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Fans only ever remember "the big one", the PPV-selling fights that live up to the hype and showcase MMA at its finest. Fights such as Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 and Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit are etched in the annals of sports history as some of the most entertaining bouts to ever occur in a headlining slot. Unfortunately for MMA fans, we don't always get classic fights in the main event.
Throughout the UFC's history, there have actually been a lot more stinkers in the headliner spot than actual classics. Let's take a look at the worst main events in UFC history.
10 Norma Dumont vs. Aspen Ladd
Norma Dumont is a good fighter, but heading into her UFC Vegas 40 headlining role most fans would be hard-pressed to pick her out of a lineup. Her original role was to be the B-side to a Holly Holm main event, but once Holm fell out to injury, Aspen Ladd stepped in to make her featherweight debut.
Ladd was likely not in fight condition, due to her having a horrific weight miss two weeks prior to the Dumont bout. In the end, the fight was one of the worst of 2021. Dumont just stayed on the outside and jabbed away, as Ladd had no idea what to do.
9 T.J. Dillashaw vs. Joe Soto
It's hard to blame the UFC for this one, but the UFC 177 main event felt like a cruel joke. Having been dubbed 'the haunted UFC card' by Joe Rogan, the card had only eight fights. The main event also almost fell out after Renan Barao fell out of the main event rematch with T.J. Dillashaw, luckily the UFC had a backup plan.
The backup plan came in the form of Joe Soto. The 14-2 MMA veteran was making his UFC debut as a former Tachi Palace champion and was booked on the undercard prior to the Dillashaw bout. Predictably, Dillashaw knocked out Soto in the fifth round, after the fight not seeming in doubt at any point.
8 Anthony Smith vs. Devin Clark
To say that the UFC was ravaged by COVID-19 is putting it mildly. The main event of UFC Vegas 15 was supposed to be Derrick Lewis vs. Curtis Blaydes, but Blaydes was pulled from the bout days prior and the UFC bumped Anthony Smith to the main event.
At the time, Smith had lost three of his last four bouts, as he faced off against Devin Clark. Clark was seen as little more than a squash match for Smith to get back on track, and that's what happened as Smith submitted Clark in the first round.
7 Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka
Similar to UFC 177, the UFC Dublin card in 2015 was cursed. The card had multiple main events fall through, three days before the card was set to go down they had to promote flyweights Paddy Holohan and Louis Smolka to the main event spot.
The fight was a rare three-round main event, it wasn't a bad fight but an anti-climatic one. Neither man was involved in title stakes, or even near the rankings. In the end, Smolka won the fight via second-round submission.
6 Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Augusto Sakai
What's better than two middling heavyweights coming off losses fighting in the main event of a UFC card? Well, most things. In a year where it seemed that the UFC couldn't go wrong, they really put fan interest to the test with the main event of UFC Vegas 28.
The fight saw nothing happen for the first 4:57 of the opening frame. Rozenstruik landed a right hand to knockout Sakai in the final second of the round. It's perfectly fitting for a fight with zero stakes to end in a way that was extremely anti-climatic.
5 Jeremy Stephens vs. Yair Rodriguez
The main event of UFC Mexico seemed like something out of a comedy movie. A fight between two top-tier featherweights in Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez, what can go wrong? The bout seemed destined to have fireworks.
A mere 15 seconds into the bout, Stephens got eyepoked by Rodriguez. After a few minutes of trying to recover, he couldn't. The bout was ruled a no-contest much to the anger of Rodriguez and his home country crowd.
4 Holly Holm vs. Germaine De Randamie
The UFC 208 main event was one that was quickly scrapped together by the UFC and it showed. Two bantamweights in Holly Holm and Germaine De Randamie were set to fight for the UFC's inaugural women's featherweight title. Holm had a two-fight losing streak heading in, and De Randamie had two wins in the past two years, both fights buried in the prelims.
The foul-filled fight saw De Randamie win the bout in a controversial fashion, winning a unanimous decision that most thought Holm had won. To make matters worse, De Randamie vacated the belt right after the bout.
3 Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2
The main event of UFC 215 was a rematch between future pound-for-pound greats Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. Their first bout was a wild encounter with both women looking for the finish in the three-round affair that Nunes won via unanimous decision.
Their second bout couldn't be any different. Neither woman seemed to want to lead and put on one of the worst fights of the year as Nunes retained her title via split-decision to make the series 2-0.
2 Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 2
There was no reason this fight had to happen, none, but it did. Ryan Bader faced off against Antonio Nogueira in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo in a rematch. The two men had faced off six years prior, with Bader winning a unanimous decision.
In 2016, Nogueira was severely past his best days, meanwhile, Bader was hitting his prime. Bader dominated Nogueira on the mat for three rounds, before getting a stoppage finish in a sad, boring bout.
1 Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami
UFC has sometimes experimented with having numbered events, not on PPV. While some such as UFC 120, and UFC 267 have worked, UFC 122 was far from a great card, or even good. Nearly all the main card went to decision, with the main event doing so as well.
The UFC 122 main event was a fight between middleweights Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami. The anticlimatic bout saw Okami win a lackluster unanimous decision with little action occurring over the 15 minutes prior.