5 best UFC events of 2021

#4. UFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2 at Madison Square Garden, New York City

The UFC’s return to the most iconic arena in the history of combat sports, Madison Square Garden, gave fans a night to remember.

The prelims produced six straight finishes, all of which came inside the first two rounds. Chris Barnett and Chris Curtis produced sensational knockouts despite being betting underdogs. Promotional debutants Ian Garry and Alex Pereira made huge statements of intent with their respective knockouts. MMA veteran Bobby Green and rising middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov also secured KO/TKO victories in the prelims.

The main card started with a bang as the crowd in attendance witnessed one of the best fights of the year. Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler went to war for three full rounds. While Gaethje controlled the pace of the fight in the last two rounds, the first will go down in history as one of the greatest single rounds ever. ‘The Highlight’ came out on top with a unanimous decision victory.

The next two bouts saw another barnburner of a fight between Shane Burgos and Billy Quarantillo, as well as an incredible front-kick knockout by Marlon Vera. Burgos emerged victorious following a decision-win, while Vera secured a third-round KO victory over former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

Fan-favorite Rose Namajunas took on Zhang Weili in the co-main event. The duo had locked horns earlier in the year in Jacksonville, Florida, where ‘Thug Rose’ knocked out her Chinese foe in the first round with a head-kick. The rematch at Madison Square Garden was a tactical affair, with Namajunas coming away with a split-decision victory.

The main event saw Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington run it back, almost two years after their first fight in 2019. Usman secured a TKO victory over Covington in their first bout, but it was an incredibly competitive fight until the finish.

In the rematch, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ further solidified his status as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world with a unanimous decision victory over ‘Chaos’, who briefly paid his respects to the champion moments after the five-round war.

The UFC's return to Madison Square Garden was certainly a night to remember.

---

#3. UFC 267: Blachowicz vs. Texeira at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

With UFC 267 and UFC 268 going down on back-to-back weekends, the majority of the hype was surrounding the latter considering the name value on the respective main cards. However, the former will go down as one of the best events of the year for hardcore MMA fans.

The main card kicked off with a dominant performance by light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. The former established himself as a real threat to the title, and is likely just a few fights away from fighting for the belt.

The next bout produced perhaps the best performance of the night as rising star Khamzat Chimaev broke into the welterweight rankings with an incredible win over Li Jingliang. The Chechen phenom choked out his Chinese counterpart inside the first round and followed it up with a terrifyingly entertaining post-fight interview.

Islam Makhachev made his way into the top 5 in the lightweight rankings with a seemingly effortless outing against Dan Hooker. The Russian took down the Kiwi in the very first round and successfully secured a kimura submission. Makhachev barely broke a sweat in the fight and called for a title shot in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.

The co-main event saw Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen battle it out for interim gold in a five-round war. The duo produced one of the best fights of the year, with Yan coming out on top. The Russian won via unanimous decision to set up a rematch between himself and the bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.

Light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and No.1 contender Glover Texeira locked horns in the main event, with the latter producing one of the most inspiring performances in MMA history. Texeira dominated Blachowicz in the first round and sunk in a rear-naked choke in the second to win the belt.

Despite being the underdog, the 42-year-old Brazilian emerged victorious and produced one of the most memorable feel-good moments of the year.