The UFC is all about entertainment, so Dana White tends to give fans what they want in terms of matchups inside of the octagon. We’ve seen countless superfights, most of which resulted in entertaining bouts that lived up to the hype. There are a lot of extracurriculars that go into fighting, though, and sometimes, the best fights just never come to fruition. MMA is such a violent sport that injuries are inevitable, which leads to fighters regularly pulling out of matchups.
Fans just saw this with Dan Hooker and his scheduled UFC 313 fight against Justin Gaethje. Both fighters are among the most entertaining in UFC history because of their aggressive striking,whic, resulting in highlight performances and bloodied octagons. The two were put together to create absolute chaos, which is exactly what fans want to see. Unfortunately, this fight won’t happen, at least not for now, as Hooker pulled out of the bout because of a hand injury.
It is a disappointing conclusion for a fight that fans were stoked to see, but it is far from the first time that a great on-paper matchup didn’t happen or was canceled. In this article, we are going to look at the best UFC fights that never happened.
1. Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva
We have Jon Jones ranked as the best UFC fighter ever, but he has a checkered past. His out-of-the-octagon and performance-enhancing drug-related issues keep him out of the G.O.A.T spot for many MMA fans. If you are of that belief, then you probably have either Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva as the best UFC fighter ever.
Unfortunately, these two never fought, even though that was a realistic possibility. St-Pierre was the Welterweight Champion from 2006-2013, while Silva held the middleweight belt during the exact same time. Nowadays, seemingly every champion wants to move up a weight class and contend for double-champion status. That is an idea that was popularized by Conor McGregor when he became the first UFC fighter ever to hold belts in two weight classes at the same time.
During St-Pierre and Silva’s days, though, that wasn’t as popular of a philosophy, and holding down the fort in your weight class was usually the preferred method of a career. Still, fans wanted to see this fight, and St-Pierre had the skill set to move up a division. After retiring in 2013 after his 13th title matchup, St-Pierre returned to the sport in 2017 at UFC 217 against Michael Bisping. This fight was for the Middleweight Championship, and St-Pierre ended up victorious before officially putting down the gloves for good.
Dana White has said that this superfight never happened because St-Pierre simply didn’t want to move up and face Silva, despite the proof that he could succeed at 185 pounds. The fighter nicknamed “Rush” is one of the best wrestlers we’ve ever seen, while the Brazilian nicknamed “The Spider” is arguably the best striker ever. This certainly would have been a stylistic masterpiece, and had it happened, the victor might have gone down as the undisputed UFC G.O.A.T., even above Jones.
2. Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou
As mentioned above, Jones is the best UFC fighter ever, as nobody has been able to beat him inside of the octagon. The 28-1 fighter only suffered a loss because he was disqualified for illegal elbows in a fight he was dominating back in 2009. Nothing has slowed him down since. His 16 title wins are by far the most ever, and he has been fighting in championship bouts since 2011 against the best competition in the world.
Of course, most of that dominance came as a light heavyweight, but Bones is now fighting in the heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou is one of the scariest humans ever to walk the Earth, and fans speculate that his unmatched knockout power is the only thing that could have taken Jones down.
Now, Ngannou is fighting for PFL, and he has a soured relationship with the UFC that might prevent him from ever coming back to the promotion. His star power has since dimmed as well due to devastating knockout losses when moving over to boxing. There was a time when fans dreamed about Jones vs. Ngannou in the UFC, though.
Jones’ technical approach has led to him beating everybody, but all it takes is one punch for your night to end when facing Ngannou. Jones’ most recent fight was a championship victory against heavyweight G.O.A.T Stipe Miocic, and he has signaled that he only wants superfights that can improve his legacy from here on out, so maybe a Ngannou fight isn’t completely out of the question. Fans also want to see Jones take on Tom Aspinall (Aspinall has the potential to be the best heavyweight ever) and Alex Pereira (Pereira seems poised to one day become the first fighter to contend for triple champion status).
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson
St-Pierre vs. Silva and Jones vs. Ngannou were never scheduled, so they were never that close to happening. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was not only supposed to happen but it was scheduled five different times. You can take that as a sign that this fight just wasn’t meant to be, but clearly, fans wanted it, considering how many times it was scheduled despite the match always resulting in a cancelation.
The fight was originally booked for The Ultimate Fighter season 22 finale, but a rib injury forced Nurmagomedov to pull out. Then, it was Ferguson’s time to pull out as he cited a lung issue before his UFC on Fox matchup against the Eagle in 2016. The fight was again scheduled for UFC 209, but Nurmagomedov had a weight-cutting scare and was forced to cancel. The fourth booking of the event was for UFC 223, but Ferguson needed LCL surgery. Finally, the matchup seemed like it would happen in April of 2020, but then COVID-19 struck, and travel issues relating to the pandemic officially put an end to the potential matchup.
Nurmagomedov would go on to retire with a perfect 29-0 record, and his victory over McGregor at UFC 229 is widely regarded as the most famous UFC fight ever. That event has by far the most pay-per-view purchases in UFC history. Ferguson, meanwhile, has crumbled as of late. After winning 15 of his first 16 UFC fights, Ferguson has lost eight in a row (longest UFC losing streak ever), and he just departed from the company for the GFL.
4. Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
Conor McGregor is, of course, the biggest name superstar in UFC history. That means his scheduled return in 2024 was expected to be massive. McGregor had the best peak in MMA history, and he revolutionized the sport during that time. However, he became even bigger than the UFC and has been in and out of the promotion since 2017.
His last fight was in 2021 at UFC 264, and fans were left wanting more because that trilogy matchup against Dustin Poirier ended early when McGregor broke his leg. Everyone tunes in when McGregor fights, and he was expected to return to action at UFC 303. The Notorious One was scheduled to face his fellow TUF coach, Michael Chandler, as most coaches from that show eventually square off in the octagon.
Everyone knows that McGregor puts butts in seats, but this scheduled fight was particularly intriguing because of the ruthless aggression that Chandler fights with. Unfortunately, a toe injury forced McGregor to pull out. An eventual UFC return is still rumored for McGregor, but it is becoming more and more likely that he will never step foot in the octagon again.
5. Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar
The UFC is known for great post-fight call-outs that lead to potential future matchups. One of the best ever came when Daniel Cormier called out Brock Lesnar after his win over Stipe Miocic. At the time, Cormier had only ever lost to Jon Jones, and Lesnar was still one of the biggest names in the sport despite his focus being on the WWE at the time.
Lesnar stormed into the octagon and gave Cormier a big push after the call-out, which made the fight seem inevitable. Cormier vs. Lesnar never materialized, though, so the pre-fight build-up led to nothing.
6. Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos
During his prime, there was no telling what all McGregor could accomplish. He became the Interim Featherweight Champion at UFC 189, and he was promoted to undisputed status after knocking out Jose Aldo at UFC 194. McGregor was then supposed to fight Rafael dos Anjos for a chance to become the first-ever champ-champ.
The Lightweight Champion broke his foot, though, so a fight (and then eventual rematch) against Nate Diaz was scheduled instead. When the chance came for McGregor to fight for the 155-pound belt again, dos Anjos was no longer the champion, so McGregor instead fought (and beat) Eddie Alvarez. That fight was fantastic in its own right, but fans would have loved to see McGregor vs. dos Anjos, too.
7. Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo
Before the emergence of McGregor, there was a time in the UFC when Anthony Pettis and Aldo were arguably the company’s two biggest stars. Pettis was dominating in lightweight, while nobody could touch Aldo at featherweight. We often see fighters move up a weight class for super fights, but Pettis was slated to move down a class to take on Aldo. However, Pettis hurt his knee ahead of the potential UFC 163 clash, so this superfight never came to fruition.
8. Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg
While McGregor was a pioneer for the men’s division in MMA, Ronda Rousey popularized women’s MMA. She dominated with wrestling almost exclusively inside of the UFC umbrella. Cris Cyborg, meanwhile, was a striking aficionado who made her name outside of the UFC before the promotion added women’s MMA.
Cyborg did eventually join the UFC, and fans wanted nothing more than to see these two face off. However, Rousey was a bantamweight who was unwilling to move up, while Cyborg was a featherweight who was probably too big to move down. There wouldn’t have been a lot of time to schedule this fight either, as Rousey retired from MMA not long after Cyborg joined the UFC.
9. Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko
A cross-promotional dream matchup back in the day would have been between Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko. Lesnar had huge star power in the UFC, but Emelianenko was considered by many to be the best heavyweight in the world while he was with M-1 Global. This was a fight that Dana White desperately wanted to book, but contract issues prevented it from ever becoming a reality.
10. Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz
Dustin Poirier and Diaz are fan favorites, so fans would have struggled to pick a side if they met up inside the octagon. This fight was actually supposed to happen at UFC 230. Both of these men are warriors who always put on a show, and they can both certainly take a punch. The fight never happened because of an injury to “The Diamond,” though.
HM. Aljamain Sterling vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Most of the would-be fights on this list didn’t happen because of injuries or weight-class issues. That wasn’t the problem for an Aljamain Sterling vs. Merab Dvalishvili matchup. Instead, these two fighters refused to go up against each other because they were training partners and great friends.
Sterling has a case as the greatest bantamweight ever, but Dvalishvili waited to contend for the belt at 135 pounds until after Sterling left the division. Now, the current Bantamweight Champion is well on his way to taking the title of bantamweight G.O.A.T., as he has looked absolutely unstoppable as of recent.
The two’s incredible wrestling ability would have made for a fun matchup in theory, and Dvalishvili’s recent successes have made fans wonder what could have been in a potential bout against his friend. The world will likely never know, though.
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