Why UFC 217 is the Greatest card in UFC History

UFC 217 marked the second ever event for the company at Madison Square Garden, and wow did it deliver! The underdogs of the event reigned supreme as three new champions were crowned and a remarkable number of the fights ended via stoppage, many in exciting fashion. Although the card was stacked with tremendous talent and matchups the focus for the most part was primarily on the last three fights. The main event, which saw British middleweight champion Michael Bisping put his belt on the line against Georges St Pierre. The long awaited bantamweight championship fight, fuelled by a bitter rivalry between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbarant.

The women’s straweight title fight between longstanding brash champion Joanna Jerdzejczyk and the reserved underdog Rose Namajunas also delivered. The event drew an attendance of 18,201 and a live PPV gate of $6.2 million. The event left fans on the edge of their seat for the entire show; records were broken and UFC 217 made for a truly unforgettable night!

So here are the top 5 reasons why UFC 217 could be the most entertaining UFC card of all time.

1.      St Pierre returns better than ever

George St Pierre did something on Saturday night that very few have ever accomplished in the UFC, and that’s win a world championship after 4 years out of the sport. His calm and composed demeanour in the build up to this fight was in typical GSP fashion whilst Bisping on the other hand tried his best to belittle his opponent at every opportunity. Bisping sold this fight; he made it funny and entertaining, something which we’ve come to expect more of ever since Connor Mcgregor’s meteoric rise to the top of the sport. Bisping was the champion at that weight class, he had also won fights at light heavyweight whereas Geroges was a natural Welterweight.

The question coming into this was whether GSP still had it, and whether the carrying the added weight would affect his ability to perform. Michael relentlessly taunted him about the fact that he was too big for him and that Georges would be rusty after 4 years away. In typical fashion Bisping pulled no punches when it came to the pre fight trash talk promising to “wipe him out” all whilst heavily taking the piss out of Georges French accent.

This of course reminded the fans at home of how much we enjoy doing our own GSP impressions, no matter how bad they actually sound. However despite all this GSP put on an incredible performance knocking Bisping down with a short left hook, followed by a relentless onslaught of ground and pound before finally finishing the fight via rear naked choke in round 3

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This left GSP tied with Bisping for the most victories inside the octagon at 20. Both competitors were extremely humble after the fight and it was a great to see such a display of class by two legends of the sport.

2.      Dillashaw breaks the record for the most wins in bantamweight history

Cody Garbarant VS TJ Dillashaw kind of felt like a soap opera with all the added drama thrown in during the pre fight video montages, but of course actually stemmed from a very real beef between the two men and their respective teams. It all started when TJ decided to leave Team Alpha Male, the team that had taught him everything he knew up to that point, because supposedly TJ thought that he had a better shot at winning a world championship under retired American kick boxer Duane Ludwig. Clearly TJ was of the opinion that Team Alpha male wasn’t quite “alpha” enough, and leaving on supposed unfavourable terms angered many of his former teammates.

One of those former teammates was Cody Garbarant who had recently beaten the long time king of the bantamweight division Dominick Cruz and was now the bantamweight champion of the world. The matchup was always going to be a very evenly matched one and the bad blood between the two competitors made the contest even more alluring. Back and forth action saw Gabarant dominate the first round by dropping Dillashaw with a right hook at the end of round 1, and then went on to give Dillashaw the finger as he went back to his corner (classy stuff). I

n round 2 Dillashaw answered back with a right hand of his own during a chaotic exchange which dropped the champion to the canvas, followed up by a barrage of strikes for the finish. Dillishaw set a new record for the most victories in bantamweight competition with 11 and even called out 125 pound champion Demetrious Johnson for a potential superfight.

3.      Jerdzejczyk had her 14 fight win streak broken - Namajunas raises the roof in NYC

Joanna Jerdzejczyk is one of the best women fighters of all time. She has run the UFC Straweight division for as long as it has existed and went 14-0 in her professional mixed martial arts career. In the build up to this fight, Joanna taunted Namajunas. She pushed her fist into her face during the weigh ins, she said that the “bogeywoman was coming” and reminded us all not to blink because she was going to finish Namajunas quickly. Joanna told Rose multiple times that she did not have what it took to be a champion and even got in her face right before the fight started, to which no gloves were touched.

Meanwhile the relatively unknown challenger remained as she always had done during the build up at the press conferences, emotionless and cold. Rose even looked scared in my opinion; throughout this entire process she appeared either incredibly focused or completely petrified. However right from the get go Roses movement appeared to trouble Jerdzejczyk, leaving her swinging at air with both punches and kicks and unable to anticipate the angles that Rose was creating. Suddenly the champion was on the back foot and a leaping left hook from Namajunas put the champion out for the first time in her career. All of a sudden the huge underdog was now the champion of the world and her acceptance speech was full of humility and grace. When Joe Rogan asked her how she felt after just becoming the champion of the world she responded with “I feel like a normal person man, I’m just regular. There ain’t nothing special here”. However beating Jendrzejczyk in such dominating fashion was a pretty spectacular moment, and certainly a memorable one.

4.      9 out of the 11 fights ended inside the distance

Often when you have such a stacked card of anticipated bouts, they can often not live up to the hype. When there is so much on the line for each competitor it is understandable to fight in a more controlled and measured way, because any small mistake could cost you the victory. However Saturday night certainly lived up to the hype with the majority of the bouts not going the distance. Even the undercard was spectacular as Ovince saint Preux won by a head kick that seemingly came out of nowhere and James Vick upset favourite Joe Duffy in the last second of the 2nd round. There are past UFC events which have actually had every fight end with a stoppage, however few of which quite had the same significance as these bouts did on Saturday.

5.       The biggest Trash Talkers lost

It’s hard from the perspective of a fan, because personally I like to see both the outrageous nature of a confident fighter and the “mental warfare” side to the sport, just as much as I like to see a humble and intelligent fighter who respects their opponent. Both of these types of fighters are necessary to the success of the sport but this card is proof that those who have the biggest bark do not necessarily have the biggest bite. Cody talked more trash than TJ, Bisping relentlessly taunted GSP and Joanna flat out disrespected Rose and all of the loud mouths lost, which made for incredibly satisfying viewing. In the Octagon these athletes put it all on the line to essentially see who’s right on the night and tonight reminded everyone at home how confidence doesn’t have to be loud and braggadocios. It can be calm, collected and respectful, something that much more closely resembles the true nature of the martial arts.