June 3, 2015: UFC announces anti-doping policy
You can argue just how successful the UFC’s partnership with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has been – after all, it remains a system still in development, which can be a bit scary to think considering how serious the ramifications can be to an athlete’s career. However, it’s difficult to claim the deal didn’t at least give the organization an enhanced reputation in the industry.
MMA will always be a brutal venture in many ways, but the UFC’s commitment to keeping the sport clean of performance-enhancing drug use certainly seems a well-intended venture.
Nov. 15, 2015: Holly Holm shocks Ronda Rousey at UFC 193
UFC 193 was significant before the headliners stepped in the cage, with the massive crowd of 56,214 fans packed into Australia’s Etihad Stadium, as it was then known, setting a company record. But not many in the building outside of Holm and her team believed in her chances of scoring a devastating knockout of Rousey – yet that’s exactly what happened.
In a sport that prides itself on mind-blowing moments, this one was up there on the list. It was marked a seismic shift in the women’s game, with Rousey never again seeing her hand raised in victory inside of the octagon before moving on to WWE.
March 5, 2016: Nate Diaz taps out Conor McGregor at UFC 196
With Conor McGregor’s star power at its peak, in stepped a fan-favorite anti-hero who seemingly willed a fight into existence with an expletive-laden callout on national TV. Then-featherweight champ McGregor originally was expected to face lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos, but when the Brazilian was forced out due to injury less than two weeks from the card, in stepped [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag], the self-proclaimed “real money fight.”
Diaz played the perfect foil in the short but powerful buildup, refusing to be drawn into a war of words with such a master of the pre-fight stage. Instead, he did his talking in the cage, surviving the early aggression of McGregor until he began to slow in the second. Covered in blood but unafraid to engage, Diaz stunned McGregor before taking him to the ground and choking him out for the submission. In one dramatic moment, McGregor’s invincibility disappeared, and Diaz’s star power – long bubbling just below the surface – was launched into the stratosphere.
July 9, 2016: UFC sells to WME-IMG
A company that was purchased just 15 years earlier for $2 million sold for more than $4 billion. That’s an incredible success story in any industry. But it also meant much change behind the scenes for the UFC, including the departure of former majority owners Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother, Frank Fertitta III.
The true effect of the sale is still being measured some four years later. To the average fan, the product hasn’t changed too much. But the culture of the company behind the scenes, which once ran like a family business but was forced to realize a corporate mentality, certainly was impacted.
Nov. 12, 2016: Conor McGregor becomes UFC’s first simultaneous champ
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After years of political battles to get the sport legalized in the Empire State, the UFC was finally in New York and looking to make a splash at famed Madison Square Garden. To do so, it brought in Conor McGregor, whose brash style and devastating left hand had seen him take over the mantle as the sport’s biggest star. McGregor delivered, with a flawless victory over Eddie Alvarez.
And with the win, McGregor became the UFC’s first simultaneous two-division champion, a feat UFC president Dana White had declined to let past champions try and achieve. It was the height of McGregor’s fighting accomplishments, and it was achieved on the sport’s biggest stage.