Top 10 Closest UFC Title Fights

by flassasin24 on Apr 16, 2010 1:50 PM EDT

The Edgar-Penn fight this weekend--and to a greater extent, the divided opinion of esteemed MMA journalists, bloggers, and well-informed fans (e.g. BE followers) that followed--inspired me to research (I use that word liberally; I really just spent about 10-15 min on the Sherdog FightFinder) the last 10 UFC title fights that went to the judges' scorecards (it would certainly change the rankings to peer back further, but to be honest, my memory for how these earlier fights were perceived is much less strong). I wanted to see how many other title fights were viewed as being perhaps closest to a draw. Here are my rankings according to how I perceived the MMA world as perceiving it, not necessarily how I perceived it (although I won't claim to have eliminated any bias, it was my intention to be objective).

1	Frank Edgar def. B.J. Penn	UFC 112	4/10/2010
2	Lyota Machida def. Mauricio Rua	UFC 104	10/24/2009
3	Forrest Griffin def. Quinton Jackson	UFC 86	7/5/2008
4	Tim Sylvia def. Andrei Arlovski	UFC 61	7/8/2006
5	Quinton Jackson def. Dan Henderson	UFC 75	9/8/2007
6	Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia	UFC 68	3/3/2007
7	Tim Sylvia def. Jeff Monson	UFC 65	11/18/2006
8	Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch	UFC 87	8/9/2008
9	Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites	UFC 97	4/18/2009
10	Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian	UFC 64	10/14/2006

*I haven't watched either of the two Sylvia victories since they originally aired, nor have I heard many references to these fights in some time. Consequently, my ranking for these two fights certainly deserves the most scrutiny.

via a.espncdn.com

Some might see the Machida-Rua fight as deserving a #1 ranking since a much greater portion of experts and fans viewed Rua as the rightful victor. This is precisely why I chose to rank this fight #2. It seems to me that Rua was much more worty of earning the decision than Penn was last weekend.

via a.espncdn.com

In my own opinion, I felt the Jackson-Griffin fight was much closer then either of these, but it doesn't seem that opinion prevails universally. Irregardless, I think it should be agreed that this top 3 is just, however one chooses to arrange them.

The Sylvia-Arlovski fight should end up somewhere toward the middle-spot, simply because the bottom 5 were much closer to one-sided affairs.

via www.fightchat.com

The most difficult fight for me to rank, from a fan's point-of-view, was the Sherk-Florian fight. I'm a tremendous Florian fan and I remember how frustrating it was to watch Florian on his back for 25 minutes desperately attacking with elbows, praying for a TKO by cut. He showed heart, but it didn't seem that anything, save a cut, could stop Sherk from winning each and every round.

I hope this topic encourages discussion. Please feel free to adjust these rankings to fit in earlier contests or adjust these rankings to a similar but different criteria.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

Randy Couture/Tim Sylvia was nowhere near close,randy dominated the whole thing start to finish

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by RealIrish on Apr 16, 2010 2:08 PM EDT reply actions

Yep.

I dont know why its in the list. It is as one sided as a fight could go.

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by vivero on Apr 16, 2010 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s on the list because the list solely consists of "the last 10 UFC title fights to go the judge’s scorecards. He’s ranking those ten, so Couture/Sylvia has to be on the list somewhere.

by ricker2005 on Apr 16, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

if only everyone had read the whole post

by PapaBumpants on Apr 16, 2010 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions

If only some people put titles that actually represented what's in the post.

by TheKeyboardWarrior on Apr 16, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

That's why i italicized

…but someone will always find a problem somewhere.

by flassasin24 on Apr 17, 2010 1:45 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

GSP/Fitch & Silva/leites too.

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by vivero on Apr 16, 2010 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah GSP/Fitch was one of the most one sided 5 round decisions I’ve ever seen. GSP took every one of those rounds and absolutely destroyed Fitch. I don’t get why its on this list.

by ChiCubs23 on Apr 16, 2010 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

at least maia won the last 2 rounds.

by frosnt1 on Apr 17, 2010 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions

Thought the same thing. That one stuck out like a sore thumb on this list.

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by JeremyShane on Apr 16, 2010 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Rampage was never beaten for the belt. he was robbed and the belt was spoon fed to dana’s golden boy forrest. the real fight for supremacy at 205 will be whenever rampage and shogun go at it again. when those two fight again, the winner of that will be the top 205er in the world. both guys are way ahead of where they were when the first fight went down, i hope we all get to see them fight again!

by deuce 4 on Apr 17, 2010 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

#6 is WAY WAY WAAAAAAY off.

randy EASILY took all 5 rounds and there was nothing remotely close about that fight.

by Opposites Attack on Apr 16, 2010 2:19 PM EDT reply actions

also

edgar and penn wasnt exactly a total bust. an argument can easily be made that edgar won 3 rounds to penns 2. now I wont touch crosbys scoring with a mile long stick, because saying edgar won all 5 rounds is a crime. still, most people at least can admit that it was close enough to go either way.

the real crime was rua machida. that is easily number 1. But i get it. this isnt a “who got robbed” post, it is “what was the closet fight” post. in which case, you are correct, penn and edgar could ahve easily gone either way. a different set of judges may have changed the outcome of the fight it was that close.

i dont think crosbys card changed the outcome, cause even if he did it fairly and gave 3 to edgar and 2 to penn, edgar still walks away with the belt. the 5 is simply ludicrous, but none-the-less, edgar still takes it.

by Opposites Attack on Apr 16, 2010 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

8 Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch

lol, for real?

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by MicahW on Apr 16, 2010 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

Douglas Crosby scored it 50-45 Fitch.

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by SSreporters on Apr 16, 2010 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Seriously

Georges BATTERED Fitch in that fight, that wasn’t even close at all. Fitch didn’t do a single thing but survive that entire fight. GSP knocked him down multiple times, took him down at will, passed his guard repeatedly, etc etc.

Also, Randy dominated Tim. He started strong by knocking him down, then got dominant positions (including mount and taking the back) and threatened with subs repeatedly. Then Randy kept taking him down, outscoring Tim on the feet, and so forth.

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by ElliotMatheny on Apr 16, 2010 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

bj penn vs caol uno: ufc 41

thats the #1closest title fight. IT WAS A DRAW!

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by MicahW on Apr 16, 2010 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

LMFAO at this list. GSP vs Fitch was like 50-43.

FAIL for not having Couture vs. Rizzo 1 or Penn vs. Uno (which was a draw).

by Hardcharger on Apr 16, 2010 2:39 PM EDT reply actions

GSp Fitch does not belong here.

Also I dont think Page Hendo was that close. It was a pretty close fight 3-2 but it was pretty straightforward that you could tell who won. Hendo the first two definitively and Page the last 3 definiltey. I dunno I guess thats close.

I think of close as being I dont know who the fuck one.

I know Shogun won. That fight didn’t seem close to me at all.

I thought Penn won as well. Not too much to think about there.

Rampage Griffen had my head spinning. So much stuff going on in that fight I was just baffled trying to score it. But after going back over it I think Rampage won .

I would think Guida Griffen was a really close fight as well.

by p123 on Apr 16, 2010 3:05 PM EDT reply actions

Guida/Griffin

was not a title fight

by Scott Haber on Apr 16, 2010 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

o fail

by p123 on Apr 16, 2010 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Griffin/Page was probably the closest fight ive ever seen. Ive watched that one like 10 times and I still cant decide who I think came out on top. So I think that one should be #1. I admit the Penn/Edgar and Machida/Shogun fights were very close, but I had Penn and Shogun winning those pretty clearly imo

by moopwontplay on Apr 17, 2010 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I didnt see Shogun Machida being that close either. That looked like an asswhuppin to me.

by p123 on Apr 16, 2010 4:51 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah even Dana White said it was so one-sided that he gave Shogun an immediate rematch.

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by SerraJitsu0876 on Apr 16, 2010 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Bas vs. Randleman?

This list needs it, and it needs it high.

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by pdl on Apr 16, 2010 5:13 PM EDT reply actions

Never watched that fight

but from my understanding, didn’t Bas pretty much win the fight by being more active from his back?

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by ElliotMatheny on Apr 16, 2010 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Just about, yeah

but it was a close and controversial decision. I’d say it was closer than Shogun vs. Lyoto, because that was a pretty clear win for Shogun.

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by pdl on Apr 16, 2010 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions

If that fight happened today they would have definitely given it to Randleman via positional dominance. I think they had it right back then.

by Toolshed on Apr 17, 2010 6:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Honorable mention should go to Hughes/Newton. It didn’t go to the scorecards, but has there been a closer fight?

by thekiltedwonder on Apr 16, 2010 5:16 PM EDT reply actions

the title should be changed to the last 10 title fights to go the distance

half of those fights were very one sided

by Richard Doughty on Apr 16, 2010 5:32 PM EDT reply actions

Clearly reading these comments tell me...

…the title obviously is 99% of the story since it appears that 97% of the commenters read that this includes only the last 10 title fights to go to a decision. No matter what, each of those fights make it on the list no matter what. So its not about what made the list, but where each fight falls in line.

I feel like I wasted a lot of people’s time… so sorry :)

by flassasin24 on Apr 17, 2010 1:51 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

good post

might want to work on the title as you see, our readers are scanners.

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by Nate Wilcox on Apr 16, 2010 7:01 PM EDT reply actions

Thank you

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by flassasin24 on Apr 17, 2010 1:52 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

This only include recent 5 round decisions

You have no older fights.

BJ vs Uno
Randy vs Rizzo

by TDITZ on Apr 16, 2010 7:37 PM EDT reply actions

I can only come up with six title fights that I would consider truly close

Funny that Penn is in three fairly close title decisions now.
And I realize Hughes / Newton wasn’t a decision, but how they called the outcome was close imo. Depending on the definition of a “close” fight, he’s the champion of unlikely victories.

1. Penn vs. Uno

2. Penn vs. Edgar

3. Machida vs. Rua

4. Jackson vs. Griffin

5. Hughes vs. Newton

6. Penn vs. Pulver

by LBo on Apr 16, 2010 7:38 PM EDT reply actions

I grabbed some fightmetrics for your list

1: Penn vs. Edgar
Scored 49-47 Penn; FM scores 293 Edgar and 373 Penn

2: Machida vs Rua
Scored 49-47 Rua; FM scores 134 Rua and 100 Machida

3: Griffin vs Jackson
Scored 47-47 Draw; FM scores 299 Jackson and 277 Griffin

4: Arlovski vs Sylvia: Not on fightmetric

5: Jackson vs Henderson: Also not on fightmetric. Really expected this one would be.

6: Couture vs Sylvia
Scored 50-44 Randy; FM scores 544 Couture and 126 Sylvia

7: Sylvia vs Monson: Not on fightmetric

8: GSP vs Fitch
Scored 50-44 GSP; FM scores 814 GSP and 209 Fitch

9: Silva vs Leites
Scored 50-45 Silva; FM scores 222 Silva and 29 Leites

10: Sherk vs Florian: Not on fightmetric

Based on the difference in FM score (and we all know fightmetric is only one tool for determining a winner), the order would be:

1: Griffin/Jackson
2: Machida/Rua
3: Edgar/Penn
4: Silva/Leities
5: Couture/Sylvia
6: GSP/Fitch

For the curious, fightmetric also has a report for Rutten vs Randleman

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by Tedd Welch on Apr 17, 2010 1:12 AM EDT reply actions

Hey, thanks for the addition

I wish I knew how to co-op it and put it up there (with a new title). That’s interesting though, I always felt the griffin-jackson fight was the only title fight that made me judge it differently nearly everytime I saw it. I was always surprised that an immediate rematch wasn’t discussed much. I still wouldn’t mind seeing that fight happen again. I just hope it wouldn’t make Rampage cuckoo.

by flassasin24 on Apr 17, 2010 2:01 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Thanks!

It was pretty fun to put together :)

I’m pretty sure Griffin/Jackson was going to have an immediate rematch until Rampage went on his Rampage…can anyone confirm that?

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by Tedd Welch on Apr 17, 2010 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't think so

They wanted Liddell to have the title again so they gave him a fight with Rashad Evans with the winner getting a title shot (and we all know what happened then). I think even if Rampage hadn’t gone on his rampage, he would have had to wait one fight to get a title shot.

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by Brian Hemminger on Apr 17, 2010 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

God, that's right

Griffin/Liddell would’ve been a dream PPV for Dana. Thanks for the clarifications.

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by Tedd Welch on Apr 17, 2010 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions

i dont know anything about this but...

I always thought (and still do) that they hoped to keep forrest as the champ for at least a title defense or two, even though it was obvious that there were plenty lhw contenders that would put forrest away, especially rampage.

I wouldn’t mind seeing this rematch this year even. Its still relevent for the title picture. I just don’t think it happens because it would take a lot of what luster is left of the goldenboy since those back-to-back KOs.

by flassasin24 on Apr 17, 2010 8:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Irregardless...

..is not actually a word

by Cosmonutz on Apr 18, 2010 12:06 AM EDT reply actions

I still think the Sylvia/Arlovski III decision was total bullshit. But everyone hated that fight too much to care.

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by Sam Cupitt on Apr 18, 2010 3:03 AM EDT reply actions