MMA has a reputation for often being able to deliver the fights the fans want at a higher clip than most combat sports. This reputation is not entirely deserved because there are certainly some all-time great matchups that could have been made, but weren’t.
We will only be looking at fights that could have potentially been made – prime Georges St-Pierre versus prime Robbie Lawler is a potentially interesting fight but chronologically could never have occurred.
Neither will this be a discussion as to whether a fight would have been more interesting if one fighter had been in better condition, such as if Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been a much more interesting opponent for Jon Jones had he been more like his 2005 self.