5 best free-TV UFC shows of 2018

With 2018 almost over, earlier in the week I put together an article detailing the best UFC pay-per-views of the year. Of course, not all of the UFC’s biggest fights are shown on pay-per-view – plenty of them take place on free television, whether that’s on the Fox Network, or Fox Sports 1.

2018 has seen a total of 26 free TV shows, and while some were undoubtedly not very good – issues surrounding a lack of big names, or a handful of dull or unmemorable fights – some were excellent, with some of the year’s best fights being featured.

Here are the 5 best free TV UFC shows of 2018.

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#5 UFC Fight Night 136: Santos vs. Anders – 09/22/2018

Fight Night 136 was filled with fun fights like Eryk Anders vs. Thiago Santos

Brazil’s second Fight Night show of 2018 took place from Sao Paulo, and nobody really expected a lot going in as a lot of the fights ended up being changed or cancelled due to injuries and other issues.

The main event of Thiago Santos vs. Eryk Anders was thrown together on a week’s notice, and the co-main event also saw a late change as Carlo Pedersoli replaced Neil Magny against Alex Oliveira.

In the end, all of that didn’t matter. Despite a lack of big names and a bunch of thrown-together fights, the athletes delivered hugely inside the Octagon, and the main card saw 5 massively entertaining fights.

The crazy war between Santos and Anders in the main event was the standout, but equally entertaining was seeing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira turn back the clock to take out Sam Alvey with a surprising knockout.

The preliminary fights on the show were also fun for the most part, with Francisco Trinaldo’s body shot TKO of Evan Dunham being a big highlight.

Overall we got 10 stoppages in 14 fights, a pretty great clip for what felt like a throwaway show going in. It just went to show the old adage that you don’t necessarily need huge names to make an entertaining UFC show.

#4 UFC on Fox 29: Poirier vs. Gaethje – 04/14/2018

Dustin Poirier's war with Justin Gaethje was the highlight of UFC on Fox 29

After two disappointing shows on ‘big’ Fox to start the year, the UFC delivered big-time with this April effort from Glendale, Arizona.

Obviously, the fight that everyone wanted to see coming in was the main event between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and the two men didn’t disappoint, going back-and-forth for four rounds before Poirier finally managed to put the former WSOF champion away.

Overall it was one of those fights with no true loser, as both men lived up to their reputation as two of the most exciting fighters in the sport.

This wasn’t a one-fight card, however. The rest of the show largely delivered too, with only the main card opener between Cortney Casey and Michelle Waterson being a little slower.

We saw Israel Adesanya step up another level by defeating Marvin Vettori – strange split decision notwithstanding – and Alex Oliveira upset Carlos Condit in the second round of an extremely fun fight.

Even the undercard had a bunch of fun prelims including an ultra-rare oma plata finish for Heavyweight Adam Wieczorek.

This show probably could’ve made the list based on Poirier vs. Gaethje alone, but with so many good fights backing it up, it was easily one of 2018’s best.

#3 UFC on Fox 30: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2 – 07/28/2018

Dustin Poirier's rematch with Eddie Alvarez was one of the year's best fights

The last time the UFC went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada was for 2012’s ill-fated UFC 149 pay-per-view.

That show was widely panned as one of the worst UFC shows of all-time, with fights falling apart due to injuries and a card full of boring decisions. Thankfully, 2018’s visit to Calgary went a whole lot better.

Headlined by a rematch between Lightweight action heroes Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier that lived up to all the expectations surrounding it – it was one of the year’s best fights, ending with Poirier destroying Alvarez with a combination – the show featured some extremely strong contests, including a major comeback win for Jose Aldo over Jeremy Stephens that saw the Brazilian pick up his first finish since his 2013 win over Chan Sung Jung.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s win over Tecia Torres was also a great fight to watch, and on the prelim card, we got action-filled fights like John Makdessi vs. Ross Pearson, Islam Makhachev vs. Kajan Johnson and Ion Cutelaba vs. Gadzhimurad Antigulov.

This was probably the UFC’s best show on ‘big’ Fox since 2015’s Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone card and was undoubtedly the best Fox card of 2018.

#2 UFC Fight Night 130: Thompson vs. Till – 05/27/2018

Darren Till's hometown victory over Stephen Thompson made Fight Night 130 special

The UFC’s first ever visit to Liverpool, England was guaranteed to have a hot crowd due to the presence of local favourite Darren Till in the main event.

The show wasn’t just about the crowd, though – the fans in attendance and the ones watching on TV were treated to some absolutely fantastic action with some violent finishes, including 4 of 6 on the main card.

We saw Darren Stewart violently take out Eric Spicely; Arnold Allen pick up a huge comeback victory over Mads Burnell with a last-ditch front choke; and Claudio Silva inexplicably return from four years on the shelf to submit Nordine Taleb with a first round rear naked choke.

But naturally, everyone in attendance was waiting for the entrance of one man – Till – and ‘The Gorilla’ delivered even in that sense, walking out to cult song Sweet Caroline and getting the Scouse fans singing along.

Some fans saw the fight between Till and Thompson as a dull point-fighting affair, but in reality it was a lot more than that – a tactical striking chess battle that saw Till refuse to play into the counter-striking hands – and feet – of ‘Wonderboy’ and instead come away with a tight decision victory following a fifth round knockdown.

The atmosphere throughout was fantastic and made this into a truly memorable show.

#1 UFC Fight Night 139: Jung vs. Rodriguez – 11/10/2018

Yair Rodriguez ended Fight Night 139 with a bang

Okay, so Fight Night 139 wasn’t chock-full of barnburners – in fact, Germaine de Randamie vs. Raquel Pennington and Beneil Dariush vs. Thiago Moises were downright boring.

But in all honesty, that didn’t matter as the UFC’s 25th anniversary show from Denver, Colorado – the city where the first UFC show took place in 1993 – had a fantastic, unique feel due to the use of the vintage graphics, music and logo, and the main event turned out to be probably the best fight of 2018.

The UFC could easily have chosen to main event the show with the semi-main event instead – that fight saw hometown hero Donald Cerrone submit Mike Perry with a nasty armbar in the first round – but thank God they didn’t.

Instead, Jung vs. Rodriguez – which only came together when Frankie Edgar got injured – delivered over and above anyone’s expectations.

The two men simply went to war for the full 25 minutes, and when everyone thought the fight was over and ‘The Korean Zombie’ would pick up a decision, Rodriguez shocked everyone by throwing a hail mary upward elbow as he ducked to avoid a shot from Jung, and knocked the Korean out literally on the final buzzer.

It was the craziest ending possible and turned an already-memorable show into something even more special. Any UFC fans who didn’t catch this one should check it out on Fight Pass, as it was definitely the best free TV show of 2018.