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20. Chris Weidman ends Anderson Silva’s time on the throne [UFC 162, July 6, 2013]

Close observers may have noticed that the 38-year-old Silva had begun to show his age leading up to this fight—his 11th middleweight title defense—against Weidman during the summer of 2013.

Still, many onlookers were content to ignore any notion that the greatest MMA fighter of all time might be on the decline. They’d grown so used to Silva being worlds better than his best competition that perhaps they never stopped to wonder how long it could go on.

As such, quite a few people were shocked when Weidman—who was undefeated and the most dangerous threat to Silva’s reign to come along in years—dominated nearly every moment of their fight and knocked the legend cold in the second round.

Even in the aftermath, some refused to give the American his due. A rematch came about near the end of the year, and this one went even worse for Silva, who suffered a career-threatening leg injury in the second stanza. (CD)

19. Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier staredown sparks wild on-stage brawl [August 4, 2014]

The last time Conor McGregor was upstaged anywhere was during the UFC 178 press tour. After the obligatory standard questions were asked and answered, the fighters squared off two by two until the main event.

Light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier had exchanged words before, but no one expected what followed. As the two met at the middle of the stage, Jones dipped his head low enough to make contact, and Cormier reacted by pushing Jones back. Enraged, Jones dropped his belt, pushed past UFC public relations man Dave Sholler and fired a punch at Cormier, leading to a wild melee that spilled into the crowd and included Cormier firing a shoe at Jones.

It was madness, but it was also great promotion. And even though the fight was postponed three months, it became the largest Jones-headlined pay-per-view to date, drawing about 800,000 buys. (MC)

18. UFC 30 marks beginning of Zuffa era [UFC 30, February 23, 2001]

UFC 30 was not an overly memorable night of fights. Tito Ortiz defended his light heavyweight title with a slam KO of Evan Tanner, while fighters such as Phil Baroni and Elvis Sinosic made their Octagon debuts. But this event was memorable because it was the first UFC to take place under the parent company banner of Zuffa, LLC and the ownership of brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and their high school chum, Dana White.

In retrospect, the $2 million Zuffa paid Semaphore Entertainment for the UFC was a low number—as a FloCombat report indicates the current value of the company might be over $4 billion. Regardless, this purchase in 2001 put the UFC on a path toward larger popularity and legitimacy. The UFC’s growth is not entirely attributable to Zuffa, but it does play a prominent part in the history of not only the UFC but the entire sport of MMA. (SH)

17. Matt Hughes rebounds from certain defeat to choke out Frank Trigg [UFC 52, April 16, 2005]

Taking a shot in the groin is bad. Having an oblivious ref allow a brutal series of punches right afterward is worse. Having an opponent do all that, knock out your mouthpiece and jump into mount? That's pretty much a worst-case scenario—and it's the situation Hughes found himself in when he defended his welterweight title against Trigg at UFC 52.

Hughes seemed to be done but, somehow, someway, escaped the position. He worked back to his feet and scooped Trigg up with a double leg, ran him across the cage and slammed him down. Hughes landed in mount and pounded Trigg with brutal elbows, forcing the challenger to tap to a rear-naked choke in what went down as one of the most ridiculous comebacks in UFC history. (SR)

16. Dan Henderson detonates the H-Bomb on Michael Bisping [UFC 100, July 11, 2009]

On a UFC 100 card full of all-time highlights, Henderson’s epic knockout of Bisping is perhaps the most played and replayed. Few one-punch KOs can equal it for sheer ferocity—and that’s before Henderson followed his crushing overhand right with a forearm smash to the face of an already prone, unconscious Bisping (video above).

For fans stateside, this knockout also triggered widespread feelings of catharsis. The brash Brit rolled into the contest with a single blemish on his 18-fight professional record, and that was a split-decision loss to Rashad Evans in a light heavyweight fight that many thought should have gone to Bisping. Once Hendo got through with him, any idea of Bisping as undefeated had been bashed to bits, along with his face. (CD)