Top 5: UFC Middleweight Title Fights of All-Time

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It was perhaps the most memorable moment of Anderson Silva’s illustrious career.

Stuck under the determined and brazen Chael Sonnen for the better part of 20-plus minutes, “The Spider” dug into his deep bag of tricks, dismissed his rival with a triangle armbar and retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown in the fifth round of their UFC 117 headliner on Aug. 7, 2010 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Silva brought it to a sudden and dramatic close 3:10 into Round 5.

Sonnen won the first four rounds decisively and started with a bang, as he rattled the champion with a straight left hand mere minutes into the match. From there, he stifled Silva with merciless control and a variety of ground strikes: punches, hammerfists, elbows and slaps to the ears. A onetime NCAA All-American at the University of Oregon, Sonnen completed takedowns in the first, second and third rounds and climbed into top position in all five of them. He absorbed his share of damage, as Silva picked his spots with elbows from the bottom, one of which cut the challenger badly above the left eye.

As the two middleweight rivals entered Round 5, the heavily favored Brazilian found himself in an unfamiliar state of desperation, needing a stoppage to retain his title. Sonnen again made his way to an advantageous position on the mat, only to sink perilously low in his counterpart’s guard. Silva capitalized, trapped him in a triangle and then isolated an arm. With no means of escape, Sonnen surrendered with less than half a round remaining in the bout.

More than 15 years later, the first Silva-Sonnen showdown remains one of the greatest UFC middleweight title fights of all-time. Here are four more to consider:

Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold

UFC 194
Dec. 12, 2015 | Las Vegas

Rockhold stopped the Serra-Longo Fight Team linchpin with punches in the fourth round of their co-main event at Madison Square Garden to become the seventh undisputed middleweight champion in UFC history. Battered and bloodied, Weidman succumbed to blows 3:12 into Round 4. After plenty of give and take in the first two rounds, Rockhold turned the ride in the third, where he countered an ill-conceived wheel kick from the “All-American” with a takedown, moved to the back, set his hooks and eventually advanced to full mount. From there, Rockhold unleashed some savage ground-and-pound with sharp elbows and concussive punches. Referee Herb Dean showed surprising restraint in allowing Weidman to continue on. When the round ended, he staggered back to his corner a shell of his full-strength self. The American Kickboxing Academy’s Rockhold picked up where he left off in the fourth, as he delivered another takedown, moved to an advantageous position and mopped up what was left with punches.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Michael Bisping

UFC 217
Nov. 4, 2017 | New York

St. Pierre choked “The Count” unconscious in the third round of their headliner and laid claim to the UFC middleweight crown at Madison Square Garden. Bisping went limp in the clutches of a rear-naked choke 4:23 into Round 3, his days atop the 185-pound weight class at an end. In his first appearance in nearly four years, St. Pierre surpassed all reasonable expectations. He worked over Bisping for the better part of two rounds with a punishing jab while integrating spinning kicks and takedowns. However, the champion started to shift momentum in the closing minutes of Round 2 and figured to carry it forward with his superior cardio. St. Pierre executed a takedown inside the first 30 seconds of the third round, only to encounter a series of short elbows from the grounded Englishman. When they returned to their feet, St. Pierre was bleeding from cuts to the side of his head and the bridge of his nose. He was undeterred by the damage. St. Pierre dropped Bisping with a compact left hook, pounced with a series of crushing elbows and then maneuvered to the back, cinching the choke in one fluid motion. The win made St. Pierre at the time the fourth man in UFC history to claim titles in multiple weight classes, as he joined Randy Couture, B.J. Penn and Conor McGregor.

Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero

UFC 225
June 9, 2018 | Chicago

Whittaker retained the undisputed middleweight championship with a contentious split decision over the 2000 Olympic silver medalist in their five-round main event at the United Center. All three members of the judiciary turned in 48-47 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for the overweight Romero, Chris Lee and Brian Puccillo for Whittaker. After two back-and-forth rounds, Romero unleashed a hellacious barrage on the champion early in the middle stanza. It resulted in the first of two knockdowns for the American Top Team brute. Whittaker managed to recover but spent much of the rest of the round merely trying to survive. The fourth round was closely contested—an accidental groin strike slowed Romero for a time—but gave way to a lopsided fifth. There, Romero floored “The Reaper” a second time, gave chase and expended his remaining energy pummeling and trying to finish the dazed but resilient Kiwi. Whittaker somehow withstood those efforts and walked away with a nip-tuck decision. He outlanded Romero by a narrow 128-111 margin in significant strikes across the 25-minute encounter. However, in addition to the two knockdowns, the challenger was more efficient—he connected on 46% of his attempted strikes—and racked up 4:21 of control time.

Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira

UFC 281
Nov. 12, 2022 | New York

Pereira dismissed the City Kickboxing star with punches and walked out as the undisputed middleweight champion in the fifth round of their UFC 281 headliner at Madison Square Garden. Adesanya checked out 2:01 into Round 5, his reign atop the 185-pound weight class having concluded after 1,134 days. It was a treacherous journey for Pereira. Adesanya nearly finished him at the end of the first round, where he cracked the Glover Teixeira protégé with an overhand right and followed it with a crushing left hook as the horn sounded. Pereira recovered during the respite and rebounded with a strong showing in Round 2. However, he lost his way as the fight progressed, his movements becoming increasingly labored after the champion took him down and grinded on him for nearly four minutes in the third. He entered the final round likely in need of a knockout. Adesanya failed to manage distance properly, allowed the challenger to back him to the fence and paid a steep price for his miscalculation. Pereira followed a slashing right uppercut with a jarring left hook that set “The Last Stylebender” on unsteady legs. He then unleashed with power shots from both hands as Adesanya slouched forward in a defenseless posture and left his head exposed, prompting referee Marc Goddard to call for the stoppage.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Murilo Bustamante vs. Matt Lindland, UFC 37; Evan Tanner vs. David Terrell, UFC 51; Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida, UFC 175; Dave Menne vs. Murilo Bustamante, UFC 35; Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva, UFC 162; Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson, UFC 204; Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker, UFC 271; Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland, UFC 297