to be a snoozefest or a quick but unspectacular finish, UFC likely wouldn't have survived
 
Jones vs. Reyes- If Reyes had been given the decision there would likely be no discussion of having Jones in the GOAT conversation.

Whittaker vs. Adesanya 2- This one should have gone to Whittaker and extended Adesanya's MW reign when it really should have ended here. It also could have stopped Strickland becoming a champion.

Shevchenko vs. Nunes 2- Had Shevchenko gotten the nod in a very close fight it's doubtful she would have moved to Flyweight when she did, and if she did not move I wonder what the first days of Flyweight have looked like. Would Nicco Montano have defended against someone else or would she still have basically been cut for not fighting?
 
It would be an even sadder UFC had Chandler had beat Oliveira for the Lightweight Title. I have a feeling that Islam would have had to wait for the title shot and McGregor would have been gifted a title shot knowing what we know about how long Chandler waited for McGregor.
 
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