MMA history is full of fights that should have happened but never did. Here are the ones that keep fans up at night.
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson Scheduled 5 times. Cancelled 5 times. Injuries, pandemics, weight cut issues. Ferguson was on a 12-fight win streak when this matchup was most relevant. The style matchup -- Khabib's wrestling pressure vs. Ferguson's relentless pace and unorthodox ground game -- was arguably the most intriguing fight in lightweight history.
2. Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou at heavyweight Jones moved to heavyweight. Ngannou left the UFC for PFL. The most devastating striker vs. the greatest fighter ever at a weight class where one punch ends everything. We will never see it.
3. Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre Both were dominant champions at the same time. A superfight was discussed for years. Politics, timing, and weight class differences kept it from happening. Would have been the biggest fight of the 2010s.
4. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar Peak Fedor, the consensus heavyweight GOAT, vs. Brock Lesnar, the biggest crossover star in MMA history. Different promotions prevented it. This fight would have done record numbers.
5. Prime BJ Penn vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov A cross-era dream. Penn at 155 was a submission artist with knockout power. His grappling credentials (BJJ world champion) would have tested Khabib's wrestling in a way nobody else could.
Sources:
- MMA Fighting — historical fight scheduling records
- Sherdog — career timelines
- ESPN MMA — superfight analysis archives
Hot take or facts?
Khabib vs. Tony is the one that hurts the most. Five cancellations. The MMA gods robbed us of the greatest lightweight fight ever.