Sports

Iconic MMA Events in History

Name: Iconic MMA Events in History
Creator: Community curated
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

UFC 1 tournament, McGregor vs Diaz 2, Khabib-McGregor or Adesanya-Pereira - which MMA event changed the sport forever?

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Updated:4/9/2026

#sports #mma #ufc #combat sports #ppv

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Event↕	Date↕	Venue↕	Main Event↕	PPV Buys (M)↕	Known For↕
UFC 1: The Beginning	1993-11-12	McNichols Arena, Denver	Royce Gracie def. Gerard Gordeau	0.086	The sport's birth, 8-man tournament, Royce Gracie's jiu-jitsu revelation, no rules no weight classes
UFC 40: Vendetta	2002-11-22	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas	Tito Ortiz def. Ken Shamrock	0.15	The event that saved the UFC from bankruptcy, packed MGM buzz
UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell 2	2005-04-16	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas	Chuck Liddell def. Randy Couture	0.28	First event after The Ultimate Fighter 1 finale boom, crossover moment for MMA
UFC 66: Liddell vs Ortiz 2	2006-12-30	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas	Chuck Liddell def. Tito Ortiz	1.05	UFC's first 1 million PPV buy, the rivalry that built the brand
UFC 100	2009-07-11	Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas	Brock Lesnar def. Frank Mir	1.72	Centennial spectacle with Lesnar, GSP, Henderson head kick, peak UFC moment
UFC 129: St-Pierre vs Shields	2011-04-30	Rogers Centre, Toronto	Georges St-Pierre def. Jake Shields	0.8	55000 fans in Canada, largest North American MMA crowd, GSP's home stadium card
UFC 168: Weidman vs Silva 2	2013-12-28	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas	Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva	1.025	Anderson Silva's broken leg on Weidman's check, career-ending shock
UFC 196: McGregor vs Diaz	2016-03-05	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas	Nate Diaz def. Conor McGregor	1.5	McGregor's first UFC loss, Diaz rear-naked choke, 11-day notice, welterweight leap
UFC 202: McGregor vs Diaz 2	2016-08-20	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas	Conor McGregor def. Nate Diaz	1.65	Record-breaking PPV, revenge for McGregor, iconic water bottle press conference
UFC 205: Alvarez vs McGregor	2016-11-12	Madison Square Garden, New York	Conor McGregor def. Eddie Alvarez	1.3	First UFC event in NYC, McGregor becomes first simultaneous two-division champion
UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor	2018-10-06	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas	Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Conor McGregor	2.4	Biggest UFC PPV ever, post-fight brawl over the cage, Khabib dominance
UFC 264: Poirier vs McGregor 3	2021-07-10	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas	Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor	1.8	McGregor's broken leg, trilogy climax, full capacity return after pandemic
UFC 281: Adesanya vs Pereira	2022-11-12	Madison Square Garden, New York	Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya	0.6	Kickboxing rivalry completed inside MMA, Pereira's fifth-round TKO at MSG
Pride Final Conflict 2003	2003-11-09	Tokyo Dome, Japan	Wanderlei Silva def. Quinton Jackson	0	Pride FC middleweight grand prix final, 67k at Tokyo Dome, peak Japanese MMA era
UFC 287: Pereira vs Adesanya 2	2023-04-08	Kaseya Center, Miami	Israel Adesanya def. Alex Pereira	0.6	Adesanya's revenge KO, point of the finger taunt, full-circle ending to the rivalry