50 of the biggest dream UFC match-ups
35. Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Nate or Nick Diaz
Jason “Mayhem” Miller and both Nick and Nate Diaz have all been under UFC contract at one time or another, but there was once a point in Strikeforce where a feud between these two sides was at a boiling point. Following Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields’ win at Strikeforce: Nashville in 2010, Miller entered the cage and asked for a rematch with Shields. Shields and Gilbert Melendez, both teammates of the Diaz brothers, shoved “Mayhem” before a major brawl ensued. A bout never came to fruition in either Strikeforce or the UFC, but if it did, imagine all the pre-fight drama and imagine all the bad blood there’d be in that cage.
34. Georges St-Pierre vs. Tyron Woodley
Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title reign was one for the record books, and he goes down as one of the greatest (if not the absolute greatest) welterweight champion in UFC history. Tyron Woodley’s title reign may not have been as popular with the fans, but he showed through his four successful title defenses that maybe he also deserves a place among the UFC’s best champions at 170 pounds. According to Woodley, he’s wanted to face GSP but he claims the Canadian fighter has shot him down more than once. Coincidentally, Woodley and GSP have done some training together as of late. With Woodley having power in his striking and expert wrestling, and GSP’s ability to adapt to whatever fight is going on, one has to wonder which of these two would come out on top in a battle of 170 greats.
33. Cain Velasquez vs. Tito Ortiz
Cain Velasquez vs. Tito Ortiz presents a battle of two of the greatest athletes of Mexican descent to ever step foot inside the Octagon. Velasquez, who wears his Mexican pride on his chest, was once the big face of the UFC’s heavyweight division, and he’s one of just a handful of fighters to both have successfully made at least two defenses of the heavyweight championship and have two reigns as champion. Likewise, Ortiz, who has carried a mixed Mexican and American flag in his ring walk, could be considered perhaps the greatest light heavyweight of the UFC’s classic days, defending the title five times and having wars with the likes of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin and Ken and Frank Shamrock. Ortiz never competed at heavyweight outside of his forgettable 2018 trilogy bout with Liddell, but it would have been interesting to see how well Ortiz would have fared at heavyweight in his prime.
32. Dominick Cruz vs. TJ Dillashaw 2
Dominick Cruz was at one point the most dominant bantamweight in the world, and it looked like he’d be the face of the division for as long as possible when it was brought over from the WEC to the UFC. But Cruz’s career would be constantly halted by injuries; meanwhile, TJ Dillashaw defeated Renan Barao in the 2014 Upset of the Year to win the UFC bantamweight title and start his reign as the face of the division. It all led to Dillashaw and Cruz facing off for the title in January 2016, and Cruz edging Dillashaw out in a split decision to regain the championship in an epic career comeback. A rematch could have been possible after their respective wins that summer, but Cruz ended up dropping the belt to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 and injuries have stopped his career once more — and Dillashaw and Garbrandt went on to feud for the title in a highly-heated rivalry. With such a close bout in their first meeting, and both men laying claim to the greatest 135-pound UFC fighter, it seems we can only dream of a rematch ever taking place.
31. Amanda Nunes vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
With her champ-champ status and dominating wins over the likes of Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes is considered to be the face of women’s MMA today — and perhaps the greatest female MMA fighter of all time. If she has such status, it’s only natural to think about how well she’d do against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was in her own dominant run over a UFC division when Nunes originally won the bantamweight belt at UFC 200.