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The UFC has already featured some explosive matchups this year, and with the promise of a return to full crowds at UFC 261 that precedent looks set to continue later this month.
Let's look at the A-Z of the UFC so far in 2021.
Not content with just the middleweight title, Israel Adesanya moved up to the light heavyweight division to attempt legendary ‘champ-champ’ status. Unfortunately, ‘The Last Stylebender’ had bitten off more than he could chew at UFC 259. He was beaten by Jan Blachowicz in what was his first loss inside the octagon.
Having impressively defeated Dominick Reyes to win the vacant light heavyweight championship in 2020, Jan Blachowicz successfully defended his title last month. A unanimous decision victory over an undefeated Israel Adesanya proved that this fighter is more than just Polish power.
Michael Chandler was signed by the UFC from Bellator in 2020, and served as a backup opponent at UFC 254. When the lightweight contender finally made his debut at UFC 257 earlier this year, he steamrolled Dan Hooker with a first-round technical knockout. Chandler will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 262 this coming May. If he wins, Chandler is on course to be a strong candidate for Fighter of the Year.
Disqualifications are rare in the UFC. The rarest DQ of all time took place at UFC 259 in March 2021. Whilst defending his bantamweight title, Petr Yan landed an illegal knee to the head of a grounded Aljamain Sterling. The Russian was subsequently disqualified and Sterling became the first fighter in UFC history to win a title fight via disqualification.
It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately for Belal Muhammad, so were Leon Edwards’ fingers. An accidental eye-poke resulted in a no-contest when the pair met last month in what was a disappointing end to the fight as Edwards had looked impressive throughout. He will meet Nate Diaz at UFC 262 in May.
Spectators have been noticeably absent from nearly all sports worldwide since March 2020, and the UFC has been no exception. However, this will end at UFC 261 on April 24th 2021, as the Jacksonville Arena in Florida will host a sold-out, full-capacity crowd of 15,000 fans.
With the spotlight heavily on Francis Ngannou and the UFC heavyweight division in 2021, Ciryl Gane is one of the most exciting contenders for the title. Coming into the year off the back of an impressive TKO victory over Junior dos Santos, Gane showed great maturity to defeat Jairzinho Rozenstruik on his first walk to the octagon in 2021. He remains undefeated in the octagon.
Winning five UFC fights inside 221 days made 2020 a great year for Kevin Holland. However, the ‘Trailblazer’ didn’t continue his streak in 2021. A fighter famed for talking to his opponents inside the octagon, ‘Big Mouth’ took it a bit too far when he fought Derek Brunson last month. Holland appeared to psyche himself out of the contest, losing by unanimous decision over five rounds.
He got a second chance when Darren Till broke his collarbone, stepping in as a late replacement against Marvin Vettori last weekend. Although Holland showed some positive signs [and talked much less], Vettori used his ground game to win via unanimous decision - capitalizing on a blueprint that Brunson had drawn up three weeks earlier.
Since ‘The Italian Dream’ Marvin Vettori lost via split-decision to Israel Adesanya in 2018, he has worked his way back up the UFC middleweight ranks. Vettori carried a four-fight win streak into his matchup with Kevin Holland last weekend, which included an impressive victory over Jack Hermansson in December 2020. Whilst he was expected to face Darren Till, Vettori still showed his quality against Kevin Holland, dominating over five rounds even though he only had nine days to prepare for a completely different fighting style.
Due to a pay dispute with Dana White, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones vacated his UFC light heavyweight title in August 2020. Jones had been looking for ‘Deontay Wilder money’ from the UFC for a potential matchup against then heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou.
The media attention dissipated somewhat until Francis Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 260 last month. Since then, an ongoing Twitter saga has developed between Jones and the UFC, with both sides playing chicken in order to gain a better financial position for a superfight with Ngannou this year. We wait with bated breath.
Having suffered a devastating viral spinning back kick knockout from Joaquin Buckley in 2020, last year was definitely one to forget for Impa Kasanganay. The decision to go down in weight has proved to be a masterstroke for the Florida native. Kasanganay looked brilliant in his UFC welterweight debut at UFC Vegas 23 on Saturday, defeating Sasha Palatnikov via rear-naked choke in the second round.
Since his loss to ‘Wonderboy’ Stephen Thompson in 2019, Vicente Luque has clocked up stoppages against Niko Price, Randy Brown, and last month at UFC 260, Tyron Woodley. Luque survived an early bull-rush from Woodley, before calmly picking his shots and eventually securing the submission win. He is leaping up the rankings in the welterweight division.
After a lengthy absence, Conor McGregor returned to the octagon in January 2020, annihilating Donald Cerrone with a TKO in the first round. McGregor had planned a ‘season’ of fights in 2021, starting with a Dustin Poirier rematch at UFC 257.
Mystic Mac predicted a first round knockout. The crystal ball must have needed cleaning as Poirier was the one with knockout power, crushing the Irishman in the second round. McGregor and his team had clearly overlooked Poirier, though it looks like ‘The Notorious’ will get a chance to redeem himself in a trilogy fight this July.
If the rest of the year follows suit, 2021 will be known as the start of the Francis Ngannou era in the UFC. ‘The Predator’ was crowned UFC heavyweight champion last month, avenging his 2018 loss to Stipe Miocic. Ngannou holds the world record for the ‘most powerful punch’, and it shows. The Cameroonian is now on an incredible five-fight win streak, all by knockout within the first two rounds. The champ is likely to fight Derrick Lewis in his first title defence this year, although UFC fans are hoping for a superfight with Jon Jones.
‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley went into 2021 undefeated - well, not officially, but in his opinion at least. He didn’t include his loss to Marlon Vera last year because he claimed it was a freak accident. Delusional or not, Sean O’Malley is an incredible fighter.
He showed off his unique skills again last month, when he defeated Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 - O’Malley could’ve finished the fight early on, but decided to bide his time and get the right ‘walk off’ knockout for his highlight reel. Love him or hate him, he is a true showman.
With wins from Arnold Allen and Jake Shore at UFC Vegas 23 last weekend, there seems to be a recent surge of young British MMA talent. Fresh from a dominating Cage Warriors performance against Davide Martinez, Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett has been signed by the UFC and looks to set the lightweight division alight.
Whether it is listening to Kevin Holland chatting to Khabib Nurmagomedov or hearing a Ford Escort zoom past as Francis Ngannou throws a right hand, the last 12 months have been eerily quiet inside the octagon. Although fighters have understandably needed to adjust to the absence of fans, hearing what advice each corner is screaming has at times provided a unique experience for fans.
Whilst Khabib Nurmagomedov flirted with retirement in mid-2020 after his father sadly passed away, it wasn’t until a few months later that the announcement was official. Fans are hopeful that Nurmagomedov will one day change his mind, perhaps even come back to fight the likes of Conor McGregor again or even Georges St Pierre, but for now at least it is a reality. Khabib was undefeated in the octagon and has now vacated his UFC lightweight title.
In a mere 28 seconds, Cory Sandhagen knocked out Frankie Edgar with a flying knee at UFC Vegas 18 in February. The highlight reel finish has led to Sandhagen being chosen to welcome former two-time UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw back to the UFC on May 8, 2021.
It has been an odd few years for Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in the UFC. He has suffered losses to Tyron Woodley, Darren Till and Anthony Pettis, but also claimed victories over Jorge Masvidal, Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal. While it was thought Thompson was snubbed by the UFC in favor of Nate Diaz [who faces Leon Edwards at UFC 262], he's now set to face welterweight contender Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 in July 2021.
Since he defeated Tyron Woodley to win the UFC welterweight title in 2019, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman has already successfully defended his belt three times. The most recent defense was an outstanding TKO victory over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258. Usman holds the longest welterweight win-streak in UFC history, currently at 13. He'll look to make it 14 in front of the fans at UFC 261, when he defends his championship against Jorge Masvidal for a second time.
In China it may be the year of the Ox, but it is the year of the snake in the UFC. A seven-year kit sponsorship deal with Reebok ended on this month, and now the reign of Venum begins. Marginal pay rises notwithstanding, the new apparel deal has been met with ambivalence, with many believing the new designs lack creativity, but there is time to rectify this in the future.
‘Don’t give your back or take a knee, don’t lose the fight now Woodle-y’. That was a short rap I just wrote for Tyron Woodley, UFC fighter turned rapper. Woodley lost to Vicente Luque at UFC 260, via submission in the first round. It's his fourth UFC loss in a row, and you get the feeling that his career is winding down. The former UFC welterweight champion will turn 39 this month, which is probably considered old in the rap game, let alone the octagon.
Randy Couture is a UFC legend and three-time UFC heavyweight champion. Since 2006 he has also done groundbreaking work outside the octagon with his gym, Xtreme Couture. The most recent stars on the roster are Miesha Tate and Francis Ngannou. There is no doubt that Xtreme Couture has played a significant role in ‘The Predator’ winning the UFC heavyweight championship.
He may have lost against Arnold Allen at UFC Vegas 23, but Sodiq Yusuff is a very exciting prospect in the UFC today. Originally featured on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018, Yusuff sported a four-fight UFC win streak before his loss last Saturday. The Nigerian-born featherweight is one to watch in the featherweight division.
When Zhang Weili defeated Jessica Andrade in 2019, she became the first Chinese UFC champion. She has since successfully defended her title against the durable Joanna Jedrzejczyk, in a fight considered to be 2020’s best bout by many media outlets. Weili is astonishingly currently undefeated in her last 20 MMA bouts. Fans will witness Weili's attempt to extend this run against Rose Namajunas at UFC 261 later this month.
