The 10 best UFC moments of 2018 so far

#1: Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor lives up to the hype

Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor was by far the most memorable moment of 2018

When Conor McGregor launched his controversial bus attack at UFC 223 – the event that saw Khabib Nurmagomedov win the UFC Lightweight title once held by the Irishman – the incident ensured that the rivalry between ‘The Notorious One’ and ‘The Eagle’ became arguably the biggest in MMA history.

Few people believed the fight would actually happen in 2018 though, but somehow, Dana White and the rest of the UFC brass made it happen. And at UFC 229 – the show that ended up breaking the UFC’s pay-per-view buyrate record by drawing a wild 2.4m buys – the two men went to war in a fight that lived up to all of the hype.

McGregor tried his best, but he was outclassed by the Dagestani – dropped by a big right hand in the second round while trying to impose his striking, and completely dominated on the ground before Nurmagomedov ended things with a nasty-looking neck crank in the fourth round.

Obviously, everyone knows what happened afterward. The wild brawl that erupted between Nurmagomedov, McGregor and their respective teammates is still having ramifications today – a hearing is set for December to decide the fate of the two fighters – but overall, the fight was by far the most memorable moment in the UFC in 2018.

It’s a fight that’ll probably be talked about for years – if not decades – to come, and it may well yet lead to the biggest rematch in UFC history. We shall see.