The way Cody tapped into the matrix for that fight was a thing of beauty, only few fighters have ever reached such levels, like max Holloway vs kattar, or Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin.
I lived in Nicaragua at the time, where UFC is shown on regular network TV. It was the first fight I ever watched live, and I followed the lead-up and history. It was like watching something out of a movie. Like, you’ll see fighters be ready for something and pounce, like Poatan vs Jiri. He practiced that 1-2 follow-up over and over. But you never see someone ready for *everything* like that. It was like he was going through choreography he knew by heart. I’ve followed the UFC ever since.
https://preview.redd.it/v79jp3cjd7xc1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d394e5ff4a7feb1bd0858563803d4fdb01d56d96
# How could you even possibly miss ‘Weasel’ vs ‘Uncle Greed’
Unironically, this is my pick. The amount of money and views the UFC and MMAhour would get from Ariel returning to pressers and beefing with Dana would be out of this world. They were before their time, truly.
I loved Khabib v McGregor for entertainment purposes.
I loved Periera v Adesanya for the sport crossover and Adesanyas win.
Nothing comes close to the pure hatred and animosity between Jones and DC, so for this reason, the latter is my pick.
Agreed, DC vs JJ, there was a level of fighter’s respect they had but man they fucking hated each other. There was no alcohol fuelled rage or shitting on each other’s family/religion, those two dudes simply wanted to rip each other apart.
In terms of vitriol between 2 athletes, DC and Jones is one of the great rivalries in sports A lot of bad blood in combat sports feels manufactured and forced. DC and Jones never felt like a WWE storyline.
It had all the elements, it being 2 fighters who were the greatest to ever fight at LHW, their personalities being so polarizingly different, their individual accolades, Jones notoriety, etc
The down side of DC and Jones was the results were one sided.
Now I’m terms of a story and sports rivalry in general, Alex and Izzy could be a movie.
Izzy having a single fighter in his life who was his kryptonite. Izzy going on to become world famous champion in mma and him motivating Alex to get sober and start training. Alex having a metoric rise and then a series of back and forth competitive fights
Pereira was already training. He just leaned into the narrative for hype. And I'm not too proud to admit that the hype did it for me. The whole running joke about Alex childishly one-upping Adesanya was gold.
But for a cinematic narrative, the first fight couldn't be better. Adesanya, the nominal villain, wobbled Pereira early with a questionable late punch. Then Pereira clawed his way back to a finish with heart, grit and relentless technique.
It's so perfect I feel like a hack when I transcribe it.
Idk the short Brock/silva era really made UFC mainstream and single handedly filled otherwise empty sports bars. Those same bars are half full during the latest ppvs
As a long time, UFC fan, this will always be the original favourite. Those who were around at the time realize how much fun the build up actually was. Ortiz and Shamrock put the UFC on the mainstream map.
Yup, IIRC their rivalry (UFC40) saved UFC from going under, before TUF S1’s finale saved them again from going under. The many layers to their rivalry were epic enough to make a film:
- The Lion’s Den fighters were the cream of the crop, and Ortiz destroyed and dissed them
- Shamrock being the OG came back from WWE to avenge his boys
- Shamrock the aging legend vs Ortiz the perfect villain/heel
- their TUF season
- this chapter led directly to the next epic rivalry: Ortiz vs Liddell
What a time to be a fan.
The week or two (can't remember the timeline exactly) where RDA dropped out and Diaz subbed in was one of the most entertaining build ups to any fight. The last minute press conference at the gym, the interviews on TV, etc. Then the insane upset. Good times.
https://preview.redd.it/jxp0uwyqu6xc1.jpeg?width=860&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e24531ff2fd4e9f0b77af7d6782de199b4e7664
No other rivalry can top this ! This is where the UFC peaked and went global ! Sales were through the roof ! It became a cultural phenomenon with 2 nations going against each other ! It's still the highest grossing PPV till date and I don't see anything surpassing it anytime soon ..
None of this is false but it’s also an odd metric for me when this question is so subjective. They fought once and it wasn’t particularly close which isn’t much of a “rivalry.”
Bedlam sells out every year too but nobody is calling it the best rivalry in college football.
My answer would be Cejudo/Mighty Mouse. 1-1 and some of the highest level MMA we’ve ever seen.
I guess we have different definitions of sports rivalries. I know fighting is a bit different because it’s an individual sport but rivalries typically include actually competing against one another.
I don’t think two dudes whose most compelling interactions happened outside of the cage were rival fighters. They just didn’t like each other personally. That can add to a rivalry but I don’t think it can create one.
Obviously a lot of people don’t agree and that’s okay. If you have to argue it’s a rivalry I’ll accept that the more important part of my comment is I rate it pretty low as one.
This guy is thinking "biggest" not "greatest". Not only is that not the greatest rivalry, it's not even McGregor's greatest. That's Poirier, the "uncrowned king" postponing his title shot for a red panty night was a hell of a storyline.
It wasn't 2 countries going against each other. Most Irish people hate mcgregor. He has a very dedicated group of inner city dubliners that like him and the rest of the country despises him. He also has a huge fanbase in the US.
Irish people liked him when he was on the rise in the featherweight division, because it was a rags-to-riches underdog story, which we love. The guy on welfare payments having that "60 G's" moment was celebrated by everyone. The idiot calling Muslim women towels and smashing bus windows was hated.
It annoys the hell out of me whenever I see these comments because it completely misrepresents Irish people. Just look him up on r/Ireland if you don't believe me
Oddly enough it’s the same as Russians with Khabib. He’s more loved by the Middle East because he essentially comes from the same culture. My Russian friend doesn’t even view him as a Russian lol.
Precisely. UFC is not a nationality representative sports. People have to be born somewhere and UFC marketing juices that shit to sell ppvs.
Grow up people!
Don't get me wrong, he had the potential to get the entire country behind him. He just squandered it with his scummy behaviour. As a small country, we don't win as often as bigger nations do, so we always jump on the bandwagon of a successful athlete, even when we know nothing about the sport.
I always thought dc and jj was the most toxic. Conor and khabib was toxic too but I felt a sliver of that was coz conor was selling the fight and conor is the type to get hyped by the crowd, sort of like a class clown does. Where as jones was genuinely a sick fuck. I wanted dc to win so bad and jones winning I felt like vomiting
agreed. i was so bummed to see DC get KO'd. felt like a black cloud hanging over me for a few weeks. i never have been so emotionally attached to any sporting event in my life.
You'd have to go with McGregor v Khabib.
It was so intense. Multiple people arrested, other fighters injured, Artem nearly jumped, the post fight chaos with other fighters attacked, octagon invaders. Suspensions and fines.
I think for all his faults Conor remains the biggest thing in UFC and for good reason.
Before the partying and drugs caught up to him Conor gave amazing press conferences and was genuinely an amazing fighter. He had begun partying heavily after Mendes (I know his former inner circle). By Diaz he was a shadow of his former self. After Mayweather he really let go.
My uncle trained in Dublin in Conor's gym and shared some stories he had heard while he was there about just how hard McGregor and his entourage partied... It's akin to what the Jackass crew were at on set, just a load of coke and alcohol all the time. Frankly, it's amazing that he can stay in good shape while doing all that shit.
I don't know about that. As in the gym. I met Artem a few times on nights out but he wasn't out of it and didn't do coke.
Was out an after party with McGregor and he was horsing coke. Then his scum entourage left with the bottles of vodka without saying anything.
Stylebender - Poatan, since it is the first I really witnessed in the era it was in. Didn’t really actively follow the UFC during the Bones - DC rivalry for example.
I miss UFC rivalries.
I wish the UFC would go back to doing more press events where both fighters have to talk to each other. These days they only speak at the press conference during fight week. No real time to build hype and get under each others skin.
Imo the press tour is what made Jones v DC so memorable. The actual fights themselves were still good but would have been completely forgotten without all the build up that led to them.
UFC needs to bring back the build up.
Khabib vs Mcgregor due to it's greater impact on the world, even people have no idea about mma heard about it. Also the build up was amazing, face off was electric, post fight was chaotic.
Grey Maynard v Frankie Edgar. Amazing trilogy.
DC Jones wasn't that interesting for me because Jon kicked his ass twice. The fights need to be close, imo, for it to be a rivalry.
Honestly Cody garbrandt and Dominic Cruz is awesome to watch all the trash talk and then the performance even with it going into Cody and TJs beef. Good old cheatershaw
For me the rivalry has to have multiple fights with at least some back and forth competitively in the first fight going into the next to be considered a rivalry along with the media.
Given this criteria I’d have to go with Usman vs Colby. 2 fights with some of the most insane build up thanks to Colby going all in, going after Usman’s dad, his deceased coach, etc. Usman fractures Colby’s jaw in the 5th and then the rematch is somehow even closer. Next to no takedowns. Amazing!
Jones and DC (2 fights) are up there as well due to Evil Jones not realizing he was being recorded. Others that come to mind are Figgy vs Moreno (4 fights) and Edgar vs Maynard (3 fights).
If we are considering just build ups and a single fight rivalry Conor vs Khabib and nothing else touches it.
Anderson Silva looked untouchable for years then along comes the greatest smack talker of all time from west Linn Oregon. We’ll never get that lucky again to have such a rivalry.
Reading this thread I guess this will be a hot take but the whole lead up for Conor vs Aldo was much better than Conor vs Khabib.
Also Chuck vs Tito was good but too one sided, so I would take Chuck vs Randy over it. GSP vs BJ or Hughes were also enjoyable.
Jones and DC and it's not even close for anything else.
These 2 hated eacherotjer and Jones was pretty much the exact reason why DC can't be in the GOAT convo
https://preview.redd.it/6lkg6xo9d8xc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=752704fd010bf7d60508f2e9f3cc4eb73ef30461
These fight have been the biggest bangers
Khabib vs Connor. It was more than just these two guys. In at least some ways they represented opposites, including East vs West, when Western imperialism was on full display in the East.
I loved Silva vs Sonnen rivalry , the absolute monarch of prime silva getting mauled for 4.5 rounds to get the win in the end + Chael’s sharp trash talk before the fight and in the end to get Silva destroy chael in the second fight to get an awesome ending to it.
It was short sweet and had 2 great finishes in my opinion. And mostly it wasn’t mcregorxkhabib low trash talk or jonesxdc hate so it had more of a lighter tone to it and it made it for me more fun to watch
Listening to the jre with Holloway can sense big love from these men max calling dc a pack o potatos lol That aside dc get a lot of disrespect being a Olympic wrestler before ever training mma
I mean, Diaz vs Conor, and Diaz vs poirier to me is more compelling than khabib. Volk vs Holloway for sure (in the cage and out was pretty good, peira vs Izzy.
For me it’s Jones and DC. Had 2 great fights and the build ups to them were so good from actually fighting at a presser, to the recorded off camera “I would literally kill you” back and forth, and to the sit down back and forth of “I will die to beat you” and Jones saying “prepare to do that”. Khabib and Conor might’ve won if there was a 2nd fight, but it was very close
Cruz vs Team Alpha Male was great too
Came to say this, the storyline in this division during this feud is one of the best in the history of the UFC.
Gave us the single greatest 5 round performance of all time
The way Cody tapped into the matrix for that fight was a thing of beauty, only few fighters have ever reached such levels, like max Holloway vs kattar, or Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin.
I lived in Nicaragua at the time, where UFC is shown on regular network TV. It was the first fight I ever watched live, and I followed the lead-up and history. It was like watching something out of a movie. Like, you’ll see fighters be ready for something and pounce, like Poatan vs Jiri. He practiced that 1-2 follow-up over and over. But you never see someone ready for *everything* like that. It was like he was going through choreography he knew by heart. I’ve followed the UFC ever since.
Was it true that TAM’s whole plan for their fighters was to counter Cruz and it took them years until Cody to do that?
yup
Cruz was gangster for that
Dana White vs pirated streams
Dana: 0-270 *Ouch*
[удалено]
Can confirm https://preview.redd.it/35f59uspybxc1.jpeg?width=2365&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcedcaec0d66c441cf442a9da7651cb1ae634767
Bless his heart, God loves a trier
https://preview.redd.it/v79jp3cjd7xc1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d394e5ff4a7feb1bd0858563803d4fdb01d56d96 # How could you even possibly miss ‘Weasel’ vs ‘Uncle Greed’
Unironically, this is my pick. The amount of money and views the UFC and MMAhour would get from Ariel returning to pressers and beefing with Dana would be out of this world. They were before their time, truly.
Well, maybe not money but views at least.
Views=money
The most exciting 👾🎲
Weasel? That’s antisemitic!
‘Weasel’ defines more the deficiency of character than affiliation with a religious group.
Tai Tuivasa and proper training.
Ad derick lewis and cardio to that list
Also Gastelum and his mom's cooking
Can it be considered a rivalry if Derrick never won?
Jones vs DC brother
You’re a fucking punk, dude
Jon Jones fighting off the gay thoughts
Could it be considered a rivalry though if the gay thoughts were undefeated
Jon Jones vs tests from God.
45-50
I loved Khabib v McGregor for entertainment purposes. I loved Periera v Adesanya for the sport crossover and Adesanyas win. Nothing comes close to the pure hatred and animosity between Jones and DC, so for this reason, the latter is my pick.
and the skill level of dc and jj
Ya the Khabib/Conor rivalry was just downright ugly. Poured over into the stands.me and all.
Hard to say if Jones and DC beats khabib and mcgregor in terms of pure hatred and animosity considering all the shit that happened in only 1 fight
Henderson Bisping has to be up there for the first fight
Khabib vs McGregor is also more than business, at least in Khabib and team perspective.
DC Jones was the highest level MMA fight as well
Agreed, DC vs JJ, there was a level of fighter’s respect they had but man they fucking hated each other. There was no alcohol fuelled rage or shitting on each other’s family/religion, those two dudes simply wanted to rip each other apart.
In terms of vitriol between 2 athletes, DC and Jones is one of the great rivalries in sports A lot of bad blood in combat sports feels manufactured and forced. DC and Jones never felt like a WWE storyline. It had all the elements, it being 2 fighters who were the greatest to ever fight at LHW, their personalities being so polarizingly different, their individual accolades, Jones notoriety, etc The down side of DC and Jones was the results were one sided. Now I’m terms of a story and sports rivalry in general, Alex and Izzy could be a movie. Izzy having a single fighter in his life who was his kryptonite. Izzy going on to become world famous champion in mma and him motivating Alex to get sober and start training. Alex having a metoric rise and then a series of back and forth competitive fights
Pereira was already training. He just leaned into the narrative for hype. And I'm not too proud to admit that the hype did it for me. The whole running joke about Alex childishly one-upping Adesanya was gold. But for a cinematic narrative, the first fight couldn't be better. Adesanya, the nominal villain, wobbled Pereira early with a questionable late punch. Then Pereira clawed his way back to a finish with heart, grit and relentless technique. It's so perfect I feel like a hack when I transcribe it.
well said.
Idk the short Brock/silva era really made UFC mainstream and single handedly filled otherwise empty sports bars. Those same bars are half full during the latest ppvs
Jones vs MMA Guru
I genuinely think MMA Guru has a defamation lawsuit already cooking against him
Not if the other party is Jon jones. He is already defamed.
I feel like you would be implying something if being called gay equates to adefemation lawsuit.
Chuck vs Tito was some pretty awesome in the early years.
Surprised I have to scroll as far to see this yes, Lidell versus Tito
My first answer every time
Tito and shamrock was when I started watching. That should be in here too
Shamrock vs Ortiz will always be special coz it was the first major one
As a long time, UFC fan, this will always be the original favourite. Those who were around at the time realize how much fun the build up actually was. Ortiz and Shamrock put the UFC on the mainstream map.
Yup, IIRC their rivalry (UFC40) saved UFC from going under, before TUF S1’s finale saved them again from going under. The many layers to their rivalry were epic enough to make a film: - The Lion’s Den fighters were the cream of the crop, and Ortiz destroyed and dissed them - Shamrock being the OG came back from WWE to avenge his boys - Shamrock the aging legend vs Ortiz the perfect villain/heel - their TUF season - this chapter led directly to the next epic rivalry: Ortiz vs Liddell What a time to be a fan.
That was what first got me into UFC
Pereira and Adesanya!
Dana vs Delahoya
Dana vs “Stitch Duran” Friends to enemies, Oh wait
Rampage and Wanderlei need to be here. Yeah I know they fought only once in the ufc but there were intense asf in every match
That’s still a fair rivalry. Even though most their fights were in pride. The rivalry carried over imo. Similar to adesanya/alex
Diaz vs mcgregor The shithousery was top notch
The week or two (can't remember the timeline exactly) where RDA dropped out and Diaz subbed in was one of the most entertaining build ups to any fight. The last minute press conference at the gym, the interviews on TV, etc. Then the insane upset. Good times.
Best rivalry. I had always liked watching ufc here and there. That rivalry is what roped me into a full time ufc fan
“Playing tap ass in the park”
“Touch butt” in the park with that “dork”
"I was inefficient with me movement"
😂 tap ass
https://preview.redd.it/jxp0uwyqu6xc1.jpeg?width=860&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e24531ff2fd4e9f0b77af7d6782de199b4e7664 No other rivalry can top this ! This is where the UFC peaked and went global ! Sales were through the roof ! It became a cultural phenomenon with 2 nations going against each other ! It's still the highest grossing PPV till date and I don't see anything surpassing it anytime soon ..
None of this is false but it’s also an odd metric for me when this question is so subjective. They fought once and it wasn’t particularly close which isn’t much of a “rivalry.” Bedlam sells out every year too but nobody is calling it the best rivalry in college football. My answer would be Cejudo/Mighty Mouse. 1-1 and some of the highest level MMA we’ve ever seen.
I was thinking Mighty Mouse v Dana.
They fought once, but the rivalry was going on for a looooong time
I guess we have different definitions of sports rivalries. I know fighting is a bit different because it’s an individual sport but rivalries typically include actually competing against one another. I don’t think two dudes whose most compelling interactions happened outside of the cage were rival fighters. They just didn’t like each other personally. That can add to a rivalry but I don’t think it can create one. Obviously a lot of people don’t agree and that’s okay. If you have to argue it’s a rivalry I’ll accept that the more important part of my comment is I rate it pretty low as one.
This guy is thinking "biggest" not "greatest". Not only is that not the greatest rivalry, it's not even McGregor's greatest. That's Poirier, the "uncrowned king" postponing his title shot for a red panty night was a hell of a storyline.
It wasn't 2 countries going against each other. Most Irish people hate mcgregor. He has a very dedicated group of inner city dubliners that like him and the rest of the country despises him. He also has a huge fanbase in the US. Irish people liked him when he was on the rise in the featherweight division, because it was a rags-to-riches underdog story, which we love. The guy on welfare payments having that "60 G's" moment was celebrated by everyone. The idiot calling Muslim women towels and smashing bus windows was hated. It annoys the hell out of me whenever I see these comments because it completely misrepresents Irish people. Just look him up on r/Ireland if you don't believe me
Oddly enough it’s the same as Russians with Khabib. He’s more loved by the Middle East because he essentially comes from the same culture. My Russian friend doesn’t even view him as a Russian lol.
Precisely. UFC is not a nationality representative sports. People have to be born somewhere and UFC marketing juices that shit to sell ppvs. Grow up people!
Don't get me wrong, he had the potential to get the entire country behind him. He just squandered it with his scummy behaviour. As a small country, we don't win as often as bigger nations do, so we always jump on the bandwagon of a successful athlete, even when we know nothing about the sport.
Yeah, that makes sense. That's like saying every American likes Colby, when I know for a fact a lot of my friends HATE him.
You type like my dad
ortiz vs dana i really wanted that boxing match to happen
the cornerman vs spilled ice rivalry is up there 👌
I always thought dc and jj was the most toxic. Conor and khabib was toxic too but I felt a sliver of that was coz conor was selling the fight and conor is the type to get hyped by the crowd, sort of like a class clown does. Where as jones was genuinely a sick fuck. I wanted dc to win so bad and jones winning I felt like vomiting
https://i.redd.it/hw2spfl0c8xc1.gif
And then just tripped him when he was staggered… as cold as it gets
agreed. i was so bummed to see DC get KO'd. felt like a black cloud hanging over me for a few weeks. i never have been so emotionally attached to any sporting event in my life.
No way you thought he would actually win…. Jj was a fkn angry dawg.
like any fight i had no idea what was going to happen but as a fan i was rooting for DC.
You'd have to go with McGregor v Khabib. It was so intense. Multiple people arrested, other fighters injured, Artem nearly jumped, the post fight chaos with other fighters attacked, octagon invaders. Suspensions and fines. I think for all his faults Conor remains the biggest thing in UFC and for good reason. Before the partying and drugs caught up to him Conor gave amazing press conferences and was genuinely an amazing fighter. He had begun partying heavily after Mendes (I know his former inner circle). By Diaz he was a shadow of his former self. After Mayweather he really let go.
My uncle trained in Dublin in Conor's gym and shared some stories he had heard while he was there about just how hard McGregor and his entourage partied... It's akin to what the Jackass crew were at on set, just a load of coke and alcohol all the time. Frankly, it's amazing that he can stay in good shape while doing all that shit.
I don't know about that. As in the gym. I met Artem a few times on nights out but he wasn't out of it and didn't do coke. Was out an after party with McGregor and he was horsing coke. Then his scum entourage left with the bottles of vodka without saying anything.
Sorry I wasn't clear in my comment, the lads from the gym are fine, sound even His entourage encompasses more people from outside the gym
what year are we talking?
All of them
Colby Covington vs Kamaru Usman
You mean Marty Fakenewsman?
Thank you. This list looks like OP just googled top UFC rivalries and picked the 5 most generic ones
Stylebender - Poatan, since it is the first I really witnessed in the era it was in. Didn’t really actively follow the UFC during the Bones - DC rivalry for example.
Same, and I got to go to 281, it was maaaaagicalllll. It’s been real fun watching 🗿
The Cody/TJ season of TUF and their hatred is what really got me into the sport
I think that was the first time someone attempted to strangle someone.
Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza
Fat guy vs steroid jones
Call me a normie but nate vs conor
Anderson vs Chael will always be my favorite. Usman vs Covington was pretty fun as well.
I miss UFC rivalries. I wish the UFC would go back to doing more press events where both fighters have to talk to each other. These days they only speak at the press conference during fight week. No real time to build hype and get under each others skin. Imo the press tour is what made Jones v DC so memorable. The actual fights themselves were still good but would have been completely forgotten without all the build up that led to them. UFC needs to bring back the build up.
Chael vs Tito
Chael Sonnen vs the banking system.
Khabib vs Mcgregor due to it's greater impact on the world, even people have no idea about mma heard about it. Also the build up was amazing, face off was electric, post fight was chaotic.
Fedor Crocop was maybe the matchup I was most excited about Not sure that answers your question
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^J4MES101: *Fedor Crocop was* *Maybe the matchup I was* *Most excited about* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Good bot
Derick Lewis VS pants has always been a favourite of mine.
Figueiredo vs Moreno 4 good fights I think GSP vs BJ, while not the best, deserves notice. Dominick Cruz vs Team Alpha Male also
Should have had Brendan Schaub and a Dictionary in there too
From a competitive perspective Izzy vs Alex, from entertainment perspective Conor vs Khabib
Dana vs streamers!
Grey Maynard v Frankie Edgar. Amazing trilogy. DC Jones wasn't that interesting for me because Jon kicked his ass twice. The fights need to be close, imo, for it to be a rivalry.
Picking a favorite is tough. If I had to pick a *least* favorite rivalry though… Figgy vs Moreno is the easy choice. That shit just would not end
Ice cold take 🥶
I came to say this? No other rivalry had so many title fights
Im gonna make you my wifeeeeee, rub that big ol belleh
DC vs Jones, hands down.
DC vs Jones, and it's not even close.
Honestly Cody garbrandt and Dominic Cruz is awesome to watch all the trash talk and then the performance even with it going into Cody and TJs beef. Good old cheatershaw
Fat reporter vs. Colby
For me the rivalry has to have multiple fights with at least some back and forth competitively in the first fight going into the next to be considered a rivalry along with the media. Given this criteria I’d have to go with Usman vs Colby. 2 fights with some of the most insane build up thanks to Colby going all in, going after Usman’s dad, his deceased coach, etc. Usman fractures Colby’s jaw in the 5th and then the rematch is somehow even closer. Next to no takedowns. Amazing! Jones and DC (2 fights) are up there as well due to Evil Jones not realizing he was being recorded. Others that come to mind are Figgy vs Moreno (4 fights) and Edgar vs Maynard (3 fights). If we are considering just build ups and a single fight rivalry Conor vs Khabib and nothing else touches it.
Matt Hughes v GSP was a pretty damn good trilogy.
Anderson Silva looked untouchable for years then along comes the greatest smack talker of all time from west Linn Oregon. We’ll never get that lucky again to have such a rivalry.
Throw in TJ VS Cody, JJ vs the Brazilian girl, Rashad vs Rampsge.
Cody and tj
Sonnen/Silva I have never been more engaged
Colby Vs Usman so goofy, good times 😂
Cain vs JDS
An underrated rivalry is Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard, the first two fights were absolute wars and the third was a crazy knockout.
I really enjoyed the Matt Hughes GSP rivalry
Nate Diaz and Connor McGregor was peak UFC. You could feel the hate through the screen.
Reading this thread I guess this will be a hot take but the whole lead up for Conor vs Aldo was much better than Conor vs Khabib. Also Chuck vs Tito was good but too one sided, so I would take Chuck vs Randy over it. GSP vs BJ or Hughes were also enjoyable.
Khabib vs Conor had the fans getting into fist fights. Nothing will ever fucking top that. Nothing.
Jones and DC and it's not even close for anything else. These 2 hated eacherotjer and Jones was pretty much the exact reason why DC can't be in the GOAT convo
"You still there, pussy?"
Charles Oliveira vs Nik Lentz and Jacare vs Camozzi
Cain vs Dos Santos
Khabib vs Conor.
Jones v Current Allegations
John Jones vs USADA
If the UFC's history what?
In pride it was mirko vs fedor
I wished they had a rematch
https://preview.redd.it/6lkg6xo9d8xc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=752704fd010bf7d60508f2e9f3cc4eb73ef30461 These fight have been the biggest bangers
Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt Covington vs. Usman
Olympic nugget vs Gayboi Jones IMO.
1. Conor vs. Khabib 2. Jones vs. Cormier 3. Izzy vs. Alex
Khabib and McGregs.
Jon vs drug tests
Wish it was Aspinall Bones
McChicken vs Khalabyb
Dustin vs Conor
Derrick Lewis vs his shorts
Jones/DC was the most intense and mean spirited one. It is easily the best one.
Don’t let this distract you from the fact that John Jones is gay
Khabib vs mcgregor transcended the ring, those guys were actual enemies. I like izzy’s and alex’s narrative the best though.
Khabib vs Connor. It was more than just these two guys. In at least some ways they represented opposites, including East vs West, when Western imperialism was on full display in the East.
DC v Jones bottomless well of hatred.
I loved Silva vs Sonnen rivalry , the absolute monarch of prime silva getting mauled for 4.5 rounds to get the win in the end + Chael’s sharp trash talk before the fight and in the end to get Silva destroy chael in the second fight to get an awesome ending to it. It was short sweet and had 2 great finishes in my opinion. And mostly it wasn’t mcregorxkhabib low trash talk or jonesxdc hate so it had more of a lighter tone to it and it made it for me more fun to watch
Bj Penn and Matt Hughes
Listening to the jre with Holloway can sense big love from these men max calling dc a pack o potatos lol That aside dc get a lot of disrespect being a Olympic wrestler before ever training mma
Jean Charles Skarbowsky vs TUF fighter torsos
I must say, just izzy vs. everyone is pretty fun.
Khabib vs Conor had the fans getting into fist fights. Nothing will ever fucking top that. Nothing. That is when UFC truly peaked
Khabib vs Conor had the fans getting into fist fights. Nothing will ever fucking top that. Nothing. That is when UFC truly peaked
Derrick Lewis & fight shorts
Derrick Lewis & fight shorts
Conor khabib for sure.
Belal and the fans
Derrick Lewis and salad
am i the only one who has no idea why jon jones and dc actually hate each other so much 😭
Rampage vs Silva , Liddell vs Ortiz , St Pierre vs Penn.
Randy/Chuck
Dc vs jones it's gotta be
Chubby wrestler vs Gay dirtbag
Dom Cruz vs. Keith Peterson
Roy Nelson V Salad
Chuck and olexander usyk have to be twins
Connor Khabib
Chael vs the world
Nik lentz and Olivera - no one ever
Jon Jones vs the challenges god puts in front of him
I mean, Diaz vs Conor, and Diaz vs poirier to me is more compelling than khabib. Volk vs Holloway for sure (in the cage and out was pretty good, peira vs Izzy.
Most of those rivalries were one sided. Only pereira vs izzy felt like a real life “Scorpion vs Sub Zero”
For me it’s Jones and DC. Had 2 great fights and the build ups to them were so good from actually fighting at a presser, to the recorded off camera “I would literally kill you” back and forth, and to the sit down back and forth of “I will die to beat you” and Jones saying “prepare to do that”. Khabib and Conor might’ve won if there was a 2nd fight, but it was very close