In June, another title changed hands when Fabricio Werdum upset Cain Velasquez at UFC 188, capping off a wild first half of the year, but the craziness continued in July when Jose Aldo was forced out of his long-awaited showdown with Conor McGregor due to injury. In stepped Chad Mendes to take on McGregor for the interim featherweight title at UFC 189, but it was “The Notorious” one emerging victorious to earn his first UFC belt.
On the same card, Robbie Lawler successfully defended his welterweight crown with an instant classic against Rory MacDonald. And that weekend, the UFC Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 was inducted, with BJ Penn, Bas Rutten, Jeff Blatnick, and the fight between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg receiving their place with the MMA immortals, while the first of six Ultimate Fighters of 2015 was crowned, as future welterweight champion Kamaru Usman led the way, followed by Glaico Franca, Reginaldo Vieira, Erick Montano, Enrique Barzola and Ryan Hall.
Decades In Review: 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014
The summer of 2015 also marked the historic announcement of the UFC’s partnering with USADA to launch an historic and comprehensive anti-doping program, as well as the introduction of the promotion’s first Athlete Outfitting Policy and UFC Fight Kit in partnership with Reebok.
Back in the Octagon, at UFC 190 in August, Rousey needed just 34 seconds to knock out Bethe Correia, but little did anyone know that would be the bantamweight superstar’s last MMA win, as she suffered a shock knockout loss to Holly Holm three months later in front of a record crowd of 56,214 in Melbourne, Australia.
A lesser shock rattled the middleweight division when Luke Rockhold took Weidman’s middleweight belt at UFC 194 in December, but the big shocks returned within minutes of that bout when McGregor knocked out Aldo in just 13 seconds. Needless to say, McGregor’s win put him on top of the mountain as MMA’s reigning superstar heading into 2016.