Ant Evans

The sun set behind the Seibu Dome baseball stadium in Tokorozawa, Japan, on Aug. 27, 2000. It had been a long time coming, but the violent evening of a day that dawned 92 years earlier was finally here. More than 39,000 fans packed out the stands and the infield, trusting that their national defender, Kazushi Sakuraba, could finally finish off the family many of their countrymen and countrywomen had come to fear and loathe for literal generations.

Unless you count hanging out with Michael Bisping and Rampage Jackson in nightclubs, the most rewarding experience of my 13 years working with the UFC was rebuilding the UFC Hall of Fame. I’m especially proud of the Fight Wing, which is an acknowledgement that, in MMA, any two fighters — together — on any night, can drag greatness out of each other.

Conor McGregor has not fought in the UFC since 2021. Who knows if he ever will again? (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) (Jeff Bottari via Getty Images) Late Saturday night, UFC CEO Dana White finally commented on the fact that Conor McGregor, the biggest draw in company history, was found liable by a jury of his peers in a case where a woman claimed to have been “brutally raped and battered” by the UFC fighter in a Dublin hotel room six years ago.