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Top 5 MMA stories of 2012

  • 5. Georges St-Pierre makes a triumphant return – St-Pierre last competed on April 30, 2011, and then suffered several injuries, the most serious of which was an ACL tear. After 19 months away from the Octagon, he returned at UFC 154 and received a hero's welcome from Canadian fans in Montreal, Quebec, where he defeated Carlos Condit in an epic five-round battle.
    1/5

    No. 5

    5. Georges St-Pierre makes a triumphant return – St-Pierre last competed on April 30, 2011, and then suffered several injuries, the most serious of which was an ACL tear. After 19 months away from the Octagon, he returned at UFC 154 and received a hero's welcome from Canadian fans in Montreal, Quebec, where he defeated Carlos Condit in an epic five-round battle.
  • 4. UFC cards wracked by injuries – On a daily basis, it seemed, White would tweet that one fighter or another was injured, forcing changes to cards. It led to a number of less-than-spectacular cards and White asking his fighters to tone down the intensity of their training.
    2/5

    No. 4

    4. UFC cards wracked by injuries – On a daily basis, it seemed, White would tweet that one fighter or another was injured, forcing changes to cards. It led to a number of less-than-spectacular cards and White asking his fighters to tone down the intensity of their training.
  • 3. UFC was wall to wall on the Fox networks – The first full year of the UFC-Fox deal saw the UFC get massive amounts of coverage on Fuel, FX and Fox itself. The four shows on Fox in 2012 had up-and-down ratings, but ended strong. Virtually every fight was broadcast in 2012, a boon for the sport's diehard fans.
    3/5

    No. 3

    3. UFC was wall to wall on the Fox networks – The first full year of the UFC-Fox deal saw the UFC get massive amounts of coverage on Fuel, FX and Fox itself. The four shows on Fox in 2012 had up-and-down ratings, but ended strong. Virtually every fight was broadcast in 2012, a boon for the sport's diehard fans.
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  • 2. Ronda Rousey's skyrocketing popularity leads to creation of UFC women's division – In December, White made official one of the year's worst-kept secrets. He revealed the UFC would add a women's bantamweight division, all because of Rousey. Rousey defeated Miesha Tate in March to win the Strikeforce title and then defended it by stopping Sarah Kaufmann in August. She went on to become a celebrity of some note and was named UFC champion. Her first title defense is slated to be a main-event fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.
    4/5

    No. 2

    2. Ronda Rousey's skyrocketing popularity leads to creation of UFC women's division – In December, White made official one of the year's worst-kept secrets. He revealed the UFC would add a women's bantamweight division, all because of Rousey. Rousey defeated Miesha Tate in March to win the Strikeforce title and then defended it by stopping Sarah Kaufmann in August. She went on to become a celebrity of some note and was named UFC champion. Her first title defense is slated to be a main-event fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.
  • 1. UFC 151 is the event that never was – Labor Day weekend was shaping up to be a big one in Las Vegas. But then Dan Henderson injured a knee and had to pull out of his light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones. White arranged for Chael Sonnen to take the match, but Jones declined to fight a new opponent, enraging White. Jones then went on to fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, which was really UFC 151, after Lyoto Machida turned down the chance.
    5/5

    No. 1

    1. UFC 151 is the event that never was – Labor Day weekend was shaping up to be a big one in Las Vegas. But then Dan Henderson injured a knee and had to pull out of his light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones. White arranged for Chael Sonnen to take the match, but Jones declined to fight a new opponent, enraging White. Jones then went on to fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, which was really UFC 151, after Lyoto Machida turned down the chance.
5. Georges St-Pierre makes a triumphant return – St-Pierre last competed on April 30, 2011, and then suffered several injuries, the most serious of which was an ACL tear. After 19 months away from the Octagon, he returned at UFC 154 and received a hero's welcome from Canadian fans in Montreal, Quebec, where he defeated Carlos Condit in an epic five-round battle.
4. UFC cards wracked by injuries – On a daily basis, it seemed, White would tweet that one fighter or another was injured, forcing changes to cards. It led to a number of less-than-spectacular cards and White asking his fighters to tone down the intensity of their training.
3. UFC was wall to wall on the Fox networks – The first full year of the UFC-Fox deal saw the UFC get massive amounts of coverage on Fuel, FX and Fox itself. The four shows on Fox in 2012 had up-and-down ratings, but ended strong. Virtually every fight was broadcast in 2012, a boon for the sport's diehard fans.
2. Ronda Rousey's skyrocketing popularity leads to creation of UFC women's division – In December, White made official one of the year's worst-kept secrets. He revealed the UFC would add a women's bantamweight division, all because of Rousey. Rousey defeated Miesha Tate in March to win the Strikeforce title and then defended it by stopping Sarah Kaufmann in August. She went on to become a celebrity of some note and was named UFC champion. Her first title defense is slated to be a main-event fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.
1. UFC 151 is the event that never was – Labor Day weekend was shaping up to be a big one in Las Vegas. But then Dan Henderson injured a knee and had to pull out of his light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones. White arranged for Chael Sonnen to take the match, but Jones declined to fight a new opponent, enraging White. Jones then went on to fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, which was really UFC 151, after Lyoto Machida turned down the chance.

There was great action in the cage in 2012, from Ronda Rousey winning the Strikeforce title to Tito Ortiz fighting the final fight of his Hall of Fame career, but it seemed that much of the notable news in 2012 wasn't about the fights. UFC president Dana White seemed to be updating an ever-growing injury list on an hourly basis. Here are the top five stories in MMA in 2012: – By Kevin Iole


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