UFC 144 was top-to-bottom one of the greatest fight cards in the last 365 days and it’s definitely a lock for fight card of the year (although, to be fair, we’re only two months into 2012 so far).
The card simply had it all.
The first fight of the night set the tone with an epic knockout. Chinese prospect Tiequan Zhang was laid out flat by Issei Tamura in a stunning upset.
Later, there was a veritable brawl between Riki Fukuda and Steve Cantwell that saw the Japanese fighter earn a decision victory.
After that, the card got even more thrilling.
In a back and forth affair, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto was submitted for the very first time in his career by the unheralded Vaughan Lee.
We also got to see Takanori Gomi return to the winning column in a competitive match that saw him come back from being hurt and earn a TKO.
And all that was just on the preliminaries!
On the main card the most exciting moments included Anthony Pettis’ masterful KO of Joe Lauzon, Hatsu Hioki’s domination of Bart Palaszewski, Tim Boetsch’s insane comeback TKO over Yushin Okami, Mark Hunt’s KO of Cheick Kongo, and the epic duel between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight championship.
No other card can boast not only the amount of star power and significant matchups that 144 had, but also the entertainment value of the said fights.
It’s definitely one of the best head-to-toe fight cards in the history of MMA. Of that, there is no doubt.
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