What Was the UFC's Fight of the Year?

While 2020 was indeed one of the worst years ever, we were somehow graced with some of the best fights of all time.

With everything stacked against the UFC, the industry leader powered through and delivered on it’s promise to give us all incredible entertainment throughout the year.

And even with all of these obstacles, we were able to see some of the greatest fights in UFC history. But which fight in this wild year was the best?

First things first, this is an incredibly subjective article, obviously. What you may consider being the best fight of the year could greatly differ from what I think is the best fight of the year.

What is objective, however, is that every fight that will be discussed is undoubtedly an incredible fight worthy of a rewatch.

That out of the way, here are what I would consider being the honorable mentions.

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs Conor McGregor

The king is indeed back… or at least he was for about a minute and a half. While this fight is incredibly short and therefore could never be considered a real fight of the year contender, the impact this fight had at the time was truly remarkable.

Conor McGregor knows how to sell a pay-per-view and he certainly delivered way back in January.

Jan Blachowicz vs Dominick Reyes

Another shorter fight, Jan Blachowicz being crowned the new Light Heavyweight Champion amidst Jon Jones’ title vacation was a memorable sight.

The way he truly dominated Reyes, a man who many believed to have actually beaten Jon Jones in their fight, was remarkable. And the way Jan capped it off with an incredible knock out cemented his place at the top of the 205-pound division.

Paul Felder vs Dan Hooker

Now, this was a war. 25 minutes of pure violence and nonstop back-and-forth fighting. This is everything you want in the main event. This fight proved to be a turning point in both men’s careers as well. Felder considered retirement after this brutal fight which ended up not happening. Hooker on the other hand-propelled himself into a high-level fight with the former interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier.

Putting on incredible performances like this can really prove to alter a career in a positive way. They can also cement your place in history, just like the choice for 2020’s fight of the year…

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Weili Zhang

How can the greatest woman’s fight in MMA history not be the pick for fight of the year? While that seems a bit like hyperbole, it is one of the few “takes” that is widely agreed upon through MMA circles. Joanna “violence” was truly back and at the top of her game for 25 minutes against the reigning and defending Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang. Non-stop action, brutal injuries, incredible back-and-forth, and the best part of this incredible fight was that we genuinely had no idea who won until the scorecards were read.

While some (myself included) may argue with the decision, what cannot be argued is that this fight was historic and incredible. That is why Joanna versus Zhang is the choice for the fight of the year.