Michael Hoolickin, 27, suffered multiple stab wounds in a fracas between a group of men and women on 14 October in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
Timothy Deakin, 21, of Lever Street, Heywood, denied murder but was found guilty by a jury at Bolton Crown Court.
He was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years.
Deakin was also sentenced to three years for wounding and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, which he had also denied, and 12 months for assault, which are to be served concurrently.
The 21-year-old admitted the assault charge.
After sentencing Mr Hoolickin's family said: "Michael was much loved by all his family and friends and had his whole life ahead of him."
The family said he was taken away in "completely unnecessary circumstances".
"We cannot express how devastated we are that his life has been stolen from him.
"Today his killer has been sentenced and justice has been served."
His family added: "We can try to repair our heartache although no matter how long the sentence is, it will not bring Michael back or make our loss any easier."

Antonsson scored 22 goals in 40 league games for Kalmar after signing from Halmstads in January 2015.
The 25-year-old is Leeds head coach Garry Monk's first signing since replacing Steve Evans on 2 June.
"He scores goals, has great movement and he has the mentality to be able to adapt to this league," Monk said.
"The club has watched a lot of him, I've watched a lot of him and I felt he'd be a good fit for Leeds United."
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For 10 days from 29 April 1945, Operation Manna dropped nearly 7,000 tonnes of food over The Netherlands.
The country had lost 20,000 people through starvation, with a further 980,000 classed as malnourished.
The bulbs were donated by the Dutch government to the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC).
A ceremony at the cathedral to unveil the mosaic was attended by representatives from The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Germany and the US.
Bomber Command veterans also met with some who had been helped by the campaign.
Nicky Barr, from the IBCC, an education facility being built in Lincoln, said Operation Manna was the difference between "people living or dying".
The mission followed a blockade of supplies by German forces in retaliation for Dutch rail companies going on strike in support of an Allied offensive, she said.
The winter of 1944/45 was also particularly harsh, compounding the problem of food shortages.
David Fellows, who flew missions from RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire as part of Operation Manna, said: "We used to go across to Holland every fifth year and we used to get hugs from young children who would say 'thank you for saving my grandmother', but to meet some of the people who were there at the time is highly emotional."
Recalling the missions, he said: "We knew there were thousands of Dutch people dying - and they were in dire straits."
He said despite concerns the Germans "could open fire on us, the RAF being the RAF took the decision to fly anyway".
He added he was proud to have been part of such an important campaign.
A man has been given life imprisonment for murdering a man in a mass street brawl.
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Championship club Leeds United have signed striker Marcus Antonsson from Swedish top-flight side Kalmar on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
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A floral mosaic showing a Lancaster bomber dropping food supplies in Nazi-occupied Holland has been unveiled at Lincoln Cathedral.