It’s not a secret that UFC made use of the blueprint that professional wrestling rolled out. The way in which Vince McMahon built WWE and WrestleMania was something that had a huge impact on how Dana White pushed UFC, and this is why we find it easy to find parallels between professional wrestling and MMA.
‘Which is more popular’ might be a topic that we could debate about but as mentioned earlier, at least drawing parallels is easy. In such conversations, it’s hard to avoid the comparisons between UFC events and WWE events.
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WrestleMania is something that always represents the wrestling business. But what are those MMA events that came close to the magical feeling that WrestleMania manages to evoke among the fans? Let’s take a look!
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5: UFC 1
Let’s begin with where it all started shall we?
UFC 1 might not be on top when it comes to the numbers or the star power that it had, but it is the event that put the sport on the map. Just like when the first edition of WrestleMania was rolled out, UFC 1 came with enough magic in it to captivate the fans.
Held in front of less than 8000 fans, the eight-man tournament opened up a new world in martial arts, and unlike the current format, this one was barbaric to the core.
Royce Gracie would go on to win three matches in one night to win the tournament and would cement his place as one of the legendary names that paved way for the sport.
4: UFC 31
Held at the Trump Taj Mahal on May 4, 2001, UFC 31 was a historic show due to a wide range of reasons. The show was headlined by Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo for the Heavyweight title and Couture managed to retain the title via a unanimous decision.
The card also played host to the debut of legendary BJ Penn who announced his arrival via a TKO win over Joey Gilbert.
Chuck Liddell knocking out Kevin Randleman was yet another highlight of the event. Highlight reel spinning back fist KO that Shonie Carter secured against Matt Serra and Carlos Newton ending Pat Miletich’s reign also turned UFC 31 into one of the most sorted out events in the history of the promotion.
3: UFC 100
It’s understandable why the milestone events are pushed heavily. UFC 100 followed this traditional pattern as well. The show banked in on the drawing power of Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre primarily. Lesnar headlined the show against Frank Mir for unifying the Heavyweight championship when GSP was in the co-main event against Thiago Alves.
Both Lesnar and GSP secured wins in their fights to reign supreme. The infamous Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping fight also took place at the event. Hendo scored the KO win but Bisping would recently avenge the loss. The undercard also had a certain guy called Jon Jones in it.
2; UFC 194
UFC has been taken to an entirely different level by Conor McGregor. The numbers have been awesome, the popularity is on the rise and the mainstream attention is high. One show that stamped the star power of Conor was UFC 194.
Conor, who was the interim Featherweight champion, faced Jose Aldo, who seemed unstoppable and had been a dominant champion.
In just 13 seconds, Conor handed Aldo his biggest loss and it marked the beginning of the Irish takeover. Luke Rockhold defeating Chris Weidman to become the new Middleweight champion was another big talking point from the show.
The card also boasted the likes of Urijah Faber, Yoel Romero, Demian Maia and many others.
1: UFC 202
Conor McGregor winning might mean money but Conor McGregor losing is big money. UFC and the MMA fans understood this thanks to UFC 202. Billed as the biggest rematch in the recent history of UFC, Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz faced off against each other at the pay-per-view.
Nate Diaz had earlier stunned the world by submitting Conor and the Irishman was out to seek revenge and settle scores.
Conor did what he promised to do and won the match to make the scores 1-1 against Nate. The fight set up a trilogy showdown perfectly and it’s sure that Conor vs. Nate III is going to be a blockbuster event.
Speaking about the card, it had Donald Cerrone and Anthony Johnson pick up wins when Cody Garbrandt was edging closer to Dominick Cruz with a win over Takeya Mizugaki.
