5 best UFC shows on Fox

#1 UFC on Fox 17: Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy II – 12/19/2015

Rafael Dos Anjos successfully defended his Lightweight crown against Donald Cerrone on the 17th Fox show

The final UFC show of 2015, this one featured a major title fight on top in the form of Rafael Dos Anjos’s first Lightweight title defense against Donald Cerrone – who was coming in on a wild 8-fight winning streak – and in the co-main event, we got a fight that should’ve taken place in 2012 with the Heavyweight title on the line – Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem.

Both fights ended in spectacular fashion; after a slow start, Overeem knocked Dos Santos out with a ridiculous left hook that sent the Brazilian crashing to the ground. It was the first time that ‘Cigano’ had been cleanly knocked out in his UFC career, and it was arguably Overeem’s biggest ever victory in the Octagon.

As for Dos Anjos, he finished Cerrone in spectacular fashion, taking him out with a vicious combination just a minute into the fight. Essentially, ‘Cowboy’ wasn’t even given a chance to get out of the gates.

Perhaps the most entertaining fight of the night came prior to those, however, as Nate Diaz returned after another year on the shelf to face the highly-ranked Michael Johnson. Most were favouring ‘The Menace’, but instead, Diaz showed up in his best condition in years and put on a vintage performance, taunting and outstriking Johnson to take a unanimous decision. And his post-fight promo – which saw him call out Conor McGregor – inadvertently set up two of the UFC’s biggest ever shows in 2016.

The show was also opened by a highly entertaining fight – future title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz debuted at Strawweight to defeat TUF veteran Randa Markos in a back-and-forth affair.

Essentially, this show was the best UFC effort on Fox as the Overeem, Dos Anjos and Diaz performances remain outstanding and fresh in the mind some 3 years on. Here’s hoping the UFC’s series on ESPN is as successful!