UFC 300 is highly anticipated because the company has absolutely stacked the fight card for the centennial show. Dana White built the card up to be arguably the best of all time, and there is no reason that the card shouldn't entertain.
This isn't the only time that the UFC has had an individual card stacked with stars, though. Sometimes, the UFC has done that on purpose, and on other occasions, the company didn't know what they had in front of them.
Regardless of how a fight card comes to be, fans know a good card when they see one. In this article, we are going to look at every fight card throughout the history of the UFC to see which cards had the most star talent AND the most entertaining and legendary fights in order to determine what has been the best of all time. There are 299 UFC pay-per-views (and plenty of UFC Fight Night cards) to choose from, but we managed to narrow it down to a top 10.
UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill
As this fight card hasn't taken place yet, we can't officially put it in our rankings. But it is worth mentioning because of the anticipation of the card and how much potential it has. UFC 300 was hyped up to be the biggest event in UFC history, and it looks like it will live up to expectations.
Twelve former or current champions are expected to fight at UFC 300. That is 11 percent of every champion in UFC history on one fight card; a truly incredible statistic considering the UFC has been around since 1993. Some felt disappointed in the main event, but that is only because people expected something as grand as a Conor McGregor return. Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill still is a banger of a headliner, though.
Hill never officially lost his belt, but instead, he was forced to vacate it because of an Achilles tear. His absence allowed Pereira to move up a division and win the title. Now, the two will battle it out to see who truly reigns supreme in the light heavyweight division. Pereira is one of the biggest fan favorites in the company, and fans are curious to see how Hill will look in return from a major injury. The main event isn't the only massive fight, though.
There are two other fights for belts at UFC 300. There is a championship bout for the Women's Strawweight Championship between Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan. Not only is this the first championship bout between two Chinese fighters ever, but Weili – the current champion – has made a case for herself as the best female fighter currently in the sport.
Additionally, Justin Gaethje will take on Max Holloway for the BMF belt. As two of the best strikers and most aggressive fighters in standup, both fighters are more than worthy of the belt, and they will surely deliver with an entertaining fight. Both fighters are due a championship fight in their respective divisions, but they are both warriors and decided to take on each other first.
Also on the main card is Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan and Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage. The Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan fight is a contender eliminator bout that will paint a clearer picture for the future of a stacked lightweight division. Oliveira is a former champion and one of the best submission artists of all time.
In fact, he has more finishes in the UFC than anyone else in history, and he would have been fighting Islam Makhachev in a championship bout back at UFC 294 if it weren't for an injury. Bo Nickal is a heavy favorite in his fight, but he is arguably the biggest young prospect in the company right now.
The prelims are filled with fighters who are used to headlining cards. Holly Holm has the most memorable fight in the history of women's MMA, and she will be facing the biggest women's prospect, the recently signed Kayla Harrison.
Aljamain Sterling and Jiri Prochazka fought in championship bouts in their last fights, but they will be on the prelims for UFC 300. Sterling is taking on Calvin Kattar, while Prochazka will face Aleksandar Rakic.
Even the early prelims are stacked. Cody Garbandt and Deiveson Figueiredo will kick off the night, and the two are two of the most entertaining bantamweights ever. Jim Miller – who fought on UFC 100 and UFC 200 – will once again be fighting on a centennial card.
10. UFC 299
Fans of MMA have been preparing for UFC 300 for a long time. But in the process, the UFC made a card that competes with the centennial event right before it. UFC 299 was stacked with talent and was headlined by the biggest star currently in the UFC. Sean O'Malley only has one loss to his name, and that came to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 when Suga suffered a bizarre leg injury.
O'Malley not only made up for that loss in his revenge fight against Vera at UFC 299, but he also demonstrated why he is the biggest active star in the company with a dominant performance.
On the main card, Dustin Poirier was an underdog against Benoit Saint-Denis, but he showed he still has something in the tank and set himself up for a title shot in the near future.
Michael Venom Page – one of the most electric fighters ever and one of the best fighters in Bellator history – made his promotional debut and put on a striking masterclass against Kevin Holland, a fighter who is known for taking any fight thrown his way. Former champion Petr Yan even fought through some serious injuries to collect an impressive win.
There was also plenty of brilliance in the prelims. Curtis Blaydes set himself up for title contention with a win, and Maycee Barber made her claim as one of the best up-and-comers in the women's division. Even Robelis Despaigne – a massive fighter known for quickly finishing his opponents – won his UFC debut in only 18 seconds. Despaigne will be a name to look out for going forward.
9. UFC 189
UFC 189's fight card ranks so highly mainly because of the main card. The prelims were a little underwhelming in comparison to some of the other cards on this list, but the main card was stacked with talent and more than lived up to the hype.
Prior to this fight, Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo went on a world tour that created more hype for a single fight than any time before. Aldo ended up dropping out of the bout, but UFC 189 still was brilliant.
McGregor fought Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight championship, and the atmosphere was insane with the Irishman being backed by his entire country. There was even tons of action before McGregor won his first championship belt.
Robbie Lawler's bloody win over Rory MacDonald is widely considered one of the greatest fights of all time. Additionally, Jeremy Stephens and Thomas Almeida collected wins via a flying knee.
8. UFC 196
You will notice a common theme on this list, which is a lot of the best fight cards ever include Conor McGregor. That is a testament to McGregor's star power as the biggest thing to ever happen to mixed martial artists. UFC 196 was about more than just McGregor, though. In fact, it was one of the most important cards ever for women's MMA.
Holly Holm became the Women's Bantamweight Champion at UFC 193 with one of the most iconic knockouts ever. Her victory over Ronda Rousey (the biggest women's UFC star to that point) was one of the biggest UFC upsets ever, and she attempted to defend her belt for the first time at UFC 196.
Holm lost her belt to Meisha Tate, and meanwhile, Amanda Nunes also collected a win on the card. That directly set up an important future championship bout between the two, but more on that later.
Of course, McGregor's presence on the UFC 196 card was the biggest deal. McGregor's skill in the octagon was mesmerizing, and no one was able to slow him down in the octagon. He also never said no to a fight. So when his proposed opponent, Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos, dropped out, McGregor didn't hesitate to move up to weight classes and take on Nate Diaz on short notice.
Diaz previously had one of the most iconic post-fight callouts ever when he called out McGregor, and the two's polar opposite personalities made this an intriguing fight. Still, no one was able to best McGregor in the UFC up to this point. But Diaz got the surprising upset win with a rear naked choke, which directly set up the biggest rematch in company history and showed that Notorious was beatable.
7. UFC 194
We mentioned above the fight that didn't happen between McGregor and Aldo, but it finally took place at UFC 194. With all of the build up that led to this fight, it only lasted 13 seconds. It was epic, though, as McGregor's quick knockout of then best featherweight ever went down as the most iconic knockout in UFC history.
Aldo wasn't the only champion to be dethroned, though. Luke Rockhold became the Middleweight Champion after knocking out Chris Weidman.
Yoel Romero, Max Holloway, and Urijah Faber all collected wins, while Colby Covington suffered his first MMA loss. He went on to win his next seven fights.
6. UFC 245
UFC 245 was one of the rare fight cards with three championship bouts, and all three made it to round five. Amanda Nunes continued her reign with a win over Germaine de Randamie, and Alexander Volkanovski beat Max Holloway in a bout for Featherweight supremacy.
In the main event, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman had a closely contested fight. The two were bitter rivals, but Usman was able to get the knockout win in the final round. Additionally, Jose Aldo suffered a loss to Marlon Moraes that confirmed the former champion was past his prime. Yet, he would still get a crack at the interim bantamweight championship in his next fight.
That fight would come against Petr Yan, who collected a win at UFC 245 over Urijah Faber. Despite an underwhelming UFC career, Mike Perry has remained a big name in MMA, although he lost to Geoff Neal on this card. Brandon Moreno also turned his career around with a win after suffering back-to-back losses and a draw leading up to this fight.
5. UFC 200
UFC 200 had all of the potential to be the best fight card of all time. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 was supposed to happen, but that fight was scrapped when McGregor was unable to come to a press conference during his training camp. On top of that, Jon Jones was forced off of the card only three days before the event after failing a drug test.
Despite this, the UFC's second centennial event was still stacked with big-name fighters. Amanda Nunes fought Miesha Tate in the main event, and her championship win set her down the path of becoming the greatest female fighter in UFC history. Daniel Cormier was originally supposed to fight Jones, and while that would have been a huge deal, a short-notice battle with Anderson Silva was still legendary.
Brock Lesnar also returned to the octagon after nearly five years off and showed that he still had the “it” factor. He beat Mark Hunt, although the fight was eventually overturned to a no contest because of fail drug tests. Still, having Lesnar on the card was a big deal.
Cain Velasquez – the man who had taken the belt from Lesnar years earlier – was also on the card and collected a win. Furthermore, Jose Aldo won the interim featherweight championship over Frankie Edgar.
There were four fun prelims that all went to decision, too. Most notably, T.J. Dillashaw won, and Johny Hendricks lost to Kevin Gaustelum. And, of course, Jim Miller won in the early prelims. All in all, nine fighters who had a claim as champion prior to this event were on the card, making it eerily similar to the upcoming UFC 300.
4. UFC 129
Being the first UFC event in Canada after the country legalized the sport, UFC 129 was a massive deal. It made all of the sense in the world to have Canada's biggest star, Georges St-Pierre, headline the event. St-Pierre retained his title over Jake Shields, as did Jose Aldo in a championship fight against Mark Hominick.
Randy Couture was sent into retirement, and Benson Henderson made his UFC debut. Rory MacDonald showed that he was something special, as he manhandled Nate Diaz unlike we had seen before. John Makdessi, Jake Ellenberger, and Lyoto Machida all put on epic performances throughout the night.
3. UFC 100
UFC 100, the first centennial event in the UFC, set the precedent for how the company would approach these pay-per-views going forward. Brock Lesnar was arguably the biggest star in the company's history to that point, and he headlined this card because of it. Lesnar had become the Heavyweight Champion by this point, but the one blemish on his record was a loss to Frank Mir in his debut.
The rematch was set for UFC 100, and Lesnar got his revenge. Georges St-Pierre also successfully defended his belt at UFC 100 against Thiago Alves. Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping put on a show, and Jon Jones started his ascent to stardom.
UFC 100 was Jones' third fight in the UFC, so he was stashed in the prelims, but he demonstrated why he was the next big thing in MMA.
Also, as always, Jim Miller got a centennial event win on the prelims. All of that led to UFC 100 earning the most pay-per-view sales ever to that point and the most ever to this day for a non-McGregor led card.
2. UFC 217
Top to bottom, arguably no card has ever been as stacked as UFC 217. The conversation starts with the main event, where Georges St-Pierre returned after over a four year hiatus to take on Michael Bisping. Anytime a legendary fighter returns to the octagon it is a big deal, but that was especially the case because this fight was for the middleweight championship.
Despite his long absence and the fact that he moved up a weight class, St-Pierre illustrated why he is one of the best fighters ever. He beat Bisping to become one of nine ever two-division champions.
Championship bouts are what make the UFC great, and that is why this card was so incredible, because Bisping vs. St-Pierre wasn't the only championship fight. In fact, there were three title fights at UFC 217. Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt was on fire to that point, but T.J. Dillashaw proved to be his kryptonite, as he knocked him out in the second round to become champion.
Additionally, Rose Namajunas became a star with a championship win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which ended the then-second-longest women's title run ever. Three belts switched hands at UFC 217. That has never happened on a single card before or since.
Stephen Thompson – one of the best kickboxers in UFC history – took on and defeated Jorge Masvidal, another big-time star in the UFC. On top of that, Paulo Costa and Curtis Blaydes collected wins, the latter coming in the early prelims.
1. UFC 205
UFC 205 had it all. There was star talent, future star talent, and hidden gems. Conor McGregor took on Eddie Alvarez in one of the biggest fights in UFC history for the main event.
The McGregor train was running full steam ahead, and Notorious became the UFC's first-ever fighter to holds championship belts in two divisions simultaneously. McGregor's victory led to the most iconic quote in MMA history and solidified McGregor's case as the most important star in UFC history.
McGregor's fight alone made this card iconic, but it was one of only three championship fights on the card. Tyron Woodley retained the welterweight belt over Stephen Thompson in a closely contest fight that ended in a draw, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk remained the champion with a win over Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Two other former champions lost on the main card. Yoel Romero's win over former champion Chris Weidman afforded him a championship match in his next fight, and Raquel Pennington beat former champion Miesha Tate.
There was plenty of action in the prelims, too. Undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov beat Michael Johnson in a contender eliminator bout, Frankie Edgar got a win over Jeremy Stephens, and Vicente Luque gave Belal Muhammed one of his two losses from 2016-23.
Even the early prelims had Jim Miller, who is the early prelim G.O.A.T. Miller has also fought in the early prelims on other legendary cards, including UFC 196, UFC 200, and eventually UFC 300.
UFC 205 is the standard for great fight cards, but UFC 300 does have the potential to be put in the same category when it comes to the best ever. Only time will tell if UFC 300 lives up to the hype.
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