Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
5. The passing of the torch from Khabib Nurmagomedov
Ever since Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, he believed that Islam Makhachev would become the next UFC lightweight champion of the world.
With that being said, Islam was yet to face a real top contender. However, the Russian insisted that he was ready for a shot at the title.
Despite never beating a top five contender prior to the title shot at UFC 280, Islam was confident.
Islam defeated Bobby Green early in 2022 and was immediately ready for a title fight. The Russian got his wish against Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt in October.
The timing felt right for Islam. The fight would take place in Abu Dhabi and it almost felt like a homecoming for him with Khabib in his corner and he was surrounded by his fans.
It was clear that the pressure got to Charles as Islam proved that he was just too good, submitting the Brazilian in the second round to become the champion.
The fight in Abu Dhabi showed that it was always going to be Islam’s time to become the champion and prove his doubters wrong.
4. The sheer brilliance of the first UFC London card
The first UFC London card, headlined by Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall, was the UFC fight night event with fans in 2022.
A lot of fans were highly anticipating the card as it was full of British talent.
From top to bottom, the card was stacked with eye-catching fights. The likes of Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkov, Paddy Pimblett, Arnold Allen, Ilia Topuria and Molly McCann all featured.
Muhammad Mokaev kicked the card off with a bang, submitting Cody Durden in under a minute. The rest of the card would go on to deliver.
In total, there was only three fight that went to a decision, with nine finishes. The card was that entertaining, Dana White would award every fighter with a finish a bonus.
The highlights of the night included Topuria’s sensational KO against Jai Herbert, Molly’s knockout of the year contender against Luana Carolina, Paddy Pimblett’s submission win over Kazula Vargas, Arnold Allen’s gritty TKO win over Dan Hooker and Tom Aspinall’s masterclass against Volkov.
3. The drama surrounding UFC 279
Originally, UFC 279 was supposed to be headlined by Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz.
Whilst that was bound to do numbers, many felt as if it was going to be a one-sided encounter.
With the fight edging closer, it looked as if it was going to take place, much to the annoyance of the MMA community.
Tensions grew between team Chimaev and team Diaz midway through fight week, with both teams being involved in a massive scuffle, which only added to the drama.
However, during the weigh-ins, Chimaev missed weight by a significant margin and the bout with Diaz would go on to be cancelled.
With 24 hours to go until the card, Dana was adamant that he was not going to cancel the event.
In the end, he would go on to rearrange a few fights on the card. Diaz would go on to face Tony Ferguson and Chimaev would go on to face Kevin Holland. The switch seemed to please MMA fans more, with the main event between Diaz and Ferguson being a lot of a closer fight.
2. Alex Pereira stuns the world by knocking out bitter rival Israel Adesanya
With Israel Adesanya defeating both Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier in 2022, Adesanya was itching to fight once more in the year.
However, there was not a clear contender in the middleweight division as he was starting to clean out the top ten.
With that being said, featuring on the same card as Adesanya vs Cannonier was Israel’s rival, Alex Pereira.
Pereira would go on to brutally knock Sean Strickland out in the first round to extend his unbeaten UFC run.
The fight between Pereira and Strickland would determine who would be the next contender for the middleweight strap.
With Israel and Alex going head-to-head in November, chaos was just around the corner.
Alex has already got the better of Israel two times back in their kickboxing days, with Israel out for revenge.
Throughout the fight, Israel was in control, but every time Pereira landed, he would ask questions.
Heading into the final round, Adesanya was minutes away from victory when the Brazilian landed a brutal left hand which then resulted in Pereira becoming the middleweight champion and shocking the world.
1. Leon Edwards’ stunning last gasp KO against Kamaru Usman
If you are an MMA fan, you always knew that this was going to be number one.
Over the years, Leon Edwards has been overlooked. With Edwards constantly winning, many would still brush him aside and name other contenders to face Kamaru Usman.
However, Leon would get his crack at the belt in August. Everyone wrote him off from the get go and said that he would not stand a chance.
With that being said, this is MMA and anything is possible.
The country of England was behind ‘Rocky’ and believed that he could do it. Despite Usman’s dominance in every fight leading up to the Edwards showdown, Leon was still unfazed by the moment.
From the off, Leon was in control. His striking was on full display and he even became the first fighter to officially take Usman down in the UFC.
However, Usman started to dominate proceedings. In the final round, it looked as if Usman was on his way to a decision victory.
With just under a minute to go, Leon landed a cracking head kick that put the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ to sleep. The kick was out of nowhere and caught everyone by surprise. It showed that you can look down and out, but one moment of magic could change the end result in a heartbeat.
