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There’s no disputing that 2022 has been a great year for the UFC, with a number of classic events, fights and upsets taking place. However, not everything has gone to plan for the promotion.
Over the course of 2022, there have been a number of major letdowns in the UFC, with fans left disappointed by the promotion and its fighters for numerous reasons.
There’s a chance that some of these letdowns could be corrected in 2023, but unfortunately, when it comes to a handful of them, it’s far too late.
Here are the five biggest letdowns in the UFC in 2022.
#5. Rose Namajunas’ UFC strawweight title bout with Carla Esparza fails to impress
For the most part, 2022’s UFC title bouts were fantastic. We were treated to some huge upsets, some brutal finishes, and in the form of Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira, a true all-time classic five-round war.
However, the one title bout that completely failed to deliver the goods came in May, when reigning strawweight champion Rose Namajunas defended her crown against top contender Carla Esparza.
The clash had a ready-made storyline coming in, as Esparza had defeated Namajunas to claim the division’s inaugural title back in 2014. Nobody imagined that it could turn out to be a damp squib. After all, ‘Thug Rose’ had cultivated a reputation for being one of the promotion’s most exciting fighters to watch.
Unfortunately, the five-round fight turned out to be a truly awful one. Namajunas simply seemed off her game and failed to push the fight at all, often refusing to engage entirely. Esparza managed to land a couple of takedowns in the middle rounds, but also did very little in terms of meaningful offense.
In the end, ‘Cookie Monster’ picked up a decision win, but hardly earned any new fans, while Namajunas seemed to have damaged her legacy entirely with her listless performance.
Sure, fans criticized Israel Adesanya’s one-sided wins over Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier, but those fights were outright classics compared to this one.
#4. The UFC fail to sort things out with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou
It’s always frustrating when the UFC seems to fall out with one of its biggest stars, resulting in that star spending a largely pointless stint on the shelf. It’s even worse when that star is a reigning champion, meaning the promotion’s spat with heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou has to rank as one of the biggest letdowns of 2022.
Fans last saw ‘The Predator’ in action in January, when he overcame the challenge of interim champion Ciryl Gane, edging him via decision.
To be fair, it’s unlikely we would’ve seen Ngannou fight again in 2022 anyway, as he headed directly into serious knee surgery following his win over Gane. However, the fact that he still hasn’t settled his issue with Dana White and company is hugely disappointing.
‘The Predator’ has been at odds with the promotion ever since they decided to crown an interim champion in 2021 rather than wait for him to be ready to fight.
More importantly, he hasn’t been willing to sign a new deal with them, and seems dead set on his demand to be allowed to box professionally – something the UFC are very unlikely to acquiesce to.
If things can’t get settled soon, Ngannou may well become the first reigning champion since B.J. Penn to walk away from the promotion, as his contract is officially up in January – although the UFC does have a matching clause that could see him remain with them.
Regardless, the fact that the world’s biggest MMA promotion has found itself at odds with one of its champions again is a huge frustration for the fans, and definitely counts as one of the biggest letdowns of 2022.
#3. Jiri Prochazka’s UFC light heavyweight title reign ends with a whimper
One of the most exciting fights of 2022 saw Jiri Prochazka dig deep to overcome Glover Teixeira, making him the new UFC light heavyweight champion.
Unsurprisingly, the promotion opted to book an immediate rematch between the two, and the bout was all set to headline this weekend’s UFC 282 pay-per-view.
However, in late November, it was announced that not only was Prochazka not going to be able to fight in the rematch, but he was also going to be forced to vacate his title.
Later reports then confirmed the reason for this decision. ‘Denisa’ had suffered a devastating shoulder injury, described by Dana White as one of the worst in MMA history. According to these reports, it’d be at least six months before the Czech native would be able to fight again.
To call this a letdown would be an understatement. Not only was the rematch with Teixeira one of 2022’s most highly-anticipated fights, but there were also high hopes for Prochazka’s title reign as a whole. After all, his first three fights in the octagon produced absolute fireworks.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know how great of a champion he could’ve been – and whether he’ll be the same upon his return is a question mark, too. Sure, it’ll be cool to see Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev for the vacant title, but for Prochazka’s brief reign to end with such a whimper was still disappointing.
#2. The last-minute changes to the card at UFC 279
The most controversial pay-per-view of 2022 was undoubtedly September’s UFC 279. The event was initially supposed to be headlined by a welterweight bout between rising star Khamzat Chimaev and aging legend Nate Diaz – a controversial choice in itself.
Many fans felt that the promotion was simply sacrificing Diaz, who was on the last fight of his contract, to build up the reputation of their new star. That seemed a little unfair.
Despite this, plenty of fans were also looking forward to the clash, as it felt like one of the biggest fights of 2022. More importantly, it also felt like an opportunity for Diaz to hit back at the promotion on his way out by knocking off their new star.
However, things became more controversial when it came to weigh-in time. Remarkably, Chimaev didn’t even come close to making the welterweight limit, instead coming in at 178.5 pounds.
Within hours, it became clear that Diaz was never going to accept a fight with an opponent who, seemingly, hadn’t even intended to make weight.
With the card up in the air, the UFC somehow managed to salvage things by switching three other fights up, leaving Diaz to face Tony Ferguson, Chimaev to face Kevin Holland, and Li Jingliang to take on Daniel Rodriguez, as both men had lost their original opponents.
In the end, the card delivered plenty of excellent action and both Chimaev and Diaz won their fights, but it still felt like a letdown of sorts. Diaz vs. Chimaev could’ve been one of the wildest fights in some time, and to be teased with it, only for it not to happen, was massively disappointing.
#1. Neither Jon Jones or Conor McGregor manage to return to the UFC
Whether you love or hate them, there’s no denying that Conor McGregor and Jon Jones are two of the UFC’s biggest-ever stars. Therefore, it stands to reason that the biggest letdown of 2022 was the fact that neither man managed to enter the octagon.
Admittedly, it was always unlikely that McGregor would manage to fight this year. Despite teasing a comeback on more than one occasion, he only suffered a badly broken leg in the summer of 2021, an injury that was always going to take time to heal.
However, the fact that ‘The Notorious’ was forced to miss an entire year of action was still a massive letdown.
More disappointing was the fact that, despite stating he was ready for his heavyweight debut on numerous occasions, Jon Jones failed to return to action.
Quite where ‘Bones’ stands with the UFC right now is somewhat of a mystery. After seemingly being at a financial impasse with the promotion for the past couple of years, things seem to have gone quiet on that front, suggesting he’s back in the fold.
However, there have been no concrete reports of his return, despite Jones himself recently claiming he was ready to compete at UFC 282.
Whether or not Jones or McGregor compete in 2023 remains to be seen, but it’s fair to say that 2022 was a poorer year for their absence.
