Sept. 23, 2006, Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn II at UFC 63: The fallout from their first fight created a lot of drama heading into the rematch. Penn moved up from lightweight to welterweight and upset Hughes for the title. He then bolted the UFC in order to fight for K-1 and tried to take the title with him. Litigation followed and wasn't settled until Penn's eagerly awaited return. Adding to the drama was the fact that Hughes took the side of the UFC and didn't hesitate to express his feelings in regard to the nature of Penn's departure. The bad blood that existed between the two really created quite a buzz.
Nov. 18, 2006, Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre II at UFC 65: No one really took their first meeting from 2004 into account because St. Pierre was rushed into that spot after just two fights inside the Octagon. By the time these two fought again in 2006, St. Pierre was a completely different fighter. The first time, St. Pierre was star struck. The second time, St. Pierre was a star himself. At the time, this was the biggest fight you could make at 170 and had all of the momentum behind it that's usually on reserved for a major light heavyweight or heavyweight fight.
March 3, 2007, Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia at UFC 68: The thing I remember about this fight was that people were so excited to see it that the MMA school I was training at decided to bring in a big projector and sound system so everyone could watch it together. And when I say everyone, I'm not kidding -- just about everyone from the school came out and watched. During the undercard there was a lot of reaction to the fights (especially Jason Lambert's surprise KO over Renato "Babalu" Sobral), but once the main event came on, it was so silent you might have thought you were at a PRIDE show in Japan. Much like the Hughes vs. Gracie fight, a lot of people were compelled to get behind this one because there was a feeling that you were going to see something historic.
May 26, 2007, Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson II at UFC 71: To this date, I don't think I've seen as much mainstream coverage of a UFC fight as we saw for Liddell vs. Jackson II. The mainstream wasn't really familiar with Jackson, but thanks to ESPN, he was promoted as someone who was a star regardless of his level of notoriety. Like many of the fights on this list, you not only had two major names going at it, but there was also a storyline to help sell the drama. If was Jackson who had upset Liddell in the second round of PRIDE's 2003 middleweight Grand Prix and spoiled a dream match between Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. The rematch was marketed as Liddell's shot at redemption.
Dec. 29, 2007, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79: A dream match years in the making finally became a reality. Both fighters were coming off consecutive losses and a title wasn't on the line, but the atmosphere in the crowd made it feel like the two were fighting for the championship of the universe. The UFC faithful who pay to see shows in Vegas truly know the history of the sport and had a true appreciation of what it meant to see Liddell and Silva fight each other in light of all of the setbacks that had taken place over the years.
Nov. 15, 2008, Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar at UFC 91: Some pundits claim the UFC hasn't done enough promotion for this fight but some people are overlooking the PR that was done immediately after Randy's return was announced. And in the week leading up to the fight, UFC president Dana White has been everywhere talking about how this fight is the biggest in UFC history. Because of the snowball effect of the late momentum, I can't disagree. While I don't believe the hype is big enough to meet White's stated projection of 1.2 million buys on PPV, I wouldn't be surprised if it sets the UFC's PPV record.
In addition to being a contributing writer for CBSSports.com, Sam Caplan is the founding publisher of the MMA website, FiveOuncesOfPain.com. You can contact him via e-mail at: SCaplan8@comcast.net.
