Hype Train: The Five Most Talked About UFC Fights Of 2015

This year was one that featured an unprecedented number of huge UFC fights with lasting implications on where the promotion and MMA as a whole will head in 2016.

While 2014 was a down year due to a crippling streak of unfortunate injuries to high-profile fighters, 2015 came back strong with some of quite possibly the most hyped and attention-grabbing bouts we’ve ever seen.

And the results of some of them were quite surprising, while others may have played out as planned. Whatever the result, there were undeniably some amazing, over-the-top, and buzzworthy UFC fights in 2015.

Let’s take a look back at the best.   

5.) Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier – UFC 182:

Propelled by an insane pre-fight brawl at the UFC 178, this fight, which eventually took place at January’s UFC 182, could have easily been ranked as one of the most-hyped UFC bouts of all-time if not for some of the massively popular bouts that follow it on this list.

Jones and Cormier engaged in a ton of back-and-forth trash talk that saw ‘Bones’ poke fun at ‘DC’s’ rotund physique, while Cormier stuck to his opinion that the champion was fake. Their actual fight was a close affair for the first three rounds, but as he’s been known to do, Jones pulled away in the championship rounds to earn a unanimous decision win.

After Jones was stripped of the belt following his arrest on felony hit-and-run charges in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cormier won the title over Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 and defended it against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192, setting up a huge rematch when Jones potentially returns this April.

4.) Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia – UFC 190:

This was the fight that absolutely sent Rousey’s popularity skyrocketing through the stratosphere as the most recognizable figure in MMA.

Correia made the mistake of poking fun of the fact that Rousey’s father committed suicide when she was younger, and while it may or may not have been intentional, it obviously riled ‘Rowdy’ up to the point of near explosion. The trash talk leading up to the fight was momentous, but the fight itself didn’t deliver as much.

Rousey knocked out the loud Correia in a mere 34 seconds, sending her crashing face-first onto the canvas and instantly propelling her to the position of the UFC’s biggest star.

It was a historic time for Rousey, but one has to wonder if all of massive hype and attention she received as a result affected her ability to win another fight on this list…

3.) Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo – UFC 194:

Were this long-awaited featherweight title fight to have taken place at its originally scheduled date of UFC 189, it very may well have been the most hyped UFC fight of 2015.

But a rib injury to Aldo sent the momentum of the grueling 10-city UFC 189 World Championship Tour screeching to a halt, and when it was rescheduled for the main event of December 12’s UFC 194, it seemed like fans and media never got quite as excited as they were in the spring and summer.

That’s not to say that McGregor vs. Aldo wasn’t a very anticipated fight; it certainly was, and the buzz around it was still palpable and among the best-ever for a UFC fight.

However, the fight itself didn’t exactly deliver on the year of hype and promotion, as McGregor finished Aldo’s illustrious reign with one perfectly placed left hand as the former champion rushed in to attempt a combo. That, fight fans, is the main reason that McGregor vs. Aldo wasn’t quite the most hyped bout of 2015 despite the monstrous amount of attention and money poured into it.

2.) Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm – UFC 193:

This main event from November 14’s UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, heaped a ton of pressure on the former women’s bantamweight champion as she attempted to set the UFC’s all-time attendance record for a live event.

While she did that by almost five hundred fans, one has to wonder if the sheer amount of publicity, hype, and circumstance of her bout didn’t at least partly lead to the shocking result. About the only thing that wasn’t massively overexposed heading into this fight was Holm, and ironically enough, she came out of the fight the new star while Rousey was endlessly jumped on by droves of haters.

That’s not to stick up for or make excuses for Rousey’s performance, as she was clearly outclassed by a far superior striker when she seemingly got a bit cocky and tried to prove she could knock out a 17-time world champion boxer.

Regardless, the buzz that surrounded the aftermath of Holm’s incredible head kick knockout makes it one of the most hyped and talked about UFC fights of all-time, and it will provide the perfect lead-in to quite possibly the promotion’s most anticipated rematch ever at next July’s UFC 200.

1.) Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes – UFC 189:

You may believe that Holm vs. Rousey or even McGregor vs. Aldo was the most hyped fight of the year, but in actuality, a perfect storm came together this summer to create a circle of buzz and media attention that was outclassed by no other MMA bout in 2015.

That storm was McGregor vs. Mendes at UFC 189, a fight that somehow out-performed the already massive hype of the bout it replaced, McGregor vs. Aldo. When Aldo went down with a rib injury in training camp, top featherweight Frankie Edgar, who said he was in training and ready, was passed over for Chad Mendes, who was reportedly not training and filming a hunting show.

In any case, Mendes filled in on short notice, and the buzz was absolutely unparalleled in MMA history. Two weeks of whirlwind attention and buzz dominated the MMA news waves, and the trash talk and tension could be cut with a knife.

This fight was so hyped that Sinead O’Connor actually sang McGregor’s walkout song, while famed rock n’ roll singer Aaron Lewis sang Mendes’ ‘Country Boy’ live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Walkouts like that were not even afforded McGregor nor Aldo at their eventual UFC 194 meeting.

The fight did not fail to deliver on the hype, either, as McGregor looked human when Mendes took him down repeatedly and appeared to be well on his way to controlling ‘The Notorious’ on the mat. But he went for an ill-fated submission and lost the hold, allowing McGregor to get back up and pepper a tired ‘Money’ with a barrage of stinging strikes to earn the TKO stoppage with only seconds remaining in the second round.

So ended the UFC’s most hyped bout of 2015, starting the current McGregor Era as he hoisted UFC gold (albeit interim) for the very first time.