25 Years Deep: Favourite Moments

[Egg Shen]

i love Tank, i think he left a lasting impression on anyone who saw him in them early years, he sits comfortably next to Royce, Severn and Shamrock as the real standout guys of those first 6 shows (i always group those together because they got UK VHS releases). Anyone who saw those shows remembers Tank, you could even argue turned more fans onto the sport than anyone else in the early days, Tank provided the violence people wanted. He should 100% be in the Hall of Fame Pioneer wing. 

[wandshogun09]

Tank was brilliant. When I think of that early UFC era, I think of Tank Abbott and Don Frye before the names Royce Gracie or Ken Shamrock pop into my head. Tank was involved in so many of the highlights for me on those first 10 or so shows. The Matua KO above is the one everyone rightly remembers but the Steve Nelmark KO was just as shocking and brutal the first time I saw it...

Did anyone ever see or hear anything from Nelmark again after that? Looking him up, his record shows he never fought again. 

Other Tank highlights included him laughing at Paul Varelans as he battered him, trying to throw Cal Worsham over the top of the cage like it was a Royal Rumble, the brawl with Frye and his interviews. All of them. 

I wish he'd have also beat Mir to a pulp when they fought. 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

15 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Did anyone ever see or hear anything from Nelmark again after that? Looking him up, his record shows he never fought again.

He's interviewed here, along with the rest of the fighters from that tournament. He's an electrician now. If I'd have googled and it turned out that Nelmark had died in hospital that same night and they covered it up, I'd have not been shocked.

http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=eightmenout

[PowerButchi]

Scott Ferrozzo's heel promo (Great band name) is the best moment easily.

[wandshogun09]

Good to hear Nelmark is still alive. 

The one from Ultimate Ultimate 96 @PowerButchi? That was hilarious. 

Mikey Burnett cutting a drunken promo on the Lions Den at UFC 20-something was fun as well. 

[PowerButchi]

1 minute ago, wandshogun09 said:

The one from Ultimate Ultimate 96 @PowerButchi? That was hilarious. 

The very same. UU96 is the peak for me. No shit fights, an awesome promo from an obese used car dealer wearing shades and THE greatest fight of all time in Frye vs Abbott.

[wandshogun09]

While we’re in this era, what was this about? 

How many apples did Mary have left in the basket? 

[boyfriend]

Torn between Lesnar - Mir or the Aldo KO. Don't think i'll ever mark as hard again *sigh

[Keith Houchen]

On 11/14/2018 at 7:57 PM, boyfriend said:

Don't think i'll ever mark

[Supremo]

I'll add more as I think of them but these are the ones that immediately spring to mind.

Chris Leben Punches a Door

Everyone always bangs on about Bonnar vs. Griffin saving the sport, but that’s rubbish. Let’s call it how it really is. The real reason The Ultimate Fighter became such a huge hit, in turn saving MMA from extinction, was because Chris Leben was so angry about getting some water poured on him by Josh Koscheck that he smashed up a door. At the time, this was some of the best TV building up to a fight I’d ever seen. I was so excited when they announced Josh and Chris were going to settle it in the cage the following week. There are some Wrestlemanias that I haven’t been this excited about. Those seven days felt like forever. And sure, the match ended up being a bit shit, with Koscheck just holding Leben down the whole time, but it didn’t matter by that point. I was hooked for life.

Bisping wins!

I’ve covered this loads already but this was by far the most satisfying moment in the history of the sport. Maybe even the history of human existence. A guy we’d seen at both his best and his worst, a guy we’d watched grow up in front of our eyes, someone who always fell at the last hurdle, someone who shouldn’t have even had the Title shot to begin with, someone who’d remained clean when every other fucker was jacked up on TRT. And now here he is, after the greatest performance of his life against Anderson Silva, somehow in a Title match by sheer chance, against the smuggest prick in the world in Luke Rockhold. Throughout the entire build up all I kept thinking was, “what if?” Just imagine if he somehow flukes it. It’ll never happen, but just imagine. And then it happened. Unbelievable. What a moment. Destiny. Weak as piss. Kiss my arse.

The McGregor Era, Brimage to Alvarez

He eventually jumped the shark and revealed himself to be an absolute knob but that run leading up to and including UFC 205. Man, it doesn’t get any better. Appearing out of nowhere like a someone had made a fully formed superstar in a lab or something, chatting shit about solid gold pocket-watches right off the bat, anyone with an eye for charisma knew that all this little maniac had to do was keep winning and he’d be the biggest thing in the sport. What a laugh it was watching him do exactly that. The lights out entrance for the Holloway fight despite being in the Prelims. The fun build up to the Poirier fight, doing the “Just Bring It,” hand motion like The Rock before KO’ing him in seconds. Him jumping the cage and screaming in Aldo’s face after wasting Siver. UFC 189, which might still be the greatest show they ever did. Fucking Sinead O’Connor singing him to the cage! Haha! The comeback victory against Mendes. The KO of Aldo. The fantastic feud with Diaz. Then it’s all capped off when he beats Alvarez and makes history. Absolutely incredible. What a wild ride. I’d say they should make a movie about it, but they already have.

Brock drinking Sherdog Tears

Is it any wonder the UFC and MMA as a whole have never stopped talking about Brock Lesnar, even when he was in WWE for years and years, with no hints of a return? It’s because his run was arguably the most fun ever. They kept putting him against the, “proper fighter,” who’ll finally prove that he’s a stupid fake wrestler and for the longest time he kept on winning. So much fun. Him smashing Mir to bits in their second fight and then still kicking off on him afterwards was hilarious. He’s going to drink a Coors Light because Bud won’t pay him anything….then hell, he may even get on top of his wife tonight, see ya all later! His fight with Carwin is an absolute classic, too. What drama! The fun died with Cain, and morons tried to argue that this proved Brock was never any good to begin with, but bollocks to you. He was great and for a while he beat the top competition time and time again.

UFC Dublin

I didn’t reference this on purpose because I think it needs it’s own mention. What a fucking show. Easily the best live experience I’ve ever had. I go to a lot of concerts, a lot of festivals, and a lot of sporting events. I don’t think anything will even come close to this. Hell, me and my wife actually got married at Glastonbury Festival a few years back. Don’t tell her, but this show pissed all over that. An absolutely phenomenal experience that I’ll treasure forever. With each successive Irish win the crowd getting louder and louder. The building honestly feeling like it was shaking for Conor vs. Brandão in the main event. And then when Conor won, that visual of every fucking pint in the arena flying through the air, every single person jumping up and down, people falling into rows in front of them, everyone hugging and screaming, complete pandemonium, I’ll never ever forget it. Every live UFC is great fun but this was something else entirely. It sounds daft to say it, but seriously; this was absolutely magical. If only they'd done that stadium show.

 

[wandshogun09]

So much of that @Supremo post echoes my own thoughts. That McGregor run was great until he became a massive bellend. Now I can’t even look back at the good bits and enjoy them in quite the same way. Same with Ronda’s run actually. When she burst on the scene it was a breath of fresh air. That awesome first fight with Miesha Tate in Strikeforce, the UFC debut vs Carmouche, the brilliant rematch with Tate, the crazy quick finishes of Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Bethe Correia. To have not just one fresh new shiny superstar but two, at the same time, in McGregor and Rousey was really something. It was the UFC’s version of Stone Cold and The Rock coming along at the same time in the late 90s WWF. Just a magical time.

This picture was my sig on here for ages. Think I even had it all Christmassed up in one of the chokeout Xmas av/sig threads one year. Loved them both. 

To think that in 2012 it looked so gloom and doom as well. The Brock Lesnar era seemed dead and buried after Overeem crushed him in December 2011 and by 2012 Brock was back in WWE. And Chael had lost the rematch to Anderson decisively, killing that great rivalry and signalling the end of Chael’s peak. I even remember a few people on here worrying that with Brock and Chael falling, the UFC could be heading for dark times. But 2013 saw Rousey and McGregor debut within about 6 weeks of each other and so began a rollercoaster ride of massive events, tons of talking points and huge moments. 

Daddy and his two favourite children.

Whatever it is now though, whether I’ve just soured on McGregor for his ever increasing dickheadedness or Ronda for her shitty comments away from the cage or how she handled the buildup to the Nunes fight...I don’t know. Maybe I just saw so much of both of them for long enough that I just had my fill of the pair of them. But the shine has come off both massively for me. I can still watch say McGregor vs Alvarez and appreciate it. I can still watch Ronda’s breathtaking sequence into the armbar on Zingano and be just as amazed. But I don’t have the love for either of them like I used to. I’m over them, I’ve chucked their toothbrushes out, binned all their CDs and moved on. When McGregor fights it’s still a big thing and I’ll be invested in it. Same as if Ronda ever comes back. But I don’t know. I’ll never be as arsed as I was. 

Anyway, like I said I agree with many Supremo and others have mentioned already. Especially that Leben vs Koscheck feud on TUF 1 and I wholeheartedly agree with whoever was heaping praise on TUF 4 earlier in the thread. Absolutely love that season. 

A few other highlights of mine from over the years...

Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva finally happening after years and years of buildup, speculation, cockteasing and endless forum debating. This was THE UFC vs Pride dream fight. Randy vs Fedor wasn’t even thought of when the seeds were planted for this bastard back in 2003. It seemed like it would never happen. Even when Pride went for a burton in early 2007 and the UFC signed Wandy, it still nearly got derailed when Chuck unexpectedly lost to Keith Jardine in what was supposed to be a ‘warm up’ before the big Wanderlei showdown. The thing I love most about this was that after all the waiting, not only did it finally happen, it blew away all expectations. Everybody wanted to see it but I think everyone expected a 2 minute bombfest ending in a quick KO either way. Which would’ve been exciting but anti-climatic after the years of waiting for the fight to materialise. But it miraculously went the distance and was a 15 minute all-out war. As a Wand fan, I was gutted with the result but it was such an incredible fight it sweetened the pill. 

Here’s Dana backstage post-fight practically wanking Wanderlei off over what a great fight he gave;

It was a hell of a fight. For a fight with that kind of anticipation to actually surpass what people expected was quite an achievement. 

Kimbo on TUF 10 turned out to be one of my favourite things ever in MMA. Hell froze over. For years Dana had ripped into Kimbo, basically saying he was shit and useless and that he’d never be in the UFC. But here he was. Bringing entertainment and ratings records that have never been beaten on TUF since and, let’s face it, won’t again. For some reason I thought I’d hate Kimbo going in. I’d seen his fights in EliteXC and been entertained by him but I’d never really seen much of his personality and he still had that stink of the Seth Petruzelli fight on him where he’d been KO’d by a jab in seconds and the rumours of scandals surrounding the fight ultimately killed the promotion stone dead. So Kimbo’s name wasn’t conjuring up particularly positive thoughts in my head when he appeared on TUF but I was fucking intrigued to say the least. He walked into the TUF gym on episode 1 and all the other fighters were eyeballing him and making snide comments. I specifically remember Dickface Schaub muttering “Fuck that guy”. Yet within a couple of episodes everyone loved Kimbo. From the other guys in the house to (most) fans online including me. He even won Dana around in the end. Just an insanely likeable and charismatic guy. I got him all wrong just going off his scary appearance and his street fighting background. But he was like a big bearded teddy bear. A laid back family man. I miss Kimbo being around MMA as a personality. Gone way too soon. 

Shogun - UFC champion. Needless to say I was over the moon with this sight. When Pride went down Shogun was thought to be the best 205er on the planet and was expected to come in and take the UFC by storm. He’d won the Pride GP, he’d knocked out Overeem twice and he’d destroyed current UFC champ Rampage Jackson in a round. The MMA world was buzzing about Shogun. But his UFC run started off fuck awful. Injuries, lost to Forrest Griffin in his debut, more injuries, came back and barely beat an ancient Mark Coleman. But then he got back in the groove. KO’d Chuck Liddell in a fight everyone was predicting he’d lose. Then got a title shot against unbeaten and seemingly unhittable Lyoto Machida. Everyone expected Machida to wreck him, including me. Shogun fought a great fight, should’ve won but got robbed by incompetent judges. Due to the controversial, no, bollocks decision, an immediate rematch was booked. Shogun knocked Machida the fuck out, took the gold and all was right with the world. Didn’t keep it long obviously, but at least he got it before he fell to bits and became the empty shell of a once great fighter he is today. This was really the last time he could’ve won the UFC belt. Any later and the Jon Jones era was about to begin and no cunt was getting a look in then.

Big Nog KOing Brendan Schaub in Brazil was one of those beautiful moments that you never forget. Schaub had been trying to make a name off fading legends and big names prior to this. He’d outpointed a Gabriel Gonzaga on the verge of retirement and knocked out the single worst version of Mirko Cro Cop we’d ever seen. So when he called out Big Nog, who’d been out of action for about 18 months and was out of shape, overweight, rusty and coming off knee surgery AND double hip surgery...everybody knew what was up. Schaub the cunt was trying to get the easy win over a true beloved legend and all around good egg. In his home country to boot. What a shitbag. Anyway yeah, didn’t pan out did it? Nog fucking walloped him and made him do the Flair Flop inside a round. I mean it when I say this was every bit as satisfying to me as all those times Frank Mir got smashed. 

Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson had one of the single greatest fights I’ve ever seen back in 2011. Seriously, this still might be my #1 actually. Two of my all time favourite fighters going to war Balboa vs Drago style for the full 5 rounds. Absolutely nothing left to give at the end. A proper classic. 

Hunt vs Bigfoot...well this is basically the heavyweight version of Shogun vs Hendo. If that fight is my #1 then this is #1a. Five brutal and bloody rounds, twists and turns, both emptied the tank and it was so hard to split them that it ended in a draw. Unbelievable fight. Neither were quite the same again and I’m of the belief that it’s this fight that left Bigfoot chinless and shot. Which makes me feel guilty for glorifying this fight but it’s such a great fight. Best in the history of the UFC’s heavyweight division for me. 

Cro Cop vs Gonzaga 2 probably won’t spring to mind for most but I really loved this. Everyone knows what happened the first time these two met in 2007. Gonzaga nearly decapitated Cro Cop with Cro Cop’s own ‘finisher’ the headkick. A loss that haunted Cro Cop for 8 years. In 2015 they met again in Poland and Cro Cop got his revenge, butchering Gonzaga with elbows for the third round stoppage.

I don’t even dislike Gonzaga but...

I was so happy to see this sight. Must’ve been the most satisfying win of Cro Cop’s long career to excorcise that demon. 

Robbie Lawler’s return to the UFC. Nobody saw this going how it did. When Strikeforce folded and Lawler was picked up by the UFC to return in early 2013. He’d had a real lacklustre hit and miss run in Strikeforce and was coming off some losses. When he was announced to be facing Josh Koscheck in his first fight back most thought he’d get taken down and out wrestled. But Lawler was coming in with a point to prove. He’d dropped to 170, moved his camp to American Top Team, had a new baby to feed and was getting to that point in his career where it was now or never. This UFC return was a chance to make a fresh start and go for gold. He strung together impressive wins over the likes of Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Rory MacDonald and Matt Brown before taking the belt from Johny Hendricks after two close fights. I never thought the day would come when we’d see Robbie Lawler holding the UFC title but I loved it. I thought that was as good as it could get but there was even better to come as his title defences against Rory MacDonald in their rematch at UFC 189 and Carlos Condit at UFC 195 were two of the best fights I’ve ever seen. Back to back, legitimate FOTY contender wars and Lawler came out on top both times, solidifying himself as a great champion and one of the most consistently exciting fighters in the game. 

Unfortunately he’s never been quite the same since. He’s far from shot. He looked solid beating Cerrone last year, for example. But I get the feeling those wars have taken something out of him that he’ll never get back. Still, it was a heck of a run. Such a great story seeing this guy go from looking like heading into journeyman status to the top of the mountain. 

Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann throwing down in Saitama Super Arena in Japan back in 2013 will always be a fond memory for me. It’s probably going to go down as the last great Wandy fight when all’s said and done. Can’t see him having any more classic moments now so this’ll likely go down as the last epic battle from the old ‘Axe Murderer’. These two just went for it from start to finish. Some of the exchanges and flurries here are fucking insane to watch. They’re just windmilling haymakers so fast and so many at a time, both decking each other but popping back up and swinging like maniacs again. It’s one of the nuttiest fights you’ll ever see.

Rashad Evans - James Brown promo ‘The Payback’. Absolutely love this. It was for the Jon Jones fight in 2012. The fight itself was a bit of a letdown but they did these short promos that were just quality. Can’t remember what the Jones one was but this Rashad one was class. Rashad AND James Brown. It doesn’t get much cooler. 

This official Rousey vs Holm promo to this day is one of the best things the UFC have ever produced IMO. So well done I got goosebumps watching it again now even though the fight was 3 bastard years ago and I know how that movie ended. 

The GSP vs Nick Diaz conference call before their 2013 clash was car crash stuff but wildly entertaining. The fight was one way traffic and pretty cack but the buildup was so much fun and this was the pinnacle for me. Might seem weird saying a fucking conference call was one of my highlights out of 25 years of UFC but it was. ’If I had as much money as Georges I’d be pampering myself the fuck up. I’d be having motherfuckers show up every hour, on the hour, to pamper my shit left and fucking right’. 🤣

 

’Filthy’ Tom Lawlor. Pretty much everything he ever did in the UFC. Watch that little video it’s only short but so many great highlights. 

GSP telling Bisping to ‘fuck off, man” will never not be funny to me. The MMA equivalent of Mother Teresa calling you a cunt. The words ‘fuck off’ just sound so wrong yet so funny coming from GSP. It was genuinely the highlight of the whole buildup to GSP vs Bisping for me. 

Oh and as they say on the news...and finally...

[Keith Houchen]

5 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Daddy and his two favourite children.

 

[jimufctna24]

46 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

For some reason I thought I’d hate Kimbo going in. I’d seen his fights in EliteXC and been entertained by him but I’d never really seen much of his personality and he still had that stink of the Seth Petruzelli fight on him where he’d been KO’d by a jab in seconds and the rumours of scandals surrounding the fight ultimately killed the promotion stone dead. So Kimbo’s name wasn’t conjuring up particularly positive thoughts in my head when he appeared on TUF but I was fucking intrigued to say the least. He walked into the TUF gym on episode 1 and all the other fighters were eyeballing him and making snide comments. I specifically remember Dickface Schaub muttering “Fuck that guy”. Yet within a couple of episodes everyone loved Kimbo. From the other guys in the house to (most) fans online including me. He even won Dana around in the end. Just an insanely likeable and charismatic guy. I got him all wrong just going off his scary appearance and his street fighting background. But he was like a big bearded teddy bear. A laid back family man. I miss Kimbo being around MMA as a personality. Gone way too soon. 

Aye, same here. 

I thought he would be a nasty prick with an inflated ego. He ended up being nothing like I expected. TUF 10 wasn't a series for the MMA purist. But it was a great TV show, a really great TV show. 

46 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

The thing I love most about this was that after all the waiting, not only did it finally happen, it blew away all expectations. Everybody wanted to see it but I think everyone expected a 2 minute bombfest ending in a quick KO either way. Which would’ve been exciting but anti-climatic after the years of waiting for the fight to materialise. But it miraculously went the distance and was a 15 minute all-out war. As a Wand fan, I was gutted with the result but it was such an incredible fight it sweetened the pill. 

Agreed, but for slightly different reasons. 

I was concerned that Chuck was done after the Jardine loss. I feared that Chuck would look very old against Wanderlei and it would indeed be an anti-climax that would leave more questions than answers. So when we got an entertaining 15 minute fight where both did themselves justice, it was a very welcome surprise. 

Pre-2007, I wanted a bombfest between the two that ended with a KO. It just felt that the rivalry should end with a violent and definitive winner. Before 2007, I had few concerns about either being over the hill (it only dawned on me later that Wand was past his prime by 2005).  

Late 2004 would have been the perfect time for them to fight. But alas, what we got was still decent. 

 

[wandshogun09]

I honestly think it was a better fight in 2007 than it would’ve been in 2004. It would’ve been bigger in 2004, or even if they’d met in the 2003 GP in Pride. But I think them fighting when they did, although slightly late and after both guys’ absolute peak, I think they both kind of had their backs against the wall and had more of a point to prove. 

I’m splitting hairs really though. Chuck and Wandy would always be exciting whenever it would’ve happened. Even now it’d probably be way better than this Tito debacle we’ve got. They just match up for mayhem. 

[Egg Shen]

echoing what a few people have said above, the TUF 10 season was brilliant, might have low on quality fights but just a great TV show. TUF is a weird beast, for years people complained that the in-house antics and drama was "bad for the sport", the UFC cut down on it and focussed more on the fights and the show died on its arse. Drama is what we need, its a TV show!