UFC 2023 Rewind! One Memorable (Or Forgotten) Moment From Every Single Card, Pt. 1

With 43 total Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events throughout 2023 — on top of all of the other promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighter’s League (PFL), ONE Championship and Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) — combat sports fans have probably forgotten about many of the wild moments that happened throughout the year.

From knockouts, post-fight interviews to funny in-cage spots, or maybe you’re a hardcore mixed martial arts (MMA) freak and remember everything.

Well, either way, we got you covered.

In part one of UFC 2023 “Rewind,” which runs from UFC Vegas 67 (Jan. 13, 2023) through UFC San Antonio (March 25, 2023), we look back at some of the most memorable moments from that specific event timeline, including Middleweight roost-ruler Sean Strickland kicking off his championship campaign, an epic “Champion vs. Champion” showdown for the ages, the return of a G.O.A.T. and so much more.

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR

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UFC Vegas 67: ‘Strickland vs. Imavov’

Jan. 14, 2023
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

Umar Nurmagomedov scored his first UFC knockout, flatlining Raoni Barcelos in the first round and notching an early “Knockout of the Year” contender straight out the gate.

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UFC 283: ‘Teixeira vs. Hill’

Jan. 21, 2023
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Full results

Ismael Bonfim turned heads in Octagon debut, sparking Terrance McKinney with a picture-perfect flying knee that put him on a ton of lists for “Knockout of the Year.”

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UFC

UFC Vegas 68: Lewis vs. Spivak

Feb 4, 2023
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full Results

On a very forgetful card, Rinya Nakamura won the “Road to UFC” season one Bantamweight tournament, sleeping Toshiomi Kazama in 33 seconds. Keep your eyes on this guy.

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Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski

Feb 12, 2023
Perth, Australia
Full results

Jack Della Maddalena had a picture-perfect night when he competed in his home city of Perth, Australia. He dropped Randy Brown and scored his first UFC submission win via rear-naked choke.

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Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

UFC Vegas 69: Andrade vs. Blanchfield

Feb 17, 2023
UFC Apex, Las Vegas
Full results

Nazim Sadykov and Evan Elder went to war, but it ended via doctor stoppage because of a nasty cut on Elder’s eyebrow.

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC Vegas 70: Muniz vs. Allen

Feb 25, 2023
UFC Apex, Las Vegas
Full Results

The original main event between Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann was canceled mid-show as Krylov fell ill. Brendan Allen and Andre Muniz were elevated to the main event, with Allen becoming the first fighter to submit Muniz.

However, in the “Prelims” headliner, Trevor Peek made his UFC debut against Erick Gonzalez, and he turned heads by throwing a standing hammer fist. Peek would eventually knockout Gonzalez:

Screw it, one more …

Nurullo Aliev was deducted one point for biting Rafael Alves:

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UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane

March 4, 2023
Las Vegas, Nevada
Full Results

Ah, the highly-anticipated return of former Light Heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones. How can I pick anything other than his dismantlement of Ciryl Gane? You can check that out HERE.

But, his post-fight speech was memorable because he spoke in fluent, “G.O.A.T.”

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Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

UFC Las Vegas: Yan vs. Dvalishvili

March 11, 2023
Las Vegas, Nevada
Full Results

Buried on the “Prelims,” Davey Grant put his name in the “Submission of the Year” conversation by landing an inverted triangle choke on Rafael Assuncao that put him to sleep. It did come with some controversy because the referee should have placed the fighters back into a ground position after Davey was deducted a point. Whoops.

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Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3

March 18, 2023
London, England
Full Results

In the first London event of 2023, Yanal Ashmouz made his UFC debut against Sam Patterson … and he made it in style, sleeping the Britsh fighter with a nasty right hand followed by ground-and-pound.

What sucks is he didn’t get a $50,000 “Performance of the Night.”

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Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

UFC San Antonio: Vera vs. Sandhagen

March 25, 2023
San Antonio, Texas
Full Results

In a forgetful event — cursed by pullouts and a lopsided main event — a comical sequence was buried on the “Prelims” undercard again.

C.J. Vergara got rocked by a spinning heel kick by Daniel Da Silva, but instead of turtling up or regaining his composure against the fence, he ran around the Octagon for almost 10 seconds. Kalib would be so proud.

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Stick around for part two (of four) later this morning on MMAmania.com. In the meantime, checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.