UFC's Best Fights of the Year for 2023
2023 was quite a year for MMA.
5. Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa co-starred in one of the most entertaining UFC fights of the year, and the best of those that occurred in the promotion's women's divisions. The fact that it occurred less than a week ago is inconsequential, so there better not be any accusations of recency bias!
Mexico's Aldana and Brazil's Rosa met on the undercard of last Saturday's stacked UFC 296 in Las Vegas. It was a high-stakes fight for both women. For Aldana, it was a chance to rebound from a failed bid to swipe the bantamweight title from the retiring Amanda Nunes and to defend her No. 5 spot in the bantamweight rankings. For the ninth-ranked Rosa, it was a chance to vault into the Top 5, where a title shot likely would have been just one more win away.
In terms of hard numbers, Rosa landed 204 significant strikes, and Aldana landed 145. That's a lot of punishment for 15 minutes.
4. Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal
Kazakhstan's Shavkat Rakhmonov was one of the fastest-rising fighters of the year. In fact, he could be looking at a welterweight title shot in 2024, depending on the UFC's plans for the champion Leon Edwards.
One of the biggest components of Rakhmonov's ascent into title contention was a March scrap with Geoff Neal. The Kazakh was 15-0 at the time, and having recently beat the brakes off top-15 mainstay Neil Magny, was ready for another step up.
As far as the rankings were concerned, Neal was exactly that, but Rakhmonov was on such a hot streak at the time that he entered the Octagon as a huge betting favourite.
In the end, Neal gave Rakhmonov all he could handle. The American ate everything that came his way and returned fire with more success than anybody the Kazakh had met in the Octagon to that point. In fact, Neal helped reveal one of the many traits that make Rakhmonov such a force in MMA: a granite chin.
3. Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
After coming up short in a lightweight title fight with Charles Oliveira to close out 2022, Justin Gaethje needed to make a big statement in his first of 2023.
He couldn't have asked for a better dance partner than Rafael Fiziev.
Gaethje and Fiziev met on the main card of UFC 286 in March. While Gaethje was on a mission to rebound from his loss to Oliveira, it was Fiziev's opportunity to assert himself as a legitimate title contender.
2. Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno II
It's still crazy to imagine that, not all that long ago, the UFC was considering dropping its men's flyweight division. Imagine all the legendary fights we would have missed out on if that happened.
One of the latest such fights involved Mexico's Brandon Moreno and Brazil's Alexandre Pantoja.
The pair met in the co-main event of UFC 290 in July. At the time, Moreno was the defending champion and a moderate favourite to leave the Octagon with the title. However, he had lost to Pantoja once before, suffering a decision defeat in 2018, and twice if you count a submission loss on The Ultimate Fighter in 2016. Based on that history, there were plenty of people backing the Brazilian, too.
In the end, the pair engaged in one of the most competitive contests of the year.
Over the course of their 25-minute war, Moreno out-landed Pantoja by a slight 167-161 margin, and completed two of four takedown attempts to control just over four minutes of action on the mat. Pantoja, meanwhile, succeeded on six of eleven takedown attempts, and had 8:26 of control time on the mat. The two threw everything they had at each other, and like most flyweights, did it all with blinding speed and impeccable technique.
1. Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski I
If you're ever trying to decide which fights to show a new MMA fan, make sure to add Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski's February 2023 showdown to the list. It wasn't just one of the best fights of the year, but one of the best fights ever.
Even weeks out from fight night, Makhachev and Volkanovski's UFC 284 matchup had the luster of something truly special.
Makhachev had recently claimed the lightweight title with an effortless submission win over living legend in Charles Oliveira, and with 11 straight wins behind him, was drawing frequent and justified comparisons to his undefeated mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, was considered the sport's top pound-for-pound talent, and after four impressive featherweight title defenses, had been granted the opportunity to challenge the much larger Makhachev for a second belt. The fact that he was getting the opportunity on home soil in Australia only added to the stakes.
In terms of the technical details of the matchup, the overwhelming consensus was that Makhachev, arguably the best grappler in MMA right now, needed to get the fight to the ground. Volkanovski, on the other hand, was expected to have an advantage on the feet, despite being the shorter fighter.