Once Robert Whittaker's hand was raised following his five round bout with Darren Till on July 25, the UFC's run of events on Fight Island came to an end.
A concept that came about due to the coronavirus pandemic, UFC president Dana White refused to let the outbreak hinder his company and found the perfect place to continue showcasing the greatest mixed martial artists in the world, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Kicking off with UFC 251 - headlined by Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman taking on Jorge 'Gamebred' Masvidal - the UFC ran four straight events on Fight Island throughout the month of July and it's been a pretty entertaining run.
With that being said, here are the four UFC Fight Island events, ranked.
4. UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs Ige
The only mid-week event to take place on Fight Island, Kattar vs Ige was a solid, but unspectacular card. While it certainly didn't have the star power the other three cards on Fight Island had, the event was still an entertaining show with a number of prospects beginning to climb their respective division ranks.
There were a number of big talking points from the event, starting off with Welshman Jack Shore furthering his undefeated record with a dominant submission victory over Aaron Phillips.
Rounding off the prelims we bore witness to the debut of a future star in the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev. The Swedish fighter took the fight against UFC veteran John Phillips on just eight days notice, before putting on a masterclass of a performance and dominating Phillips from start to finish. Spoiler alert, this wasn't the last we saw of Chimaev on Fight Island.
The main card saw numerous one-sided performances from Mounir Lazzez, Taila Santos, Jimmie Rivera and Tim Elliot as they all claimed decision victories.
The main event between budding Featherweight contenders Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige promised a war and it didn't disappoint. The two men beat the s*** out of each other for five rounds and Kattar won the bout by unanimous decision. Despite the Frankie Edgar vs Pedro Munhoz fight originally set to co-main event this card delayed, the event still held up as an entertaining show.
3. UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs Benavidez 2
Following Deiveson Figueiredo's controversial win over Joseph Benavidez in February's Flyweight title fight after missing weight, the UFC's Flyweight division has been without a champion.
That was set to change on July 18 when Figueiredo and Benavidez rematched, with many calling the Brazillian's previous victory tainted after an accidental headbutt, so there was a lot of hype heading into this event.
Throughout the entire event, the card did an excellent job living up to said hype. We witnessed UFC veteran Joe Duffy step away from the octagon and retire following a disappointing loss to Joel Alvarez, Ariane Lipski grab her first performance of the night bonus after submitting Luana Carolina less than one and a half minutes into their bout and we experienced an absolute war between Rafael Fiziev and Marc Diakiese with Fiziev coming out on top of what was the fight of the night.
The most surprising result of the night was Jack Hermansson's ridiculously quick heel hook submission win over former UFC Middleweight title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum. Hermansson's win really pushes him towards the forefront of title challengers within the division and sets up a potential future bout with Robert Whittaker, should his post-fight interview come into fruition.
During the main event, Figueiredo really disintegrated any of the questions and doubts about his previous win over Benavidez with a devastatingly one-sided performance. Despite the fight not making it out of the first round, the Brazillian dropped Benavidez a number of times and clamped two incredibly tight rear-naked chokes on before the 35-year-old out cold.
The scream we heard Benavidez make when he regained consciousness is still one of the most terrifying things we've heard in the octagon and a testament to just how dangerous Figueiredo is. Good luck to anyone in the Flyweight division who tries to take that belt from him.
2. UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs Till
To round out Fight Island, we got an incredibly strong card that was stacked from top to bottom.
We witness the return of Khamzat Chimaev, who took another fight just 10 days after his UFC debut and that didn't seem to hinder him one single bit as the Swedish star dominated former Cage Warriors star, Rhys McKee. Chimaev landed 68 strikes in just three minutes and nine seconds has he destroyed McKee, who failed to throw a single punch.
The card was hit with controversy with Herb Dean involved in two fights were many considered the referee too late in stopping the bouts. This culminated in former UFC Welterweight challenger and current UFC commentator Dan Hardy confronting Dean after the referee's delayed stoppage during the Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert fight.
From there we saw Paul Craig roll through Gadzhimurad Antigulov with a triangle choke in just over two minutes, Fabricio Werdum spoiled Alexander Gustafsson's Heavyweight debut in what was likely his final UFC fight and we saw a war between Mauricio Rua and Antônio Rogério Nogueira bring an end to a wonderful career for Lil Nog.
One of the most anticipated fights throughout the entire run of Fight Island cards, the main event between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till was one that had fans split down the middle. It wasn't quite the fight we expected, with the two opting to take a more tactical approach to the bout, rather than the all-out war many were hoping for, but it was an entertaining fight nonetheless and was a rare instance that both men came out winners, despite the result.
Whittaker bounced back from his Israel Adesanya loss and proved he still has a place at the top of the Middleweight division, but Till also showed he belongs amongst the elite of the division and at just 27 years old, he will only get better.
1. UFC 251: Usman vs Masvidal
UFC wanted to kick things off on Fight Island with a bang and they did just that. The organisation put on one of the most star-studded cards we've ever seen, with the event showcasing three UFC title bouts. After Gilbert Burns was forced to pull out of his Welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman after he tested positive for COVID-19, Jorge Masvidal took the fight on short notice and the hype surrounding the card instantly jumped up.
The event was fantastic from start to finish. Makwan Amirkhani landed a very rare anaconda choke to beat Danny Henry in just over three minutes, Davey Grant KO'd Martin Day with a performance of the night bonus to go with it and Jiří Procházka stormed onto the scene in the Light Heavyweight division, dropping former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir where he stood in what was one of the scariest knockouts in recent memory.
From there the event just got better and the main card was carnage from the get go. Amanda Ribas continued to demonstrate why she would find herself in the Flyweight title picture sooner rather than later, with an armbar submission just two minutes and 21 seconds into her bout with Paige VanZant, seemingly sending VanZant into free agency on an embarrassing loss.
We got an absolute war in the rematch from last year's Strawweight title fight between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade, with Namajunas emerging victorious this time around.
This lead into the three title fights, which kicked Petr Yan claiming the Bantamweight title after an incredibly entertaining scrap with former Featherweight phenom Jose Aldo. The Brazillian looked like the Aldo who'd dominated the Featherweight division for years and the fight was even heading into the final round before Yan's power proved too much for Aldo and the Russian TKO'd the 33-year-old.
The final two fights of the night, a Featherweight championship rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway and a Welterweight title clash between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal, both went the distance. Volkanovski won what proved to be a controversial decision, with many spectators, fans, media and MMA fighters alike thinking Blessed had done enough to regain his title.
The night concluded with a dominant performance from Welterweight champion Usman who utilised his sensational wrestling ability to prevent the hugely popular Masvidal from really getting any sort of momentum in the fight.
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