The final episode of this three-part series looking into the top 5 fights of the year in 2022 has arrived! With so over 500 fights in 2022 in the UFC alone we had our pick of the best 5 bouts of the entire year.
Let’s look back at the first 4 bouts from our top 5 Fights of the Year.
5. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno III – UFC 270
WHAT. A. FIGHT! 🤯
How do you have it scored?
[ #UFC270 | Main Card LIVE on E+ PPV: https://t.co/Nr2IHwgXWX ] pic.twitter.com/PStVGpwKrC
— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022
4. Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 281
THE DIAMOND GETS IT DONE IN AN INSTANT CLASSIC 💎 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/56vHlHqfaI
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
3. Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland – UFC on ESPN 42
After four INCREDIBLE rounds this one comes to an end!@WonderboyMMA leaves #UFCOrlando with a TKO victory after Kevin Holland’s corner calls for a stop due to a hand injury pic.twitter.com/QheKmWI5EK
— UFC (@ufc) December 4, 2022
2. Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns – UFC 273
AND NOW…..the top fight of 2022!
1. Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka – UFC 275
After going on a tear in Rizin FF throughout the 2010’s the Czech Republic’s Jiri Prochazka finally made his UFC debut in 2020 with a knockout victory over Volkan “No Time” Oezdemir at UFC 251.
He then went on to main event a UFC Fight Night show in 2021 where he landed a spinning back elbow to knockout former title challenger Dominick Reyes in the second round. That earned him a shot at UFC gold against veteran Glover Teixeira at UFC 275.
Teixeira is an MMA legend with over 40 professional bouts and a UFC stint that began in 2012. Having challenged for the title before and losing to former champion Jon Jones he worked his way back to gold when he defeated then-champion Jan Blachowicz via rear-naked choke at UFC 267 in late 2021.
The bout against the young knockout artist was set for June 12th, 2022.
Glover vs Jiri in slow motion! 🔥
Watch all of #UFC275 Fight Motion on @UFCFightPass now! pic.twitter.com/Exq78tWHOg
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) June 18, 2022
That could actually be the best way to see the damage both men took as they battled back and forth until Prochazka was able to sink in a choke on Teixeira which, if you asked most bettors, was the last thing they saw happening for a Prochazka win.
This fight embodied what we all look for in an MMA fight. Struggle, adversity, problem solving (thanks Rogan), ups and down, and ultimately triumph.
Unless you’re Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev. Then you get left hanging.
What will 2023 have in store for us? Will we see the trilogy between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor? Will we actually get Jon Jones to fight somebody at heavyweight? What about the return of Francis Ngannou?
Now that we’re finally, it seems like anyway, past the lockdowns of 2020 hopefully we get some real bangers in 2023 with full crowds in an arena near you.
