The UFC’s annual MMA celebration, “International Fight Week,” is one of the most keenly-awaited moments of the year, as the promotion stacks the deck with multiple title fights and, sometimes, multiple cards in Las Vegas for a full week of fan-friendly events, capped off by a stacked show (or two or three).
This year’s “International Fight Week” was supposed be this week, but the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on the shelf. The UFC instead is in Abu Dhabi for a 14-day, four-event run on Yas Island.
“International Fight Week” has certainly produced some remarkable memories down the years, so here at The Blue Corner we’ve taken a look back to pick out some of the biggest moments served up by the UFC’s annual summer jamboree.
Here, in chronological order, are five UFC “International Fight Week” moments that will live long in the memory.
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2013: Weidman starches Silva at UFC 162
Anderson Silva was on top of the world heading into Las Vegas in 2013. “The Spider” arrived in Las Vegas riding a 17-fight winning streak. He’d defended the UFC middleweight title 10 times and had even found time to jump up to light heavyweight and score a trio of impressive finishes, including stoppages of “TUF 1” legends Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
It seemed as if Silva could do no wrong, but when he stepped into the octagon at the Mandalay Bay to take on the unbeaten New Yorker Chris Weidman, few could have predicted the outcome.
Silva looked loose and confident. Overconfident, as it turned out. While the champion clowned and taunted Weidman, the young challenger stayed composed as he refused to be goaded into opening up by the Brazilian. Then, just moments after Silva had waved him in and pretended to be hurt by a punch, Weidman found Silva’s chin and hit the jackpot.
A huge left hand landed perfectly on Silva’s chin and dropped the champion hard. He looked almost done at that point, but Weidman wasn’t taking any chances and pounced on “The Spider” to finish the fight with heavy ground strikes. It left the MMA world stunned as the man painted by some as an untouchable champion was finally beaten, and in emphatic fashion, too.
Weidman’s knockout victory still ranks as one of the most stunning upsets ever seen in a UFC championship fight and it elicited a classic – and true – quote from Joe Rogan, who said, “You can’t play games in the octagon.”
Silva found that out to his cost, and the Brazilian legend has never held UFC championship gold since.
Next up: A rising star goes stratospheric
2015: McGregor Mania hits Las Vegas at UFC 189
This writer had been covering MMA for five years before he got the chance to head to the U.S. for his first UFC event Stateside. And boy did I pick a big one.
“International Fight Week” in 2015 was headlined by UFC 189, as a rising Irish star by the name of Conor McGregor took on a short-notice opponent many felt would be his Kryptonite.
Chad Mendes had been drafted in to replace the injured Jose Aldo, who suffered a rib injury courtesy of teammate Jonas Bilarinho during the leadup to the event. The last-minute change of opponent didn’t seem to faze McGregor, who was sung to the octagon by Sinead O’Connor on an unforgettable night at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The main card remains one of the best pay-per-view main cards ever held by the UFC, as the fights produced a string of jaw-dropping finishes and exciting fights.
The co-main event war between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald produced an all-time classic, but even that was overshadowed by the chaotic events of the main event, as McGregor and Mendes went back and forth for two rounds before McGregor’s smartly-targeted body attack paid dividends midway through the second round and opened up Mendes’ chin for the finish. A big left hand found its mark, Mendes hit the canvas and the biggest star in UFC history had captured his first title.
For the duration of fight week, Vegas was green, white and gold as thousands of Irish fans descended on “Sin City.” After McGregor’s win, the bars were drunk dry as the Dubliner’s fans celebrated wildly. When I woke up the following morning there were hungover Irish fans in almost every casino chair. After a night of legendary partying, they looked absolutely finished.
Their hero, however, was just getting started.
Next up: Chaos ahead of UFC 200
2016: Jones fails a drug test ahead of UFC 200
To put it simply, UFC “International Fight Week” in 2016 was absolutely crazy. The UFC held three events in three days, which meant a packed media schedule of media days, open workouts, press conferences and weigh-ins that gave us the busiest fight week I’ve ever experienced. Then, an unexpected phone call midway through the week sent an already manic week into chaos.
We’d just attended an open workout event at T-Mobile Arena when we received a secret phone call from the UFC asking us to attend a secret media meeting at the MGM Grand. No reason was given, and we speculated between us about the reason for our summoning. Had the UFC been sold, as was rumored at the time? Was there going to be a massive addition to the fight card? We had literally no idea.
Then, when we sat down in front of the dais and Jeff Novitzky emerged, a collective groan went up from the small group of media in attendance. We all knew Novitzky, who was the face of the UFC’s recently-instituted anti-doping program, wasn’t coming to issue good news.
Novitzky then proceeded to inform us that Jon Jones had failed a drug test and was out of his UFC 200 main event rematch with Daniel Cormier. We were stunned. Footage of Cormier later went viral as he broke down in tears at the news and, the following morning, we returned to the MGM Grand for a hastily-arranged press conference from Jones’ team, as the now-former UFC light-heavyweight champion broke down in tears in front of us.
It sparked a remarkable series of events as, initially, the heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt was named as the new main event for UFC 200. That was later changed to Miesha Tate’s women’s bantamweight title defense against Amanda Nunes as the event saw the UFC run through three main events in the space of 24 hours. In addition, Anderson Silva stepped in on just a few days’ notice to take on Cormier and add even more star power to the biggest – and most turbulent – fight week in UFC history.
Next up: Cormier becomes a double champ
2018: DC stuns Miocic at UFC 226
After his “International Fight Week” heartbreak at UFC 200 saw him miss out on the chance to rematch Jones and win the light heavyweight title, Cormier returned to the octagon for “International Fight Week” two years later and captured his second UFC title in stunning fashion.
Stipe Miocic had broken records to become the most dominant heavyweight champ in UFC history, but Cormier, who had never lost as a heavyweight, arrived in Las Vegas for fight week brimming with confidence ahead of a title fight that seemed to split the pundits right down the middle.
When fight night arrived, Cormier stunned Miocic with short-range strikes from the clinch as he dropped the champion and finished him inside a round to erase the pain of two years earlier as he became a UFC “champ champ.”
There was even time for “DC” to go cut a pro-wrestling promo as he called Brock Lesnar into the cage after his win. The fight never materialized, but that night remains arguably the biggest of Cormier’s UFC career.
Next up: The queen of “International Fight Week”
2016/2019: “The Lioness” reaches the summit
“International Fight Week” will hold special memories for Amanda Nunes, who produced two of her most memorable performances in showcase spots during the UFC’s annual July celebrations.
At UFC 200 in 2016, Nunes was drafted into the main event slot as she submited Miesha Tate to capture the UFC women’s bantamweight title.
Since that win, Nunes has gone on an incredible unbeaten run as she has defeated all challengers and added the featherweight title to her collection along the way.
“The Lioness” returned to “International Fight Week” duty last year, when she faced former bantamweight champion Holly Holm in a matchup that many felt represented Nunes’ toughest assignment as champion.
But the fight produced one of the most spectacular finishes of Nunes’ UFC career as she finished Holm with a spectacular head-kick knockout to retain her title. It saw Nunes turn the tables on Holm, who had used the same technique to capture the title from Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 four years earlier.
Nunes victory at UFC 200 proved to be a launchpad for a stellar career as she has since gone undefeated across two weight classes to become a simultaneous two-division UFC champion, and in many people’s eyes, the greatest female athlete in the history of the promotion.
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