Heavyweights were a staple of the early no-holds barred UFC. Before formal weight classes were set by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission at UFC 28, fighters over 206 pounds headlined 20 of the promotion’s 32 events.
In the modern era, there’s much more talent spread across divisions and far less reliance on the big boys. Out of 462 events to feature weight classes, only 16 percent have been headlined by heavyweights.
With 12 recognized divisions between men and women, the UFC has more options than ever for the division that takes the marquee spot. The promotion doesn’t need heavyweights. But the ethos of the “baddest man on the planet” still comes in handy when it needs to sell a fight.
In advance of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 3 meeting between former champion Junior Dos Santos, a 12-time headliner, and Francis Ngannou, we take a look at heavyweight fight cards that really delivered – and a few that fizzled.
(For the sake of brevity, we’ll stick to the modern era.)
Delivered
1. UFC 31: Locked and Loaded
A classic Randy Couture performance. Pedro Rizzo was a big free agent signing in the new UFC, no thanks to the heavy hands and leg kicks that stopped Dan Severn and Josh Barnett. Couture wore out Rizzo in the clinch and dominated him on the ground for a unanimous decision. Then he did it again in shorter time six months later.
2. UFC 59: Reality Check
A prime Andrei Arlovski tapped Tim Sylvia with a white-belt Achilles lock in their first meeting at UFC 51. One year later, Arlovski had the undisputed belt and almost kept it when he dropped Sylvia with his kryptonite – an overhand right – early. Then Arlovski got greedy and walked into a right that stopped him cold, setting up a trilogy. Read that other list at the end for the final word on that one.
Delivered
3. UFC 70: Nations Collide
Head kick. Baseball bat. Cro Cop. Ankle. Full stop.
4. UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar
Much of Couture’s career was defined by embarrassing bigger men, but Brock Lesnar was in a different category. When his 4XL fists found Couture’s chin, there wasn’t any amount of leverage that could stop the inevitable. A high-water mark for the UFC’s business with a side distinction of the best media buffet ever seen by this reporter.
Delivered
5. UFC 100
The biggest collection of talent seen to date, headlined by the biggest box office star in heavyweight history. The promotion had the perfect storyline with Lesnar seeking revenge after being embarrassed by Frank Mir. That night, we found out just how much force Lesnar could generate in a small space. (Narrator’s voice: A lot.)
6. UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin
Shane Carwin was seconds away from being a hero to every MMA purist who cried when Brock Lesnar took the title. But alas, referee Josh Rosenthal really gave Lesnar the benefit of the doubt on a fusillade of first-round strikes, and Lesnar survived to choke out Carwin.
Delivered
7. UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez
The big guy’s time was finally up. Faced with a heavyweight he couldn’t take down, outstrike, or smother against the fence in sea-level Cain Velasquez, Lesnar folded quick after two years at the top. Order was restored.
8. UFC on Versus 4: Kongo vs. Barry
One of the most bonkers finish sequences you’ll ever see in the octagon. Pat Barry had dropped Cheik Kongo and was just about to deliver the final hammer until … you really have to see it on video.
Delivered
9. UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III
Velasquez had reasserted his dominance at UFC 155 after getting clipped by a Dos Santos club, ruining UFC president Dana White’s coming out party on FOX. But on a very, very violent night in Texas, we got the message in flashing red lights: Velasquez was the superior fighter. A brutal, brutal beatdown.
10. UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot
Cageside doing play-by-play, it was hard to appreciate the velocity of action in the octagon that night in Brisbane, Australia. Just keeping up was a feat. By the fourth round, as Mark Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva engaged in yet another blood-soaked exchange, it was clear this was something special. And only because this is MMA was it concluded with a giant asterisk.
Delivered
11. UFC 180: Velasquez vs. Werdum
Velasquez thought he’d given himself enough time to acclimate to Mexico City, which stands at 7,380 feet. Turns out, he didn’t have the gas to recover when Fabricio Werdum took his best and kept coming. One desperation takedown later, there was a new undisputed champ.
12. UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem
A lesson on the costly mistakes of heavyweight MMA. Alistair Overeem had rung Miocic’s bell with a shot and nearly gotten the tap with a guillotine choke. Miocic grabbed a leg in a scramble and put Overeem on the mat. A distance miscalculation put Overeem’s chin within reach, and a few shots was all Miocic needed to turn the lights out.
Delivered
13. UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier
By the time light-heavy champ Daniel Cormier stepped up in weight to face Stipe Miocic, champ-champ was already a thing. It was Cormier’s story that made his first-round knockout a particularly triumphant moment. Here was a guy who’d been through so much hardship and had battled back to end the most dominant reign in heavyweight history. Daddest man on the planet, indeed.
Fizzled
1. UFC 55: Fury
Arlovski had just begun his tenure as the undisputed heavyweight champion, just in time for a new generation of fans sold on “The Ultimate Fighter.” He was sold as an unstoppable force, a new breed of champ. But a quick clip of Paul Buentello’s jaw 15 seconds into the fight produced more shrugs than cheers.
Fizzled
2. UFC 61: Bitter Rivals
Sylvia wanted to send a message to Arlovski with an immediate rubber match after their second fight. After five rounds of jabs and stares, he sent one to the rest of the world: Enough of that forever.
3. UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop
That this fight ended in a highlight-reel knockout is immaterial to the wait endured to get there. Usually, such endings bring a crescendo to the action. This one landed with a thud.
4. UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou
This was the great heavyweight matchup to kick off 2018: A dominant champ vs. the most frightening threat of his reign. And to be clear, things did get off to an entertaining start when Ngannou clipped Miocic. But after that, it was a lopsided grapple-fest more notable for Ngannou’s collapse than Miocic’s triumph.
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