UFC Fights of the Year 2022 Edition

2022 has been one of the most dynamic years in the UFC’s recent past. We have seen the downfall of four Champions lose in the most unexpected ways. (Glover, Izzy, Usman and Oliveira) Take for example former Lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira who is the king of submissions in the UFC, yet Islam was able to submit him via an arm triangle chock. Even more shocking and unexpected, Kamaru Usman lost to Leon Edwards via a knockout, something which no one would have predicted. And just two weeks ago, Israel Adesanya lost to his nemesis, the Poatan, via a TKO, in a match that he was clearly dominating.

Aside from the fall of the four champions, we got to see some spectacular performances from Michael Chandler twice this year. When he knocked out Tony Ferguson and recently in his dog fight against Poirier. In this article, we have compiled a list of the top 10 UFC fights of the year 2022 Edition.

10. Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson. (UFC 280)

Initially Nate was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev, but luckily for Nate, opponents were switched up in UFC 280, and the fans received the fight that they have long been requesting for. Since this was Nate’s last fight in the UFC, he deserved to go out in style and he did.

The fight was absolutely spectacular from the first round all the way to the fourth round where Nate secured a win via a submission. Although Tony lost the fight, at least we didn’t get to see Khamzat destroy Nate. It is also worth noting that this fight extended ‘El Cucuy’s’ losing streak to five in a row. Either way, I think it is safe to say that Tony’s best days are way behind him. On the same note, it is impressive to see that he joined Harvard Business School for further education.

9. Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler. (UFC 281)

Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler, arguably one of the nicest guys in the lightweight division had a beef that had been building up for months. Apparently, the three-time lightweight Bellator Champion, Michael Chandler was pissed that Poirier did not take him seriously as a fighter. At least that’s where it all started and it escalated quickly until they finally met in the Octagon about two weeks ago.

If you have watched any of Iron Mike’s previous matches, then you know he can put on a show. His fights are pure entertainment from the start to the last minute of the fight. He comes at you guns blazing with everything he has and he is not afraid to spill some blood. It was no different with his bout against ‘The Diamond’. Both guys were taking a lot of damage through out the fight but Poirier managed to secure a win in round three via a rear naked choke. He finally got to display his Jiu Jitsu skills after Islam Makhachev went on an interview and said that Poirier did not deserve a Black Belt in BJJ.

8. Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway. (UFC 276)

Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski was presented with yet another chance to prove that he is in deed the king of the Featherweight division. In this Trilogy, the Former Champion, Max, was purely dominated by Volk. Although the match never ended in a stoppage, it was entertaining to see both fighters display their skillsets. The fight went the distance and Volkanovski won via a unanimous decision. (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) Volkanovski has already proven himself to be undefeated in the Featherweight division and he is now eyeing for the Lightweight belt. The fight has already been arranged against the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in Australia, Perth, Volkanovski’s home country. The bout is expected to be a main event, in UFC 284, earlier next year. (Probably in February)

7. Charles Oliveira vs Justin Gaethje. (UFC 274)

There was an unexpected turn of events when Oliveira missed weight by half a pound. (0.22Kg) Although it was supposed to be a Title fight, he was stripped off his belt due to this minor mistake which sources claim that the scale was not accurately calibrated. Nonetheless, the conditions of this fight were simple. If Gaethje wins he goes home with the belt, but in case ‘Do Bronx’ wins, then he becomes the number one contender. But as fate would have it, Oliveira managed to win the fight in the first round, via a rear naked choke forcing Gaethje to tap. Although he did not take the belt home, he managed to add one more submission to his long list and retained his title as the UFC’s submission master.

6. Michael Chandler vs Tony Ferguson. (UFC 274)

You cannot talk of entertaining fights without mentioning the three-time Bellator Champion, Michael Chandler. His fight against Tony Ferguson was just amazing. From the crisp takedowns to the explosive punches, he delivered on ‘El Cucuy’. Tony is undoubtedly one of the best UFC Lightweights of all time but with every match, he seems to be taking more and more damage. Iron Mike managed to finish the fight in the second round via one of the most brutal knockouts in MMA history. Only 17 seconds into the second round, Mike unleashed a devastating front face kick that sent Tony into another universe.

5. Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev. (UFC 280)

Going into this fight, there was no lightweight Champion as Oliveira was stripped off the gold belt earlier this year. The build up to this fight was insane because many people claimed that Makhachev did not deserve a title fight. There is some truth to this statement, but there are always exceptions to rules and apparently Makhachev appears to be one in this scenario. Not only is he Khabib’s Protégé, but also prior to this fight, he was on a 10-fight win streak.

The fight was full of striking and takedowns and for the first time, we finally got to see Islam’s striking skills and he was damn impressive! Oliveira’s superior Jiu Jitsu did not seem to work on Islam’s Sambo skills. The fight finally ended in the second round via an arm triangle choke in favor of Islam. Not only was it impressive that Makhachev won, but the fashion in which he did it was just spectacular. He submitted the submission master, beating him at his own game.

4. Khamzat Chimaev vs Gilbert Burns. (UFC 273)

This match was easily one of the most entertaining three-round fights in quite some time. It proved that Chimaev is not invisible and one wrong move could lead to a fatal stoppage. Luckily for the two, they have superior grappling and striking skills. The fight went for three rounds and ‘Borz’ managed to secure a win via a unanimous decision. This fight earned him the number two spot in the Welterweight division. One thing that we learned about Chimaev from this match is how fast he easily gasses. Most of his fights end in the first round and prior to this, we never really got to see him put to his paces by a ‘worthy’ opponent. This makes me wonder how he will stack up against the cardio king and an equally skilled wrestler, Colby ‘chaos’ Covington.

3. Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Texeira (UFC 275)

Ever since Jon Jones voluntarily vacated the light heavyweight belt, the division has quickly adapted and in a period of two years since ‘Bones’ left, we have had three champions. Despite the shakeup in the division, this title fight was absolutely impressive. It was non-stop action leaving both warriors with cuts and blood. What’s even more interesting, is that going into the fourth round, Glover was up (39-37) on two scorecards which meant only one thing. For Jiri to get the coveted gold belt, he had to win via a stoppage. The match proceeded into the fifth round and with 30 seconds left on the clock, there was an unexpected turn of events. Jiri Prochazka managed to lock in a rear-naked choke where he was declared the winner. It is also worth noting that he earned the title in his third fight in the UFC. The rematch was supposed to happen in UFC 282, but unfortunately Jiri suffered a nasty shoulder injury and the match was cancelled. Once again, the light Heavyweight title is up for grabs.

2. Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira. (UFC 281)

Despite meeting for the first-time in the Octagon, the two had some history in Kickboxing. Alex ‘The Poatan’ Pereira is a former Glory Middleweight and Light heavyweight champion, where they both competed. The Poatan managed to beat Izzy the first time via a unanimous decision and the second time via a brutal knockout. Going into this trilogy of some sorts, there was a lot of tension. As you would expect, The Last Style bender was dominating the fight for four rounds switching between striking and grappling, something which he rarely does. But something was certain and everyone knew it. Even Izzy knew that if Pereira’s left hook of death touched him, it would be game over. As fate would have it, Alex managed to land a combination of punches securing a win via a TKO. This was yet another upset and the champion was dethroned off his belt.

1. Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards. (UFC 278)

This fight managed to top the list due to two simple reasons. The first is the unexpected turn of events and the second reason was Leon’s corner. Let me explain. There was no doubt that Kamaru was winning that fight. All he had to do was use his superior wrestling skills to hold Leon down for the remaining minute or so. Leon arguably won the first round, but rounds 2,3 and 4 all went to Usman. But as with anything in this sport, there was a huge turn of events. With 56 seconds left on the clock, Usman was knocked out with a left high kick from ‘Rocky’ securing a win.

As I stated earlier, Leon’s corner at the end of the fourth round made this, one of the most inspiring bouts of the year. Those were some very inspiring words from his coach. It was like something scripted in a movie. After the encouraging words, you could see Leon come to his element as you could sense how disappointed he was in his performance during the latter rounds. He went and secured the gold belt becoming the Second UFC English Champion after Michael Bisping.