2021 in MMA - A Most Violent Year

2021 was an especially wild year for mixed martial arts filled with WTF moments and shocking finishes

It's been a while folks - thanks to COVID, I've been out of commission for the past month and I even missed writing up the year-end annual MMA awards.

Instead, today I bring you a piece I had been working on before the holidays that compiles all of the crazy and violent moments that happened in the wild world of MMA in 2021.

Looking back on last year, one can't help but be amazed at just what we've seen unfold in the beautiful and crazy sport we call mixed martial arts. MMA has always delivered violent finishes, epic fights, bizarre coincidences, and plenty of drama over the years, but 2021 seems to have been a particularly eventful year.

The sheer amount of moments seen over the last year that make your jaw drop is simply staggering when you look over what's happened in the sport - from Conor McGregor getting smashed before breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier to Kamaru Usman's starching of Jorge Masvidal, from seeing a five-time BJJ World Championship winner get tapped out by a fighter that goes by the name "Fluffy" to seeing Demetrious Johnson get knocked out over in ONE FC, 2021 has been absolute chaos.

The fights and events are organized below into the month in which they occurred, and as always, make sure to click on the links if you want to see plenty of GIFs.

January

UFC debuts on ABC and delivers family-unfriendly violence, Max Holloway channels Ali

The first card of 2021 in the sport's biggest promotion marked the first time that the UFC was ever broadcast on ABC (which is also owned by ESPN parent company Disney). The channel is normally known as a family-friendly network, yet on this night, they saw nothing but pure violence on the main card, and some absolutely stunning results.

The main card opened with an absolute slobberknocker as Punehele Soriano put an end to Dusko Todorovic's undefeated run in vicious fashion.

Then came Joaquin Buckley, who was coming off of a crazy 2020 in the UFC in which he had lost in his debut to Kevin Holland, then scored the knockout of the year in his next outing and followed it up with another vicious KO in November. He was heavily favoured in a match-up against Alessio Di Chirico, who was riding a three fight losing streak and had just one finish in his eight UFC appearances.

To everyone's astonishment, Di Chirico landed a crippling head kick just midway into the opening frame that completely killed Buckley's hype train in an instant and saw Buckley on another highlight reel - just not his own.

The main event saw Max Holloway deliver an absolutely sensational and dominant five round beatdown over the incredibly tough Calvin Kattar. The epic fight saw Holloway land absurd amounts of damage on Kattar, regularly landing extended videogame-esque ultra combos and rocking his victim on multiple occasions, yet somehow Calvin managed to survive to see the final bell. The beatdown saw Holloway set the new UFC record (which he also previously held) with an astounding 445 strikes landed over the course of 25 minutes.

In the closing moments of the one-sided beatdown, Holloway took the opportunity to proclaim his boxing superiority to the commentary booth, taking his eyes off of his opponent before landing a solid right hand. He continued yelling to the commentators and looking away from Kattar even as he dodged multiple punches from his opponent in a display of bravado that would make the great Muhammad Ali proud.

Michael Chandler makes his UFC debut in style

Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler made his highly anticipated debut at UFC 257 against top ten UFC staple Dan Hooker. Hooker was expected to be a tough test for the UFC newcomer, but Chandler quite literally walked through his opponent and once again showcased his nasty punching power and explosive athleticism.

The win saw Chandler earn himself a title shot after just a single UFC fight.

Dustin Poirier puts Conor McGregor down

UFC 257 marked the highly anticipated return of Conor McGregor to the Octagon after having fought just once in the last two years against a withered Cowboy Cerrone. In a rematch nearly six years in the making, McGregor once again squared off with Dustin Poirier; McGregor had previously finished Poirier in the opening round of their first meeting down at featherweight.

Surprisingly, McGregor was rather subdued in the leadup to their rematch, taking a much more respectful approach to his well-liked opponent. When it came time to step into the cage however, both men came out swinging. McGregor took the close first round thanks to his trademark power punches, but Poirier landed plenty of shots of his own and chopped away at McGregor's heavy lead leg with thudding calf kicks.

In the second, as he regularly does, Conor began to slow down and the brutal calf kicks began to take their toll on the fading Irishman. A solid counter and another chopping leg kick wobbled the compromised McGregor, inspiring the "Diamond" to unload on his prey, tagging the former champ with vicious hooks and uppercuts against the fence before McGregor eventually crumpled to the canvas in defeat.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in January:

Manon Fiorot TKOs Victoria Leonardo

Umar Nurmagomedov (Khabib's cousin) chokes Sergey Morozov out cold

Warlley Alves smashes Mounir Lazzez's gut

Ike Villaneuva knocks Vinicius Moreira dead

Marina Rodriguez shocks top prospect Amanda Ribas, Herb Dean lets her get beat on more

Makhmud Muradov TKOs Andrew Sanchez with an ultra combo

February

Cory Sandhagen sends Frankie Edgar to the Netherrealm

Cory Sandhagen has cemented himself as one of the best bantamweights on the planet and is certainly no stranger to exciting finishes - when he stepped into the Octagon to face Frankie Edgar he was coming off a wheel kick KO of former title challenger Marlon Moraes in 2020 after all.

Known for his ridiculous toughness and heart, Edgar had only been stopped by strikes on two occasions, both coming in recent years up at featherweight and both had also occurred in fights Edgar took on short notice. While Sandhagen came in as the favourite against the former lightweight champ, nobody expected Edgar to go down within the first thirty seconds of their fight.

Yet go down he did. It took Sandhagen just 28 seconds to dispatch the legendary New Jersey fighter, a flying knee from hell separating Edgar from the world of the living. The extremely sudden and violent finish was as incredible as it was unsettling to watch for MMA fans who had seen Edgar compete in the Octagon for the better part of two decades and now saw him lay motionless facedown on the canvas.

"Fluffy" Hernandez Submits a Five-Time World BJJ Champion

Rodolfo Vieira is as decorated in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as one can possibly get. He won the World BJJ Championships five times, won the BJJ World Cup seven times, and won gold at the revered Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championships. To say the Brazilian grappler's foray into mixed martial arts carried some hype was an understatement, and heading into UFC 258, he already sported a 7-0 record with a 100% finishing rate (six by submission) including two submissions in the UFC.

Standing opposite the hulking grappling sensation was Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez, an 8-2 (1NC) fighter who arguably sported a much less imposing 2-2 record in the UFC (one of his wins was overturned to a No Contest because he tested positive for marijuana, so I'm calling that a win here). He had also previously been submitted in 2019 by Markus Perez, and was coming off a 39 second TKO loss to Kevin Holland.

It should be any easy sub for the BJJ ace, right?

Early on, it sure looked that way as the shredded Brazilian threw his seemingly overmatched prey to the canvas and went to work. Unlike Vieira's other opponents however, Hernandez was defending very well, getting himself out of submission attempts and forcing the bigger man to constantly work to get him down and to keep him there. Fluffy not only survived the first round, but near the end of the first he even managed to rock the already clearly exhausted Vieira on the feet.

In the second, Hernandez flipped the script entirely and began beating down Rodolfo, forcing him into a sloppy desperation takedown attempt. Once there, Fluffy teased a D'Arce choke before transitioning into an arm-in guillotine and shockingly, he forced Vieira to tap. The stunning upset was complete and the submission loss marked the first time an ADCC gold medalist had ever been submitted in the UFC - said gold medalists had a combined record of 77-43-0-1 in the UFC at the time, showing just how insane it was to see such a high level BJJ artist tap inside the Octagon.

Kamaru Usman gets stunned by Burns early, then scores a finish of his own

After racking up a ridiculous 12-0 record in the UFC and two title defenses which included a thrilling back and forth war with Colby Covington and a shutout over the surging Jorge Masvidal, Kamaru Usman was all but confirmed as the next long-standing champion in the welterweight division.

That narrative nearly collapsed early in UFC 258's main event however, as dangerous contender Gilbert "Durinho" Burns cracked the champion in one of the opening exchanges with a huge right hand that had Usman reeling. Usman did his best to avoid further punishment, and a missed kick caused Burns to slip to the canvas - wanting to avoid Burns' renowned BJJ game, Usman instead kicked away at Burns' legs and stayed just close enough to stop Burns from getting up, stalling the action and allowing him to recover while Durinho's opportunity to shock the world dwindled.

When it did return to the feet however, Burns was still enjoying quite the advantage, and it seemed like Usman's title may still have been up for grabs.

In the second however, Usman's stunning jab began to piece Burns up and a big right hand wobbled the hungry challenger. Though he did his best to fight back, he clearly never recovered and was later dropped by a jab, narrowly surviving the second stanza before ultimately getting dropped again early in the third and finished by the champion.

Derrick Lewis lands an uppercut from hell on Curtis Blaydes

After injuries and back-to-back losses had many believing fan-favourite Derrick Lewis' time with the elite of the heavyweight division was over, the "Black Beast" turned things around and picked up three straight wins. The streak saw him pitted against elite contender Curtis Blaydes, who himself was riding an impressive four fight win streak and whose only losses in his career had been to heavyweight king Francis Ngannou.

The dominant wrestler was a heavy favourite over the wild brawler Lewis, who fought a measured first round that saw him largely outstruck by Blaydes. Early in the second round however, Lewis found what he had been setting up all night - a picture perfect uppercut.

The Black Beast perfectly timed a takedown attempt from Blaydes and before he even knew what hit him "Razor" was out cold on the canvas, his title shots dashed by one of the most spectacular knockouts of the year.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in February:

Ode Osbourne catches both Jerome Rivera's kick and a body

Alexander Volkov unceremoniously ends Alistair Overeem's UFC tenure

Julian Marquez submits Maki Pitolo following one hell of a firefight

Aiemann Zahabi starches Drako Rodriguez with a right hand

Julian Erosa goes HAM on Nate Landwehr and finishes him with a flying knee

John Castanada stops Eddie Wineland with a barrage of punches

Chris Daukhaus tees off on Aleksei Oleinik for the TKO win

Ronnie Lawrence nearly KOs Vince Cachero with a trip, then stops him with punches

March

Petr Yan dominates Aljamain Sterling only to lose his title for being...too violent

Petr Yan's defense of his bantamweight title against streaking contender Aljamain Sterling was the first of three title fights at UFC 259, and their fight was a banger for four rounds it lasted.

Aljo came out firing with tons of volume on the notoriously slow starter in Yan, landing the occasional big shot amidst flurries that largely did little (if any) damage to the champion. When Yan started firing back in the final two minutes of the round however, things started going downhill for the challenger.

After getting rocked and taken down, the fight shifted heavily into Yan's favour, the champion picking up steam and punishing Sterling as the challenger's brisk early pace coupled with Yan's caused him to fatigue early. Though he still had his moments, Sterling began to be largely dominated by the champion, and as the rounds passed by, it seemed like fans were destined to see Yan retain his title by a wide decision - if Sterling even managed to survive.

At the end of the fourth round, Yan was absolutely pummeling his challenger, at one point leaning on Sterling as he squatted in the middle of the Octagon, one knee clearly down on the canvas. It was at this point that Yan decided "You know what would work great here? A knee!".

The incredibly illegal strike would end up seeing Aljamain crowned as "champion" after Yan was disqualified, but the weirdness didn't end there. Though the knee was no doubt illegal and was very powerful, Sterling decided to play it up to a ridiculous degree, plainly acting as if he were dying and relinquishing any sympathy he would have had given that he in fact was illegally kneed - he followed that up by claiming the fight was very close before the knee (it wasn't) and that Yan wanted out, celebrated with the belt as if he had actually earned it, and then took an optional surgery to pull out of the immediate rematch.

What a weird, delightful sport MMA is.

Grant Dawson scores a buzzer beater comeback KO

Leonardo Santos has long been considered a darkhorse in the lightweight division. Despite now being 41 years old, Santos came into his fight against prospect Grant Dawson on a 13-fight unbeaten streak. The last time the BJJ wizard and improving striker lost was way back in 2009, although injuries caused significant lulls in activity during his career.

The Brazilian standout looked well on his way to extending his winning streak as he outmaneuvered the far younger 27 year old for the better part of three rounds. As the seconds ticked away in the final stanza and Dawson tried in vain to score a finish, it was all but confirmed Santos would cruise to a decision win over the youngster. Yet in the waning moments of the third, Santos lazily looked for a leglock and left his head completely open.

Dawson didn't think twice and sent hammer fists from hell crashing into Santos' chin, knocking the veteran out mere moments before the final bell. Dawson's killer instinct scored him a massive comeback and erased all of the work Santos had done up to that point - and reset Leonardo's unbeaten streak with just a single second remaining on the official clock.

Francis Ngannou claims the heavyweight throne

2018 was supposed to be Francis Ngannou's year - having a ten fight win streak with his only loss coming in just his second pro fight and every victory coming via finish, Ngannou was seen as the scariest heavyweight on the planet. When he stepped up to challenge Stipe Miocic for his crown at UFC 220 however, his lack of wrestling and cardio was badly exposed as he tired after expending all his gas in the opening stanza and proceeded to be battered for the next four rounds.

A dismal loss to Derrick Lewis followed, a fight which saw Ngannou completely refuse to engage - it appeared as if the setback to Stipe broke the Cameroon native and many wrote him off as yet another failed heavyweight prospect.

Four first round knockouts later (the lengthiest of which was just 71 seconds), Ngannou was back to challenge Miocic once more. But this time, he promised, he was prepared for Stipe's wrestling and to fight a smarter fight than he had in his first title shot.

Still, with how dominant Stipe had been in their first meeting, many were picking the champ to once again defeat the heavy handed challenger. As the fight began at UFC 260 however, it soon became apparent that Ngannou wasn't lying about the improvements he made.

Not only was Ngannou staying calm and composed, landing heavy shots on the outside and avoiding wasting energy on taxing blitzes on the champ, but he was also easily stuffing Stipe's takedown attempts and getting back to the middle of the Octagon each time, something he was completely incapable of doing back in 2018 when they first met.

Early in the second round, Ngannou landed a devastating jab that dropped the champ and started off a barrage of strikes that hurt Miocic; pressing forward, Ngannou then ran into Stipe's trademark right counter. Instead of hurting him however, it merely reminded Ngannou that he needed to stay patient, so he reset himself in the middle of the cage. Mistaking Ngannou's pause for weakness, Stipe charged only to run himself right into a left hook that ended his second championship reign in brutal fashion.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in March

Trevin Jones lands the "smash punch" to stop Mario Bautista

Uros Medic goes off on Aalon Cruz

Amanda Lemos dominates Livia Renata Souza, stops her in the first

Kennedy Nzechkwu bounces back from the brink of defeat to starch Carlos Ulberg

Kai Kara-France faceplants Rogerio Bontorin

Amanda Nunes rocks Megan Anderson early, then gets her in a triangle to defend her crown

Matthew Semelsberger flattens Jason Witt in just 16 seconds

Charles Jourdain mauls Marcelo Rojo's midsection

Eryk Anders beats on Darren Stewart, then earns an NC for copying Petr Yan

Dwight Grant puts Jonathan Martinez down with a left hook

Dan Ige flatlines Gavin Tucker in just 22 seconds

Ryan Spann TKOs Misha Cirkunov in 71 seconds

Bruno Silva absolutely mauls JP Buys, sits him down with a right hand

Montel Jackson drops and finishes Jess Strader

Tai Tuivasa steamrolls Harry Hunsucker

Adrian Yanez dominates, then faceplants Gustavo Lopez

Max Griffin starches Song Kenan in the first

Jamie Mullarkey smashes Khama Worthy in 46 seconds

Thomas Almedia survives Sean O'Malley's early onslaught, gets murked for it later

Vicente Luque rocks and rocks Tyron Woodley, finishes with his trademark D'Arce choke

April

Demetrious Johnson gets finished in ONE FC

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson may not have been the most popular fighter in the UFC, but if there's one thing he was known for, it was dominating his competition.

By the time he was famously traded to ONE FC in 2018, his record stood at 27-3-1 with two of his losses coming up at bantamweight - he had defended his flyweight title a record eleven consecutive times and dominated the division for years, losing his title in an extremely controversial decision to rival Henry Cejudo. In ONE FC, he similarly dominated his opposition, going 3-0 in 2019 to win ONE's flyweight Grand Prix.

Though Johnson won the Grand Prix, ONE still had a separate flyweight champion - the 18-3 Adriano Moraes. The two wouldn't square up in 2020 however due to the COVID situation in Singapore - instead, Moraes put his title on the line in 2021 against the flyweight GOAT.

The fight started off competitive, but in the second round, MMA fans around the world were shocked to see Demetrious Johnson get knocked out cold.

After a frenetic exchange, Johnson dropped down for a double leg only to fall directly into the path of a nasty uppercut from Moraes. The shot put the former flyweight king on the canvas and in his attempt at getting up, he was then smashed back down by a brutal knee to the head (which is perfectly legal on the ground over in ONE FC), with several more shots putting Johnson out. The finish was as shocking as it was brutal, and given Moraes had just three prior KOs on his ledger, it's safe to say no one saw the upset coming in that fashion.

Jeremy Stephens delivers the first KO via...push?

This mishap didn't occur in an actual fight, but it deserves mentioning because it is absolutely bizarre and purely MMA.

Longtime UFC staple Jeremy Stephens was slated to return to the lightweight division to square off with Drakkar Klose at UFC on ESPN 22: Whittaker vs. Gastelum in April. Everything was going according to plan as the two made weight the day before their scheduled meeting - it was in the post-weigh-in staredowns that things went awry.

The two squared off and it appeared that Klose was saying something to the ill-tempered Stephens - something that Stephens apparently didn't appreciate. And so "Lil Heathen" shoved Drakkar with the strength of a thousand men, sending Drakkar flying backward and nearly killing him in the process.

Well, not exactly - but the mighty shove was enough to apparently injure Klose, causing a cervical sprain and even a concussion that forced him to withdraw from the bout and for the UFC to institute new rules around fighters putting their hands on other fighters pre-fight night.

Considering he's now winless in his last five outings (disregarding a 15 second No Contest via being eye poked), Stephens may not have much to be proud of in the last few years, but he can at least lay claim to having the most devastating pushing power in all of MMA.

Clay Collard spoils Anthony Pettis' PFL debut

Though the former UFC lightweight champion has certainly seen better days, he remains one of the most recognizable names in the sport, which is why many were surprised when the UFC let him walk from the promotion and instead sign with the PFL.

No doubt the allure of a possible $1 million payday for winning the PFL "playoffs" was a big motivating factor for Pettis' move, and although he ended his UFC career on a 6-8 downturn, his losses were to top flight competition and he ended his run with the promotion with two straight wins over Cowboy Cerrone and Alex Morono. Many fans expected him to do well with the PFL - but being matched up with Clay Collard, who sports a high-volume boxing style (he went 9-6 as a pro boxer, though he made a name for himself for upsetting multiple prospects), hardcore fans salivated at the betting lines given Collard's heavy underdog status.

It didn't take long for those hardcore fans to be proven right as Collard picked Pettis apart in the early going, his volume and body-punching in particular giving Pettis fits. In the second round, the competitive scrap turned into a one-sided beatdown as Collard dropped Pettis not once, but twice with body shots to turn in a dominant 10-8 round. Pettis did show signs of life however - in the third, with his back against the wall and in desperate need of a finish, "Showtime" landed a flush head kick followed by an insane flying knee that nearly scored him a comeback KO, but ultimately his decision to follow Collard to the mat allowed Collard to hang on and secure a decision victory. Pettis would follow up this epic scrap with a close decision loss in his next outing in June, making him 0-2 in his new home.

UFC 261 delivers heaping helping of violence

UFC 261 was an absolutely stacked card that featured three title fights and a litany of exciting matchups. It was made even better by the fact it took place in the free state of Florida, bringing with it a full crowd of over 15,000 fans in a return to pre-covid norms.

The first fight of the night was certainly bolstered by the crowd as Ariane Carnelossi and Na Liang went to war from the opening bell - in the second however, Carnelossi really took over and eventually TKOd the Chinese prospect.

Other highlights on the preliminary portion of the card included Danaa Batgerel stopping Kevin Natividad in just 50 seconds after a flush left hook landed early, Brendan Allen scoring a rare ankle lock submission on Karl Roberson, and Randy Brown dropping Alex "Cowboy" Oliveira before locking up a rear-naked choke for the tap.

The main card unfortunately opened with some very odd and devastating injuries - first, Jimmy Crute's leg was shut down after Anthony Smith scored with several dreaded calf kicks, although that didn't stop Crute from taking Smith down (twice) on essentially one leg. Despite having no lasting damage (the kick can shut down the nerves in the lower leg which causes the instability, but it goes away in a few minutes), the doctor waved off the fight between rounds, much to Crute's dismay. And then came a real devastating injury...

Chris Weidman shatters his leg

It is a sight that no one likes to see - a fighter falling down after throwing a leg kick that is checked, their shin bones snapped in half with their lower leg flopping around as if their bones were turned to rubber.

The very rare injury occurred just moments into a fight between former middleweight champion Chris Weidman and his old opponent Uriah Hall, who he had previously knocked out over a decade prior. After slamming his shin into Hall's knee, Weidman tried to step back only for his now broken leg to give out from under him, folding in half like a cheap lawn chair.

The grotesque injury snapped (no pun intended) any hopes Weidman had of building momentum toward another title shot as he lay writhing in pain on the Octagon floor. It was a brutal sight to see, but it was made utterly bizarre when you realize that just three such injuries had occurred in the UFC up to that time - and Chris was involved in two of them, with Anderson Silva having famously snapped his own leg on Weidman's knee back in 2013.

Valentina Shevchenko reaffirms her dominance over the flyweight division

It's not often anymore that anyone goes into a fight with Shevchenko and doesn't find herself staring at astronomical 10:1 or higher odds for the champ, but Jessica Andrade had solidified herself as one of the best and most powerful female fighters on the planet at strawweight and had previously fought up as high as bantamweight.

After a close split decision loss to former (and future) champ Rose Namajunas, Andrade opted to move up to 125 and immediately announced her presence in the division by easily stopping top contender Kaitlyn Chookagian in the first round. Her sheer power and strength had some believing she would be a stiff test for the dominant flyweight queen (though Valentina was still nearly a five to one favourite).

Unfortunately for Andrade, she was outclassed from the second she stepped into the cage. Shevchenko effortlessly avoided her power and picked her apart at range, and to the surprise of some, taking Andrade down at will where she easily handled and eventually pounded out the Brazilian via a mounted crucifix in the second round.

Rose Namajunas unseats China's champion

Former strawweight champion Rose "Better Dead than Red" Namajunas took on Zhang Weili in the co-main event of UFC 261, and for many the fight was as close to a pick-em fight as one could get. Would Rose's sniping long-range style and size advantage carry her to victory? Or would Weili's strength and power overwhelm the American challenger?

Before the fight ever really entered its second gear, Rose Namajunas ended Weili's title reign with a perfectly placed lead high kick that sent the champion to the canvas. A few follow up shots and Zhang was out cold, and Rose became the first female to become a two-time champion in a division.

Zhang later blamed the crowd booing her (and many in the media called it racist...lol) for the loss, but I'd say the loss was more to do with the fact that Rose kicked her in the face.

Kamaru Usman silences his critics by starching Jorge Masvidal

There were a lot of people that picked Kamaru Usman to successfully defend his title in his rematch with Jorge Masvidal - after all, he had dominated Jorge for 25 minutes not long ago, short notice or not. No one however thought that Usman would knock Masvidal out on the feet, and I mean no one.

And yet, Usman did what many thought was impossible.

After a close first round, Masvidal seemed to be getting comfortable in the second, playing around with the champion on the feet. That comfort however would be his own undoing.

Usman fully committed to a right staight early in the second stanza, barrelling right through Masvidal and turning his chin as he lazily attempted a check hook. A few follow up shots later, Masvidal was out cold and the champion who had previously been known for being a "boring" fighter had just knocked out his last two challengers.

The knockout marked the first time since way back in 2008 that the incredibly tough Masvidal was knocked out - Rodrigo Damm scored the only other stoppage by strikes Masvidal ever suffered, and it was via the exact same punch Usman would land 13 years later.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in April

Patricio Pitbull Freire chokes out Emmanuel Sanchez after a two punch combo

Diana Avsaragova lamps Tara Graff

Jarjis Danho lamps Yorgan De Castro after a five year layoff

Mateusz Gamrot ices Scott Holtzman with a right hand

Julian Marquez drops Sam Alvey in a slobberknocker, chokes him out cold in the second

Paul Daley finishes Sabah Homasi following a stand-up war

Tony Gravely finishes Anthony Birchak with a left hook

Gerald Meerschaert chokes Bartosz Fabinski out cold

Brendan Loughnane lamps Sheymon Moraes

Cezar Ferreira folds Nick Roehrick

May

Jiri Prochazka becomes the top light heavyweight contender in vicious fashion

Jiri Prochazka was an exciting new addition to the UFC's light heavyweight division when he was signed in 2020, and he immediately made a splash by viciously knocking out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir last July. Having already been seasoned by his time in Rizin, fearsome finisher Prochazka now touted an impressive 27-3-1 record with just a single decision on his resume.

Although fans hopes were certainly high on the newcomer, he took on a tall task for next outing - Dominick Reyes. Although Reyes was coming off a surprising loss to Jan Blachowicz, he had arguably defeated Jon Jones in his prior bout and was the top contender in the division.

But Jiri gave zero fucks who he had in front of him.

From the moment the opening bell rang Jiri was in Reyes' face, throwing bombs and pressuring with an aggression bordering on recklessness. Both men traded haymakers in wild exchanges, with both of the talented strikers being rocked at several points in the first and then the second round. But Prochazka's relentless assault began taking its toll on "The Devastator" and the momentum swayed to Jiri's side. And then he left no doubt in anyone's mind - there was a new #1 contender in town.

Late in the second, Prochazka crashed into Reyes against the cage with an elbow that was blocked by Dominick's guard - instead of clinching or backing off however, Jiri stepped through and spun to deliver a brutal spinning back elbow to Reyes' chin that left the former title challenger lifeless on the canvas. The savage finish solidified Prochazka's claim to a title shot and capped off a wonderfully violent scrap by the two 205-pounders.

Fabricio Werdum scores a submission, gets knocked out in PFL debut

Fabricio Werdum was the second former UFC champion to make their PFL debut this year, and unlike the first, the heavyweight great had early success thanks to a tight triangle choke that made his opponent Renan Ferreira tap out in the first round...unfortunately for Werdum, the referee didn't see it and Ferreira decided to fight out of it instead, hammering Werdum from the top with ground and pound until he let go of the submission and was subsequently TKOd.

The fight was pure MMA in its strangeness and we'll never know if Ferreira got out of the triangle through his ground and pound or if the tap made Werdum let up on the submission enough for Ferreira to escape. The result was later overturned to a No Contest by the commission given the tap, but due to injuries sustained in the bout Werdum didn't compete again in the PFL in 2021. Not exactly the great start in a new chapter of his career he was surely hoping for.

Anthony Rumble Johnson comes back...in a fight?

After four years away from the sport, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson returned to MMA, this time inside the Bellator cage. Originally slated to fight another former UFC powerhouse in Yoel Romero, a medical issue forced Romero out and instead Rumble took on the unknown Jose Augusto.

Now Anthony Johnson scoring a second round knockout isn't exactly surprising, but what is surprising is the fact that in the first round, Rumble was dropped and rocked badly by a left hook and nearly saw himself finished.

A notorious frontrunner, Johnson has never come back from being hurt or losing badly to win a fight - he is a fighter that has been known to "find ways to lose" when the going gets tough, so seeing him actually fight through adversity and mount a comeback is one of the most shocking turn of events of the year.

Andre Muniz snaps Jacare's arm

There aren't many people in the world that have anywhere near the accomplishments Ronaldo Jacare Souza has in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The man has eight world BJJ championship gold medals to his name, was an ADCC champion, and even had his arm broken by Demian Maia in a jiu-jitsu match yet gutted it out and won on points. Though he was riding a three fight losing streak heading into 2021, the 26-9 former Strikeforce champion had never been submitted in competition throughout his lengthy combat sports career.

Enter Andre Muniz. Despite having none of the credentials on the ground, the imposing middleweight is a wizard on the mat and unlike virtually all of Jacare's other opponents, actually wanted to face Souza on the ground.

Taking his back while trying to take the 41 year old down, Muniz climbed up as Jacare tried to throw him off, and it was here that he transitioned to an extremely unique armbar. Even with all of his grappling prowess, Jacare was unable to defend and had his upper arm snapped in half in the process - showing his toughness, even after his arm was broken in two, Souza never tapped and instead the ref stepped in to save his arm from further damage.

It is always shocking to see a grappler of Jacare's caliber be submitted let alone injured in the process, but with Rodolfo Vieira being tapped out earlier this year, 2021 was the year of BJJ legends being taken out by fresh young talent.

Edson Barboza batters Shane Burgos en route to a delayed reaction KO

There was a lot to love about the main card opener at UFC 262 - renowned striker Edson Barboza squared off with pure action fighter Shane Burgos and the two threw down from the opening bell, pitting Burgos' volume-heavy boxing against Barboza's sublime kickboxing.

As time wore on however, it soon became the Barboza show - while Burgos showed ridiculous amounts of toughness, Barboza was simply picking him apart, landing combinations at will and chewing him up with his trademark leg and body kicks.

Early in the third many fans were questioning just how long Burgos would be able to survive the onslaught, when all of a sudden, his body said "no mas".

Barboza landed a solid right hand, one of many he had landed in the fight. Burgos seemed to take it without issue, until about two seconds later - all of a sudden he began retreating on unsteady legs, falling into the fence and falling unconscious just moments later. It was an absolutely bizarre finish that had many worried about Shane's health - typically, when a fighter loses consciousness after receiving blows to the head (but not right away as they're struck), it indicates severe brain trauma or even a bleed in the brain. Luckily, Burgos was fine and instead it simply registers as an odd delayed-reaction knockout for the great Edson Barboza.

Charlie Olives comes back from the brink of defeat to capture UFC lightweight gold

Charles Oliveira has certainly taken the long way to UFC gold - the young Brazilian entered the UFC as an elite submission threat, but always seemed to stumble against top competition (as well as weight issues when he fought at featherweight). Though he recorded plenty of submissions and was always an exciting addition to any event, by 2017 he had a 10-8 record in the UFC with all but one of his losses (and just one of his wins) coming via stoppage.

He wasn't exactly seen as championship material anymore, and was also known for having questionable heart when things weren't going his way, particularly in his reaction to getting hit at times. But then he turned things around - bringing his striking up to the caliber of his ground game, Oliveira became a truly well-rounded threat while doubling down on his grappling prowess. Four straight submission victories followed, breaking and extending the most submissions in UFC history record in the process - then came back to back knockout victories that showed just how dangerous the Brazilian was on his feet.

With a submission over Kevin Lee and a dominant blowout of former interim champ Tony Ferguson, Oliveira secured a crack at the now-vacant lightweight crown in the wake of Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement. He would square off with former Bellator champ Michael Chandler, who was coming off a starching of Dan Hooker in his UFC debut.

Oliveira looked strong early, getting Chandler to the ground and dominating him in his domain. Midway through the round however, Chandler found a way up and soon after landed one of his trademark blitzes, dropping "Do Bronx" to all fours and nearly knocking him out in the process. Chandler landed bombs on top and had he been facing the Oliveira of old, he surely would have had UFC gold wrapped around his waist that night.

But Oliveira found a way to survive the hellacious beating he suffered at the end of the round, regrouped in his corner, and came out with a newfound sense of urgency to start round two. It took him just 19 seconds to walk Chandler down, land a beautiful left hook to drop the American, and finish him with a vicious barrage of strikes. And he did it all after surviving a brutal beating in the opening round - not bad for a guy previously called out for quitting by his opponent.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in May

Giga Chikadze scores a finish via "Giga kick" on Cub Swanson

Johnny Eblen mauls Daniel Madrid

Alex Morono rocks and stops Donald Cowboy Cerrone

Andrea Lee secures a nasty triangle choke/armbar on Antonina Shevchenko

Jordan Wright mauls Jamie Pickett...and has to keep doing so for quite some time

Bruno Silva knocks out Victor Rodriguez in 60 seconds

Ben Rothwell rocks then chokes out Chris Barnett

Cris Cyborg batters Leslie Smith for a fifth-round knockout

Carla Esparza batters Yan Xiaonan

June

Leon Edwards beats Nate Diaz, embarasses himself in the process

As much as people love Nate Diaz, he was never a top welterweight and is far better at lightweight, as much as he would rather fight up at 170. Leon Edwards on the other hand, has many in the media claiming he should have gotten a title shot for the past 18 months due to his eight-fight win streak, despite not beating a single opponent that was top ten ranked in the weight class in his entire career.

Regardless of who's fault that is (there were multiple fights of his that fell through during the last few years), the fact remains that he has still not faced the true elite in the division at the time they were elite, and his last outing was a No Contest following a bad eye poke against late replacement Belal Muhammad, after which he demanded a title shot despite the fact he had repeatedly fouled his opponent and they were only seconds into the second round of a five round fight.

Trying to finally give Edwards a name that could have fans on board with giving Edwards a crack at the title, the UFC gave Edwards the biggest name they could get at welterweight that isn't truly elite (at that weight) - Nate Diaz. Stylistically, it was a layup for Edwards, who had all the tools to beat Diaz, who hasn't really fixed the holes in his game that have been present and exploited for many years.

Instead of making a statement however, Edwards took the most conservative approach possible - while he was certainly beating the younger Diaz brother, he wasn't exactly bringing fans over to his side with his overly cautious and dull approach. Yet somehow, despite a rather slow pace, Leon began to noticeably fatigue in the later part of the special five-round non-title and non-main event fight - leading to Diaz rocking his opponent in the final minute of the fight.

Considering Diaz is known almost entirely for his volume punching (alongside his jiu-jitsu and ridiculous toughness of course), it seemed to surprise even Diaz, who taunted his staggered opponent, losing vital seconds in which he may have been able to mount an incredible comeback KO in the process. Diaz did eventually go after his hurt opponent, but Edwards managed to survive by the skin of his teeth.

And of course, he then proceeded to once again demand a title shot after the incredibly unimpressive performance.

Brandon Moreno destroys Deiveson Figueiredo

After their absolutely epic draw to close out 2020, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno were destined to return to the cage for another war for Figueiredo's flyweight crown.

Though many thought the young Mexican challenger could make adjustments and win in the rematch, the Brazilian champion was roughly a two-to-one favourite heading into the rematch - this should come as no surprise given that had the champion not had a point deducted for a groin strike in their first meeting, he'd have won the decision and was reportedly quite ill the week of the fight.

Yet when the two squared off for a second time, not only did Moreno show improvement, he made Figueiredo look like he didn't even belong in there with him. Moreno charged forward from the opening bell and took it to the champ, eventually dropping him with a jab late in the first. He proceeded to dominate everywhere the fight took place, and in the third round, he took the champ's back and locked in a rear-naked choke to secure his title as the first Mexican-born fighter to win a UFC title.

Not bad for a 28-year-old who was once cut by the promotion after back-to-back losses.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in June

Jairzinho Rozenstruik stops Augusto Sakai late in the first

Chris Wade faceplants Arman Osparov

Terrance McKinney scores a 7-second knockout over Matt Frevola

Paul Craig dislocates Jamahal Hill's arm with a triangle armbar

Ricky Glenn starches Joaquim Silva in 37 seconds

Matt Brown faceplants Dhiego Lima

Bruno Silva smashes Wellington Turman on the ground

Seung Woo Choi stops Julian Erosa's winning streak

Genah Fabian puts down Julija Pajic

Larissa Pacheco cracks Olena Kolesnyk

Bruno Cappelozza smashes Muhammed Dereese

Corey Samuels scores a 10-second KO on Isaiah Hokit

Marcin Prachnio stops Ike Villaneuva with a crushing body kick

Jeremiah Wells smashes Warlley Alves

Tanner Boser runs through Ovince Saint Preux

July

Dustin Poirier takes the trilogy, Conor McGregor breaks his leg

Unlike their rather cordial meeting back in January, the third fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor was filled with vitriol and resentment as McGregor went back to his old antics after "respectful Conor" got smashed in the cage.

Fight week culminated with McGregor claiming that Poirier would be taken out on a stretcher - Mystic Mac would make his return with this comment, only he predicted the wrong fighter would be leaving their trilogy bout on said stretcher.

The fight began promising enough for the Irish superstar, as he managed to land several leg kicks and a solid left hand early - but as soon as Poirier came forward and let his hands go, it was Conor desperately looking to tie up and avoid the striking range. Ironically, Conor had claimed before the fight that submissions and decisions didn't count - the only real wins and losses in fighting came via knockout, yet it was Conor who opted to dive on a guillotine at UFC 264.

Off his back, McGregor did manage to land some solid elbows from his guard, but it was mostly Poirier controlling and landing elbows of his own. Near the end of the round, McGregor managed to find himself back on his feet, where the two exchanged straight lefts that narrowly missed each other's heads - only to see McGregor collapse to the canvas, his left leg snapped low on the shin bone.

The unfortunate injury left their trilogy ending on a low note and raised more questions than answers - with Poirier firmly in control, the injury robbed him of a conclusive win to settle their score, while Conor maintained his leg was seriously injured heading into the fight, raising concerns over why on earth he'd have been throwing so many kicks with that leg if he knew it was compromised going in.

The fight also showed just how far the Irish star has fallen - while sitting broken against the Octagon fence, he proceeded to take his trash talk to new lows, bringing Poirier's wife into the mix and making clear threats against his family. Considering the grisly injury he endured, you'd think people would have felt bad for the fighter, yet thanks to his disgusting antics not one soul felt bad for the disgraced former champ.

A.J. McKee unseats Bellator's double champ Patricio Pitbull Freire

It doesn't happen often, but once in a while, Bellator puts together a well-matched fight the entire MMA community is actually interested in.

With their Featherweight World Grand Prix coming to a head (it began in 2019), Bellator's featherweight and lightweight champion Patricio Pitbull Freire found himself squaring off with undefeated 17-0 uber prospect A.J. McKee for the featherweight crown and a $1 million prize.

What was expected to be a featherweight war turned into McKee's crowning moment as less than two minutes into the opening round, he rocked the double champ with a head kick and dropped him with a vicious combination. Though he celebrated a tad early, he re-engaged and locked up a guillotine choke to end Pitbull's reign in emphatic fashion. The 26-year-old cemented himself as one of the best featherweights in the world and one of the most exciting young fighters in the game.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in July

Zhalgas Zhumagulov submits Jerome Rivera with a nasty guillotine choke

Dricus Du Plessis stops Trevin Giles

Ilia Topuria murders Ryan Hall

Sean O'Malley batters late replacement Kris Moutinho for nearly 15 minutes

Irene Aldana sticks Yana Kunitskaya with her signature left hook

Tai Tuivasa slaps Greg Hardy while on wobbly legs

Amanda Lemos puts Montserrat Ruiz down in 35 seconds

Daniel Rodriguez blasts Preston Parsons

Billy Q batters Gabriel Benitez

Julio Arce tees off on Andre Ewell

Nassourdine Imavov takes out Ian Heinish

Adrian Yanez puts Randy Costa away

Darren Elkins once again mounts a comeback to stop Derrick Minner

Phil Rowe comes back to stop Orion Cosce

Melsik Baghdasaryan blasts Collin Anglin with a head kick

Jared Gooden puts down Niklas Stolze in 68 seconds

Cheyenne Buys takes out Gloria de Paula with a perfectly timed head kick

Gadzhi Rabadanov left hooks Daniel Carey

August

Rory MacDonald gets eliminated from PFL playoffs

The PFL had multiple high-profile former UFC fighters make their debuts in 2021, and while former champions had a rough start, former UFC welterweight title challenger and Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald began his PFL run in April with a dominant first round finish of Curtis Millender.

Though he wasn't quite what he used to be, his well-rounded skillset and still elite abilities had many picking Rory to win the year's PFL tournament. The first cracks in this theory came in June when he "lost" against fellow UFC vet Gleison Tibau - Rory clearly won the fight on everyone but two judge's scorecards, but just the fact that he didn't dominate the aged Tibau wasn't a good sign.

In the playoffs, MacDonald squared off with 2019 PFL champ Ray Cooper III, where he lost (a non-controversial) decision. Not exactly the million-dollar run "The Red King" was hoping for when he signed with the promotion.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in August

Miles Johns sparks Anderson Dos Santos

Manel Kape takes out Ode Osbourne with a flying knee

Ciryl Gane batters Derrick Lewis

Brett Cooper smashes Tyler Hill

Renan Ferreira walks through Stuart Austin

Bruno Cappelozza folds Jamelle Jones

Ignacio Bahamondes sends Roosevelt Roberts to the shadow realm

William Knight faceplants Fabio Cherant

Josiane Nunes blasts Bea Malecki

Brandon Jenkins scores a flying knee on Jacob Kilburn

Dustin Jacoby finishes Darren Stewart

Abdul Razak Al Hassan head kicks Alessio Di Chirico in 17 seconds

Giga Chikadze stops Edson Barboza

September

Khalil Rountree scores a disgusting leg kick finish

The side kick to an opponent's knee or the "oblique kick" is a weapon that has caused controversy over the years - unlike most techniques, its almost entirely set on injuring an opponent should it land correctly, with Jon Jones being the most prominent user of the technique who has drawn ire from certain opponents who believe the technique should be banned.

When landed correctly, the oblique kick will hyperextend the recipients knee and can cause extensive damage - it is however easily defended merely by not putting weight on your lead leg. This makes the kick an effective deterrent against forward movement and as such is an effective defensive technique - however, as we saw with Khalil Rountree's victory over Modesta Bukauskas, it can be extremely dangerous when landed correctly.

Rountree was already comfortably ahead of Bukauskas in the middle of the second round of their fight, utilizing his impressive muay thai attack to batter his outgunned opponent. Midway through the round however, he landed a perfect oblique kick right as Bukauskas was stepping forward into a jab. The kick caused Bukauskas' knee to buckle inward on a disturbing angle and the fighter collapsed in pain as his knee was shredded in an instant.

The brutal finish once again sparked conversations surrounding the technique and whether it should be banned or not - I'm sure Modesta's knee would have something to say on the matter.

Nick Diaz returns after over five years away from the sport, unleashes the Ruthless one

One of the most beloved figures in the sport, Nick Diaz's return to the Octagon at UFC 266 was met with equal amounts of excitement and fear. While fans were undoubtedly excited to see the elder Diaz return to action, the amount of time he had been gone and his questionable motivation were certainly concerning, especially given that he was coming back to face Robbie Lawler, who even though he had been on a cold streak at 39 years old, could still crack.

The fight was a rematch of their famous first meeting way back at UFC 47 in 2004, where the two traded bombs and Nick, known at the time primarily for his jiu-jitsu, shocked the MMA world by knocking Lawler out in the second round. Their highly anticipated rematch wasn't without controversy however, as Diaz requested a late adjustment to make their fight a middleweight affair as he stated he couldn't make the welterweight limit during fight week. Ever the warrior, Lawler accepted the change without batting an eye, even though when they entered the cage, Diaz appeared to have a notable size advantage in the cage.

But Lawler did not care. Diaz awakened the Lawler of old, an absolute warrior that will stand and trade with anyone and put on a relentless pace in order to break his opponents will. Diaz, for his part, did a good job of landing shots on the more powerful Lawler, though he was largely landing purely on volume and rarely put much weight behind his shots.

As time wore on, Lawler's power and pace began to take its toll on Diaz, and Lawler did the unthinkable - he made a mighty Diaz brother quit.

Early in the third round, a check right hook brought Diaz to a knee, a narrowly avoided uppercut forcing Nick to his back. Instead of following him to the canvas, Lawler backed off and demanded Diaz get back up to continue their war, but Diaz had had enough. He signalled to the ref he was done, and just like that, Robbie Lawler earned his revenge some 17 years after having been felled by a young Nick Diaz.

As fun as the fight and the re-awakening of vintage Robbie was, it was sad to see Nick go out like that and return to a sport he had never enjoyed and instead felt he had to do.

Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega go to war

It took a long time for fans to finally see Volkanovski defend his title against Brian Ortega this year - originally set to square off in March, a positive covid test derailed the fight mere weeks before fight night, then the UFC opted to pit the two against one another as coaches for the return of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.

At UFC 266, the two finally met inside the Octagon and somehow made the lengthy wait more than worth it.

The world class technical battle had fans on the edge of their seat from the opening bell, as Volkanovski appeared to have a slight edge early thanks to his power and committment to leg kicks.

In the third round however, Volkanovski's title reign hung on by a mere thread as Ortega locked up an extremely tight guillotine choke that the champion later acknowledged was dangerously close to costing him his title. Volkanovski managed to survive the choke, only to find himself in a triangle that he managed to escape as well, then proceeded to rain down absolutely vicious ground and pound to close the insane round out in style.

The fourth round saw Ortega take an absolute beating that many likened to his brutal defeat at the hands of Max Holloway, with many hoping his corner would throw in the towel to save him from further punishment as the champion dominated him everywhere the fight went. Somehow, Ortega survived the brutal beatdown and showed his corner was correct in not stopping it as he became the aggressor in the fifth and final round, closing out the epic five round war with a flurry of his own.

The epic clash was one of the best fights of 2021 and that insane third round very well could be the craziest five minutes of action in the sport witnessed this year.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in September

Julian Erosa restarts his underdog streak by tapping out Charles Jourdain

Paddy Pimblett enters the UFC with a sizzling stoppage of Luigi Vendamini

Tom Aspinall stops Sergey Spivak with a flurry

Carlston Harris stops Impa Kasanganay

Joaquin Buckley lamps Antonio Arroyo

Nate Maness gets KOd, comes back to KO Tony Gravely in the second

Arman Tsarukyan overwhelms Christos Giagos

Ben Parrish lamps Christian Edwards in 38 seconds

Neiman Gracie scores a standing TKO over Mark Lemminger

Matthew Semelsberger knocks out Martin Sano Jr.

Chris Daukhaus puts Shamil Abdurakhimov down

Merab Dvalishvili survives nearly getting KOd early, comes back to finish Marlon Moraes

Jessica Andrade overwhelms Cynthia Calvillo

Valentina Shevchenko batters and stops Lauren Murphy

October

Paulo Costa finally returns to the cage...in the wrong weight class

Oh, what to do with Paulo Costa.

Once an uber prospect whose relentless forward pressure and power made him the most feared man in the division, Paulo's embarassing performance and subsequent knockout loss to Israel Adesanya last year derailed the Costa hype train in brutal fashion. His subsequent excuses for the loss, particularly that he had too much wine the night before his title fight, just further embarassed the Brazilian contender and his remaining fans.

Furthermore, Costa's complaints on fighter pay as he pulled out of fights with injuries repeatedly just made fans even more annoyed with the once promising fighter. When he finally returned to the cage in October, the week of the fight he requested that the UFC move the fight's contracted weight up because he couldn't make the middleweight limit. The massive "middleweight" got his wish, sacrificing a chunk of his purse to opponent Marvin Vettori in order for the fight to take place up at light heavyweight instead.

Surprisingly, the fight was an entertaining back and forth scrap, and although Vettori has regularly drawn ire for being a dull lay and pray fighter, he went at Costa full force from the opening bell and turned in a surprisingly good performance against a much larger opponent. For his part, Costa actually looked quite good at times, showing he did have the cardio to go rounds even at a strong pace.

The action packed fight was certainly fun, but Costa's unprofessionalism and constant onslaught of embarassing moments are certainly not going to endear him to fans. Hopefully, moving up to light heavyweight will get him on the right track and will turn him back into the monster that haunted the middleweight rankings.

Bruno Cappelozza wins PFL gold, learns his father passed away

In one of the most bittersweet stories in MMA this year, Brazilian Bruno Cappelozza won the PFL's heavyweight championship with a win over Ante Delija and earned himself a life-changing $1 million in the process. After nearly three years away from the sport following a knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka in 2018, Bruno made his way to the PFL in 2021 where he scored three straight knockouts en route to his title-winning performance.

Instead of a championship celebration however, he learned what his team had been keeping from him for the past several days - that his father had suddenly passed away due to a heart attack. What was to be the happiest day of Cappelozza's life turned into the saddest in an instant - luckily for Bruno's team, withholding that devastating news ended up resulting in a million dollar win.

Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen go to war for the true bantamweight title

On paper, the bout between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen may be recorded as an interim UFC bantamweight title fight, but for fans of the sport, this was another defense of Yan's proper bantamweight crown.

Regardless of his DQ loss to Aljamain Sterling, Yan showed he was clearly above Sterling in their fight earlier this year, and after Sterling pulled out of their rematch to get an optional surgery done, there isn't a person alive (besides perhaps Sterling himself) that doesn't recognize Yan as the true champion of the division.

With former champ TJ Dillashaw injured following an extremely close and controversial decision win over Cory Sandhagen, Sandhagen was the natural choice to take TJ's place for a title shot, and boy did he live up to expectations.

The two strikers traded bombs from the opening bell, trading boxing combinations and punishing kicks at a ridiculous pace. In the third, it appeared as though Sandhagen was beginning to take over, but his momentum fell flat after a beautiful spinning back fist sent him to the canvas.

The fourth round saw Yan really take over as Sandhagen began to gas, but in the fifth the challenger appeared to catch a second wind and offer more resistance - ultimately though, Yan's pace and power was simply too much for Sandhagen and Yan retained his crown by a decision. The fight was easily amongst the most entertaining and technical bouts in 2021 and was an absolute treat for fans - hopefully Sterling will face Yan again soon so we can remove the silly "interim" part from Yan's title.

Old man Glover captures UFC gold at 42 years old

It's a headline that virtually no one would have believed even just one year ago - Glover Teixeira, the man who arguably spent many of his "prime" years outside of the UFC due to visa issues, the man who got picked apart by Jon Jones, then got knocked out badly by top contenders Anthony Johnson and Alex Gustafsson - winning a title? That's just plain silly.

And yet here we are.

Following a dissappointing loss to Corey Anderson in 2018, Glover revitalized his career by doubling down on his wrestling roots and defying all odds. In multiple bouts, Glover was rocked badly and nearly stopped by his opponents, only for him to survive and turn the tide after his attackers used much of their energy trying to finish him - fighters like Karl Roberson and Ion Cutelaba learned the hard way just how tough the old Brazilian is.

After three straight fights, he faced off with Anthony Smith and absolutely dominated the extremely durable former title challenger, beating Smith down to the point that fans and fellow fighters alike were begging his corner or the referee to stop the fight and save Smith from any further punishment (it was eventually stopped in the fifth, about two rounds too late). He proceeded to once again defy all expectations by taking out another former title challenger in Thiago Santos, earning himself a second crack at UFC gold over seven years after his first.

Facing the heavy-hitting Polish champ Jan Blachowicz, Glover was once again a massive underdog - but once again Glover defied all expectations.

Teixeira was able to ground the champion early in the first round and landed some solid ground and pound, controlling Blachowicz as the champion seemed content to simply defend and conserve his energy for the next round. The two slugged it out in the second, but where Jan was supposed to have an advantage, Glover did his finest work, landing a bomb of a left hand that staggered Blachowicz and set up a takedown moments later.

From there, Glover flattened out his prey and locked in a rear-naked choke to earn the UFC light heavyweight title just two days after his 42nd birthday. Not only was it a shocking upset, but it was a feel-good story for all longtime fans of the sport that will be remembered for quite some time.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in October

Alejandro Perez scores a nasty scarf hold armbar on Johnny Eduardo

Douglas Silva de Andrade smacks down Gaetano Pirello

Jamie Mullarkey tees off on Devonte Smith

Casey O'Neil dominates Antonina Shevchenko

Alexander Hernandez unloads on Mike Breedon

Steve Garcia mauls Charlie Ontiveros

Alexandr Romanov mauls Jared Vanderaa

Danaa Batgerel demolishes Brandon Davis

Bruno Silva puts a beating on Andrew Sanchez

Jim Miller knocks out Erick Gonzalez

Corey Anderson finishes Ryan Bader in 51 seconds

Jeff Molina finishes Daniel Lacerda

Jai Herbert goes off on Khama Worthy

Gregory Rodriguez puts Jun Yong Park out against the fence

Fedor Emilianenko ices Tim Johnson

Jordan Young upsets Omari Akhmedov

Ray Cooper III lamps Magomed Magomedkerimov

Lerone Murphy sparks Makwan Amirkhani with a perfectly timed knee

Michał Oleksiejczuk crushes Shamil Gamzatov with an uppercut

Khamzat Chimaev manhandles Li Jingliang, chokes him out in the first

November

Chris Curtis finally gets in the UFC, shocks Phil Hawes

In a year filled with underdog triumphs and career turnarounds, Chris Curtis may just have the best feel-good story of all.

The now-34-year-old welterweightalready had a lengthy career by the time he featured on season two of Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series - not only did he win that bout, but he scored an incredible hook kick KO that surely warranted his signing to the UFC. Shockingly, Dana White was not sold on the veteran and opted not to sign "The Action Man", and after finding out he broke his hand in that fight and required surgery, Curtis opted to retire from MMA.

Like most MMA retirements however, it didn't last long and Curtis returned in 2019, eventually finding his way to the PFL - during the playoffs for the welterweight division, Curtis lost a decision to Magomed Magomedkerimov, after which he announced his retirement one more time - only for it to be rescinded moments later after Magomed announced he was injured and couldn't fight in the finale, which gave Curtis the opportunity to fight for the million dollar prize in the finals despite losing in the tournament.

Unfortunately, the cindarella story wasn't to be as he was knocked out by Ray Cooper III - but he decided he didn't want to go out that way. Curtis returned to pick up a win early in 2020, but 2021 was where his story really took a turn.

Curtis bounced around between the welterweight and middleweight divisions to earn four straight victories - he then stepped up to face rising prospect Phil Hawes at UFC 268 on short notice. The 11-2 Hawes was a massive favourite heading in, and quickly showed why as his power punching gave Curtis plenty of trouble early in their matchup.

Unlike some of Hawes' other opponents however, Curtis stayed calm and defended well, biding his time until he saw an opening of his own - and then he took it. Curtis cracked Hawes with a left hand that sent the muscle-bound behemoth reeling, a series of vicious follow-up strikes putting Hawes down and just like that Curtis had not only found himself in the UFC, but just took out a highly regarded prospect in the process. Sometimes it's a good thing that MMA "retirements" never last long...

Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler deliver fireworks galore

Every Justin Gaethje fight is guaranteed fireworks, but there was something extra special in his matchup with recent title challenger Michael Chandler. Known for being an exciting fighter himself, Chandler showed up to UFC 268 embodying the same spirit Eddie Alvarez did when he faced off with Gaethje back in 2017 - rather than trying to avoid the war, he fully embraced it and came there to throw down until someone stayed down.

That tactic nearly worked to his advantage as the two brawled from the opening bell, as although Gaethje started strong, Chandler cracked him midway through the round and had him on wobbly legs for an extended period. Somehow, Gaethje managed to remain standing and survived Chandler's onslaught, only to bring his own in the second.

Chandler soon found himself tasting the canvas as Gaethje landed a vicious uppercut that nearly ended the fight in round two, only for Chandler to be the one to somehow survive a vicious assault. Although Chandler certainly still had his moments, Gaethje's vicious leg kicks and more precise hands led him to the decision victory.

He also showed that his wrestling defense is still highly competent, after many doubted his grappling due to his poor performance against Khabib, by stuffing Chandler on multiple attempts and even hitting a beautiful reversal mid-air that nearly caused Chandler to knock himself out by spiking his own head into the mat.

Though Chandler took his second straight loss in the UFC, his stock still rose due to the incredible fight he put on and his willingness to get into frenetic brawls. The fight was also followed by another incredible back-and-forth war between Billy Quarantillo and Shane Burgos that was kind of overshadowed by the fact that it was immediately following the fight of the year.

Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington go to war for a second time

With Kamaru Usman handily dispatching two of his top challengers already this year, many expected the improved Usman to handle his fiercest rival a little easier in their rematch. Early on, that assumption appeared to be correct as he repeatedly stuffed Colby's shots and dropped him bad at the end of the second round.

But Colby managed to turn things around in the third, landing more and more shots and he even managed to become the first man to take down Usman in the UFC (though the UFC stats people didn't count it as a takedown). The two men regularly exchanged in slugging exchanges over the next two rounds, with Colby even managing to stagger Usman on multiple occasions.

The back-and-forth war managed to go all five rounds and although fans and pundits alike were split on who they felt won the fight, the judges unanimously awarded Usman the decision.

Usman may officially be up 2-0 in his series against Colby, but given how close the rematch was and how epic both fights were, not to mention that the two fighters seem to be a step above the rest of the field, it seems destined that the two will be meeting once more inside the Octagon in the not-so-distant future.

Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez put in their bid for fight of the year

Yair Rodriguez may have lost against top contender Max Holloway, but wow did his stock ever go up. The two warriors traded bombs from the start of the fight until the last seconds, each getting rocked on multiple occasions and battling through barrages from their opponent.

Though his leg kicks and power punches were doing well against Holloway's torrential onslaught of offense, it seemed inevitable that Yair would slow down and Holloway's cardio would eventually wear him down. Although Holloway certainly enjoyed the advantage on the ground when Yair did start to slow, the Mexican contender dug deep and refused to lay down, going for broke and continuing to land vicious combinations of his own right to the final bell.

The epic five round war may have gone to Holloway in the end, but everyone in the arena and watching at home won for having witnessed such a brutal war of attrition and skill. Now hopefully we'll get to see a third showdown between Holloway and Alex Volkanovski at some point in 2022.

Other Notable Violent Finishes in November

Patricky Pitbull smashes Peter Queally

Chris Barnett scores a wheel kick over Gian Villante at heavyweight

Ian Garry scores a beautiful counter right hand on Jordan Williams

Nassourdine Imavov absolutely destroys Edmen Shahbazyan

Bobby Green plants Al Iaquinta

Kickboxing double-champ Alex Pereira makes his UFC debut via flying knee

Marlon Vera front kicks Frankie Edgar

Roman Faraldo scores a flying knee KO on Robert Turnquest

Cris Cyborg starches Sinead Kavanagh

Da Un Jung elbows Kennedy Nzechukwu to death

Rafael Alves rocks and subs Marc Diakiese

Sean Woodson murders Collin Anglin's midsection

Joel Alvarez smashes Thiago Moises

Song Yadong pounds Julio Arce

Khaos Williams torches Miguel Baeza

Felicia Spencer mauls Leah Letson

Marcos Rogerio de Lima runs through Ben Rothwell in 32 seconds

Taila Santos drops and submits Joanne Wood

December

Sergio Pettis scores the comeback KO of a lifetime

In another rare Bellator fight that the wider MMA community was interested in, RIZIN bantamweight champion and former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi returned stateside to try and win back the Bellator title he had vacated back in 2019 due to injuries. To do so, he would have to defeat Sergio Pettis, little brother of former UFC lightweight champ Anthony and the current Bellator bantamweight champ.

For about eighteen minutes, Horiguchi was doing just that, easily outstriking and outworking what appeared to be his outclassed victim. Pettis simply couldn't find his target and by the middle of the fourth round, he was down every round by a wide margin - barring a miracle, Kyoji was well on his way to a guaranteed victory. Considering he had just three knockouts in his 21 career wins, nobody saw what happened next coming - least of all Kyoji Horiguchi.

After a brief clinch situation, Pettis threw a head kick from in close that went right over Horiguchi's head - but that was the plan. Instead of trying to land the kick, Sergio instead used it to set up a picture-perfect spinning backfist that caught Horiguchi on the chin as he backed away. He was out cold on impact and just like that, Sergio Pettis had defended his Bellator crown and erased a massive deficit on the scorecards. It just goes to show, nothing is guaranteed in MMA.

Chris Curtis continues his underdog rise up the middleweight ranks

Mere weeks after he shocked Phil Hawes and announced his presence in the UFC's middleweight stable, "The Action Man" returned to action against an even more highly regarded prospect in Brendan Allen.

The 17-4 Allen came in as a heavy favourite against his late replacement opponent for good reason - Allen was 5-1 in the UFC and held wins over Kevin Holland, Tom Breese, and Kyle Daukaus amongst others, with his only loss coming to now-top five ranked Sean Strickland.

Similar to in his last outing, Curtis was notably smaller than his opponent, but once again appeared unphased by what the highly touted prospect was firing at him. The two traded with both men landing good shots, and to many fans' surprise, it appeared as though Curtis may have edged Allen out on the scorecards after round one.

In the second however, any discussion of scoring was tossed out the window when Curtis rocked Allen during an exchange of right hooks. Smelling blood, Curtis unloaded on his wobbled victim until Allen collapsed to the canvas and once again Curtis had shocked the new blood in the UFC's middleweight division.

Against all odds, Chris Curtis has gone from a semi-retired regional welterweight to a legitimate middleweight threat who's trouncing highly touted prospects with ease in the span of a single year. He also managed to go 6-0 over the course of 2021, and given his career turnaround, arguably puts him in contendership for 2021's Fighter of the Year award.

Clay Guida submits BJJ ace Leonardo Santos after hellacious beating

To say that Leonardo Santos was beating on Clay Guida in their matchup in early December would be an understatement. A mere minute into the fight Santos caught Guida with a front kick to the midsection that began a relentless barrage of strikes from the talented Brazilian, to the point where many referees would have stepped in to declare the fight over in favour of Santos by TKO.

But somehow, the indomitable spirit that is Clay Guida managed to survive to see the end of the round, and by then, poor Leonardo Santos had spent every last ounce of energy he had trying to finish "The Carpenter".

The second round was then a mere formality, as the cardio king took Santos down within seconds and worked his way to Santos' back, eventually locking in a rear-naked choke and forcing the four-time BJJ world cup champion and silver world medalist to tap.

The incredible comeback was a sight to see for Guida fans, but one can't help but feel sorry for Santos - the 41 year old spent much of his athletic prime sitting on the sidelines with injuries, and in 2021 when he finally managed to become more active, he lost in both appearances in fights he was dominating in.

Jose Aldo once again turns back the clock, shuts down Rob Font

Jose Aldo really is the epitome of a living legend in combat sports. The man spent a decade at the top of the sport and ruled a division with absolute authority, until eventually that run came to an end - however, unlike most of those legends that fall from grace, Aldo was able to reinvent himself and returned to title contention, moved to another weight class and put up one hell of a war against the current bantamweight kingpin.

One would think after that loss, that ended particularly brutally for Aldo, that the man would finally be done, or at least move on to less elite competition while he winds down his career. Instead, Aldo has once again been reinvigorated and once again set out on capturing a title in his new home of bantamweight. He beat rising contender Marlov Chito Vera late last year, then utterly outclassed Pedro Munhoz (to the point where he exposed the UFC's shoddy striking stats) to earn a crack at a top contender in Rob Font, a man on a four fight winning streak who had just battered former champ Cody Garbrandt.

Font is a stylistic nightmare for Aldo to boot - a high-volume fighter with a great jab that can wear on his opponents, is durable and even sports power of his own. Odds were slightly in Font's favour as lines closed for their main event contendership tilt, and those odds seemed correct as Font entered the cage with the perfect gameplan to face the legendary Brazilian.

Font came out guns blazing, spamming Aldo with combinations and forcing the measured defensive wizard to constantly work and react, even mixing in takedown attempts to sap Aldo's infamous gas tank. Font's attack may not have been overly effective or efficient in terms of damage (Aldo blocked or avoided most of Font's shots, even if the commentary booth didn't notice), but it was doing a great job of forcing Aldo to work early, and that is exactly how you deal with a defensive master like Aldo.

But Jose eventually had enough of playing defense, and once he started his own onslaught, Font quickly learned there are levels to this game. In the closing seconds of the opening round, Aldo cracked Font with a stiff 1-2 that sent him reeling and had Aldo finish the round on top of his opponent, raining down blows. Just like that, all of Font's hard work was erased on the judges' scorecards and Aldo put a round in the bank.

The second round was largely the same - Font started off aggressive while Aldo played defense, but this time, Aldo opened up earlier and once again rocked Font, clearly showing he delivered the more damaging blows when the two men connected.

In the third, a desparate takedown attempt left Font on the bottom for several minutes as Aldo controlled and conserved his energy, then saw Aldo's famous leg kicks make a triumphant return to immediate effect. The fourth saw Font come out aggressively only for Aldo to meet him in the middle and send him crashing back to the canvas, where he was easily able to ride out the round without wasting more energy.

The fifth round finally saw Font start to take over as Aldo's gas tank was nearing empty. Knowing he needed a finish, Font was giving Aldo everything he had, and although he didn't appear to be hurt, Aldo was throwing little in return. Until he did. His brutal left hook to the body set up headshots that put Font on roller skates, leading Aldo to hop on his back and secure the dominant shutout victory. It was a brilliant showing from the aging legend, even if he arguably could have gotten the finish if he had thrown some shots on the ground in the final round.

Cody Garbrandt makes flyweight debut, gets murked by Kai Kara-France

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Once the bantamweight king who had thoroughly outclassed the division's greatest in Dominick Cruz, Garbrandt went into UFC 269 having lost four of his last five outings with three of those coming via knockout.

Opting to drop down in weight given his small frame, many believed that the move could finally get Garbrandt back on the right track. During fight week however, instead of focusing on the dangerous opponent in front of him, Cody decided to instead verbally battle old Twitter rival Sean O'Malley. It didn't take long for people to realize that Cody made a huge mistake.

Midway through the opening stanza, Kai Kara-France delivered an overhand bomb across Garbrandt's chin that sent him straight onto his ass. Rather than trying to recover in a smart manner, Cody waved his aggressor forward with his hands by his sides, and then, like he had done on multiple previous occasions, he tried to slug back without moving his damn chin.

Needless to say, he was once again knocked out and any hopes he had of a quick jaunt to a flyweight title shot went flying away with his chin.

Julianna Pena shocks the world, embarasses Amanda Nunes

Let's put this simply - Julianna Pena had no business getting a title shot in 2021. Her single-fight winning streak came over Sara McMann, who herself had won just one fight (over Lina Lansberg) since 2017. Before that win, she was choked out, yes, choked out, by Germaine de Randamie, as pure a one-dimensional striker as one can get in modern MMA. Her only other win since 2016 was over...Nicco Montano.

She was granted her shot at a belt entirely because Nunes had already beaten everyone else deserving of a title shot - no matter the outcome, let's make that clear.

The first round showed exactly the skill gap that was evident on paper - Nunes stayed on the outside and chopped away at Pena's legs, while Pena flopped to her back and was unable to actually engage Nunes in any meaningful way. Until, that is, Nunes decided to follow her onto the ground.

As if to prove a point that she can grapple too, Nunes went to the mat with Pena and controlled her there, needlessly wasting energy because she thought she could. She still easily won the round, yet after five minutes where she didn't have to do a whole lot, Nunes was already breathing heavily. When Nunes has previously gassed like this in her title fights, she's relied on laying on her opponents to grind out the rounds (see bout vs. Germaine de Randamie) - against a grappler like Pena however, that option isn't really available.

Instead, we saw Nunes fling power shots with reckless abandon, eschewing all technique in favour of emptying her already depleting gas tank even more quickly. It quickly became an embarassing affair as Pena began to land repeatedly on the champion, a simple jab completely dumbfounding the "female GOAT". For her part, Pena showed her toughness by absorbing some heavy shots and throwing caution to the wind to square off with the dominant champ, and as soon as she had Nunes hurt, she pounced, dragging her to the mat and making her quit late in the second round.

The shocking result certainly proved that anything can happen in MMA, and that dominant female champions seem to have a tendency to lose their titles in rather lopsided and embarassing fashion.

Charles Oliveira shatters the Diamond

Charles Oliveira versus Dustin Poirier was on paper about as close to a perfectly matched fight as you could possibly get. Two extremely talented and experienced fighters who had taken the long road to the top, with Oliveira finally seeing gold earlier in the year to extend his win streak to an astounding nine while Poirier was seen by many as the uncrowned king of the division, having taken out practically everyone else at the top not named Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Though he used to be known primarily as a grappler, Oliveira's crisp striking had come into its own and his willingness to engage was truly a wondrous change to his game - in fact, he had previously been accused of quitting in fights and had noticeable issues when he would take damage from opponent's strikes, yet in recent fights, he refused to shy away from a gunfight and became willing to eat shots in order to work in his own offense, something that was apparent from early on against the heavy-hitting Poirier.

His relentless forward pressure led to plenty of punishing body shots and elbows in close proximity with "The Diamond", while a stabbing front kick to the mid-section and crisp straights kept the damage coming even at a distance. That pressure however did put the champ in harm's way, and nearly cost him dearly as a beautiful right hand sat Oliveira down late in the first.

"Do Bronx" survived Poirier's onslaught and fought his way back to the feet, and instead of changing tact, continued to press forward, reveling in the brawl in a way no one would have imagined had they seen Oliveira fight just a few years ago.

That relentless pressure and constant offense led Oliveira to top position in round two, where the Brazilian absolutely punished Poirier for most of the round in an easy 10-8 domination. Though Poirier was able to survive, the fear of being taken down again in the third combined with fatigue (Oliveira's committment to body work surely played a huge factor there) led Poirier to make a huge mistake in defending a takedown in the third, leading Oliveira to take his back and lock in a choke to successfully defend his crown.

The brilliant performance was truly a sight to behold and has many fans wishing they could have seen Khabib face off against Oliveira - after all, Khabib had never really faced a top-level BJJ practitioner near the likes of Oliveira, let alone one with an all-around game that Oliveira now sports. For now, we'll have to let it play out exclusively in our imaginations...

Other Notable Violent Finishes in December

Josh Hill lamps Jared Scoggins

Vince Morales beats down Louis Smolka

Manel Kape flurries on Zhalgas Zhumagulov

Dusko Todorovic pounds Maki Pitolo

Jamahal Hill blasts Jimmy Crute in 48 seconds

Rafael Fiziev shuts down Brad Riddell via wheel kick

Gillian Robertson gets an RNC on Priscila Cachoeira, Priscila tries to eye gouge her way out

Tony Kelley smashes Randy Costa

Andre Muniz locks up another brutal armbar, this time on Eryk Anders

Bruno Silva beats down Jordan Wright

Tai Tuivasa nelmarks Augusto Sakai, does a shooey

Sean O'Malley ices Raulian Paiva

Melissa Gatto folds Sijara Eubanks with a front kick to the gut

Justin Tafa becomes first heavyweight to ever miss weight in UFC, KOs Harry Hunsucker

Cub Swanson surgically dissects Darren Elkins for the TKO

Mateusz Gamrot busts Carlos Diego Ferreira's ribs

Ricky Simon lamps Raphael Assuncao

Derrick Lewis bowls over Chris Daukaus