Sherdog’s 2023 Event of the Year

While past years have seen a swath of MMA organizations hoisting tentpole events to gather the attention and passion of the masses, 2023 was a bit of a different story.

Bellator MMA scaled down drastically and ended its run with a shrug before its sale to the Professional Fighters League made the front page. That tourney-based league also did not seem to dazzle despite a record number of shows, including a few excursions to Europe. Rizin Fighting Federation and Invicta Fighting Championships could not grab headlines like the days of old. One Championship practically abandoned the MMA business for the time being. The only promotion other than the Ultimate Fighting Championship that received any consideration towards the best event of the year was Polish powerhouse KSW, which packed 50,000 ravenous fans into the National Stadium in Warsaw with dazzling results at night’s end. Otherwise, the UFC ran the calendar.

Besides KSW 83 and UFC on ESPN 52, the fight cards receiving votes were all pay-per-view extravaganzas. The vote-getters tended to have one of two things in common: a high number of finishes or a crowd that amplified the intensity of the evening’s hostilities. The latter was the case for UFC 284, as the 14,000-some Aussies in the building brought the thunder from Down Under in Perth. UFC 285 rocked the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with ample violence on the main card, three “Submission of the Year” contenders rearing their heads on the same night and the surprise taping of the ill-fated “Road House” remake.

The same kind of energy came with UFC 295 in November, only it took the loud audience in Las Vegas and amplified it by a few levels at Madison Square Garden in New York. How does an event line up as one of the best in the year? One way is to have a massive main card, with all five fights ending by brutal knockout and culminating with the coronation of a two-division champion. This is what it took to earn the No. 2 spot. Ultimately, the top card completely blew the doors off, exceeding high expectations and delivering spectacular carnage and meaningful action.

Even recency bias and a pair of mighty slam knockouts at UFC on ESPN 52 could not derail the greatness that was UFC 290. It started as any other International Fight Week card, with ample hype and potential to end up as the best fight card since sliced bread. Unlike past major summer shows, the UFC did not overdo it with expectations of three title fights and ranked matchups from top to bottom. Still, two title fights practically guaranteeing action bolstered the top of the lineup, along with a legend’s farewell bout, a No. 1 contender match and an uber-hot prospect in a prime card position. Like a symphony orchestra, every note seemed to hit over about seven hours on July 8.

The first slot on the billing went to a lightweight affair pitting Kamuela Kirk against Esteban Ribovics. They made sure to start the night strong with a close, thrilling three-round contest while reminding fight fans that bouts not ending by stoppage can also be edge-of-your-seat affairs. Jesus Santos Aguilar took center stage next, hoping to make the most of a second impression. One phenomenal right hand from the Mexican flyweight disabled Shannon Ross and electrified the crowd. It was no big deal to Aguilar, even as he set the 125-pound UFC bar for the second-quickest knockout.

Not to be outdone, Cameron Saaiman kept it clean in his third Octagon appearance, laying waste to Terrance Mitchell. The expectation was that no matter the victor, this one would likely end quickly—the two 135ers had combined for 14 first-round finishes at the time—and it did, as Saaiman battered Mitchell with effortless ground-and-pound to keep the finishes flowing. Vitor Petrino did not disappoint when he took to the cage, wrapping up the early preliminary slate by outworking and eventually strangling Marcin Prachnio with an arm-triangle choke. Although the win came against a foe with a borderline .500 UFC record, the unbeaten Brazilian looked like a potential Top 10 talent, becoming the first man to submit Prachnio. These four intriguing scraps were set-dressing for what was to come.

Two burly light heavyweights went up to settle their score in the match that followed, running back their draw from February. Alonzo Menifield and Jimmy Crute went toe-to-toe until wrestling knocked at the door, and Crute found himself unable to ground Menifield as easily as he had months prior. Menifield used Crute’s reliance on that takedown against him, snatching a guillotine and getting the tap in seconds. “Oh, Snickers,” he remarked when watching himself on the replay, “Yeah, man, that looks awesome.” It was.

Young Parana Vale Tudo product Denise Gomes left nothing to chance in her strawweight encounter with 10-0 Yazmin Jauregui. In seconds, Gomes busted Jauregui upside the head with a few right hands, and she put a bow on the $50,000 performance by making referee Jason Herzog jump in the middle at the 20-second mark. It was the fastest finish in UFC women’s strawweight history. Tatsuro Taira followed up by outhustling an overmatched Edgar Chairez, getting through a tough Round 1 to put a 10-8-level beating in the next frame on his way to a clear win. Even as a -850 betting favorite, the undefeated Japanese youngster did not close with the highest odds on this lineup.

It was up to Robbie Lawler and Niko Price to put on a show for the prospective PPV buyers in the preliminary headliner. The two welterweight all-action fighters, one heavily shopworn and surpassing 40 while the other younger but with plenty of damage sustained in his own right, went after it—for about 30 seconds. The former champ, who stated unequivocally that he was retiring, win or lose, dinged “The Hybrid” with a pair of short left hands on the inside. With an uppercut he had been saving up since his days at Icon Sport, Lawler decked his foe and finished the job with a short and sweet left hook. Longtime fans breathed a massive sigh of relief as the legendary knockout artist claimed one more scalp in just 38 seconds, only to be delighted by the pre-prepared version of “This Is Your Life” for Lawler by the promotion to thank him for his years of service. In a sport where most fight way too long and careers take turns for the worse, Lawler did it his way and even managed to earn a nod on most “Knockout of the Year” lists.

On the regular Sherdog Preview Show on YouTube, hosts Keith Shillan and Ben Duffy often joke about the inevitable weekly reference to hot middleweight prospect Bo Nickal—one that Shillan makes nine times out of 10. The 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy winner had his name raised numerous times ahead of the card because Nickal was slated to face Tresean Gore. Stepping up instead on short notice was the undersized Valentine Woodburn, who valiantly tried to defy the monster odds before him, with Nickal at -1400 on some books. Nickal made that betting line look understated by decimating the Floridian in 38 seconds. If that time sounds familiar, it is part of a numerical anomaly involving the number 38 that would take too long to explain.

In November 2022, Dan Hooker opened up the UFC 281 main card by thumping Claudio Puelles with a nasty body kick to set the standard for the remainder of the $80 lineup—all of them delivered heaps of violence, ultimately earning that event the distinction of the best event that year. The only participant at both UFC 281 and UFC 290, Hooker again stepped up to the plate, this time with an incredibly tricky matchup against the long, lanky, yet heavy Jalin Turner. Were it not for a monumental battle a few fights later, Hooker very well may have gone home with both sides of the “Fight of the Night” check, as Turner missed weight. The two threw down for three nailbiter rounds, and the edge went to the Kiwi.

From there, it was down to three major matches. Robert Whittaker was largely expected to hold the line as the former champion, staving off all contenders like a Holly Holm-esque figure and deflating the title hopes for most middleweights. Dricus Du Plessis tossed that script in the outside garbage, attacking “Bobby Knuckles” with a frenetic pace and pressure that overwhelmed the typically un-overwhelmable Whittaker. While putting on a spectacular showing, most fight fans might remember Du Plessis’ meeting with then-champ Israel Adesanya when the latter stormed the cage and hurled confusing racial epithets at the South African until cooler heads prevailed. “Stillknocks” ultimately earned his title shot, but it will not come against the man shouting at him post-fight.

After everyone took a breath, many held it for the next 25 minutes. A title was on the table in a rematch between effervescent champ Brandon Moreno and the hard-charging Alexandre Pantoja. Summing up their titanic battle in short order might do it a disservice—the play-by-play of the pairing might be more suitable if wishing to relive its complete glory—but suffice it to say, this fight had it all: momentum shifts, big drama, danger on both sides and everything one could ask for in a championship bout.

With the 19,204 in attendance practically having shouted themselves hoarse from the co-main attraction, the headliner was what truly drew the masses watching digitally or in person. Major questions loomed for champ Alexander Volkanovski, having shifted back to his regular weight class of 145 pounds against Yair Rodriguez after a failed attempt to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously. The featherweight held his own and then some against Islam Makhachev in a close loss. Still, when he suffered his first defeat in nearly a decade, prognosticators and pundits wondered whether cracks began to show in the façade of “Alexander The Great.” As it turned out, the answer took less than 15 minutes to give, and it was a resounding no.

Rodriguez fought valiantly, Rodriguez fought nobly, Rodriguez fought honorably. And Rodriguez lost. Badly. Combining his underrated wrestling prowess with his ability to find his target with strikes despite a short stature, Volkanovski put a beating on the interim titleholder, sending a message to his division that he was still there. All doubt, concern or question of Volkanovski’s ability to compete at the sport’s pinnacle dissipated as he drummed out “El Pantera” towards the end of the third round, courtesy of a stream of seemingly unending strikes.

The win not only capped off a night of finishes—nine, to be precise, including a modern era record four in one minute or less—but reminded everyone that the 5-foot-6 Australian powerhouse was still a force to be reckoned with. One belt changed hands excitingly, while the other remained held with an iron grip, both memorable and fascinating. With the UFC staging a record 520 bouts across 43 long and sometimes conflatable events, this show stood out above and beyond the rest. Some might have different takeaways, but everyone will remember what happened on that unforgettable July evening.

UFC 290 takes its rightful place alongside previous Sherdog “Event of the Year” winners in UFC 281, UFC 268, UFC 249, UFC 236, UFC 229, UFC 214, UFC 206, UFC 194, UFC 178, UFC 166, UFC on Fox 5, UFC 134, WEC 53, UFC 100 and UFC 84.