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5 years later, this is the best, worst and strangest from the UFC-FOX partnership

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Filed under: Featured, Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

Lost in all the hype and hoopla of UFC 205 is the fact that Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of the first UFC on FOX fight card.

We commemorate the wood anniversary between UFC and FOX by looking back at some of the most memorable moments from that relationship, which kicked off on Nov. 12, 2011.

(As a note, only fights that actually took place on the FOX family of channels, which has included FOX, FS1, FS2, FUEL TV and FX, were considered for this list.)

Best crowd

Bruce Buffer

Bruce Buffer

When the UFC debuts in a market, it likes to stack the card with local talent. The promotion’s first trip to Glasgow was no exception, with three Scottish fighters competing at UFC Fight Night 72 at SSE Hydro.

The announced crowd of 10,451 packed the arena before the start of the first FS1 prelim fight, which featured Scottish fighter Rob Whiteford, who didn’t disappoint the fans when he knocked out Paul Redmond in the first round.

The second Scott to compete, Stevie Ray, also electrified the crowd by knocking out Leonardo Mafra in the first round in a “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning performance.

Joanne Calderwood gave the Scottish fighters a 3-0 night when she earned a decision win over Cortney Casey in a “Fight of the Night” effort.

The Scottish fans were exuberant throughout the event, making sure the fighters knew their efforts inside the octagon were appreciated.

Breakout fighter

Cody Garbrandt

Cody Garbrandt

Cody Garbrandt is a perfect 5-0 in the UFC and has ended four of those fights by knockout. FS1 has brodcast all of Garbrandt’s UFC fights.

Garbrandt is one of the most exciting fighters to emerge over the past few years, and he combines confidence – and yes, some cockiness – with heavy hands and an iron chin.

Garbrandt’s FS1 performances and a healthy amount of trash-talk have earned him the next shot at bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. That fight serves as the co-main event of UFC 207.

Most finishes for a single event

Dan Henderson and Tim Boetsch

Dan Henderson and Tim Boetsch

UFC Fight Night 68 might have been short on marquee names, but the card made its mark with all but one of the 10 FS1-televised fights ending via stoppage.

Joe Proctor got things started and earned a technical submission win over Justin Edwards at the 4:58 mark of Round 3, and Dan Henderson wrapped up things by knocking out Tim Boetsch in 28 seconds in the night’s main event.

Between those two bouts, seven other fighters earned stoppages, including “Performance of the Night” bonus winners Dustin Poirier, who scored a TKO win over Yancy Medeiros, and Shawn Jordan, who stopped Derrick Lewis by TKO. Also, “Fight of the Night” winner Brian Ortega won his bonus with a third-round TKO of Thiago Tavares

And let’s not forget, as a bonus, this event gave us evil Ben Rothwell (via YouTube):

Best 1-round fight

John Lineker and Francisco Rivera

John Lineker and Francisco Rivera

The first minute of the UFC 191 prelim contest between John Lineker and Francisco Rivera was rather slow, with both fighters looking to establish range. But when things heated up, they did so incredibly quickly and violently.

Lineker backed Rivera to the cage and threw heavy punches to the body and head. Rivera responded with strikes of his own, and the two were off and running, exchanging wild punches.

The fight came to an end at the 2:08 mark of the first round after Rivera went for a takedown and Linker caught him in a guillotine choke to force the tap.

When the final strike total was tallied, the two combined for 100 strikes thrown in just 128 seconds (via Twitter).

Best McGregor moment

Conor McGregor and Dennis Siver

Conor McGregor and Dennis Siver

Conor McGregor was 4-0 entering his UFC Fight Night 59 contest against Dennis Siver. McGregor dominated the fight and beat Siver bloody before finishing him via TKO at the 1:54 mark of Round 2.

After the win, McGregor casually circled to the middle of the octagon and then took off in a sprint, launching himself over the cage and into the face of Aldo, where he proceeded to scream. Aldo did nothing but grin as security stood between the fighters. After a few seconds, McGregor grabbed an Irish flag, wrapped it around his shoulders and returned to the cage to reveal in the cheers of the Boston crowd (via YouTube):

Strangest post-fight interviews

Al Iaquinta

Al Iaquinta

UFC Fight Night 63 had two of the more memorable post-fight interviews in UFC history. After Clay Guida earned a unanimous-decision win over Robbie Peralta, he called out President Barack Obama.

“Happy Easter to everyone that came here in person on such a sacred holiday weekend,” Guida said. “I know there’s a Final Four going on. Secondly, with all due respect to Mr. Obama, I don’t know if you’re out golfing. Hopefully you’re attending to our important united affairs. But hey, don’t forget about the world’s fastest growing most popular sport, UFC, and it all starts with wrestling.”

Shortly after that head-scratcher, Al Iaquinta earned a split-decision win over Jorge Masvidal that the Fairfax, Va., crowd didn’t agree with.

In response to the boos, Iaquinta went off, cursing at the crowd before cutting short his interview with Jon Anik and storming out of the cage (via Vine):

Best fight

Chan Sung Jung

Chan Sung Jung

Chan Sung Jung immediately made a name for himself in the UFC after stopping Leonard Garcia with a “Submission of the Year” candidate at UFC Fight Night 24. He followed that with a seven-second knockout of Mark Hominick. In his next outing, he headlined UFC on FUEL TV 3 opposite Dustin Poirier.

Jung entered the fight as a healthy underdog, but his all-action style and his toughness, tenacity and ability to string together submission attempts earned him the respect of the Virginia crowd; “USA” chants changed to “Zombie” chants in a matter of seconds.

The fight ended 67 seconds into the fourth round when Jung locked on a D’Arce choke and forced Poirier to tap. The loss remains the only submission defeat of Poirier’s 25-fight career.

Worst early stoppage

Leandro Silva and Drew Dober

Leandro Silva and Drew Dober

At UFC Fight Night 62, Leandro Silva and Drew Doberboth entered their lightweight contest coming off first-round submission wins.

After a fairly evenly contested first round, things got interesting in the second stanza. With two minutes and 45 seconds left in the round, Silva was working a guillotine choke when Dober posted his hand on the mat. That’s when referee Eduardo Herdy waved off the fight. The problem with that was Dober didn’t tap, verbally submit or pass out from the choke.

When Bruce Buffer announced the outcome, he reported the finish was due to tap-out, which anyone that was watching the fight could see was not true.

The bout was eventually ruled a no-contest by the Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – the Brazilian MMA athletic commission – and Dober was paid his win bonus.

Worst late stoppage

Neil Magny and Hector Lombard

Neil Magny and Hector Lombard

At UFC Fight Night 85, Neil Magny spent the last 90 seconds of Round 2 of his co-main event against Hector Lombard unloading punches to the head of his opponent. Despite the striking onslaught and the lack of anything resembling a defense, referee Steve Perceval refused to step in to end the fight.

When Magny resumed his attack in the third round, Perceval finally waved off the fight.

The TKO earned Magny a “Performance of the Night” bonus and Percival the consternation of the MMA world.

Best spinnin’ sh-t

Uriah Hall

Uriah Hall

On Season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Uriah Hall obliterated Adam Cella with a spinning wheel kick that left Cella out on the canvas and surrounded by medical personnel for an uncomfortably long time.

“In my 13 years at UFC, I have only seen 5 KOs like this,” UFC President Dana White tweeted afterward.

Best walk-off knockouts

Frank Mir and Mark Hunt

Frank Mir and Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt has made the most of his time on the FOX family of networks, delivering two of the most memorable walk-off knockouts in UFC history.

At UFC on FUEL TV 8, Hunt delivered a huge left hook that left a dazed Stefan Struve on his back with blood pooling in his mouth.

Three years later Hunt struck again. Headlining UFC Fight Night 85 opposite Frank Mir, Hunt used a right hand to drop his opponent to the canvas. As Mir fell, Hunt briefly glanced down at his opponent before shaking his head and walking away.

Best comeback

Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne

Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne

At UFC Fight Night 26, Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne met in the co-main event. At the 1:15 mark of Round 1, Overeem hurt Browne with a knee to the body and proceeded to tee off with knees and punches.

It seemed as if Browne was not going to make it out of the round. However, he weathered the storm and came back with a front kick that found Overeem’s chin. It dropped him to the mat where, Browne wrapped things up with hammerfists.

Censor’s worst nightmare

Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz has appeared on FOX cards several times, and in true Diaz fashion, he’s kept the censors on their toes on more than one occasion. You may recall the time, while facing then-lightweight champion Benson Henderson at UFC on FOX 5, Diaz flipped his opponent the finger during fight action while on his way to a decision loss.

However, Diaz’s crowning moment was the speech he gave after defeating Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX 17.

“(Expletive) that,” Diaz said. “Conor McGregor, you’re taking everything I worked for, mother(expletive). I’m going to fight your (expletive) (expletive). You know what’s the real fight and what the real money fight is, is me. Not these clowns you already punked at the press conference. Don’t no one want to see that. You know you beat them already. That’s the easy fight. You want that real (expletive) right here.”

While the censors might not have appreciated the tirade, it was effective, and it set up Diaz to step in to face McGregor at UFC 196 after McGregor’s scheduled opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, withdrew due to a foot injury (via YouTube):

The absolute worst

Pacing, pacing, pacing.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: Featured, Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

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