Top 5: UFC Light Heavyweight Title Fights of All-Time

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It was one of those rare fights with the potential to shorten careers and lengthen legacies.

Jon Jones kept the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight crown under lock and key with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Alexander Gustafsson in the UFC 165 headliner on Sept. 21, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. “Bones” swept the scorecards with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 nods from the cageside judges in what was later voted Sherdog’s “Fight of the Year.”

Gustafsson gave the champion all he could handle. He cut Jones over the right eye in the first round with a glancing blow, and the small wound grew into a gash over time, the Swede scoring with repeated multi-punch combinations to the head and body. After 25 minutes, Jones was bloodied and swollen, but he had answered the first serious challenge of his career. Gustafsson became the first man to take down the Jackson-Wink MMA rep, doing so in the first round. More importantly, he stuffed 10 of the champion’s 11 takedown attempts. Trapped on the feet, Jones absorbed more punishment than he had in any of his 19 previous professional bouts. However, he sprang to life in Round 4, where he badly stunned Gustafsson with one of his patented spinning elbows. In the fifth, with both men clearly exhausted, Jones completed his only takedown and unleashed a series of head kicks that likely secured the victory. The historic win pushed him past Tito Ortiz in the record book and gave him the all-time mark for consecutive title defenses at 205 pounds. The loss halted Gustafsson’s six-fight winning streak but earned him an untold amount of respect in the industry. Few gave the Alliance MMA export a legitimate chance at dethroning Jones ahead of their unforgettable 25-minute battle.

Nearly 12 years later, the first Jones-Gustafsson showdown remains one of the greatest UFC light heavyweight title fights of all-time. Here are four more to consider:

Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz

UFC 22
Sept. 24, 1999 | Lake Charles, Louisiana

Shamrock made certain his final appearance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship was memorable. He entered his showdown with Ortiz with a perfect 4-0 record inside the Octagon but did so as an underdog. Shamrock was the smaller man, giving up four inches in height, two inches in reach and a significant amount of weight. Those perceived disadvantages were thought to be too much for him to overcome. Nevertheless, he retained his light heavyweight championship by striking Ortiz into submission in the fourth round of their main event at the Lake Charles Civic Center. Exhausted by his efforts to dispose of Shamrock, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” ran out of gas in the back half of the match. Ortiz shot for a desperate takedown in the waning moments of Round 4, only to be met with an attempted guillotine from the bloodied but alert champion. Shamrock then rolled into top position, stood up and unleashed elbows and hammerfists with a spent Ortiz clinging to his leg. The end came 4:42 into the fourth round, as the challenger motioned for referee John McCarthy to intervene on his behalf.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Dan Henderson

UFC 75
Sept. 8, 2007 | London

Roughly three months after he dethroned Chuck Liddell, Jackson lined up Henderson to unify the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships titles at 205 pounds. “Rampage” emerged from their memorable main event with his hand raised, having earned a five-round unanimous decision over the two-time Olympian at the O2 Arena. Scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46, all for Jackson. He answered Henderson’s three takedowns with two of his own and outlanded the Team Quest patriarch in all five rounds. Jackson was particularly dominant in Round 4, where he recorded the only knockdown of the bout and held a 43-4 advantage in total strikes landed. The appearance was Jackson’s last as champion. Less than a year later, he was upset by “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner Forrest Griffin at UFC 86.

Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson

UFC 192
Oct. 3, 2015 | Houston

Cormier earned his championship stripes when he successfully defended the light heavyweight title with a five-round split decision over Gustafsson in the UFC 192 main event at the Toyota Center. Judges Sal D’Amato and Kerry Hatley scored it 48-47 and 49-46 for Cormier, while Derek Cleary saw it 48-47 for Gustafsson. The champion bucked popular thinking, eschewed the advice of his coaches and elected to stand with Gustafsson. After a first round in which he hoisted the 6-foot-5 Swedish kickboxer skyward and dumped him on his head, Cormier did not execute a single takedown—he attempted only one of them—over the final three frames. In the end, he beat Gustafsson at his own game. Cormier outlanded “The Mauler” 140-120 in significant strikes and 219-130 in total strikes, outpacing him in every round but the fourth. He did much of his damage from the collar tie, as he wrecked Gustafsson’s face with right uppercuts, leaving him with swollen eyes and a gash across the bridge of his nose. Gustafsson knocked down “DC” with a lightning-bolt of a knee strike and follow-up punches in Round 3 but spent far too much of his time retreating, often with his back turned, in a clear attempt to prevent the Olympic wrestler from closing the distance. The additional effort cost him valuable fuel and led to a noticeable decline in his output, particularly in the fifth round, where Cormier threw 36 more strikes than his challenger.

Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira

UFC 275
June 12, 2022 | Kallang, Singapore

Prochazka was the last man standing in an extraordinary war of wills between two of the sport’s most violent competitors. The Czech marauder submitted Teixeira with a no-hooks rear-naked choke and laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title in their unforgettable headliner at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Teixeira capitulated 4:32 into Round 5, suffering the only submission defeat of his career. Back and forth they went for four-plus rounds, exchanging takedowns, dominant positions, submission attempts and heavy leather. Neither man was willing to give in to the pain or punishment. Teixeira carved out a horrendous gash above his opponent’s left eye with a savage elbow strike in the second round before Prochazka returned the favor in the third, opening a cut across the bridge of the venerable Brazilian’s nose. As they entered Round 5, it was anyone’s fight. Teixeira executed takedown, achieved full mount and threatened with an arm-triangle choke. However, Prochazka never considered surrender as an option. He slipped out of Teixeira’s grasp, wheeled behind him and snuck his arms in place for the choke. His powerful squeeze and fatigue combined to do the rest, and they were enough to end Teixeira’s unlikely reign atop the 205-pound weight class.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, UFC 214; Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell, UFC 52; Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz, UFC 44; Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, UFC 182; Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida, UFC 140; Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, UFC 71; Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua, UFC 104; Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin, UFC 86; Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson, UFC 187; Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, UFC 66; Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture, UFC 57; Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, UFC 40; Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida, UFC 98; Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Jon Jones, UFC 128; Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort, UFC 152; Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, UFC 113; Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes, UFC 247; Jon Jones vs. Thiago Santos, UFC 239; Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree, UFC 307