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Five-round fights have become increasingly important in the last several years. While championship bouts have always been scheduled for five five-minute rounds under the unified rules, Pride Fighting Championships’ title fights ran for a 10-minute opening round followed by two five-minute rounds; non-title main events in the Ultimate Fighting Championship were always three rounds. That changed in November 2011, as the UFC moved to make all main events five rounds, beginning with UFC 138.

Elite MMA, between two high-level fighters, should always be five rounds. There is less variance and less likelihood of one fighter grinding out a boring decision, while amazing things tend to happen when you put two accomplished competitors in the cage for two extra rounds. The game changes when elite fighters layer their approach from round to round, using the early frames to set up things that will only come into play later in the bout.

These 10 fights, as chosen and voted on by the Sherdog.com staff, demonstrate precisely why that is, with a cornucopia of back-and-forth action and excitement. Any fight that made it to the fourth round was eligible for inclusion. Pride title fights and pre-unified rules UFC bouts were excluded.

Number 10 » Couture vs. Rizzo