The 10 | Houston Highlights

Georges St-Pierre was the newly minted welterweight champion and poised to become the face of the UFC. Serra was a journeyman in the truest sense of the word, having gone 4-4 inside the Octagon prior to winning the welterweight competition on Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter (by split decision) and landing himself a championship opportunity. This was supposed to be nothing more than a way to keep audiences engaged with TUF and a cool little wrinkle for a pay-per-view headliner.

And then Serra went out and won the UFC welterweight title.

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The New Yorker clipped St-Pierre, putting him on gelatin legs, and rather than take a moment to gather himself and allow the cobwebs to clear, the champion tried to fight his way out of his altered state, and Serra took full advantage of that poor choice. The French-Canadian standout was never allowed to fully recover, and roughly three-and-a-half minutes into the opening round, the bout was halted.

Serra’s look of pure elation and genuine surprise when the title was wrapped around his waist remains one of the best championship reactions in UFC history.

“Anderson Silva, You Absolutely Suck!” (UFC 136)

In the summer of 2010, after months of verbal attacks and lofty promises, Chael Sonnen gave Anderson Silva the toughest fight of his middleweight title reign, getting to within half a round of dethroning “The Spider” before being submitted.

Sonnen’s first fight following that contest came at UFC 136 in Houston, where he submitted Brian Stann in the second round. When Joe Rogan stepped into the Octagon to ask the victorious wrestler about his performance, Chael P. did his thing.

On the first day of the year, Edgar defended his lightweight title against Maynard, who had beaten him by unanimous decision a couple of years earlier and remained unbeaten while emerging as the No. 1 contender. To this day, I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed someone be so close to being finished yet survive than Edgar in the opening round of their UFC 125 main event pairing. The bout ultimately ended in a draw —a verdict that is still debated to this day —and the wheels were instantly put in motion for a championship rematch.

It eventually took place at UFC 136 in Houston, and it started similarly to their New Year’s Day encounter, with Maynard coming out of the gates quickly and hurting Edgar, only for the champion to steady himself and immediately work back into the fight in the second. This time, however, the judges were not needed as Edgar caught Maynard with a short right uppercut coming out of a scramble that put him on shaky footing. Two more rights put him on the deck, and a rapid-fire collection of lefts closed out the contest and the rivalry.

Adriano Martins Becomes the Answer to a Trivia Question (UFC 192)

Who is the only person to defeat Islam Makhachev?

As of this moment, Adriano Martins is the sole person to get the better of the reigning welterweight champion and former lightweight titleholder, having accomplished the feat less than two minutes into the first round of their meeting at UFC 192.

At the time, Makhachev was still a prospect, having made his successful UFC debut a little over four months earlier with a win over Leo Kuntz. In the fall of 2015, Khabib Nurmagomedov was still sidelined and still a couple of years away from reaching the top of the lightweight division, so no one was really thinking about the heights Makhachev could potentially reach.

Martins was a serious test —a 34-fight veteran coming off consecutive wins and having lost only once in his previous nine starts —and a little over 90 seconds into the contest, he whacked a reaching Makhachev with a counter right hook that sent him crashing to the canvas, instantly stopping the fight. Makhachev was instantly and visibly frustrated, knowing he made a mistake, while Martins scaled the Octagon fence and celebrated.

More than a decade later, it remains the one and only loss on the resume of the two-division champion.

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Cormier and Gustafsson Go Toe-to-Toe (UFC 192)

While Makhachev’s loss on the prelims is the trivia moment tied to this event, the light heavyweight title clash between Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson that headlined the show was an all-timer that honestly doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as such.

Cormier had claimed the vacant title four-and-a-half months earlier with a submission win over Anthony Johnson, while Gustafsson was coming off a January knockout loss to “Rumble” at home in Stockholm, but remained one of the most recognizable and credible challengers in the division.

Though there were objections and gripes about Gustafsson getting another championship opportunity while coming off a loss in advance of the contest, the way things played out made everyone forget those thoughts by the time the final horn sounded.

In the moment —and in the building, as I was for this one —it felt like they were deadlocked heading into the final round; Cormier winning the first and third, Gustafsson the second and fourth, and the fifth standing as the deciding frame. But even in that round, each man had their moments as they continued to battle, their faces and bodies covered in blood.

Cormier ultimately landed on the happy side of the split decision verdict and successfully defended the title twice more before moving up to heavyweight, while Gustafsson won his next two fights, but never quite returned to the elite contender status he carried at the time.

If you’re ever looking for a great scrap that doesn’t get talked about enough to sit down and enjoy, I can’t recommend this one enough.

TKZ Returns in Style (UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs The Korean Zombie)

This is one of those “you have to understand the totality of things” moments that stand as a constant reminder of why context matters a great deal when discussing this sport, and everything else in life, too, honestly.

Chan Sung Jung was a beloved standout in the featherweight division from his days in the WEC and challenged José Aldo for the title at UC 163, losing by fourth-round TKO after suffering a dislocated shoulder while throwing an overhand right. A year later, Jung announced he would be pausing his MMA career in order to complete his two years of mandatory military service in his native South Korea.

Bermudez is one of those rock-steady divisional stalwarts that never quite cracked the Top 5 but was a Top 15 staple that had a quality career with some very good wins, including beating Max Holloway. He entered the contest off a pair of unanimous decision wins over Tatsuya Kawajiri and Rony Jason, and with “Zombie” fighting for the first time in more than three years, seemed positioned as a serious threat for the returning fan favorite.

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He ate a big right hand early and looked out of rhythm early, understandably, but still. He eventually settled in and started marching down Bermudez, trying to drag him into more of a brawl before plastering him with an uppercut midway through the opening round than sent him to the canvas. “Zombie” pounced and pounded out the finish, instantly catapulting himself back into the title conversation in the 145-pound weight class.

The Moment Many Thought Jon Jones Lost the Light Heavyweight Title (UFC 247)

Maybe it’s just the podcasts and sports-talk that I listen to, but “Sliding Doors Moments” come up pretty regularly.

Named for the solid Gwyneth Paltrow film Sliding Doors, which shows you two possible versions of her character’s life based on whether she catches a particular train or not, the general idea is that had this one thing gone differently, who knows how things would have turned out. UFC 247 was a “Sliding Doors Moment” for Jon Jones, Dominick Reyes, and the entire light heavyweight division, honestly.

It felt like Reyes had done enough over the first three rounds to wrest the title away from “Bones.” It was close and there were no real big moments, but over those opening 15 minutes, it really did seem —to me at home and countless others — that the undefeated challenger and picked his spots well enough to get ahead of Jones enough on the scorecards that the champion’s push down the stretch wasn’t going to be enough to close the gap and allow him to retain the title.

When Bruce Buffer read the scores —48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 — and indicated the winner had garnered a unanimous decision win, it felt more assured that Reyes had succeeded, though the 49-46 score felt a little off. As “And STILL” echoed through the arena, you could see Reyes heart break in real time, much like Ralph Wiggum.

The craziest part is what followed, as Jones didn’t fight again for three years, and when he did return, it was at heavyweight. Reyes lost his next three bouts by stoppage and just seemed lost at sea, eventually taking a sabbatical before returning and winning three straight.

How would things have been different if things had gone the other way? No one can say for sure, but it remains one of the greatest “What If” moments in UFC history. 

Edson Barboza Short Circuits Shane Burgos (UFC 262)

I’ve always loved watching Edson Barboza fight — the speed, the technical striking, the gutsy willingness to wade into the fire and get bloody in pursuit of victory; what’s not to love?

After dropping a split decision to Dan Ige in his featherweight debut and righting the ship with a win over Makwan Amirkhani, the Brazilian veteran stepped in with Shane Burgos at UFC 262 in one of those classic “Who is going to move forward?” pairings. Burgos was coming off a Fight of the Night-winning battle against Josh Emmett and looking to hustle back into the win column, and the pairing with Barboza felt like must-see TV.

The first two rounds were spirited and competitive; Barboza seemed to get the better of things, but not in such a way that it felt like a foregone conclusion that he was winning and would emerge victorious if they went the distance. But he made sure that didn’t matter.

Burgos came out with a little more urgency in the third, looking to take the fight to Barboza, the pair trading low kicks and crisp jabs through the first minute. Standing in the center of the Octagon, the veteran connected with an overhand right that momentarily froze Burgos, who then started walking backwards before stumbling into the fence and going out.

In all my years of watching fights, I’d never seen such a dramatic delayed knockout, and I still haven’t to this day.

Charles Oliveira, UFC Lightweight Champion (UFC 262)

Somehow this fight is nearly five years old, which is mind-blowing to me, and the way the combatants’ careers have diverged since this point has lessened how big and tense a moment this was at the time, but trust me when I tell you this was an edge-of-your-seat fight that went from nearly being done in the first to having a completely different ending almost immediately out of the gates in the second.

Oliveira entered on a lengthy winning streak and, coming off a unanimous decision win over Tony Ferguson, was feeling a little like a fighter of destiny. Chandler was fresh off a first-round knockout win over Dan Hooker in his promotional debut in January and a tremendous overall career under the Bellator banner. Anyone who followed the sport knew the different ways this one could play out and what the outcome hinged on, and in the first, it seemed like Chandler was going to become UFC lightweight champion.

“Iron Mike” rocked Oliveira and went chasing after the finish, later admitting that he couldn’t help but think “I’m going to be UFC champion” in the moment. But Oliveira survived, and seven seconds into the second round, he connected with a left hand that put Chandler down. While he popped right back up, “Do Bronxs” was all over him, sending him back down with another left hook before pounding out the finish with a torrent of follow-up blows.

After 28 UFC appearances and nearly getting finished in the first, Oliveira ascended to the lightweight throne.

Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker Run It Back (UFC 271)

The first time Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker clashed in the Octagon, “The Last Stylebender” entered as the interim champion and riding a wave of momentum, while “The Reaper” had been dealing with health issues and eventually disclosed he was suffering from burnout. Adesanya dominated, finishing Whittaker in the second to unify the titles and begin his reign over the middleweight division.

Each man logged a few appearances between their initial encounter at UFC 243 and the rematch in Houston, with Adesanya successfully defending the title thrice and coming up short in his bid to claim the light heavyweight crown, and Whittaker earning a trio of victories over fellow contenders Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum.

Part 2 was far more competitive than their original meeting, with Adesanya getting out to an early lead before Whittaker began to make adjustments and claw his way back in the latter stages of the fight. While Adesanya earned a unanimous decision win, it very much felt like the gap between the two had narrowed quite a bit, and that Whittaker was once again at that championship level.

It always felt like we would see these two cross paths for a third time, but it was never meant to be.