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2021 has been a banner year for the UFC, with tons of memorable events and fights. The likes of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou stood out in particular.
With a UFC event taking place almost every weekend in 2021, there have been plenty of overlooked, but great fights, as well as the more memorable ones.
Some of these fights have been overlooked purely because they came on the undercard of an event with a bigger headliner, while others have been overlooked because they didn’t involve major UFC stars.
Despite that, these fights are well worth watching, particularly for those UFC fans who didn’t catch them the first time around.
With that in mind, here are five UFC fights from 2021 that deserved more attention.
#5. Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza – UFC Fight Night 189
Prior to 2021, the last time we’d seen Santiago Ponzinibbio in action in the UFC was way back in November 2018. ‘The Argentine Dagger’ knocked out Neil Magny to put himself into UFC welterweight title contention. Following that, injuries sidelined him for the best part of three years.
Upon his return this year, Ponzinibbio was knocked out by Li Jingliang. So when the UFC matched him with up-and-comer Miguel Baeza at UFC Fight Night 189 in June, it felt like the promotion was using his spot as a fading former contender to build ‘Caramel Thunder’.
Early in the fight, it looked like that was exactly what would happen. Baeza took the fight to the Argentine in the first round, using a series of kicks to break him down. It looked like the bout wouldn’t last all that long.
However, in the second round, Ponzinibbio came roaring back, deciding to throw caution to the wind and wade in with wild punches that forced ‘Caramel Thunder’ to go on the defensive. What ensued was a back-and-forth brawl, with both men landing huge blows on one another. It was anyone’s guess how they remained standing.
The fight was punctuated by a huge shot from Ponzinibbio that knocked out Baeza’s mouthpiece, a moment that may well have swung the decision in his favor.
Basically, this was an instant classic, but while it took the event’s Fight of the Night award, it’s largely been forgotten since. That's probably because it was followed a week later by a major event headlined by UFC superstar and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
#4. Billy Quarantillo vs. Shane Burgos – UFC 268
UFC 268 was one of 2021’s most stacked shows, featuring two title bouts, as well as one of the year’s most highly anticipated fights between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler.
However, while Chandler vs. Gaethje delivered in spades, producing an instant classic that was probably better than UFC fans were hoping, it also ended up overshadowing one of 2021’s best fights in the process.
The fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden didn’t seem to care about the featherweight clash between Shane Burgos and Billy Quarantillo, but more fool them. This was a hell of a fight that deserved far more plaudits than it got.
Both men came in looking to strike. Despite Burgos in particular having his back to the wall after two losses, they threw caution to the wind and simply exchanged wildly in the centre of the octagon.
In the end, it was Burgos who came out on top, largely thanks to a series of heavy low kicks that damaged Quarantillo’s leg and left him unable to really deliver his best offense.
However, neither man looked like a loser in the end, raising their stock substantially. While UFC 268’s stacked nature meant that the fight was largely overlooked, it certainly deserved more attention from the fans than it got.
#3. Adrian Yanez vs. Randy Costa – UFC on ESPN 27
With three wins to his name this year, Adrian Yanez will undoubtedly be remembered as one of 2021’s breakout stars in the UFC. However, his best fight and his toughest challenge came against Randy Costa in July.
The fight was largely overlooked at the time, largely due to it being the main card opener on a somewhat under-the-radar show. However, it was undoubtedly one of the year’s best clashes.
Despite Costa having far less fanfare behind him, he was the early aggressor, coming out with some seriously sharp boxing skills that surprised Yanez and left him on the retreat. By the midway point of the opening round, Yanez was left bloodied by Costa’s punches and also appeared to be struggling with his opponent’s work to the body, too.
However, despite taking a beating, the Texan was undeterred. After having blood wiped from him before the second round began, he simply started walking Costa down, ignoring his offense in the process.
Within moments, Yanez had established a nasty jab, forcing Costa onto his back foot. From there, he chained combinations together until ‘The Zohan’ could simply take no more. Costa wilted under the abuse and referee Chris Tognoni rescued him midway through the round.
This fight was absolutely phenomenal, earning Yanez a well-deserved $50k performance bonus. Months later, it still deserves more attention than it got at the time.
#2. Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell – UFC 263
UFC 263 turned out to be one of 2021’s more memorable cards, featuring a main event between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori, an incredible UFC flyweight title bout and the big return of Nate Diaz.
All of that meant that one of 2021’s better fights went overlooked on the prelim card, as lightweights Brad Riddell and Drew Dober threw down in an exciting clash that went the distance.
There were always high hopes for this fight coming in, as Dober had been responsible for a number of the UFC’s wilder fights in recent years. Meanwhile, Riddell was coming off a trio of impressive wins using his nasty kickboxing game.
Despite Dober hurting Riddell early in the first round with his heavy hands, it would be ‘Quake’ who came out on top here, largely beating Dober to the punch with his superior technique. The native of New Zealand even landed some takedowns at points.
Of course, Dober was never fully out of the fight, as he continued to fire back at Riddell for all three rounds, making this bout a wildly exciting brawl.
Despite UFC 263 being such a stacked card, the two lightweights were rewarded for their efforts with the Fight of the Night bonus, even if their bout ended up being overlooked due to the crazy bouts later in the event.
#1. Merab Dvalishvili vs. Marlon Moraes – UFC 266
UFC 266 was probably responsible for the best UFC fight of 2021 overall, as UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and top contender Brian Ortega put on a five-round war that was instantly recognized as a classic.
However, despite also featuring incredible bouts involving the likes of Valentina Shevchenko and Nick Diaz, the fight that deserved more attention than it got was undoubtedly the bantamweight clash between Merab Dvalishvili and Marlon Moraes.
There was a lot at stake in the bout. Dvalishvili was looking to take the final step to the elite level at 135 pounds, while Moraes had his back to the wall after suffering two losses in a row.
Early on, it looked like ‘Magic’ would be able to get back on track. He took the fight to his Georgian opponent by dropping him with a brutal combination that looked to have him done. Somehow, ‘The Machine’ was able to survive, but when Moraes hurt him again, it looked only a matter of time before the fight would be stopped.
Incredibly, though, Dvalishvili was able to secure a takedown. From there, despite suffering serious damage, he turned the table and landed a series of bombs that hurt Moraes, allowing him to end the round on top.
The second round saw Dvalishvili pick up where he left off. After he was able to secure another takedown, he simply beat the hell out of Moraes until referee Keith Peterson had no option but to stop the fight.
The performance earned Dvalishvili a $50k bonus and a spot in the bantamweight top 10. Due to the incredible action that followed later at UFC 266, this classic bout was quickly and unfairly forgotten.
