UFC/MMA Best ‘Events Of Year’ 2023 - Top 5 List | UFC Betting Sites

UFC 290: Volkanovski v Rodriguez — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

While it fell just short of matching 2022’s staggering total, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) still churned out a whopping 41 events this year. There are arguments to be made that the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) league is diluting the product, but while there were more than a few stinkers, a handful of memorable evenings emerged from the quagmire.

Let’s check out 2023’s “Events of the Year:”

5. UFC 285

This one made the list largely on the strength of the pay-per-view (PPV) main card, but what a main card it was.

That’s not to say the “Prelims” didn’t have its share of highlights. Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Julian Marquez and Dricus Du Plessis vs. Derek Brunson were every bit the wild wars we expected, while Ian Garry Machado and Tabatha Ricci scored impressive finishes in their respective bouts (highlights here and here).

Once Bo Nickal manhandled Jamie Pickett, though, things got spectacular (watch it). Mateusz Gamrot followed up by gritting out a win over Jalin Turner, then Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal one-upped them by absolutely battering each other en route to a violent submission finish. Two vastly different submissions closed the night, starting with Alexa Grasso’s shocking turnaround against Valentina Shevchenko and ending with Jon Jones’ hilariously anti-climactic finish of Ciryl Gane.

Certainly one of the more unique shows to hit the airwaves this year.

4. UFC 284

This show took a bit to find its feet, kicking off with the decidedly mediocre Elves Brener vs. Zubaira Tukhugov and Blake Bilder vs. Shane Young, but boy howdy did it take off. Loma Lookboonmee’s submission of Elise Reed led into a 15-minute banger between Jack Jenkins and Don Shainis, then another solid tussle between Jamie Mullarkey and Francisco Prado.

Kleydson Rodrigues scored the night’s first knockout, brutalizing Shannon Ross in less than one minute and Josh Culibao kept the momentum intact with an amazingly clean comeback submission of Melsik Baghdasaryan. Though Modestas Bukauskas vs. Tyson Pedro fell below expectations, Jimmy Crute’s chaotic brawl with Alonzo Menifield put things back in high gear.

There they stayed for the rest of the evening as Justin Tafa torched Parker Porter (see it), Jack Della Maddalena dispatched Randy Brown in similarly one-sided fashion, Yair Rodriguez delivered a masterclass against Josh Emmett, and Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski put on one of the year’s best fights (watch highlights).

Those Aussie crowds get all the luck.

3. UFC Austin

In the modern UFC age of quantity over quality, “Fight Night” can be a four-letter word.

Not here.

After a decently entertaining opener between Veronica Hardy and Jamey-Lyn Horth, this card produced arguably the most ridiculous three-fight sequence of 2023, starting with Rodolfo Bellato’s improbable comeback against Ihor Potieria and continuing with back-to-back slam KOs courtesy of Drakkar Klose and Cody Brundage.

See those here and here.

The next four fights produced another trio of finishes, though the one that went the distance proved the most entertaining thanks to Joaquim Silva and Clay Guida’s mutual bloodlust. Deiveson Figueiredo and Rob Font then delivered on all the action potential their matchup promised, after which Jalin Turner and Arman Tsarukyan closed the show with shockingly brutal knockouts.

Keep Austin violent.

2. UFC 295

This PPV card ended with five consecutive knockouts, three of them in a combined 4:10. Need I say more?

Well yes, actually, because there’s a minimum level of effort I’m expected to put into these.

Jamall Emmers made an immediate bid to steal the show, smoking Dennis Buzukja in 49 seconds, only for Joshua Van to one-up him by racking up 156 significant strikes to batter his way past Kevin Borjas. John Castaneda’s decision over Kyung Ho Kang proved the event’s lone dull spot, but Jared Gordon quickly got things back on track by smashing Mark Madsen before Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev claimed “Fight of the Night” honors.

Mateusz Rebecki’s grappling clinic against Roosevelt Roberts, Lupita Godinez’s hard-won decision over Tabatha Ricci, and Steve Erceg’s victory over Alessandro Costa followed, setting the stage for the “KO Show.”

Diego Lopes went first, bludgeoning Pat Sabatini into submission, then Benoit Saint-Denis blasted Matt Frevola into next week to keep the momentum up. A much-needed knockout from Jessica Andrade led into Tom Aspinall’s 69-second wipeout of Sergei Pavlovich and, finally, Alex Pereira’s dramatic-if-controversial stoppage of Jiri Prochazka.

Multiple bangers and the most violent main card of the year made a strong argument for the top spot, but luckily for us, there was one card that stood just a bit taller.

1. UFC 290

There’s an argument that this event deserved the top spot just for the catharsis of seeing Robbie Lawler end his career with a classic knockout and Alexandre Pantoja bludgeon his way past Brandon Moreno in 2023’s “Fight of the Year,” but its merits go far deeper than that.

Things started on the right foot with a chaotic back-and-forth battle between Esteban Ribovics and Kamuela Kirk, followed by Jesus Aguilar’s jaw-dropping one-hitter quitter of Shannon Ross (watch it). After Cameron Saaiman summarily demolished the hapless Terrence Mitchell, Vitor Petrino and Alonzo Menifield notched solid submission victories.

A stunningly violent 20-second knockout from Denise Gomes and surprisingly competitive decision win from Tatsuro Taira followed … and then it was off to the races.

The aforementioned Lawler and top prospect Bo Nickal needed a combined 1:17 to dispatch their respective foes, after which Dan Hooker put forth a heroic effort to scrape past Jalin Turner and Dricus Du Plessis proved striking isn’t real by beating down Robert Whittaker. Pantoja and Moreno proceeded to put on their fight for the ages, and with a whole lot to live up to, Alexander Volkanovski ended things on a high note by straight-up big-brothering Yair Rodriguez (watch highlights).

It don’t get better than this.

Honorable Mentions

Best Submissions 2023 | Best KOs 2023 | Best Fights 2023 | Best Fighters 2023 | Best Events 2023