Ultimate UFC 2022 Fight Card

It didn’t matter that he survived Brian Ortega’s best submission attempts and dominated him otherwise or that he battered Chan Sung Jung to 11-0 — a whole lot of people still viewed Holloway as the top man in the featherweight division and weren’t going to let it go until the two men squared off for a third time.

Well, there is no question now.

Volkanovski dominated every moment of their third encounter, showing himself to be not only a more diverse and complete fighter than in their second meeting, but also one of the very best fighters on the planet. Holloway was game, as always, but he just couldn’t match the Australian, who is now set to move up to lightweight and challenge Islam Makhachev in hopes of joining the exclusive UFC Champ-Champ Club.

Khamzat Chimaev defeats Gilbert Burns (UFC 273)

After running through his first four UFC opponents, everyone wanted to see how Chimaev would do when paired off with a top-end talent in the welterweight division. Burns stepped up to the plate and gave Chimaev his toughest test to date, going toe-to-toe with the undefeated rising star for 15 hard minutes in the middle of the UFC 273 main card.

Chimaev won, but it wasn’t easy. For the first time in his UFC career, he was pushed and hurt and forced to navigate rough patches inside the Octagon, showing he was more than just a marauder that thrives on being the hammer. Conversely, Burns solidified his standing as one of the top welterweights in the UFC, taking the best Chimaev had to offer and responding in kind until the final horn sounded.

This was one of those rare instances where even with all eyes fixated on this fight, it still managed to exceed expectations.

Matt Schnell defeats Sumudaerji (UFC Long Island)

Schnell orchestrated one of the wildest comebacks in UFC history this summer on Long Island and earned a main card position on this year’s Ultimate Fight Card for his troubles.

Through the midway point of the second round, it appeared that Sumudaerji had “Danger” dead to rights. Each heavy shot that landed froze the Louisiana native for a half-second, and it seemed like the next one was going to be the one that put Schnell on the canvas or prompted referee Jacob Montalvo to step in and stop the fight.

Instead, Schnell fought through the torrential onslaught coming his way and cracked the Chinese flyweight with a right hand along the fence that clearly had an impact. He quickly put Sumudaerji on the canvas and climbed into mount, unleashing a string of his own elbows that busted “The Tibetan Eagle” open.

And when Sumudaerji desperately reversed the position, putting Schnell with his shoulders to the mat, the Fortis MMA man swiftly locked up a triangle choke and put him to sleep.

This was chaos — thrilling, arresting, unimaginable chaos.

Drew Dober defeats Terrance McKinney (UFC Vegas 50)

You wouldn’t think that a fight that lasted a little over three minutes could have a massive swing in momentum, but you’d be wrong.

McKinney took this fight on short notice just a couple weeks after storming through Fares Ziam, seeing it as an opportunity to catapult himself into the rankings if he could take out the veteran stalwart Dober. Right out of the chute, he put a knee on Dober’s chin and then dropped him with a series of big, winging shots, pinning him on the canvas against the fence as he looked to swarm and seal the victory.

Dober ate another knee and a few more wide, powerful hooks before clearing all the cobwebs, and after collecting himself and landing a few elbows from bottom position, he got to his feet and got after McKinney. With his young adversary clearly tired, Dober avoided the labored shots coming his way and dropped McKinney with a knee, climbing into top position and pounding out a finish.

After being on the brink of getting finished, the Nebraska native turned things all the way around and collected his first of three stoppage victories in 2022 to claim the opening spot on this five-fight main card.

Victor Henry defeats Raoni Barcelos (UFC 270)

This may come as a controversial or debated choice here, but every fight on this list doesn’t have to be a finish or a Fight of the Year contender. Sometimes you have to look at the context of things to find why a particular bout was magical and merits inclusion, and this is one of those times.

Henry is a 35-year-old MMA veteran — a guy that hardcore fans have long been familiar with thanks to his exploits abroad, some quality wins over familiar names, and coming up under Josh Barnett and Erik Paulson. Long viewed as one of those guys you wish had gotten a shot at some point along the way, Henry finally got the chance to compete inside the Octagon at UFC 270 and he made the absolute most of it.

Barcelos had won his first five UFC bouts before dropping a majority decision to Timur Valiev in the summer of 2021. He was a permanent fixture on the fringes of the Top 15 in the talent-rich bantamweight division and a considerable favorite heading into the contest.

From the jump, Henry showed he could not only hang with the Brazilian, but he got the better of the exchanges, showcasing clean, crisp technique and good movement on the way to earning a sweep of the scorecards and a victory in his promotional debut.

Damon Jackson defeats Pat Sabatini (UFC Vegas 60)

Not only was this a great performance from Jackson, but under the circumstances, it’s surprising this effort didn’t garner even more attention back in September.

Beating Sabatini is an accomplishment in and of itself, as the former CFFC featherweight champ entered with a 4-0 mark inside the Octagon and a six-fight winning streak overall. Putting him on skates and finishing the fight in a tick under 70 seconds ups the impressiveness quotient even more, but doing so just a few days after the sudden, tragic passing of your brother, with friends and family in attendance, takes this one to a whole different level.

They touched gloves and started getting after it immediately, with Schnell slinging hands and getting the better of things on the feet. A minute into the contest, Royval hit the deck and Schnell chased after him, hammering home big shots as the Factory X representative hunted for a leg lock.

Royval worked his way back to guard and again threatened with a leg lock, creating space to scramble to his knees, only for Schnell to jump on a guillotine choke attempt. Royval instantly rolled through and into top position, and when Schnell kicked him off looking to clamber back to his feet, Royval attacked with a guillotine choke of his own, quickly securing the tap.

A few months later, Schnell would be the one rallying from being on the wrong side of things early, but on this night, it was Royval that worked through trouble to secure the submission finish.

Ricardo Ramos defeats Danny Chavez (UFC Austin)

Spinning elbows are often “spur of the moment” attacks — instinctive offerings that come out in the heat of battle, as the strikes are flying and momentum has one’s body moving in a certain direction.

But the elbow Ramos landed on Chavez to end this fight was 100 percent calculated, set up, and executed flawlessly.

Ramos is known for his spinning, jumping, and generally unconventional, attacks, and he offered plenty that missed in the first minute of this contest. But soon after, he backed Garcia up to the fence, dropped his level to get Chavez to lower his hands, and then spun into a massive elbow that landed on the button.

Dip, spin, elbow to the temple — this was smooth work from Ramos, who is still just 27 years old and could very well be someone to keep an eye on in the featherweight division in 2023.

Billy Quarantillo defeats Alexander Hernandez (UFC 282)

The latest entry into this year’s Ultimate Fight card comes from the final pay-per-view of the year, where “Billy Q” turned in the kind of performance everyone is coming to expect from him each time he steps into the Octagon.

Fighting for the first time in just over a year, Quarantillo welcomed Hernandez to the featherweight division, and unfortunately spent the first five minutes getting taken to the woodshed. Left with a solid cut leaking crimson when the horn sounded, the veteran returned to his corner, answered a math question to show his coaches he was still present, and then marched back out to the center of the cage as if the opening round never happened.

While the first five minutes were largely all Hernandez, the second was all Quarantillo.

He took the fight to the flagging divisional newcomer, cranking up the pressure, pace, and output with each clean strike he landed. When Hernandez showed he was on the ropes, Quarantillo made sure to get him out of there, finishing him with a barrage of knees and punches 30 seconds before the middle stanza came to a close.

Just about every fight the 34-year-old has been in since reaching the UFC has been similar to this, and win or lose, you can bank on Quarantillo being in there, giving his all until the referee or the final horn tells him to stop.

Natalia Silva defeats Tereza Bleda (UFC Vegas 65)

Silva clocked in at No. 7 in our list of the Top 10 Newcomers of 2022 and this was one of the two efforts that earned her that spot.

In the opening round, Bleda had Silva in trouble, dragging her into grappling exchanges and forcing her to defend multiple submission attempts. But attacking for the final minute of the round drained the energy out of Bleda, and Silva started opening up with her striking in the second, drawing level on the scorecards through the second frame by snapping her opponent’s head back multiple times with clean shots.

Roughly 30 seconds in the fight, the burly Georgian middleweight dropped Daukaus with a left hand coming out of a clinch in the center of the cage. He followed his dazed opponent to the canvas, landing short blows as they worked back to a standing position along the fence before smashing Daukaus with a thudding knee to the face that sent him back to the deck and halted the proceedings.

This was the first of three victories in 2022 for Dolidze, who catapulted himself into the Top 10 in the middleweight division in the process. This effort and his middle win of the pack showcased his striking prowess and significant power, while he flashed his grappling credentials in his short notice win over Jack Hermansson to wrap up the year.

It was a great year for the Georgian, and this is the victory that kicked things off.

Erin Blanchfield defeat JJ Aldrich (UFC Vegas 56)

If this fight were the 10th or 11th fight on a card, it still would have merited consideration for this compilation because it was the first of two reminders this year that Blanchfield has an extremely bright future in the flyweight division.

For much of the contest, the veteran Aldrich got the better of things with her striking, working behind a good jab, smooth movement, and her overall experience to get out ahead of the promising 23-year-old prospect. Blanchfield had some moments, to be sure, but Aldrich did a good job of frustrating her and controlling the exchanges into the second round.