The fight capitals of the world and the biggest fights to happen in them

July 8, 2023 ndowd

Las Vegas is the Fight Capital of the World. That title is undisputed.

Half a century ago, casino operators figured out that championship boxing would draw high rollers to ringside. And before and after the fights, to the gambling halls. Ever since, many of the sport’s biggest matches have played out under the neon glow of the Nevada desert.

And once mixed martial arts came along in the 1990s, its leading promotion, the UFC, built its headquarters in Vegas and has gone on to stage the majority of its most notable fights there.

This Saturday brings the latest major MMA event to Las Vegas, as UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena is headlined by a pair of championship bouts: Alexander Volkanovski defending the men’s featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez in the main event, and Brandon Moreno putting the men’s flyweight title on the line against Alexandre Pantoja in the co-main event.

UFC 290 (ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET) will serve as a fitting climax to the promotion’s annual International Fight Week, as Volkanovski is an Australian who trains primarily in New Zealand, Rodriguez and Moreno are from different regions of Mexico and Pantoja is Brazilian. The event also features fighters from South Africa, Argentina, Poland, Japan and the United States.

Both MMA and boxing are international sports, of course, and the stages on which the athletes perform are worldwide. Beyond Las Vegas, what are the biggest fight cities? Our ESPN combat sports team identified 10 that have led the way over the years in both boxing and MMA. And for each of them, we present the city’s greatest boxing match and greatest MMA fight.

Las Vegas

MMA: Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2 (watch the fight on ESPN+)
July 11, 2015, at MGM Grand Garden Arena

The most chilling moment in MMA history came at a juncture when no punches were being thrown. The horn had just sounded to end Round 4 of a violent UFC 189 welterweight title fight that had left both men bloodied, battered and nearly finished. As referee John McCarthy stepped between the fighters to send them back to their corners, Lawler and MacDonald just stood and stared at each other. Their exchange of icy glares at the center of the cage was instantly frozen in time as one of the sport’s most iconic images. After the combatants finally retreated to their corners to have the blood wiped from their faces and ice applied to their swollen noggins, they met again in the middle of the Octagon for the final round. It didn’t last long. A minute in, Lawler dropped a severely compromised MacDonald to retain his title in a fight that fans voted the greatest in UFC history. (Lawler, now 41, will be in a retirement fight against Niko Price on Saturday at UFC 290.)

Boxing: Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns
April 15, 1985, at Caesars Palace

Hagler was nearly five years into his surly, ferocious run as undisputed middleweight champion. Hearns was a super welterweight champ, confident his sledgehammer right hand could knock out a bigger man. Their collision resulted in the greatest three rounds in boxing history.

From the opening bell, Hagler went after Hearns and the challenger stood his ground, and in their very first flurry of punches, Hearns landed a right that stopped Hagler in his tracks momentarily and bloodied his face. But the champ resumed his assault, and by the end of the first round, Hagler was unloading. By the start of Round 3, Hearns had had enough of slugging it out and was using footwork and a sharp jab to keep the ever-advancing Hagler off of him. Then, a minute in, referee Richard Steele paused the action to have a doctor check out Hagler’s cut, which was leaking badly. After the fisticuffs were allowed to go on, Hagler immediately stepped up his urgency, recognizing that the bout could be called off at any moment. Within 30 seconds, an overhand right put Hearns on rubbery legs, and a 1-2 combo later, he was on his back. After witnessing nearly eight minutes of nonstop violence, boxing fans could finally exhale.

Miami

Boxing: Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Feb. 26, 1964, at Convention Hall in Miami Beach

The Greatest showed off his greatness. Four years after winning a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, the 22-year-old Clay entered his fight against the intimidating heavyweight champion as a 7-1 underdog. But Clay was unfazed, deriding Liston incessantly at every public appearance during the buildup. By fight night, Liston was enraged, charging out of his corner for Round 1, and Clay took advantage. Utilizing the fleet footwork and stinging jab that would make him famous, Clay made Liston miss again and again, landing his punches with increasing frequency until Liston quit on his stool after the sixth round. “I shook up the world!” Clay shouted amid the postfight bedlam in the ring. Within months of becoming champ, Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Cassius X, then Muhammad Ali.

MMA: Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez
Nov. 19, 2011, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood

The most impactful fights in Miami didn’t occur inside a boxing ring or MMA cage; they were the backyard throwdowns that made Kimbo Slice a YouTube sensation (and introduced the fight world to Jorge Masvidal). As for sanctioned fights, while last April’s Israel Adesanya knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 did occur in Miami (watch the fight on ESPN+), the South Florida area’s greatest MMA bout happened 20 miles north in Hollywood and in a different company’s cage. Chandler vs. Alvarez at Bellator 58 was an all-action classic in which both men had to survive deep trouble before Chandler took away the lightweight championship with a fourth-round choke-out. More than a decade later, this remains one of the most memorable displays of caged violence.

New York

MMA: Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Nov. 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden

The fight itself wasn’t even remotely competitive. McGregor schooled and frustrated Alvarez the whole way with his precise punches and strong command of distance. The evening was special, though, because McGregor made history at UFC 205, the promotion’s first event in New York City. By knocking out the lightweight champion midway through the second round, McGregor, who already owned the men’s featherweight title, became the first UFC champ to simultaneously own titles in two weight classes. Looking back upon it now, what also made this fight notable was that it displayed McGregor as a fighter at the height of his powers. It’s been mostly downhill for “The Notorious” ever since — other than in his bank account.

Boxing: Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali
March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden

It was billed as “The Fight of the Century,” and even that historic level of hype might have undersold the booming anticipation. This was the first time two undefeated boxers who either held the world heavyweight title (Frazier) or formerly held it (Ali had been stripped of it for refusing to join the U.S. armed forces) were meeting in a title bout. Celebrities lined ringside, among them Frank Sinatra, who had secured a press credential to shoot photos for Life magazine (one of his photos ended up on the cover). The fight lived up to the buzz, going back and forth for 15 rounds — just like the Garden crowd, alternating between “Ali! Ali!” chants and “Joe! Joe!” Frazier took control late, buckling Ali’s knees in the 11th round and knocking him down with a lunging left hook early in the 15th. That sewed up the decision for “Smokin’ Joe,” although Ali would get the better of their two later meetings.

Tokyo

Boxing: Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Feb. 11, 1990, at Tokyo Dome

Douglas was a 42-1 underdog at the rare sportsbook that would even take action on the fight. Tyson was such a wrecking machine — 37-0 with 33 knockouts, 17 of them in the first round — that the prevailing question here was not who would win but how long it would take “Iron Mike” to do so. But Douglas shockingly took the fight to the champ from the opening bell. His 12-inch reach advantage and swift footwork kept the aggressive Tyson off of him, and when they were in punching range, Douglas was the one who connected with more impact. Late in Round 8, though, Douglas found himself on his back after a desperate Tyson connected with a right uppercut. The challenger got to his feet just as the round ended. Tyson tried to finish in the ninth, but it was Douglas who did the most damage, closing the champ’s left eye. And in the 10th, a battered Tyson was knocked down for the first time in his career and could not beat the count. The unthinkable had happened.

MMA: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie
May 1, 2000, at Tokyo Dome

Japan was an MMA hotbed during the glory days of the Pride Fighting Championship, with many of the biggest events occurring at Saitama Super Arena, some 20 miles north of Tokyo. But Tokyo proper was the site of several important fight cards, starting with Pride 1 in 1997 and including 2002’s Pride Shockwave, which drew the biggest crowd in MMA history to Tokyo National Stadium. Pride announced the crowd at 91,000, although other reports estimated it to be 71,000. Either way, it was a record. But this bout between Sakuraba and Gracie at the Pride 2000 Grand Prix finals stands out because it ended up being the first career loss for the three-time UFC tournament winner. After Gracie insisted on special rules — unlimited 15-minute rounds, no judges, no referee stoppages — the fight wore on for 90 minutes until, with Gracie injured and unable to stand, his corner threw in the towel. Sakuraba had earlier defeated Gracie’s brother Royler and would go on to beat two more members of Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s royal family, Renzo and Ryan, so he became labeled as “The Gracie Hunter.”

Atlantic City, New Jersey

MMA: Randy Couture vs. Kevin Randleman
Nov. 17, 2000, at Etess Arena

Atlantic City was a welcoming place for the UFC’s early years, especially during a run of three events held there between late 2000 and the middle of 2001. The first was UFC 28, headlined by a heavyweight title bout where Randleman put his belt on the line against Couture, a former champ. Couture was taken down a couple of times by the two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ, but eventually the challenger turned a takedown of his own into a ground-and-pound finish. The victory gave Couture his second of three reigns as heavyweight champ; he also was a two-time light heavyweight titlist. No one has surpassed that. Also notable: This was the UFC’s final event in the United States before the sale to the Fertitta brothers and Dana White. And with the sport being sanctioned for the first time by the New Jersey State Athletic Board, these fight cards in Atlantic City led to implementing the unified rules of mixed martial arts.

Boxing: Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks (watch the fight on ESPN+)
June 27, 1988, at Convention Hall

Tyson was undefeated and owned all of the sanctioning bodies’ heavyweight titles. Spinks was undefeated and, three years after becoming the first reigning light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight title, was recognized as the lineal champ. Their highly anticipated clash became the richest in boxing history to that point, generating record ticket sales and pay-per-view revenue. Did the fans get their money’s worth? The fight ended in 91 seconds, making it one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts ever. But it essentially was over even before that. Under relentless attack by Tyson from the opening bell, Spinks took a knee one minute in after absorbing a body punch. When he stood back up, Tyson swarmed him, dodged a last-ditch Spinks right hand, and landed a vicious 1-2 combination that dropped Spinks for good.

Chicago

Boxing: Gene Tunney vs. Jack Dempsey 2 (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Sept. 22, 1927, at Soldier Field

This is known as “The Long Count Fight” because in Round 7, when Dempsey knocked down the heavyweight champion, referee Dave Barry delayed his count until Dempsey obeyed his order to go to a neutral corner. Grainy black-and-white video shows that Tunney was on the canvas for 14 seconds. However, he was crouched and staring at the ref for much of that time, suggesting that he could have stood up at any time. And yet the controversy has endured for a century, perhaps because Dempsey’s all-out aggression and seven-year reign as heavyweight champ had made him a wildly popular figure. After losing the title to Tunney in 1926, “The Manassa Mauler” returned a year later for this rematch, held before a crowd of 104,943. It generated the first $2 million gate in entertainment history. Tunney controlled the fight the whole way, except for those 14 seconds. Dempsey retired right afterward.

MMA: Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero 2 (watch the fight on ESPN+)
June 8, 2018, at United Center

Whittaker and Romero had met in 2017 for an interim UFC middleweight title, with Whittaker winning a fiery fight by decision to become the promotion’s first champion from Australia or New Zealand. A year later, Whittaker had been promoted to undisputed champ and was scheduled to defend his belt at UFC 225 in a rematch against Romero. The stakes changed a day before the fight when Romero missed weight and was declared ineligible to win the title. Despite that, the bout ended up being another classic. The champ controlled the first two rounds, but Romero knocked him down in the third and, while going for the finish, got staggered himself. Round 4 also saw each man get hurt, and while Romero got the best of the final round, he again couldn’t finish the job. Whittaker had his hand raised thanks to a tight split decision.

Montreal

MMA: Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Nov. 17, 2012, at Bell Centre

St-Pierre won back his UFC welterweight title in his hometown of Montreal with a 2008 mauling of Matt Serra, who had dethroned him a year earlier in one of the biggest upsets in a MMA title bout. GSP then went on to defend his belt three times at the Bell Centre, which was rocking each time he appeared. The most competitive of those title bouts was against Condit, who at the time was interim champ. Although St-Pierre was in command early, Condit dropped him in Round 3 with a head kick that silenced the pro-GSP crowd and put the champ in survival mode. But St-Pierre regained his equilibrium and got the crowd back to roaring its approval as he seized control of the fight and delivered a ground-and-pound beating on his way to winning by unanimous decision.

Boxing: Roberto Duran vs. Sugar Ray Leonard
June 20, 1980, at Olympic Stadium

Leonard had won a gold medal at the Summer Games four years earlier, right there at Olympic Stadium. He’d then turned pro and became an undefeated welterweight champion. But this night belonged to Duran, the ferocious former lightweight titlist. He pressured Leonard from the opening bell, giving the young champ no room to get his offense going and maintaining control throughout. He was on his way to capturing the belt via unanimous decision. Of course, the glory was short-lived for Duran, who, in a rematch five months later, quit midfight with his famously frustrated utterance of “No más.”

Mexico City

Boxing: Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Greg Haugen
Feb. 20, 1993, at Estadio Azteca

A record crowd of 136,274 packed the soccer stadium in the country’s capital to support a national hero in one of boxing history’s most bitter grudge matches. Chavez was 84-0, owned a super lightweight title and was widely considered the pound-for-pound best in boxing. But in the lead-up to this fight, Haugen dismissed all of the champ’s accomplishments, saying Chavez had built his pristine record by beating up “Tijuana taxi drivers that my mother could have knocked out.” Chavez took offense — and took it out on Haugen. Just 20 seconds into the fight, he dropped Haugen with a straight right hand. And while the challenger did manage to get up, what followed was a one-sided beating in which Chavez punished Hagen until referee Joe Cortez ended the brutality in Round 5. One wonders whether Haugen commiserated with the cab driver who delivered his beaten-down body back to his hotel.

MMA: Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez
June 13, 2015, at Arena Ciudad de Mexico

Velasquez, born in California to Mexican immigrants, was a hero in the land of his family’s origins. He was in his second reign as UFC heavyweight champion and was widely considered one of the greatest. But because of injury, Velasquez had not fought in a year and a half. Another factor that might have swayed this UFC 188 main event: Mexico City is 7,349 feet above sea level, and while Werdum had been training there for a month and was acclimated to the high altitude, Velasquez had arrived just two weeks ahead of fight night. The champ had his moments early, but in Round 3 he shot for a takedown and Werdum, a four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champ, clamped on a guillotine choke to elicit the quick tapout. This was his second submission win over an all-time great, as five years earlier Werdum had upset Fedor Emelianenko. What a nice 1-2. (Here’s more on MMA in Mexico.)

Melbourne, Australia

MMA: Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Nov. 15, 2015, at Etihad Stadium

Because of how her MMA run ended, with brutal knockout losses to Holm and then Amanda Nunes in fights in which Rousey looked sadly outclassed, it’s easy to forget the heights her career once reached. Heading into UFC 193, for which a then-record 56,214 packed the stadium, “Rowdy Ronda” was the sport’s biggest star and its most dominant champion. It wasn’t simply that Rousey was undefeated. Her three most recent victories had ended in 16 seconds, 14 seconds and 34 seconds. No wonder she was a 12-1 favorite on this night, despite Holm being a former three-division boxing champion. But right from the start, the challenger utilized deft footwork and stout takedown defense to keep the fight standing, allowing her to pepper Rousey with punches in a one-sided beatdown. The uber-confident champ was reduced to sloppy desperation until, early in the second round, a Holm head kick finished the annihilation.

Boxing: Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos Jr. (watch the fight on ESPN+)
June 5, 2022, at Marvel Stadium

Six months earlier, Kambosos had pulled off a massive upset of Teofimo Lopez to become a unified lightweight world champion. That gave the former Manny Pacquiao sparring partner from Sydney the sway to situate his first title defense in his home country, as Haney, who owned one 135-pound title, was willing to travel halfway around the world to get his hands on the other three. The crowd of 41,129 was strongly pro-Kambosos, but it was Haney’s night. The American was too elusive and precise with his jabs for Kambosos to get near him. A clear unanimous decision made Haney the first undisputed lightweight champion of the four-belt era.

London

Boxing: Randolph Turpin vs. Sugar Ray Robinson
July 10, 1951, at Earl’s Court Arena

Shortly after defeating Jake LaMotta for the fifth time to become middleweight champion, Robinson embarked on a tour of Europe with an entourage including a hairdresser and dance instructor. He also brought along his flamingo-pink Cadillac. In boxing history, the man often cited as its greatest fighter, pound for pound, enjoyed the good life. Robinson was scheduled for a series of fights across the continent — seven of them over six weeks — and London was the final stop. Turpin was not viewed as a serious challenge for the 129-1-2 Robinson, who was unbeaten in 92 fights since 1943. But what followed was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, as the fighter from the West Midlands of England earned a legitimate decision win. Sugar Ray would get the belt back two months later at the Polo Grounds in New York. But that did not erase the shock of that night.

MMA: Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva (watch the fight on ESPN+)
Feb. 27, 2016, at the O2 Arena

Bisping had long been England’s greatest MMA hope, but while he did win Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2006, his UFC career was missing something. Twice he had lost No. 1 contender bouts. Would Bisping ever get a shot at a belt? He was running out of time. But on the cusp of his 37th birthday, Bisping got the next-best thing: a date in the Octagon with the middleweight GOAT, former champ Anderson Silva. And the fight would take place in London, right down the M6 motorway from Bisping’s Manchester home. “The Count” rose to the occasion, twice knocking down Silva on the way to a decision win. There was one treacherous moment for him, when Bisping lost his mouthpiece and, while distracted by that, was crushed by a Silva knee to the chin just as Round 3 was ending. But Bisping recovered, had his hand raised — and three months later was finally a champion after taking a short-notice fight with Luke Rockhold and knocking him out. Legacy fulfilled.

Toughest omissions

Los Angeles and its environs: There’s no denying there’s fight history there, especially if you include the nearby communities of Carson, where boxing has thrived (Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez in 2008), and Anaheim, which has had several big MMA moments (Rousey winning the bantamweight title in the first UFC women’s fight in 2013). It came down to choosing two among L.A., Miami and Chicago, and those other two locales made a little more history.
Boston and Philadelphia: Both of these cities have produced big moments, particularly in old-time boxing (much like Chicago). Philly: Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952. Boston: Carmen Basilio vs. Tony DeMarco in ’55. But with New York and Atlantic City already on the list, including either of these might have been Northeast overkill. Same issue with Uncasville, Connecticut, which hosted the first Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward classic in 2002 as well as several big Bellator bouts.
Rio de Janeiro and one-combat-sport meccas: Rio and other cities in Brazil have been the site of some of the biggest fights in MMA history, but not so much boxing. Abu Dhabi is much the same, making its mark mostly in cage fighting. This was the issue for several places around the world that have figured prominently in one combat sport but not the other (Manila, for instance, has not produced an MMA thrilla).

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