These previous couple of years I've talked about not really keeping up with MMA as much as I used to. Despite there being more events in 2021 compared to 2020, it still feels like I kept up reasonably well. I didn't really stay up late for any events, but I did watch some of them back first thing in the morning, so the interest was definitely there. At least for major fights/events. On to my picks:
- Fight(s) Of The YearKamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2 - Perhaps this one comes to mind, because it happened fairly recently. I do remember it turning into a bit of a nailbiter and being entertaining start to finish.
Justing Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler - Just a very entertaining brawl.
- Upset(s) Of The YearI'll probably have to go with Julianna Pena not just defeating Amanda Nunes, but finishing her by submission. Not sure many people saw that one coming.
- Fighter(s) Of The YearKamaru Usman - Three fights, three wins, two finishes. One of them being the big rematch with Covington.
Ciryl Gane - Three fights, three wins, one finish, won the interim belt.
Charles Oliveira - Two fights, two wins, both being finishes, one of them being Poirier.
Dustin Poirier - Three fights, two wins, both of those wins being finishes over McGregor.
- Breakout Fighter(s) Of The YearCiryl Gane - From not being on my radar at all to title contender all within a year. Good stuff! He probably won't beat Ngannou, but that's a story for next year.
Giga Chikadze - I had him on the list last year as well, but now he actually made it to main event on one of their smaller cards and has moved into title contention.
Honorable mentions to Alex Pereira and Paddy Pimblett, who made their anticipated UFC debuts.
- Knockout(s) Of The Year- Comeback(s) Of The YearJose Aldo - After his loss to McGregor he was on a rocky patch, but now he's on three straight victories and moving back into title contention.
Glover Teixeira - Winning the LHW Belt at 42 after almost a year of inactivity? Come on, that deserves to be on here.
Miesha Tate - Coming back after 5 years and scoring a Performance Of The Night TKO has to be about the best possible way comeback. She lost her next, but still.
Sergio Pettis knocking out Kyoji Horiguchi with a wild backfist while he was on his way to lose the fight.
Dustin Jacoby - After his kickboxing run in Glory, Jacoby returned to MMA and now has won six fights and fought to a draw once. No losses. Hasn't taken any major names yet, but that might come in 2022.
- Controversy(s) Of The YearConor McGregor in general. This year, even more so than others, it has felt like every week he was mixed up in some controversy, from the leg injury allegations to getting into fights with celebrities. I hope he recovers from his injuries, but I'm so tired of the guy.
I guess the same applies to Jon Jones, albeit to a lesser extent.
Also another example of horrible weightcuts when Julia Avila vs. Julija Stoliarenko was cancelled after Stoliarenko fell off the scale multiple times during the weigh-in.
And while it doesn't really fit into this category, I wanted to mention Chris Weidman breaking his leg in the same fashion against Uriah Hall as Anderson Silva did against him. It's such a weird and unlikely coincidence.
Dishonarable mention goes to McGregor's lapdog Dillon Danis, making a complete joke out of himself getting submitted by a security guard.
- Event(s) Of The YearUFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2 - It contained my two FOTY picks, so going with that one.
- Story(s) Of The YearKhamzat Chimaev's health issues due to COVID almost forcing him into retirement.
Several kickboxers making the move to MMA (Doumbé, Groenhart, Belgaroui just to name a few).
Stefan Struve retiring due to health issues.
Overeem retiring from MMA (and returning to kickboxing for one final run).
More of a fun mention, but GSP getting a statue... that looks like Obama LOL:
So what are your MMA picks?
