A look back on MMA in 2023: Francis Ngannou, Dana White and merger madness among top storylines

The fight game is not for the faint of heart. It’s true of the television product but even more true of the business. Mixed martial arts is festering with shady people and practices. Still, UFC fighters put on inspiring heroics in a year where the bad repeatedly reared its ugly head.

MMA fighters produce a unique kind of magic. A brew of dedication, defiance and execution. Watching the cream rise to the top was a remedy for MMA’s more maligned moments. Morally absent fight promotion, fighter mistreatment and a fatiguing matchmaking philosophy spoiled the year, but there was plenty to celebrate.

Let’s take a look back at the best and worst MMA moments of 2023. We’ll be excluding topics like Islam Makhachev’s banner year and Israel Adesanya’s remarkable comeback against Alex Pereira highlighted in our 2023 Fighter of the Year and 2023 Knockout of the Year pieces, respectively.

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Dana White power slaps his wife to zero repercussions

UFC president Dana White slapped his wife but did not receive any tangible punishment. The year started rocky as news emerged of Dana White and his wife, Anna White, engaging in a physical altercation on New Year’s Eve in Mexico. In the video, Anna White appeared to strike Dana White before the UFC boss retaliated with multiple strikes. Look, no one should be hitting anyone. She should not have hit him. He should not have hit her. Not all acts of physical aggression are equal. The aftermath was almost as disappointing as the initial incident. TMZ broke the news by allowing White to get ahead of it with an immediate statement. No punishment was handed down to White by his superiors as far as the public was concerned. If nothing else, you’d think that slapping his wife would impact White’s planned “Power Slap” television program. It’d be in poor taste. Nope. The show’s premiere was delayed for one week. That’s it. UFC spent the remainder of the year smacking fans over the head with a product they didn’t want or ask for.

Trash talk hits an all-time low

Put a hot microphone in front of fighters and you will hear something distasteful. It’s only natural when bitter rivals are asked to promote their fistfight. But 2023 witnessed some truly vile rhetoric. Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s delayed feud was built on the philosophical nuances of, “Who is the true African?” It was gross given the continent’s racial issues and Apartheid in South Africa. And that was arguably Du Plessis’ second-messiest feud this year. “DDP” capped off 2023 by getting into a cage-side brawl with middleweight champion Sean Strickland after their press conference a day earlier featured everything from homophobia to child abuse. That press conference took place one day after Colby Covington said that Leon Edwards’ father was rotting in hell with Adolf Hitler. “Where is the line?” was a recurring question this year for fans who are just interested in the competition. Ask White and he’ll tell you there is no line where he’ll interfere.

Francis Ngannou bets big and wins everything in defeat

If Ngannou fumbled a bag it’s because he has too many to carry. Ngannou sent shockwaves through combat sports when he defected from UFC, vacating his heavyweight title in favor of free agency. It was a decision that split fans: some celebrated his bravery and others labeled him a fool. Ngannou refused to bend to UFC’s notoriously restrictive contracts. That was admirable but you couldn’t help and wonder if he overplayed his hand. He did not. Ngannou signed a lucrative, flexible contract with PFL that allowed him to box — a point of impasse with UFC. 

It was a celebration when Ngannou stepped into a boxing ring across from WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Simply being in that ring validated a young Cameroonian man scratching and crawling his way from poverty to generational wealth. What followed was an all-time shocker. Ngannou knocked down Fury in Round 3 and fought admirably to a split decision loss. Ngannou — in his professional boxing debut — nearly bested arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer alive. The narrative about Ngannou’s future shifted from absence to abundance. The question was no longer who could he even fight but instead which lucrative offer to take. The financial victories were few but ferocious for free agents like Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz this year. Ngannou went all-in on himself in 2023. Now the world is in his mighty hands heading into 2024.

Merger Mania: Night 1

WrestleMania weekend was made even bigger by the rumors of an impending merger involving WWE and UFC’s parent company Endeavor. Three months later, Endeavor officially launched TKO Group Holdings. TKO opened on the New York Stock Exchange with a market value of $21.4 billion and an executive board including Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, Vince McMahon and White. It was another year of big business for Endeavor while the debate about fighter pay raged on. One month after the TKO rumors started, financial statements filed by Endeavor highlighted just how much money the UFC was making relative to its athletes. The UFC reportedly generated $1.14 billion in revenue last year, according to Bloody Elbow, while fighter revenue share dropped to 13%. It was reportedly the most lucrative year for any combat sports promoter and a year where UFC made more money than all other MMA and boxing promoters combined. TKO is a mighty entity, but a UFC antitrust lawsuit scheduled for April could shake the industry.

Merger Mania: Night 2

A scrappy underdog is looking to take a bite out of UFC’s market share. The Professional Fighters League started the year hot after acquiring Ngannou and Jake Paul for future MMA fights. PFL couldn’t maintain the momentum between a pedestrian playoff series and morally flawed punishments handed down to close friends Nathan Schulte and Raush Manfio for their subpar fight. But the rising promotion made another powerplay in November after finalizing its long-rumored acquisition of Bellator. The decision to continue operating Bellator as a separate entity in the short term is questionable, but there is a lot to love about the merger. PFL has more buzz and is top-heavy with its drawing power. Bellator has greater roster depth. There is an intriguing PFL vs. Bellator champions card on the horizon and enough star power to give the UFC a run for their money for one night.

UFC, USADA partnership implodes

2023’s most unexpected feud might just be UFC vs. USADA. The United States Anti-Doping Agency was pivotal to UFC’s early efforts seeking state regulation. Since then, some analysts felt the program had overstayed its welcome. There were questions about USADA’s effectiveness and how its overreaching ruined the careers of Josh Barnett and Tom Lawlor, among others. The relationship between UFC and USADA appeared to be strong until it imploded in October. USADA CEO Travis Tygart released a statement suggesting that UFC was rushing Conor McGregor’s return by circumventing testing requirements. The fallout was ugly and immediate. White accused USADA of “scumbag” behavior and UFC threatened litigation. Their working relationship officially ends on Jan. 1. UFC will work with Drug Free Sport International moving forward. UFC also set up a third-party system to handle punishments, raising questions about impartiality. You can read a full breakdown of the UFC-USADA fallout by clicking here.

UFC gold changes hands in eight divisions

It was a year of celebration for many of UFC’s top fighters. Eight of the promotion’s 12 divisions saw a change in leadership. Jon Jones reinforced his already rock-solid Mount Rushmore status by capturing the UFC heavyweight championship. Jones, despite a three-year layoff, ran right over Ciryl Gane to win his second divisional title in a matter of minutes at UFC 285. Earlier that evening, Alexa Grasso shocked the world by submitting six-to-one favorite Valentina Shevchenko to win the women’s flyweight title. Strickland was an even bigger underdog when he defeated Adesanya at UFC 293. Adesanya had only just recaptured the middleweight title from Alex Pereira, the latter of whom moved up to light heavyweight and won that vacant belt at UFC 295. Sean O’Malley scored a thunderous KO of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 reminiscent of McGregor’s defining win against Jose Aldo. Alexandre Pantoja showed remarkable durability in a Fight of the Year contender against Brandon Moreno to win the flyweight title.

The other divisions that experienced change are currently absent a titleholder. Two-division champion Amanda Nunes retired from MMA after successfully defending her 135-pound belt against Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Nunes relinquished both the women’s bantamweight and women’s featherweight titles that evening. It was a warm send-off, a rare treat in a sport where so many heroes go out on their backs. Nunes joined rare company alongside Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov as retiring champions. The moment was made even sweeter by the distinction that Nunes is the only fighter to retire as a reigning champ in two divisions.