Although Jon Jones may have been responsible for some of the year’s biggest MMA headlines, it seems that the past year firmly belongs to Anderson Silva.
Closing out their 2012 countdown, Fuel TV ran down the UFC’s top moments of the past year, with the promotion’s middleweight champion topping the list due to his extremely dominant performance over high-profile trash-talking Chael Sonnen.
Edson Barboza proved to be a surprise at the second-place spot, thanks to the strength of his amazing wheel-kick knockout win at UFC 142.
Here’s the full list, which includes five championship bouts, five highlight reel knockouts, two five-round championship bout brawls and just one single submission win with a rare d’arce choke:
1. Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen (UFC 148)
2. Edson Barboza def. Terry Etim (UFC 142)
3. Georges St-Pierre def. Carlos Condit (UFC 154)
4. Jose Aldo def. Chad Mendes (UFC 142)
5. Cung Le def. Rich Franklin (UFC on Fuel TV 6)
6. Jon Jones def. Vitor Belfort (UFC 152)
7. Johny Hendricks def. Martin Kampmann (UFC 154)
8. Anthony Pettis def. Joe Lauzon (UFC 144)
9. Chan-Sung Jung def. Dustin Porier (UFC on Fuel TV 3)
10. Jon Jones def. Rashad Evans (UFC 145)
Not only did Silva’s rematch with Sonnen provide a definitive end to one of the biggest rivalries in the business, but it was also extremely high profile for both Las Vegas and the UFC.
According to MMA Fighting, Silva vs. Sonnen hit an estimated 925,000 PPV buys, which was far and away the most popular event of the year. Coupled with Silva’s 410,000 buyrates for UFC 153, that’s roughly 1.34 million buys for the middleweight champion in just two main events.
UFC champion Georges St-Pierre also drew a respectable number for his return at UFC 154, drawing 700,000 for his title unification bout with Carlos Condit.
Jon Jones was no slouch either, pulling in 1.15 million PPV buys with two 2012 main events. His UFC 145 grudge match with Rashad Evans was one of the year’s most anticipated fights, especially given the intense personal animosity between the former friends and teammates.
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