Top Five Year-Ending UFC Pay-Per-Views

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) always likes to end their year with a bang. It seems like every year-ending pay-per-view (PPV) put on by the world leader in mixed martial arts (MMA) is stacked. So much so that you’ll have to go back to UFC 141 in 2011 to find the last UFC PPV that

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) always likes to end their year with a bang. It seems like every year-ending pay-per-view (PPV) put on by the world leader in mixed martial arts (MMA) is stacked. So much so that you’ll have to go back to UFC 141 in 2011 to find the last UFC PPV that ended the year without a title fight.

The final UFC event of 2016 will keep the streak going unless a last minute incident ruins those plans. Current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her title for the first time against former 135-pound queen Ronda Rousey. It’ll be the fifth straight year-ending UFC PPV to close with a title bout.

LowKickMMA.com has a list of the top five UFC PPVs that ended the year in exciting fashion.

Let’s hop into it.

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5. UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor

The final PPV card of 2015 had a ton of hype surrounding it. UFC 194 was headlined by a featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor. The two were initially set to meet at UFC 189, but Aldo pulled out with an injury. “Notorious” knocked out Chad Mendes on the PPV to capture the interim 145-pound title.

McGregor blasted Aldo countless times going into the fight, even going as far as saying, “I love you like my bitch.” In one of the most shocking title finishes in the history of the sport, McGregor slept Aldo in just 13 seconds with a left punch.

The co-main event featured a middleweight title bout between champion Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold. Weidman had successfully defended his title against Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort. Rockhold earned his shot by winning four straight bouts.

Weidman’s fate was all but sealed in the third round when he threw a sloppy wheel kick that allowed Rockhold to take him to the ground. The champion had no answer for Rockhold’s ground assault and Weidman was a bloody mess at the end of the round. The challenger picked up where he left off in the fourth round and finished Weidman to become the new 185-pound kingpin.

Here are the rest of the results:

Yoel Romero def. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza via split decision (29-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Demian Maia def. Gunnar Nelson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)

Max Holloway def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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Five Top Fighters Who Had Horrific Years In 2016

Mixed martial arts (MMA) can be a very rewarding sport for competitors. On the flip side, it can also be brutally unforgiving. One minute a fighter could be sitting atop a division, while the next that same fighter is wondering where everything went wrong. There is no doubt that 2016 has seen its share of top MMA

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Mixed martial arts (MMA) can be a very rewarding sport for competitors. On the flip side, it can also be brutally unforgiving. One minute a fighter could be sitting atop a division, while the next that same fighter is wondering where everything went wrong.

There is no doubt that 2016 has seen its share of top MMA fighters plummet inside and outside the Octagon. LowKickMMA takes a look at five fighters under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) banner who had unfortunately rough years in 2016.

Rafael dos Anjos will get the next lightweight title shot versus ...5. Rafael dos Anjos

There was a time where considering Rafael dos Anjos as a top lightweight was laughable. After losing two of three bouts, dos Anjos went on a tear in 2012 and 2013. In those two years, he went on a five-fight winning streak including a unanimous decision victory over Donald Cerrone.

He hit a minor snag in April 2014 when he came up short against Khabib Nurmagomedov. The loss didn’t stop him from going on another win streak on his way to capturing the UFC lightweight title by dominating Anthony Pettis at UFC 185. He later defended that belt against Donald Cerrone at UFC on FOX 19 to close 2015 the best lightweight in the world.

However, unfortunately all good things must come to an end, as they say. After just one successful title defense, the Brazilian was knocked out in the first round by Eddie Alvarez in July. He then got outgunned by Tony Ferguson on his way to a unanimous decision defeat last month.

When dos Anjos looks back at 2016, he may do so with regret. Not only did he lose twice to two top competitors, but he also missed out on what would’ve been his biggest payday. He was set to defend his lightweight championship against Conor McGregor at UFC 196 until dos Anjos was forced off the card with an injury while “Notorious” would go on to have two memorable fights with Nate Diaz that raised the current 155-pound titleholder’s stock even more.

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Six UFC Career-Changing Left Hooks

Fighters have long utilized the left hook as a way to counter their opponents and inflict fight-ending damage. A proper slip followed by a left hook can change the momentum in any fight, many times resulting in a win – in this list, however, we target something a little different. In the following examples, we

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Fighters have long utilized the left hook as a way to counter their opponents and inflict fight-ending damage. A proper slip followed by a left hook can change the momentum in any fight, many times resulting in a win – in this list, however, we target something a little different.

In the following examples, we take a look at five times that a single left hook has not only changed the trajectory of a fight, but rather shifted the momentum of an entire career. The selections are specific to UFC bouts, each with a unique storyline line that followed the fight ending blow.

It’s time to fire up the UFC Fight Pass subscription and see who made the list, because these knockouts are must-see for any fight fan.

The fights selected span over the entirety of the UFC’s 23 year history and range from title fights to normal bouts. The placement of each bout on the list is dependent on the magnitude of the knock out from an in-fight perspective, and how it affected the careers of the fighters involved following the bout.

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Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins

Despite previously being classified as a fighter who doesn’t tend to ‘move the needle’ by UFC president Dana White, Nate Diaz has always been a star, and a fan favorite to say the least. The Stockton native has been a popular name in the sport for years now, but perhaps his star power has never

The post Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Despite previously being classified as a fighter who doesn’t tend to ‘move the needle’ by UFC president Dana White, Nate Diaz has always been a star, and a fan favorite to say the least.

The Stockton native has been a popular name in the sport for years now, but perhaps his star power has never been as a high as it now. In recent months, Diaz has transformed into one of the biggest draws in the sport, taking his career to an all-new level.

Putting on one of the best interviews in recent memory on a special edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday (Wed., May 25, 2016), Diaz spoke on the newfound attention he’s been receiving as well as the status of his future.

Expected to return to action in the coming months, it’s an interesting time to look back on the lengthy career of Stockton’s finest.

Let’s take a look at five times that Nate Diaz shined bright.

The post Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins

Despite previously being classified as a fighter who doesn’t tend to ‘move the needle’ by UFC president Dana White, Nate Diaz has always been a star, and a fan favorite to say the least. The Stockton native has been a popular name in the sport for years now, but perhaps his star power has never

The post Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Despite previously being classified as a fighter who doesn’t tend to ‘move the needle’ by UFC president Dana White, Nate Diaz has always been a star, and a fan favorite to say the least.

The Stockton native has been a popular name in the sport for years now, but perhaps his star power has never been as a high as it now. In recent months, Diaz has transformed into one of the biggest draws in the sport, taking his career to an all-new level.

Putting on one of the best interviews in recent memory on a special edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday (Wed., May 25, 2016), Diaz spoke on the newfound attention he’s been receiving as well as the status of his future.

Expected to return to action in the coming months, it’s an interesting time to look back on the lengthy career of Stockton’s finest.

Let’s take a look at five times that Nate Diaz shined bright.

The post Stockton Strong: Nate Diaz’s Five Biggest Wins appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Five Changes Conor McGregor Must Make To Defeat Bigger Opposition

Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor took on a daunting task when he accepted a bout opposite lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos. The scrap was scheduled for last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196, and McGregor was attempting to become the first man in promotional history to hold two titles simultaneously. Ultimately, dos

The post Five Changes Conor McGregor Must Make To Defeat Bigger Opposition appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor took on a daunting task when he accepted a bout opposite lightweight kingpin Rafael dos Anjos.

The scrap was scheduled for last weekend’s (March 5, 2016) UFC 196, and McGregor was attempting to become the first man in promotional history to hold two titles simultaneously.

Ultimately, dos Anjos pulled out of the fight just over a week out with a broken foot.

The “Notorious” one would end up taking on fan favorite Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout, two whole weight classes above his usual home at 145-pounds.

While his willingness to take on anyone at any time was on full display, the move proved to be detrimental to the Irishman, as he suffered a shocking second round submission loss to Diaz.

After the loss, McGregor will likely drop back down to featherweight to defend his title, but that doesn’t mean a future at 155-pounds or even 170-pounds is completely out of the question.

Let’s take a look at five changes McGregor must make in order to defeat bigger foes:

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