UFC lightweight Drew Dober has given a breakdown of the upcoming UFC Fight Night main event between top-five 155lbers Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev.
Having shared the Octagon with both men, Dober is in a unique position to provide his thoughts on the highly anticipated matchup, which is expected to see the victor advance to challenge the champion later in the year.
Dober faced Dariush back in March 2019. The Iranian-born American broke the Nebraska native’s three-fight win streak with a second-round triangle armbar submission.
Almost two years to the day later, Dober faced surging Dagestani Makhachev at UFC 259. Like against Dariush, Dober was submitted, that time with a third-round arm-triangle choke. Those defeats represent two of only four submission losses in Dober’s 35-fight MMA career.
In an exclusive interview with MMA News, Dober discussed what he expects to happen when the pair collide next month. The 33-year-old also spoke about his own return to action against Ricky Glenn in March, his current contract status, and how long he intends to continue fighting for.
Dober: My Heart Says Dariush, My Head Says Makhachev
Since a 2015 KO setback against Adriano Martins, Makhachev has looked unstoppable. During his active nine-fight win streak, the 30-year-old has defeated Nik Lentz, Arman Tsarukyan, Davi Ramos, and Thiago Moisés. Most recently, Makhachev brushed past the challenge of Dan Hooker with a brutal first-round kimura in Abu Dhabi.
While he boasts more defeats on his record, Dariush’s recent form has been equally strong and his current seven-fight win streak is arguably more impressive than his upcoming opponent’s run of triumphs. Since defeats to Edson Barboza and Alexander Hernandez, Dariush has recorded highlight-reel KOs of Drakkar Klose and Scott Holtzman and shot into contention with decision wins against Diego Ferreira and Tony Ferguson.
With that in mind, Dober believes Dariush will give Makhachev more problems than he’s ever faced in the UFC. The promotional veteran expects the February 26 main event to be decided by how well Dariush can implement his strategy against a patient Makhachev.
“I think Beneil is going to give Islam the most problems,” Dober told MMA News. “It’s a super-tough fight for both guys. I think one of the cool things with Beneil is his strategy. He implements a good strategy and he’s able to adjust his strategy per round, and he’s a finisher. He can put you away with his hands or a submission.
“I think the biggest takeaway is Beneil’s a risk-taker, and Islam is not. Islam will do everything he can to win the long game,” added Dober. “Beneil, he takes risks; sometimes it works out in his favor, and sometimes it doesn’t. I think that’s the deciding factor; Beneil’s strategy and his risk-taking ability… I feel like the determining factor is going to be Beneil’s strategy.”
When asked for a prediction, Dober told MMA News that his heart and head are going different ways. While he would love to see Dariush have his hand raised, he acknowledges that the safer pick would be Makhachev.
“It’s so hard. Like, my heart, here at home, my wife and I, we’re going for Beneil Dariush. We want him to win, man. I’m behind him wholeheartedly. But as far as being a betting man, I mean, you see less mistakes from Islam, and so Islam is the safest bet. But the heart’s pulling for Beneil,” concluded Dober.
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While Makhachev might be the safer bet, that certainly won’t stop Dober and his wife from cheering Dariush on from home.
Who do you think will have their hand raised on February 26, Beneil Dariush or Islam Makhachev?
UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes believes that, despite his knockout loss last year, he’s still better than Derrick Lewis.
Blaydes, a perennial name in the group of elites at heavyweight, had his title charge stalled in 2021 at the hands (or sole right bomb…) of Lewis. In the main event of UFC Vegas 19, the pair collided with a likely championship opportunity on the line.
Heading into the contest, Blaydes carried the momentum of a four-fight win streak that included triumphs over former UFC champion Junior dos Santos and former Bellator titleholder Alexander Volkov. “The Black Beast,” meanwhile, had knocked out Alexei Oleinik in his prior outing.
Now, in an exclusive interview with MMA News, Blaydes has looked back on his 2021 setback, his hopes for 2022, the heavyweight debut of Jon Jones, and revealed who hits harder out of Lewis and Ngannou.
Blaydes Believes He Has “More Skills” Than Lewis
While Lewis was dominated by Gane at UFC 265 last August, Blaydes got back on track a month later at UFC 266. Against another KO artist in Jairzinho Rozenstruik, “Razor” shut down the power opposite him, as he’d intended to do seven months earlier against Lewis, and secured a comfortable unanimous decision victory.
With his position in the top five cemented and his name back in the title conversation, Blaydes is ready to make another surge to the top, one he believes shouldn’t have been stalled by “The Black Beast.”
Speaking to MMA News’ James Lynch, Blaydes claimed he is “still better” than Lewis despite the result in February 2021. Ultimately, the 30-year-old believes he boasts more skill than the powerhouse, who Blaydes says defeated him the only way he could, a one-and-done KO blow.
“I don’t lose to bums, and he ain’t a bum. I know that. I think, stylistically, I should have won that fight,” said Curtis Blaydes. “He won the one way he could win. I took a bad shot, he caught me, but otherwise, apart from that, because I’ve re-watched the fight, he lost that first round, he was on his way to losing that round, and I rushed it and paid the price. That’s always gonna annoy me because I do believe, I know I lost, but I do believe I’m still better than Derrick Lewis. I think I have more skills than him, more ways to win. I’m better athletically. He’s just really good at what he does, which is getting the knockout.”
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Having knocked out Chris Daukaus in December, Lewis will once again fight down the rankings in his next bout as his search for “fun” and pressure-free matchups continues. At UFC 271 next month, he’ll face fellow entertaining hard-hitter Tai Tuivasa.
Meanwhile, Blaydes will seemingly need to wait for some other fights to play out before his next opponent is set. Targeting an April return, “Razor” believes he could face the loser of this weekend’s unification showdown between Ngannou and Gane.
Who would you like to see Curtis Blaydes enter the Octagon with next?
With a UFC event on nearly every weekend in a year, it is easy to lose sight of the other fights going on in MMA. Every week there are big moments happening in the sport across the United States and all around the world.
As we move deeper into the new year, let’s look at four names who had exceptional years in MMA, with that success happening outside of the UFC cage. For this article, we selected three fighters that excelled in their respective promotion. Representing Bellator is AJ McKee Jr. For PFL, we picked Antonio Carlos Junior. And for RIZIN, you had to go with Hiromasa Ougikubo.
McKee Jr. Reaches Top Of The Bellator Mountain
(via Bellator MMA)
In July, AJ McKee Jr. saw himself facing Patricio Pitbull in the finals of a 16-man featherweight tournament. But his fight wasn’t just the culmination of that bout. In a sense, it was the conclusion to his 18-fight run up the Bellator ranks.
After a short amateur run, McKee Jr. signed with Bellator in 2015 and made his professional debut under their banner. He attained a flawless record through the year, finishing most of his opponents in a flashy fashion.
In 2019, he joined the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix—a bracket that, if successful, would crown him champion. After three finish wins in previous years in the bracket, he was matched this year against Pitbull, one of Bellator’s all-time greats.
McKee Jr. was able to catch Pitbull in just the second minute, putting on the submission after hurting him with a head kick. And with that, he became the new king of Bellator’s 145-pound division.
Four Wins And An Overdue Crowning Moment For Ougikubo
Hiromasa Ougikubo (RIZIN FF)
RIZIN bantamweight Hiromasa Ougikubo has long been recognized as a solid fighter. Viewers of Shooto Japan and RIZIN will know him as one of the stronger names at bantamweight. If not for that reason, many will recognize him from Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter, where he scored three wins before being eliminated by Tim Elliott.
However, Ougikubo never had his real big moment as a fighter. He never earned a major championship, and he never won in a major main event.
In 2021, he showed his skills by winning RIZIN’s rigorous bantamweight tournament. To start the bracket, he defeated veterans Takeshi Kasugai and Takafumi Otsuka in June and September respectively.
Then, on New Year’s Eve, he beat two big challenges in one night. First, he fought to a unanimous decision against former UFC fighter Naoki Inoue, giving him his first loss since joining the promotion.
Later in the night, he avenged a loss against Kai Asakura with a thorough decision victory. The win came in the main event of RIZIN 33, which was the promotion’s biggest event of the year. More than a decade-and-a-half into his career, Ougikubo got his big moment in MMA.
Carlos Junior Bounces Back In Major Fashion
Image Credit: Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Unlike others on this list, Antonio Carlos Junior’s year actually started in the UFC. After losing a fight in January 2021 against Brad Tavares, Carlos Junior found himself off the promotion’s roster.
Carlos Junior secured a spot in the playoffs with his first fight, submitting fellow UFC alum Tom Lawlor in the first round with a guillotine choke.
He scored his biggest win of the year in the semi-finals, defeating 2019 champion Emiliano Sordi on scorecards. In October, he was put against tournament underdog Marthin Hamlet in the grand finals. That was a quick win for Carlos Junior, submitting him in the first round with a rear naked choke.
Carlos Junior started the year cut from the largest MMA promotion in the world. But he ended the year as a champion – and a millionaire.
Kenny Florian was briefly suspended for the plagiarism documented in the below editorial published six years ago. Today, he works as a commentator for The Professional Fighters League and is also the co-host of the Anik and Florian podcast.
On This Day Six Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 16, 2016, 8:31 PM]
Headline:Kenny Florian & Why The Cover-Up Is Worse Than The Crime
Author: David Bixenspan
As noted earlier, former three-time UFC championship challenger turned UFC and Fox Sports analyst/color commentator has been suspended by the latter entity. His crime? He plagiarized large portions of his technical breakdown of T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz from boxing analyst Lee Wylie’s video breaking down 1040s boxer Willie Pep. Twitter personality The Naked Gambler deserves credit for pointing out exactly what Florian did:
Florian then decided to have a chat with Naked Gambler via direct message, where he explained that it was all a simple misunderstanding…or at least in his head it was:
This introduced us to Florian’s defense, which he later used in his public “apology;” That he keeps a running list of notes on martial arts technique, has for years, and it’s very jumbled with little effort to keep track of what he got where or which thoughts were his own. In and of itself, that would be fine, and it’s totally believable that he keeps those kinds of notes. But…then he went on to say that he must have forgotten that the notes on footwork taken from Wylie weren’t his own.
There are a few problems with this. The first is that even if he knew that even if he genuinely didn’t remember that the footwork notes weren’t his, since he did remember that not all of the notes were his, he’s still knowingly plagiarizing. Even if he didn’t know that those specific notes weren’t his, he knew there was a reasonable likelihood that it was the case.
However, in this specific instance, that doesn’t pass the smell test, either. Why? Wylie’s breakdown only went up on December 3rd, just last month. In addition, being a video (with Wylie’s notes contained in the video as on-screen graphics) as opposed to text in an article, Florian couldn’t have just absent-mindedly copied and pasted it without giving much thought to it. He would have devoted a good bit of time to transcribing the text by hand in the weeks leading up to the article, where he says that he “forgot” that the words weren’t his own.
Soon enough, the story hit Deadspin. At that point, it was probably just a matter of time that the story would really blow up (if it already happened), so Florian issued what he termed an apology:
Note the wording: Florian said that he was ““referenc[ing] perspectives on [something], which were originally articulated by [someone else],” when he was outright lifting Wylie’s analysis word for word. He was deliberately mischaracterizing what he did to obfuscate as well as minimize what he did. Worse, according to twotweets from Naked Gambler, he had attempted to defuse the situation by promising to try to get Wylie a job at Fox Sports.
Does this sound like someone who made a genuine mistake he was sorry for? Or does sound like someone who, for reasons known only to him, knowingly plagiarized large portions of an article and scrambled to cover it up when he got caught? He buried himself deeper every time he addressed the situation, and it’s a miracle that so far, he’s just suspended.
As for Lee Wylie? The poor guy who donates his time to creating cool analysis videos, who had his work stolen by a well-compensated television personality, has been made to feel like a jerk for no good reason:
Tonight, the UFC returns with UFC Vegas 46! As we embark on a new year full of great action, let’s first close out the MMA News Top 100 Fighters of 2021 list as voted on by our panel!
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
And finally, you can view the conclusion of The MMA News Top 100 UFC Fighters of 2021 below!
#10: Rose Namajunas
Rose Namajunas, Credit: Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Rose Namajunas made one statement loud and clear with her mouth prior to the fight and with her foot during the fight on April 24, 2021, inside the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida: She’s the best.
With Namajunas defeating arguably the two best strawweights the promotion has ever seen (herself excluded), Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili, and defeating both twice, she has established herself as the one and only best strawweight in the UFC.
A case can be made that no champion on the entire roster has a higher career trajectory than Namajunas due to the fact that she has already beaten the very best the division has to offer, she continues to visibly get better and more advanced as a technical mixed martial artist, and the fact that she is still only 29 years old.
Namajunas barely gets the edge over Robert Whittaker due to her advantage in career trajectory, the fact that she is a current titleholder, and the fact that she had a memorable finish in 2021 while Whittaker has only earned decision wins since 2017.
Heading Into 2022: Rose Namajunas will look to keep her undefeated rematch record intact when she faces Carla Esparza if and when that expected bout becomes official.
#9: Max Holloway
Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar, UFC on ABC 1
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Next up in our top 10 fighters of 2021 we have the current record-holder for most wins in the featherweight division, Max “Blessed” Holloway.
On paper, Max Holloway is 2-2 in his last four fights. What’s more, he’s 3-3 in his last six fights. So how is he #9 on our list?
For one thing, one of those three losses took place in the lightweight division, where Holloway had never competed before in the UFC. The bulk of our appraisal for each fighter is what they’ve achieved in their primary weight class. While any loss carries an impact on a fighter’s placement on this list, that impact is much lighter if the fighter lost outside of the division in which they are active, established, and familiar.
And the most recent of those three losses happen to be one of the reasons Holloway is ranked so high. Due to how close and controversial his loss to Alexander Volkanovski was at UFC 251, this serves as evidence that Holloway is one round on one judges’ scorecard away from again reigning as champion. This acknowledgment helps Holloway in Category #3.
In category #2, Holloway’s aforementioned status as the featherweight win record-holder earns him high credit, especially considering some of the names included on that record, especially and including two finishes over who many consider to be the featherweight GOAT, José Aldo.
And in category #1, Holloway participated in back-to-back Fight of the Night-winning performances in 2021, with “Blessed” showing that setting more records via nonstop punches is standard for him.
Heading Into 2022: Originally scheduled to face Alexander Volkanovski in a trilogy fight, Max Holloway will instead be recovering from injury. Only time will tell if a title shot will still await him when he makes his Octagon return and if he’ll compete this year.
#8: Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes, Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: The next time you prepare to watch Amanda Nunes on TV, you can still feel safe putting your bets on her. Seeing as how she’s only lost one time since 2014, the odds are in your favor. And with her historic run during this stretch, despite her major setback against Julianna Peña at UFC 269, she will always be a champion.
With dominant victories over Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and other legacy wins over Valentina Shevchenko, Germaine de Randamie among others, Nunes earns maximum credit and then some in Category #2.
Additionally, the fact that she remains a comfortable betting favorite over Julianna Peña in their hypothetical rematch despite her second-round submission loss to her tells you that she is still considered most likely to win any fight in the bantamweight division.
Had Amanda Nunes done to Julianna Peña what the overwhelming majority of fans were certain she would, she’d have a firm case for #1 on our list. Instead, the massive ding she suffered in her underperforming loss to “The Venezuelan Vixen” has her at #8.
Heading Into 2022: Amanda Nunes has made her intentions for 2022 clear. Her next featherweight title defense, if it ever comes, will have to wait. First, “The Lioness” will look to regain her throne in a second confrontation with Julianna Peña.
There may be no one in all of MMA who makes slow-starting look so dominant. Whether or not Yan drops a round in a fight, by the time it’s all she wrote, you can’t help but kick yourself for ever doubting this Russian terminator.
Regardless of how a Petr Yan fight starts, both before and during the bout, he has earned the benefit of the doubt of pundits and oddsmakers to be expected to win any fight he’s in. His style is too efficient, too fundamentally sound, too crisp with his hands, too aware of his body-weight distribution.
Had Petr Yan finished his UFC 259 title match against Aljamain Sterling the way it appeared he was on track to, he could be placed even higher on our list. Instead, the knee heard ’round the world dings the Russian a bit.
Unbeaten in his last 12 fights, Yan remains a safe bet going into practically any fight. And his body of work and résumé should not be slept on, with wins over Jimmie Rivera, Douglas Silva de Andrade, and two names placed high on our list: Cory Sandhagen and the legendary José Aldo.
Heading Into 2022: Petr Yan will have an opportunity to rectify his UFC 259 blunder when he rematches Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273 in April.
#6: Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira, Credit: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: When a man fights for 11 years in the same promotion before finally becoming champion, you can be certain that mistakes were made along the way and dues were paid time after time. Next thing you know, Charles Oliveira is on a 10-fight winning streak. And once considered a gatekeeper at lightweight, we may very well have seen “Do Bronx” lose for the last time.
Charles Oliveira’s recent performances are nearly impossible to top. In 2021, he had two championship finishes. Prior to that, he dominated Tony Ferguson from bell to bell. And before that, he had strung together seven consecutive finishes. Therefore, beyond just recency, Oliveira isn’t just likely to perform well, but he’s become practically a lock to win.
During this stretch, he’s also racked up massive points in Category #2, with wins over Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Tony Ferguson, three fighters who appear on our list this year, including someone ranked within the top 15 in Poirier.
Heading Into 2022: If “Do Bronx” is to pick up another finish, he’s going to have to go through hell to get it done. The warmonger that is Justin Gaethje now awaits him.
#5: Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya, Photo by Carmen Mandato/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Although it’s true that Israel Adesanya went 1-1 in 2021 while Charles Oliveira is unbeaten in 10 fights, it’s the fact that Israel Adesanya is 21-0 in his division that makes him extremely tough to top in the “likelihood to win a fight” category. And he earned this record through hard work, blood, sweat, and tears from the dirt.
Additionally, in terms of name value, Adesanya may have the strongest résumé in middleweight history, with wins over Anderson Silva, Yoel Romero, Kelvin Gastelum, and three names on our list: Marvin Vettori (2), Paulo Costa, Derek Brunson, and the biggest reason for his placement: his dominant second-round KO of our 11th-ranked fighter, Robert Whittaker in 2019.
Adesanya’s loss to Jan Blachowicz affects his points earned in category #1, but he mitigated some of the damage there with his unanimous decision victory over Vettori after the fact.
Heading Into 2022: Israel Adesanya will now look to defeat Robert Whittaker for a second time when the two meet next month at UFC 271.
#4: Alexander Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski, Credit: UFC.com
Reasoning Behind Ranking: There are two primary reasons behind Alexander Volkanovski’s placement as our #4th ranked fighter:
1) He has defeated two names ranked very high on our list: José Aldo (#20) and two wins over our #9-ranked fighter, Max Holloway.
2) The man has not lost a fight since 2013 and is on a nice, round, 20-fight winning streak. And if there was any doubt about this man’s will to win and his likelihood to survive anything put in front of him, there was this moment:
In round 3 of his successful title defense over another fighter on our list, Brian Ortega (#39), Alexander Volkanovski showed what lies down under: the unyielding will of a champion. After witnessing that and considering that he is undefeated in the UFC and also undefeated as a featherweight, it’s clear that Volkanovski is one of the very best fighters on planet Earth.
Heading Into 2022: Alexander Volkanovski will look to add yet another name to his résumé when he takes on The Korean Zombie at UFC 273 in April. If he gets through that, he could be looking at the trilogy fight against Max Holloway that was originally planned for “The Great.”
#3: Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou
Reasoning Behind Ranking: People are so caught up in how “scary” Ngannou is as a knockout artist that they neglect to give full recognition to his body of work and résumé.
At this moment, Ngannou has victories over Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Andre Arlovski, and three names on our list this year: Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Curtis Blaydes, and of course, the primary reason for his placement: his redemptive and brutal KO of the consensus heavyweight GOAT, Stipe Miocic.
And here’s the thing. Ngannou didn’t just use brute KO power to get it done. He outskilled Miocic on the feet throughout the fight and, what’s most frightening of all, he even outgrappled him.
Perhaps what’s most taken for granted about Ngannou’s career is the fact that most of the legends he’s defeated, he’s done so within minutes. Whenever you can say you’ve knocked out Junior dos Santos, Curtis Blaydes, experienced kickboxer Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and the legendary Cain Velasquez all within a total combined time of approximately three minutes, you might just be a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
Heading Into 2022: Another year, a fresh new batch of targets in his sights. Here comes The Predator.
Francis Ngannou may have the toughest fight of his career from a pure skill standpoint when he takes on the magnificent Ciryl Gane next Saturday at UFC 270. With a dominant victory there, we may have to begin two conversations: potential heavyweight GOAT and pound-for-pound #1 status.
#2: Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina Shevchenko, Credit: AP
Reasoning Behind Ranking: When you step into an arena with Valentina Shevchenko’s name on the marquee, there are three things you know for certain: you’re going to see a Lezginka, you’re going to be left mesmerized, and somebody’s gonna get their head kicked in tonight.
When it comes to “likelihood to win a fight” and even career trajectory, Valentina Shevchenko is untouchable in points earned because there have been no signs whatsoever that she will stop doing what she’s doing. Since 2018, Shevchenko has proven to be the most dominant champion in the UFC with room to spare, truly finding her home at 125.
One thing that’s holding her back is the fact that many of her opponents were overmatched. However, let’s not forget that she does hold victories over former UFC champions Jéssica Andrade and Joanna Jędrzejczyk. And even outside of flyweight, her body of work includes wins over former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and reigning bantamweight champion Julianna Peña, who placed #21 on her list. And in her only UFC losses to Amanda Nunes, both fights were competitive, especially the split-decision loss in 2017.
Also, from a pure skill standpoint, she has shown no weaknesses and has continued to sharpen her toolset every year, arguably becoming the most fundamentally sound, technical, and well-rounded fighter on the UFC roster.
Heading Into 2022: There’s likely more dominance to come in 2022, but The Bullet’s next victim has yet to be selected.
#1: Kamaru Usman
Kamaru Usman
Reasoning Behind Ranking: The undisputed UFC welterweight champion, the record-holder for most consecutive wins in the welterweight division, the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, Kamaru Usman has the juice, the sauce, and all them things.
Let’s break down why Kamaru Usman is our #1-ranked fighter category by category.
Category #1:
Recent Performances: In 2021 alone, Usman began the year by surviving arguably the most adversity he’s ever faced in the UFC after getting quasi-dropped by Gilbert Burns, only to put on an absolute clinic from that point forward.
He then defeated one of the best fighters on the UFC roster for the second time, our #17-ranked fighter, Colby Covington.
Career Trajectory: Having nearly cleaned out the division at 34 years old, Usman’s career is now trending towards potential GOAT status. In fact, out of everyone on the UFC roster, he is arguably the closest towards reaching this recognition.
Category #2:
Body of Work/Résumé: As noted, Usman has practically cleaned out his division. And throughout his legendary career, he holds wins over Colby Covington (2), Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal (2), Leon Edwards, Tyron Woodley, Rafael dos Anjos, Sean Strickland, and Demian Maia. Five of those names appear on our list this year, and a minimum of two of them are likely to be Hall of Famers. This murderer’s row is the primary reason Usman was placed over Shevchenko.
The other reason Usman was placed over Shevchenko is because of his flawless UFC winning percentage.
Category #3:
Kamaru Usman has the highest winning percentage in the entire history of the UFC. So when it comes to “likelihood to win a fight,” there’s that.
Heading Into 2022: As of yesterday, Kamaru Usman’s next “lapee” in the welterweight division will potentially be Leon Edwards, as that is who UFC President Dana White confirmed is next in line for the champion.
So there you have it! That concludes the inaugural MMA News Top 100 UFC Fighters list! How did we do?! Let us know what you think in the comments section, and you can expect to hear back! Happy debating!
UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes says that out of his former opponents Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou, it’s “The Black Beast” who packs the hardest punch.
Across his 19-fight professional MMA career, Blaydes has only tasted defeat against Ngannou and Lewis. In his UFC debut back in 2016, “Razor” had the first blemish added to his record by “The Predator” in the form of a doctor stoppage.
After going 6-0-1 in his next seven outings, a period that included wins against Aleksei Oleinik, Mark Hunt, and Alistair Overeem, Blaydes had his chance at redemption.
In the main event of a Beijing, China-held UFC Fight Night in 2018, the Illinois native shared the Octagon with Ngannou for the second time. On that occasion, the current UFC Heavyweight Champion got the job done without a doctor, securing a first-round TKO less than a minute into the contest.
Like with his first defeat, Blaydes had no issue rebounding after his second setback. Mounting a four-fight win streak, he defeated former titleholder Junior dos Santos and veteran striker Alexander Volkov. That form granted him a title eliminator against Lewis. But in the UFC Vegas 19 main event, Blaydes was knocked out cold for the first time in his career.
In an exclusive interview with MMA News, Blaydes discussed the immense power of both Ngannou and Lewis, the upcoming UFC 270 main event, his heavyweight GOAT, Jon Jones’ expected heavyweight debut, and his own return to action in 2022.
Blaydes: Lewis Slept Me, Ngannou Didn’t
Ngannou is widely regarded as not only the biggest power puncher in MMA but the hardest hitter on the globe. That claim is even backed up by some numbers. In 2017, the Cameroonian powerhouse set the record for the most powerful recorded punch in history.
That vicious ability to knock everyone and anyone out has been on full display in the UFC. In his five fights since consecutive defeats to Lewis and Stipe Miocic on the scorecards in 2018, Ngannou has knocked out Blaydes, Miocic, dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, four of whom didn’t even escape the opening round.
But despite that, Blaydes believes the UFC’s power throne is occupied by Lewis, who boasts the most KOs in UFC history. Having felt the power of both top-five heavyweights, “Razor” believes it’s “The Black Beast” who boasts the power edge, citing the fact Lewis was able to sleep him and Ngannou wasn’t as his reasons.
“Well, Derrick. Obviously, I’d never been put to sleep, he put me to sleep. Gonna have to give it to him,” Blaydes told MMA News’ James Lynch. “When we (Blaydes and Ngannou) fought the first time, that was a doctor stoppage, I was not out, but I guess it goes down as a TKO. And then in Beijing, again, he dropped me twice in rapid succession, and then the referee jumped in, but I was aware, I remember everything. When Derrick Lewis knocked me out, I woke up in the ambulance, so there you go. That’s a big difference.”
Blaydes, on the other hand, finds himself in an awkward position. After comfortably defeating Rozenstruik at UFC 266 last September, he cemented his status as a top-five heavyweight.
However, with three of the four names above him booked, the other being Miocic, who will likely either fight for the title or challenge Jones next and having already defeated the two contenders below him, options are limited for the time being.
Targeting an April return to the Octagon, Blaydes will seemingly wait for other fights to play out, and will perhaps challenge the loser of next weekend’s pay-per-view main event.
Who would you like to see Curtis Blaydes enter the cage with next?
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
The fact that he ran the WEC/UFC featherweight division for as long as he did—from 2009 to 2015 and through nine successful title defenses—gave him a massive edge over almost everyone on this list in category #2. Much like Dominick Cruz, who appears earlier on this list, any time you have a résumé as extensive as José Aldo’s and you get on a winning streak, you will be provided full respect from our panel.
In 2021, Aldo went 2-0 to extend his winning streak to three. First, he defeated Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision in August. Then, in his first main event since 2017, Aldo defeated a top-5 bantamweight (at the time) in Rob Font via unanimous decision. With that performance, Aldo put the bantamweight division on notice: ‘You’re next.’
All three of Aldo’s wins came against ranked opponents and none of the fights were close. So given his résumé and recent performances, categories #1 and #2 were both very strong for the Brazilian legend and are the main reasons for his ranking at #20.
Heading Into 2022: Don’t look now, but José Aldo may very well be one fight away from another title shot. He already fought Petr Yan for the championship, but that was three fights ago. That being said, his chances of getting another world title opportunity would probably be greater if he challenges a different champion, such as the current titleholder who will appear shortly on this list.
#19: Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje, Image Credit: USA TODAY
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Justin Gaethje will be the first to tell you straight to your face that he is a full-throttle warmonger. No one consistently puts on a show like him; no one promotes violence more ferociously than this “Highlight.” But beyond the performance bonuses and the thrilling clips, he’s also a first-rate competitor.
Gaethje has won five of his last six fights, with the lone loss coming to the unstoppable and damn-near unfair Khabib Nurmagomedov. Aside from that defeat, four out of those five wins were stoppages, and the latest win over Michael Chandler was considered Fight of the Year. Now, to be in a Fight of the Year candidate, that usually means you’ve left yourself wide open to suffering a loss.
This theoretically would impact category #3, his likelihood to win. However, when you’ve won in every non-Khabib fight you’ve had since 2018, you’ve built up enough credit in that area. And if anything, these wars have solidified that he is the most likely to emerge from near-fatal collisions as the sole survivor.
Gaethje’s career trajectory is also off the charts at the moment, with the American listed as the current #1 contender for the lightweight championship. This strengthens his case in Category #1, our most heavily weighted category.
Altogether, Gaethje’s performance quality, winning percentage, and body of work that includes wins over names like Tony Ferguson, Edson Barboza, and Michael Chandler have him pretty rock solid in all three categories.
Heading Into 2022: As noted, Justin Gaethje is currently the #1 contender and is currently expected to challenge champion Charles Oliveira for the world title this year.
#18: Aljamain Sterling
Aljamain Sterling
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Up next on our list is the reigning, albeit controversial, UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain “Funk Master” Sterling. What isn’t controversial about this champion is his skill set. Sterling has won six straight fights, five straight by non-DQ. This includes wins over four competitors who have been ranked in the UFC: Cody Stamann, Jimmie Rivera, Pedro Munhoz, and our #29-ranked fighter, Cory Sandhagen.
None of those non-DQ victories were competitive. In fact, in the case of Sandhagen, Sterling was able to submit the #4-ranked bantamweight less than two minutes into their fight and take home Performance of the Night for his troubles. Overall, Sterling’s record is a pretty 20-3, holding a winning percentage that proves “The Funk Master” is always more likely than not to do a victory dance.
Currently in his prime and unbeaten since 2017, Aljamain Sterling’s career trajectory is arguably as high as anyone in the bantamweight division right now. All in all, Sterling checks off all the categorical boxes of our criteria.
Sterling edges out Gaethje for this spot mainly because, in his three losses, he has been finished one time while Gaethje has been finished three times. He also has a longer winning streak than Gaethje at the moment, and he holds a victory over Cory Sandhagen, who is ranked higher on this list than anyone Gaethje has defeated.
Heading Into 2022: Look, Aljamain Sterling loves it when people count him out. He’s proven to be a soldier with a growing attack arsenal that he expects will silence his critics once and for all when he rematches Petr Yan at UFC 273 in April. Those critics, of course, label Sterling as a fake champion after he won the title from Yan via disqualification. The only thing on Sterling’s mind as a competitor coming into 2022 is leaving no doubt about who is the rightful top dog at 135.
#17: Colby Covington
Colby Covington
Reasoning Behind Ranking: As Kamaru Usman and Dana White have both stated in so many words, if ever there was an example of “If __ didn’t exist, he would be world champion,” it may be this man. Across two fights, Covington has demonstrated how narrow the gap is between himself and the UFC’s pound-for-pound #1-ranked fighter.
And outside of this rival, he has completely run through every opponent put in front of him since 2015. This includes lopsided victories over names like Demian Maia and former UFC champions Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler, and Tyron Woodley. Covington’s nonstop motor, enhanced striking, and suffocating wrestling make him visibly one of the most talented and well-rounded fighters in the entire promotion.
Accordingly, he would almost surely be favorited over any fighter at 170 pounds not named Kamaru Usman, which grants him large credit in category #3, and his résumé which includes the aforementioned victories affirm that he does NOT suck and gives him strong credit in category #2 as well.
Had Covington been more active, he might have found himself ranked even higher than this. That is how talented he has proven himself to be. But with the lack of steady activity recently and not winning a fight since September 2020, the #17 placement is very generous, if anything. But even in terms of recent performances, his latest loss to Usman was not treated as a net negative by our panel due to this performance validating just how close Covington is to being the best in the world.
Heading Into 2022: Colby Covington will finally get his long-requested grudge match against Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 272 in March, and that’s one fight—and buildup—that you won’t want to miss a single second of.
#16: T.J. Dillashaw
T.J. Dillashaw: Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: In another tricky placement on our list this year, T.J. Dillashaw comes in at a healthy #16 despite only having one fight since 2019.
Beginning with category #1, T.J. Dillashaw remains next in line for the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan II, which demonstrates his career trajectory is still trending very high. As far as recent performances, he emerged victorious from a classic battle against someone ranked high on our list, Cory Sandhagen, in his return after a two-year layoff. This is the only true “recent” performance from Dillashaw, which is the primary reason he is not ranked higher.
In category #2, though no doubt tainted by the USADA suspension of 2019, the fact remains the following victories occurred without any positive test results and must be fully acknowledged by our panel: prime Renan Barão (2x), Raphael Assunção, John Lineker, and two wins over Cody Garbrandt that were huge statement victories at the time. Furthermore, his championship loss to Dominick Cruz in 2016 was considered by most to be a toss-up that could have gone either way.
In category #3, Dillashaw has established himself as one of the most well-rounded fighters on the UFC roster. He can fight an entire contest on his feet with grace and efficiency, he can outwork his opponent with elite wrestling, and he also has among the highest fight IQs in the game.
Additionally, his victory over Cory Sandhagen helped answer questions on how likely he is to continue winning after his USADA suspension, and it also poses the question: if Dillashaw performed that well after a two-year layoff, how will he look moving forward?
Heading Into 2022: Now that he’s back in the world he loves, the #2-ranked Dillashaw isn’t shedding any tears about his past but looking to continue validating his career by becoming a three-time UFC champion. That may or may not require one more fight after he returns from knee surgery. One likely opponent for Dillashaw if that additional fight is required is the #3-ranked contender and fellow ex-UFC champ, José Aldo.
#15: Glover Teixeira
Glover Teixeira
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Who would have thought two years ago that a 42-year-old Glover Teixeira would be world champion and rank at #15 on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters of 2021 list?? Based on the confidence he’s built on since his winning streak began three years ago, Teixeira’s self-belief was always there. And by taking it day by day, paying the requisite price, and bleeding for it, Teixeira now sits as the king of the UFC’s light heavyweight jungle.
Things haven’t always gone smoothly for Teixeira, but as far as his recent performances go, he has now won six consecutive victories, including the magnum opus of his career: submitting Jan Blachowicz to finally become UFC world champion.
During this career-defining stretch, Teixeira has defeated names like former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, but of course, it was the victory over Blachowicz that earned Teixeira this placement on our list more than anything else.
It’s important to note that in terms of his body of work, this stretch, as remarkable as it has been, is not all that defines Teixeira’s legendary career. He has 33 career wins in total, which also includes wins over the likes of Rashad Evans, Ryan Bader, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson among many others.
Heading Into 2022: Still an underdog heading into the new year, Teixeira is not expected by the oddsmakers to exit 2022 with the gold he came in with. He’ll have his first chance to prove the doubters wrong again if his anticipated bout against Jiří Procházka goes down this year.
#14: Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier, Image Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: When it comes to the respect of our panel, Dustin Poirier is getting paid in full by this placement at #14 of our list despite coming up short in his quest for lightweight gold at UFC 269.
Although this loss was Poirier’s most recent performance, he still came away with many points in Category #1 due to his back-to-back victories over Conor McGregor. Prior to that, he soundly defeated Dan Hooker via unanimous decision.
But what is ironically Dustin Poirier’s strongest category is still perhaps his body of work and résumé, despite failing to become UFC champion in 2021. Since 2017, Poirier’s record stands up against the very best of the best, with the Louisiana native going 8-2 in this stretch, including victories over former champions Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway, and another fighter who, like Holloway, is prominently featured on this list: Justin Gaethje.
Dustin Poirier has developed a reputation of having the resolve and stubbornness to keep pressing forward even after the most disheartening stumbles. So as someone who has never lost back-to-back fights in his 13-year career, the odds seem likely that he’ll be getting his hand raised once again sometime soon.
Heading Into 2022: The accompanying questions are following this latest bounceback attempt: What division will Poirier return to? And who will be his opponent?
While Poirier has made no secret that he’d love nothing more for the answers to those questions to be a welterweight bout against Nate Diaz, recent stalls in those negotiations leave those questions unanswered until further notice.
#13: Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Islam Makhachev does not have the names on his résumé as a Dustin Poirier or even a Justin Gaethje. But he has earned something that neither of them or any other current lightweight has: a reputation of being completely and utterly unstoppable.
In his last three victories, as the levels of competition have increased, so has the degree of dominance: with impressive submissions over Drew Dober, Thiago Moisés, and someone who appears on this list: Dan Hooker. Makhachev holds another victory over someone on this list, Arman Tsarukyan in what won Fight of the Night. To get an idea of just how dominant this guy is, even when he wins Fight of the Night, it’s still a 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 unanimous decision!
The fact that Makhachev’s recent performances have been increasingly dominant through these nine fights and because he is now right smack dab in his prime at 30 years old, his career trajectory is arguably as high as anyone in the entire promotion who is not currently wearing UFC gold. And there is a very good chance that Makhachev would be the betting favorite over anyone in the division right now. Evidence of this can be found in him being a major -390 favorite over our #26-ranked fighter, Beneil Dariush, despite Dariush being on a monster winning streak himself.
The strength Makhachev carries in Categories 1 and 2 is what has earned him this lofty spot on our list.
Heading Into 2022: Conventional wisdom holds that Islam Makhachev is only one fight away from having the opportunity to join his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov in the hall of UFC lightweight champions. But first, as mentioned, he must get past #3-ranked Beneil Dariush in a fight scheduled for February 26.
#12: Ciryl Gane
Ciryl Gane, Image: UFC.com
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Coming in hot and high on our list at #12 is the undefeated and remarkable Ciryl Gane.
In many ways, Ciryl Gane is ranked somewhere near where Khamzat Chimaev might be if he had four ranked, established, and highly respected names on his résumé like Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, and Derrick Lewis, with none looking as if they had any business being in the cage with Gane. Meanwhile, this ascending star has no signs of fear or discomfort in front of the cameras and just dazzles like it’s second nature.
Unlike Chimaev, Gane isn’t known to steamroll his opponents in the first round. Instead, he’s able to pick them apart flawlessly over a prolonged stretch in the most dangerous division, which in some ways is even more impressive.
Chimaev comparisons aside, Ciryl Gane has brought an entirely fresh and new style to the heavyweight division that he showcases with smooth ease, as if partaking in a sparring session while his opponents are giving maximum effort.
The quality of Gane’s recent performance and career trajectory cannot be overstated. When you receive a heavyweight title shot after only 10 professional fights, that can only be due to a 10/10 rating on career trajectory and recent-performance quality. Most recently, Gane completely outclasses Derrick Lewis in Lewis’ hometown of Houston to become the interim UFC heavyweight champion.
Despite Islam Makhachev having more wins than Gane, the fact that Gane is undefeated with wins over a much higher level of competition scores Gane a spot above the Dagestani grappler.
And in regards to category #3, Gane’s flawless record joined with the fact that the odds have him dead even with the most feared man in the company and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Francis Ngannou, shows just how much respect he’s been given by the public despite his young career.
Heading Into 2022: Next weekend, Ciryl Gane will take part in the first blockbuster fight of 2022 when he faces the aforementioned “Predator” Francis Ngannou in a heavyweight title unification bout at UFC 270 live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
#11: Robert Whittaker
Robert Whittaker, Credit: USATSI
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Robert Whittaker has shown the world that he can be touched, he can be moved, he can be rocked, he can be shaken,
It looked as though perhaps “The Reaper” might have been turned into a relic after reigning champion Israel Adesanya finished him at UFC 243. But stories of his demise were greatly exaggerated.
Since that loss, Whittaker has earned major points in Category #1 with three straight unanimous decision victories in his recent performances over other premier strikers Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum.
Whittaker also hits both categories #2 and #3 with the facts that he is a former world champion and has won an incredible 12 out of his last 13 fights. This is especially noteworthy when considering who he’s faced. We’re talking about a prime Jacare Souza, Yoel Romero (2x), and Derek Brunson, along with the other aforementioned names and many others.
Robert Whittaker is without question worthy of a spot in our top 10. What gives our next fighter the oh-so-slight edge over him is the fact that they are a current titleholder. You can find out who that person is in the conclusion of our list tomorrow, as well as who fills out the rest of the top 10.
Heading Into 2022: Robert Whittaker will have an opportunity to fix that “not a champion” blip when he faces Israel Adesanya in a rematch of their 2019 bout at UFC 271 next month.
Stay tuned to find out who all are in the top 10 of our list in the exciting conclusion of the MMA News Top 100 Fighters of 2021 list tomorrow!
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Leon Edwards’ placement in the top 30 of our list should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the run he has been on since 2016. After losing to current champion Kamaru Usman in 2015, Edwards’ wins have kept spinning like the rims of a Cadillac. This includes victories over two names on our list: Belal Muhammad and Vicente Luque. In total, Edwards has remained unbeaten after 10 fights, which naturally gives him a strong edge in the “likelihood to win fights” category.
So why isn’t he ranked higher if he’s been unbeaten in so many fights? Firstly, Edwards’ lack of activity has hurt him in regards to the “recency” of his performances. He has only won one fight since July of 2019. Second, none of his wins have come against someone at the top of the division. As you’ll see with someone later on our list, however, that doesn’t necessarily prevent a higher ranking. The difference between that individual and Edwards is they have been able to finish opponents with more decisive victories while Edwards generally has not, even having a spit decision against Gunnar Nelson three fights ago.
Heading Into 2022: The #3-ranked Leon Edwards’ next fight is uncertain. But with Jorge Masvidal now booked against Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns in the works, there’s a good chance that leaves Edwards as the odd man in for once, and he may very well finally get his title shot against Kamaru Usman.
#29: Cory Sandhagen
Cory Sandhagen, Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: No lengthy winning streaks here. Nope, just an exquisite fighting style and talent that was clearly developed through years of crafting and hard work. Make no mistake about it, though, Sandhagen has deployed these talents to generate results in the line of combat. Indeed, “The Sandman” has shut out the lights of many men with lofty dreams of war, including one of the best knockouts of 2021 over Frankie Edgar.
More than half of Sandhagen’s victories have come by way of KO/TKO, including his last two victories that came over ranked opponents Edgar and Marlon Moraes. As was the case with Edgar, the Moraes KO was also a frontrunner for KO of the year in 2020.
As for that missing winning streak? One of the losses came against the “super interim” bantamweight champion, if you will, Petr Yan, in what was a fairly competitive fight overall and won Fight of the Night, and the other was against former champion T.J. Dillashaw in a fight that was about as close as it gets, with many fans and pundits scoring the fight in Sandhagen’s favor.
In essence, we are not counting the Dillashaw fight as a “full” loss due to just how much of a legitimate coin toss the bout was. That plus his much higher finishing rate gives him the slightest of edges over Edwards. Additionally, the only time Edwards faced anyone around the level of Dillashaw was against Kamaru Usman in a fight where he was soundly defeated.
Sandhagen’s résumé and likelihood to win a fight were both awarded extra points when considering his wins over other respected names like John Lineker and Raphael Assunção. His only losses have come to the very best in the division: the aforementioned Yan and Dillashaw as well as current champion Aljamain Sterling.
Heading Into 2022: Despite his setbacks, Cory Sandhagen remains ranked #4 in the elite bantamweight division. There’s no word on who is next for him. A fight against fellow striker Rob Font could be enticing, with the two currently ranked right next to one another and both coming off a loss, or perhaps a potential masterpiece of MMA art against fellow flowing mover Dominick Cruz.
#28: Zhang Weili
Zhang Weili
Reasoning Behind Ranking: It was nothing but “Magnum” bullets kicking down the door when Zhang Weili burst onto the UFC scene in 2018. From 2014-2021, Zhang compiled a total of 21 straight victories with only one prior defeat. She also holds wins over notable opponents Tecia Torres and our #42-ranked fighter and former strawweight champion, Jéssica Andrade, to capture the title in 2019 with a first-round blitz. And who can forget her victory over Joanna Jędrzejczyk in one of the greatest fights in the entire history of MMA?
The reason Zhang is not ranked higher is because of category #3. Her likelihood to win fights at the highest level has been brought into question over the past three fights. First, though her bout against Jędrzejczyk was an all-time war and an admirable showing by both women, that fight could have gone either way, which causes a direct impact on her likelihood to win a major fight.
Her loss to Rose Namajunas in her next bout was obviously the biggest impact to Zhang in this third category, where she was knocked out in under two minutes at UFC 248. Then, although the judges’ scorecard could have gone her way against Namajunas at UFC 268, she again came up short in a major fight. That said, if one more round had gone against her in the Jędrzejczyk fight, she very easily and plausibly could be on a three-fight losing streak right now.
Heading Into 2022: Zhang Weili remains ranked #1 in the strawweight division and due to the closeness of her last fight against Namajunas, she could still be within one win from another title shot. Her next fight is currently unknown, but her former foe in the aforementioned MMA classic, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, likes the idea of running it back.
#27: Stipe Miocic
Reasoning Behind Ranking: The primary reason for Miocic’s somewhat low ranking given his body of work and well-established talent is not because he got knocked out by Francis Ngannou. Anyone knows there’s no shame in that. It’s simply because that’s the only image of him in the Octagon since August 2020. And his win before that came in 2019. That means he is 2-2 in his last four fights and had a poor showing in 2021. So it was category #1 that was the main hindrance from Miocic being ranked higher on our list.
As for why he’s ranked as high as he is despite going 0-1 in 2021 and 2-2 in his last four, the reason for that is fairly clear given Miocic’s body of work and résumé. He has put on for The Land by decorating it with gold, with more successful title defenses than any heavyweight in UFC history. He holds wins over Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and perhaps the two biggest feathers in his cap: a one-sided victory over current champion Francis Ngannou and two wins over someone who was once in the heavyweight GOAT running himself, Daniel Cormier.
Because of all of the above, Miocic remains the consensus HW GOAT in the eyes of many and there is no indisputable evidence that he is on the decline. But that uncertainty works both in his favor and against him since we do not have any more evidence about where he stands due to a lack of consistent activity.
Had Miocic gone 1-0 or even 1-1 in 2021, he’d likely find himself in or right outside our top 10. But after getting dominated and knocked out in his only fight of the year without a win since the summer of 2020, it’s hard not to reward fighters who have been more active and/or had a better 2021 record.
Heading Into 2022: Stipe Miocic is truly in a state of limbo at this present time and there is no sign whatsoever of who he’ll fight in 2022 or if he would even be willing to fight this year in any bout that isn’t a title shot. Nevertheless, the two-time former champion is ranked #2 in the heavyweight rankings coming into the year.
#26: Beneil Dariush
Beneil Dariush, Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: After coming out from the shadows of his last loss in 2018 against Alexander Hernandez with a unanimous decision win over Thiago Moisés, Beneil Dariush is still rolling with seven consecutive wins. For Dariush to be placed over the likes of Stipe Miocic, Zhang Weili, Conor McGregor, etc., it is clearly because of the fact that he hit a home run in our highest-weighted category (category #1), which factors in career trajectory and recent performances that has brought his momentum to a boil.
In terms of career trajectory, he is likely one win away from a world title shot in arguably the most competitive division in the UFC (lightweight). And in recent performances, he has not only remained highly active, but four of Dariush’s seven straight wins have earned him performance bonuses, including his latest KO over Scott Holtzman.
Dariush’s win streak includes victories over Moisés, Drew Dober, Carlos Diego Ferreira, and someone whom our panel still has a lot of respect for and thus carries a lot of weight: Tony Ferguson.
Because of the quality and longevity of his winning streak, Dariush also warrants a great deal of respect in category #3, his likelihood to win fights. Because not unlike Charles Oliveira, although Dariush may have encountered many setbacks throughout his career, there is nothing that says one can’t flip a switch and enter a new, championship gear. As of this writing, there is no evidence that Dariush hasn’t flipped that switch.
Heading Into 2022: If Dariush is able to get past his next challenge, Islam Makhachev, then he will almost be guaranteed to have a much higher ranking next year, regardless of what else happens in 2021. As far as the UFC rankings go, he currently sits at #3 in the division.
#25: Jan Blachowicz
Jan Blachbowicz, Image Credit: Josh Hedges | Credit: Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Jan Blachowicz comes in at #25 on our list, which may be a controversial placement due to him being behind not one, but two light heavyweights on this year’s list. One reason for this conservative placement is because his latest loss to Glover Teixeira was a poor showing overall, with Teixeira defeating him with relative ease despite coming in as the underdog. That greatly impacts category #1.
Category #3 was also awarded less than many others ranked ahead of him because, to this day, Blachowicz is not given the full respect from oddsmakers and pundits as someone who just held the world title. In fact, in his next fight against #3-ranked Aleksandar Rakić, the odds are even, and he is not expected to be champion by the end of the year. Furthermore, what was also taken into consideration with category #3 is some other setbacks that have occurred throughout his career, with losses to names like Corey Anderson, Patrick Cummins, and Jimi Manuwa.
That said, you have to give Blachowicz his respect and credit in all three categories for his victory over Israel Adesanya in March of 2021. Blachowicz was able to earn a unanimous decision against one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and a reigning champion. A victory over Adesanya is a huge notch on his résumé that no one else in the world can claim. He also holds a victory over someone else on our list, Dominick Reyes, where he was able to capture the championship in September 2020. Plus, prior to his loss to Teixeira, he had won five straight, meaning he is 5-1 in his last six fights.
Heading Into 2022: Now 38 years old, Jan Blachowicz will once again become the hunter after briefly being the hunted. Coming off a painful defeat to Teixeira in October, will his fire that was forged in flame drown from the huntsman’s pain? Or will he emerge from last year’s wreckage with the use of Polish Power? We’ll get our first and perhaps only answer this year when he takes on Aleksandar Rakić on March 26.
#24: Jiří Procházka
Jiří Procházka, Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Right out the gate, we’d like to point out that these rankings do not only consider success in the UFC. We take a holistic approach to a performer’s entire body of work, as evident with Michael Chandler, who also cracked the top 50 of our list. In the case of Jiří Procházka, he serves as living proof that one can build a very strong résumé and body of work outside of the UFC, especially when that résumé is validated upon your performances upon entering the Octagon.
For category #2, which factors in body of work, for those who solely have a UFC-centric mindset, this ranking will likely be a bit too generous, maybe even disrespectful to someone like Jan Blachowicz who has been champion. However, unlike Blachowicz, Procházka is on a crazy winning streak, winning 12 consecutive fights, without losing a fight since 2015.
Through his decade-long tenure as a formal mixed martial artist, this retro ninja has been the ruination of lesser men. In what may be the craziest statistic available on this year’s list, a mindblowing 25 of Procházka’s 28 wins have come by KO/TKO, including his two wins inside the Octagon. Those wins were both over former title challengers: Volkan Oezdemir and someone who appears on this very list: Dominick Reyes, taking home Performance of the Night for both victories and Fight of the Night as well against Reyes in what was one of the best fights of 2021.
Procházka’s victory over Reyes after running straight toward danger and adversity also showcased his ability to win, which gives the samurai an extra boost in category #3. What also gives him a boost in this category is the fact that oddsmakers and experts have him pegged as the most likely person to end the year as light heavyweight champion.
Heading Into 2022: While it has not been confirmed, all indications point to Procházka being the first challenger to Glover Teixeira’s reign as light heavyweight champion. Should he win that fight and maybe tag on one successful title defense, we could be talking top-5 territory for Procházka in next year’s list depending on how dominant those performances were.
#23: Deiveson Figueiredo
Deiveson Figueiredo
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Next up on our list is former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Figueiredo is placed higher than former champions Jan Blachowicz and Zhang Weili for a variety of reasons.
Figueiredo’s career winning percentage is significantly higher than Blachowicz’s, which directly impacts category #3, and his recent performances from the span of 2020-2021 were stronger than Zhang’s on the whole. Figueiredo went 3-1-1 during this stretch with all finish victories while Zhang went 1-2 with the lone victory being a split decision.
Furthermore, Figueiredo was one groin kick away from defeating current champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 in what was ultimately a majority draw. Also, similar to Procházka, when Figueiredo wins, he makes a statement, with 17 of his 20 victories being stoppages. He also doesn’t discriminate on the method in which he gets it done with nine wins coming by KO and eight by submission. When Figueredo’s work is done, there may be no one left standing to destroy this God of War.
Figueiredo’s finish count is less than Procházka’s number, but the Brazilian is ranked higher due to being rewarded for being a former champion, which is tied to category #2. Additionally, Figueiredo has more victories/finishes in the UFC.
Heading Into 2022: Entering the year, Figueiredo is ranked #1 in the flyweight division. His next bout will be a trilogy fight against reigning champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 270 next weekend.
#22: Julianna Peña
Reasoning Behind Ranking:
They said she would never make it But she was built to break the mold And capture the only dream that she’d been chasing on her own.
I think we all know what the reason behind this placement is.
In terms of recent performances, it’s pretty hard to top submitting the consensus WMMA GOAT in her prime after outgrappling and submitting an Olympic silver medalist wrestler (Sara McMann), both in the same calendar year. And as the new champion who is still only 32 years old and having just bested the biggest threat in her division, her career trajectory is also at or near a 10/10. Thus, the points awarded to Peña in Category #1, our most significant category, are about as high as anyone on our list.
The new champion also does not come up empty in category #2 (body of work, achievements, and résumé), as she is the first woman to ever win The Ultimate Fighter. She also holds victories over names like Cat Zingano, former champion Nicco Montaño, and former title challenger Jessica Eye.
And in our final category (likelihood to win fights), not only did she just earn a heap of credibility by soundly defeating the WMMA GOAT, but her only losses in the UFC have come against former champions Valentina Shevchenko and Germaine de Randamie. In those bouts, she took one round against both fighters before losing. This helps support her frequent claim that she is often underestimated and is among the best in the world. And as long as she has the bantamweight strap wrapped around her waist, she is the best in the world.
Reasoning Behind Ranking: What lands Brandon Moreno at #21 and ahead of Julianna Peña is his hyperactivity over the past two years and the fact that he is unbeaten in his last seven fights. Moreno’s 2021 only had one performance, but he sure did make it count when he became the first man to ever submit Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263.
14 of the UFC’s baby-faced assassin’s 19 victories have been stoppages, including his last two wins over Figueiredo and Brandon Royval. And in his draw against Figueiredo at UFC 256, he took home Fight of the Night and participated in one of the greatest flyweight fights of all time.
In addition to the unbeaten streak and his UFC 263 performance, Moreno was also awarded heavy points in Category #1 for his career trajectory. The fact that Moreno has demonstrably and steadily improved and is only 28 years of age made him one of the top earners in this category.
In category #3, although he was once seen as an underdog, the fact that he is currently listed as a steady betting favorite over the #1 contender and is undefeated in his last seven fights makes him the most likely to win a fight in his division at the close of 2021.
Heading Into 2022: As noted earlier, Brandon Moreno will now be taking on Deiveson Figueiredo in a trilogy fight at UFC 270 next weekend to further cement himself as the guy in the UFC flyweight division.
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 9!
When Max Holloway was pulled from his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski, the MMA community suggested many names to step in and replace him. This included former bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo, The Korean Zombie (who ended up getting the title fight), and Giga Chikadze. Wait. Chikadze, the guy who is set to fight Calvin Kattar in just a few days? Yes, him.
Amidst the need to find a new opponent for Volkanovski, many forgot—or likely chose to ignore—that Chikadze had a main event fight booked already. And it’s not that Calvin Kattar, his opponent, isn’t a good fighter. Instead, it’s that many believe Chikadze is a big name for the featherweight division that is already able to get a title shot.
That anecdote alone describes what people see in Chikadze. Still undefeated in the UFC, every win puts him closer to a title fight. This weekend, Chikadze is scheduled to compete in his second UFC “Fight Night” headlining bout when facing Kattar.
A win this weekend would give Chikadze an incredibly strong résumé. He has already won seven fights in the UFC, and his past three have all come via finish. The case could be made that it doesn’t even matter the method for how Chikadze wins this weekend. As long as he wins, he’d have the best background out of any potential contender at 145 pounds.
Kattar Provides Another Strong Challenge
Giga Chikadze, Calvin Kattar
It could certainly be argued that Chikadze shouldn’t get a title fight right now. Right now, the names ahead of him (Holloway and Zombie) still have a stronger case for a title shot. But a win this weekend could put him next in line.
Think of it this way: A win for Chikadze would likely put him up to the #5 spot in the division, where Kattar currently resides. This position would make him the highest-ranked fighter who has yet to get a title fight and yet to lose to someone else in the top five. Everyone else in the rankings at that point has either lost a title fight or lost to one of their neighboring featherweights in the rankings.
Chikadze had a solid opponent last time around in Edson Barboza. Kattar offers another good challenge for him. While Kattar is coming off an early 2021 loss against Holloway, he has notable wins against names like Dan Ige and Jeremy Stephens and is no stranger to a five-round fight. Saturday’s bout will mark the fourth time that Kattar has headlined a UFC card.
But Not So Fast…
MMA Fighting
Unfortunately for Chikadze, a win this weekend doesn’t guarantee anything. No matter who wins in the Volkanovski and Zombie fight in April, the winner will likely get a fight with Holloway, as he was in the title picture before an injury got into the mix. Going off that assumption, Chikadze will have two options later this year. One option is he will take another fight, risking the chance of losing his position in the division. The other option is he will sit out, possibly benching himself for months upon end. It’s not unrealistic to say that Chikadze could have to fight one more time after this before a title shot. He may be in a tough position here, but it’s not the fault of anyone involved, really.
Everything is going the right way for Chikadze as a fighter. And as it stands currently, everything indicates that it will continue to be that way. It wouldn’t be a shock if a title shot is in his near future. However, how near that future really is, it’s quite hard to determine right now.
Where do you think Giga Chikadze would sit in the featherweight division if he wins this weekend?
Fight Ready striking coach Eddie Cha has revealed the stylistic advantage he believes could give “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung the edge if he challenges Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title.
Mere days ago, the promotion’s plans for March’s UFC 272 were revealed. Completing a blockbuster trilogy, Volkanovski looked set to defend his belt against Max Holloway, who has impressed in two main event wins since his back-to-back losses against the Australian.
But after aggravating a previous injury, news broke that “Blessed” had been forced to withdraw from the contest. We want to say that fight joy has never been provided and taken away so drastically and quickly, but for UFC fans, especially during the pandemic, this is nothing new.
It didn’t take long for a number of featherweight contenders to throw their names in the hat to replace Holloway. As well as top-10 145lbers Yair Rodriguez and Giga Chikadze, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo once again staked his claim for the chance to win a third divisional gold in the promotion.
With Zombie’s replacement opportunity all but officially confirmed, the 34-year-old’s coach Eddie Cha spoke exclusively to MMA News. As well as discussing the latest developments in the featherweight title picture, Cha spoke about a possible Cejudo return, Deiveson Figueiredo’s preparation ahead of UFC 270, and Zhang Weili’s expected return to the Fight Ready gym.
Cha: Zombie Has A Great Chance Of Beating Volkanovski
While some see Zombie as the correct replacement for Holloway, many in the MMA community have claimed Chikadze should be thrust to the title should he defeat Calvin Kattar in this weekend’s main event. However, with the Georgian sat at #8 in the rankings, compared to Zombie’s #4 spot, and the South Korean’s 3-1 record since 2018, it’s hard to brand the veteran as undeserving.
Along the same lines, many expect the likes of Chikadze and Rodriguez to pose a greater threat to Volkanovski than Zombie. But one man who’s consistently worked with the 34-year-old in the gym and throughout his career believes he may shock the world when he enters the Octagon with the Aussie titleholder.
Naming his height advantage and prior success against shorter fighters as evidence, which includes knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Dennis Bermudez, Cha told MMA News’ James Lynch that Zombie has a “great chance” of taking the title from Volkanovski.
“I think Volkanovski is an unbelievable champion. I think he’s been underestimated the last few fights. But now, he’s not. Everybody knows how good he is. But, as far as stylistically, Zombie does so well against shorter fighters. I really kinda like this fight; I think anybody does when it comes to a title shot, but I really think he has a great chance of winning that fight.”
With Glover Teixeira dethroning Jan Blachowicz last October and Julianna Peña shocking the world by submitting Amanda Nunes in December, 2021 had its fair share of upsets. If Cha and The Korean Zombie have their way, the name Chan Sung Jung will be on the Upset of the Year nominee list at the end of 2022.
Do you think The Korean Zombie has what it takes to dethrone Alexander Volkanovski?
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
Reasoning Behind Ranking: This “Silent Assassin” has been continuing to make a loud bang in the welterweight division every time he sends a body to the floor. The “assassin” description is well-suited and tailor-made for Vicente Luque, as an astonishing 19 of his 21 career wins have been finishes, including his last four performances: stoppages of Niko Price, Randy Brown, and two ranked opponents: Tyron Woodley and Michael Chiesa.
The assassin finished his last two jobs cleanly and in the same fashion: putting his assignments to sleep with a flawlessly executed D’arce choke.
Heading Into 2022: Vicente Luque has quietly won 10 of his last 11 fights. Due to this hot streak, he enters the year ranked at #4 in the welterweight division. As of now, there is no sign of whom he might face next to kick off 2022 or when that bout might be.
#39: Brian Ortega
Brian Ortega, Image Credit: Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: The primary reason behind Brian Ortega’s ranking is because, at the moment, the only two fighters in the world to defeat him are the top two featherweights in the promotion: Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
The reason for this is Ortega proving to be a versatile winner at the highest level. First, he can rock you on the feet, and he can always roll you on the mat. His winning percentage and the constant threat he poses to his opponent from start to finish of a bout factored largely in category #3. The latter was perhaps never more evident, even in a losing effort, than in the memorable Round 3 of his classic battle with Alex Volkanovski at UFC 266.
Also, while not in the same calendar year, his masterclass striking display against someone in the top 50 on our list, The Korean Zombie, also worked in Ortega’s favor in terms of the quality of recent performances. Additionally, Ortega has won performance bonuses in three of his last four fights.
Heading Into 2022: There is currently no word yet on who might be next for Ortega. The 30-year-old enters the year ranked #2 in the featherweight division.
#38: Derrick Lewis
Derrick Lewis, Image Credit: AP Photo/John Locher
Reasoning Behind Ranking: When it comes to being a winner, Derrick Lewis may be one of the most underrated fighters in UFC history. Sure, he is not a classic, textbook mixed martial artist. But when it comes to meeting the objective of winning and finishing fights, he’s a certified future Hall of Famer.
In category #1, Lewis’ recent performances only had one bump, which came against the undefeated and #1-ranked Ciryl Gane. Overall, he has won five of his last six fights, though, including a win over someone ranked in our top 50, Curtis Blaydes.
In category #2, which considers body of work and résumé, Lewis has made more tops drop than any other fighter in UFC history with 13 knockouts. Some of the notable names included on that list are the aforementioned Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura, and Alexey Oleynik to name a few.
This ranking is arguably on the low and conservative end for Lewis, all things considered. However, his consistent underperformance in his biggest fights, including a very lopsided loss to Ciryl Gane during the year, greatly impacted him. He has also struggled in many of the fights that he did win, which is considered by us and, more importantly, the oddsmakers and gamblers when contemplating how likely he actually is to win fights in the future.
Heading Into 2022: Derrick Lewis has never been far away from a title shot in recent years. He is currently ranked #3 at heavyweight. “The Black Beast” says he wants to focus on having fun, low-pressure fights moving forward. His 2022 debut against Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa at UFC 271 next month most certainly fits that description.
#37: Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor, Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Yes, the selected image above was very intentionally chosen. It serves as a reminder of how much strength McGregor has in category #2 of our criteria, which considers body of work and résumé. When only considering category #1, this placement might be considered high for McGregor. After all, he hasn’t won a fight in two years now and is 1-3 in his last four fights.
It is for that reason that a fighter the caliber of McGregor is ranked as low as he is, comfortably outside of the top 25. There is no further penalty necessary for his recent performances, especially considering whom they came against and how exactly the fights unfolded. At UFC 229, he became the only fighter to win a round off of Khabib Nurmagomedov on all three scorecards. And at UFC 264, an obvious argument can be made that the fight ended too abruptly to be overly harsh on McGregor.
As for the image, it shows a man who was the first simultaneous double-champion in UFC history. It shows a man with victories over not one, not two, but three men ranked high on our list: Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, and of course, José Aldo in arguably the most historic knockout in UFC history.
In category #3, Conor McGregor is still among the most respected fighters in the world in terms of likelihood to win a fight strictly because of the danger he possesses on the feet, especially in the early rounds. And while it is true McGregor hast lost three of his last four fights, it’s important to remember who the losses came against: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, so we’re talking about the best of the best.
Just to provide a glimpse of how respected McGregor’s skill is despite these losses: He was favorited to defeat Dustin Poirier both times in 2021 and was the smallest underdog against Khabib Nurmagomedov (+135) since 2014.
Heading Into 2022:“The Notorious” could see about a billion in the next two years, and yet, by all appearances, he’ll still be down for a proper scrap. McGregor’s desire to compete despite his generational wealth seems to be well intact as he looks to make his return no later than the summer of this year. The big question is: Who will it be against?
#36: Carla Esparza
Carla Esparza
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Coming in at #36 on our list is Carla Esparza. Some newer fans may think of Esparza as a gatekeeper who has just recently caught a hot streak. More knowledgable MMA fans are aware that she is, in fact, a historic champion, not unlike Conor McGregor.
In Esparza’s case, she is the first strawweight champion in UFC history. She may not get the respect of Conor McGregor or many others in category #3, likelihood to win a fight, but the primary reason for her placement over McGregor and the 65 others is because of category #1, the quality of her recent performances and career trajectory, which is our highest weighted category.
In addition to that, she was also awarded strong points in category #2 (body of work/résumé) for her status as a former champion. She also holds a victory over someone ranked higher on our list, Rose Namajunas. Lopsided losses to Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Tatiana Suarez are the two main reasons that prevent Esparza from being ranked higher. She also has suffered split-decision losses to Claudia Gadelha and even Randa Markos.
Heading Into 2022: Those setbacks are now in the past. “The Cookie Monster” has harvested her sorrows and used them to help cultivate her recent bloom, which has produced five consecutive wins and a #2 ranking in the strawweight division. Esparza is currently expected to challenge Rose Namajunas in a rematch of their 2014 bout.
#35: Askar Askarov
Askar Askarov, Credit: Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Askar Askarov is the 35th ranked fighter on our list due to his career trajectory and likelihood to win fights. In terms of career trajectory, he is currently ranked #2 in the flyweight division, behind only former champion Deiveson Figueiredo. That is because he remains undefeated at 14-0-1, which of course earned him heavy points in category #3, his likelihood to win fights. And oh, by the way, that one draw was against current flyweight champion Brandon Moreno.
Askar’s winning percentage factors into category #2 as well, awarding the Russian for what he has accomplished thus far. And it’s worth noting that he is winning and competing against strong competition, including wins over the legendary Joseph Benavidez as well as someone who appeared just outside the top 50 on our list, Alexandre Pantoja.
Heading Into 2022: Askar Askarov has been confident that his time to reign will come since his arrival, just waiting on the UFC to pull the trigger and allow him to bullet through another target. The next target has been identified as Kai Kara-France on the date of March 26. With a win, it is highly probable that this flyweight bullet will be aimed directly toward a title shot.
#34: Gilbert Burns
Gilbert Burns, Image Credit: 2021 Jeff Bottari
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Gilbert Burns has only had one scratch on his smooth welterweight playlist that has contained a medley of hits featuring names like Gunnar Nelson, Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley, and Stephen Thompson. Burns has won seven of his last eight fights in total, with the lone loss coming to the UFC’s #1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Kamaru Usman.
Burns was greatly awarded in all three categories for his welterweight résumé and winning percentage. The quality of recent performances is the only area where there could be some pushback, as in his 1-1 2021 campaign, he was knocked out by Usman and won what many considered to be an underwhelming fight over Stephen Thompson at UFC 264.
Heading Into 2022: Burns is currently ranked #2 in the stacked welterweight division. While it is still unofficial, it is highly likely that he will be facing Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273 in April.
#33: Dominick Cruz
Dominick Cruz
Reasoning Behind Ranking: When you have been as great as Dominick Cruz has been throughout his career and manage to get on a winning streak again, no matter how slim it is, you are going to get maximum respect from our panel.
Cruz’s points in category #2 (achievements/body of work) are obviously the main reason behind this placement. The one and only bantamweight “Dominator” has held the title twice and completed five title defenses going back to his WEC days. In addition to that, his recent performances include a 2-0 record in 2021 to show that he is still very much relevant.
Also, in terms of category #3 and his likelihood to win, his record of 24-3 remains one of the best in the entire company. And one of the losses, against Henry Cejudo at UFC 249, had a stoppage that many felt was premature. And when you see how Cruz survived to come back and defeat Pedro Munhoz at UFC 269, that argument is provided a little more credence.
Given his age of 36, which is considered to be on the older end in the bantamweight division, there are still many questions on how likely Cruz is to win a fight against the fighters at the top of the division, especially since he’s 2-2 in his last four fights. So despite his winning percentage, that was all considered and prevented him from being placed higher on our list. Additionally, his victory over an unranked Casey Kenny was only a split decision, which also dinged “The Dominator” a bit in the Quality of Recent Performances section.
Heading Into 2022: Dominick Cruz is currently ranked #7 in the bantamweight division. Knock on wood, if he can stay healthy and active the way he did in 2021, then it is inevitable that we find out just how high a level Cruz is still operating at in the modern bantamweight landscape. It is unknown who his next opponent will be, but he has expressed interest in a dream fight against José Aldo.
#32: Marvin Vettori
Marvin Vettori
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Michael Bisping has said that if Israel Adesanya did not exist, Marvin Vettori would be the UFC middleweight champion. Given the fact that the only two losses in Vettori’s last 10 fights came against Adesanya adds some support to that argument. Indeed, “The Italian Dream” keeps getting W’s, winning six of his last seven fights, which includes victories over two names on our list: Jack Hermansson and Paulo Costa.
His victory over Costa earned him Performance of the Night. The quality of this victory from both a name and performance standpoint was weighed heavily in multiple categories.
Additionally, the fact that Vettori was favored to beat Costa, who had only lost to Israel Adesanya coming into that fight, illustrates how respected Vettori is as a fighter in terms of his likelihood to win fights.
During this seven-fight stretch, Vettori’s wins have all been comfortable, coming by unanimous decision along with one submission victory over Karl Roberson.
Heading Into 2022: Marvin Vettori is ranked #2 in the middleweight division behind only former champion Robert Whittaker. There is currently no word on who might be next for the proud Italian.
#31: Aleksandar Rakić
Aleksandar Rakic
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Aleksandar Rakić comes in at a healthy #31 on our list. The primary reason behind this placement is his career trajectory and his likelihood to win fights.
Aleksandar Rakić only has one loss in the UFC and this was in a split decision (Volkan Oezdemir). Outside of that, Rakić has been nothing short of impressive. In the UFC, he is 6-1, including recent wins over two former title challengers who made our list: Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. It was the performance against Smith that really put light heavyweights on notice, as Rakić executed his game plan masterfully and looked swift, sharp, and lethal in his attacks.
In that fight, he also showed an ability to adapt and explore various paths to victory, including grappling when necessary. Based on the eye test, Rakić is one of the most skilled overall strikers in the division and also has the fight IQ to deftly employ his full arsenal.
Odds-wise, Rakić is currently placed at about a pick ’em against former champion Jan Blachowicz. This illustrates the respect Rakić is being given by oddsmakers.
Heading Into 2022: Aleksandar Rakić enters 2022 ready for war as always, whether it’s against Jan Blachowicz, Jiří Procházka, and whoever else is placed in front of him this year. Up first is Blachowicz. After that? Well, that could very well be a world title shot.
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 8!
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
Reasoning Behind Ranking: For nearly a full decade, Thiago Santos has served as the unrelenting sledgehammer of the UFC. Santos is tied for the most knockouts in middleweight history. Whenever your name is linked with Anderson Silva’s in terms of in-cage achievements, you’ve done something right in your career. He also is tied for third in the most UFC knockouts overall. These facts were considered when awarded “Marreta” points in the “body of work” category.
Another quasi-achievement for Santos is being the only fighter to officially win a scorecard off of Jon Jones. Many fans credit Dominick Reyes or Alexander Gustafsson for giving Jones his greatest challenge, yet it was Marreta who came the closest to actually handing Jones his first non-DQ defeat. With scorecards of 48-47, 48-47, and 47-48, the fight literally could not have been any closer.
As far as recent success, Santos has not looked quite the same or as deadly since returning from surgery on both knees immediately following that bout against Jones. First, he was defeated by Glover Teixeira via rear-naked choke in November 2020. And last year, Rakić cruised to a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian. However, his recent performances aren’t all dim, as he defeated countryman Johnny Walker with a unanimous decision victory of his own last October, albeit in a performance that still displayed a somewhat dulled Marreta.
Heading Into 2022: Thiago Santos is currently ranked #5 in the light heavyweight division. He will have a very tall task ahead of him in his next contest, when he faces surging Russian contender Magomed Ankalaev on March 12.
#49: Jared Cannonier
Jared Cannonier, Image Credit: AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Once lost in the grand shuffle, Jared Cannonier rebuilt and lifted himself to being amongst the middleweight elite. At heavyweight, Cannonier was 1-1 in the UFC. At light heavyweight, he went 2-3. Neither divisional records would hardly net someone a place on our Top 100 list.
Since moving down to middleweight, however, Cannonier has experienced a fresh start, with any past failures almost rendered irrelevant due to the obvious physical and performance differences between the Jared Cannonier of old and the 4-1 Killa Gorilla that has become a problem for the middleweight division.
Cannonier’s only loss in the division came to former champion Robert Whittaker, in what was a competitive fight in which Cannonier was able to take one round off “The Reaper” on each of the judges’ scorecards in a 29-28 unanimous decision loss. In 2021, Cannonier was able to rebound with a unanimous decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of a Fight Night event last August.
Heading Into 2022: Jared Cannonier is ranked #3 in the middleweight division. The wide belief is that he is one win away from receiving his first UFC title shot. That one win must come against Derek Brunson at UFC 270 in two weeks.
#48: Giga Chikadze
Giga Chikadze, Image Credit: UFC.com
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Six fights into his professional MMA career, Giga Chikadze appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series looking for a contract in MMA’s premier promotion. When the advanced kickboxer was shut down by the grappling of his opponent and stopped with a rear-naked choke, it looked as though we would never see what could become of the flashy yet precise striker.
Four years later, not only did Chikadze make it to the UFC, but he’s gone 7-0 since his arrival in 2019. In fact, in his most recent victory, he managed to outclass one of the UFC’s most versatile and respected strikers: Edson Barboza.
This finish made for the third straight for Chikadze, joining TKO wins over another UFC vet, Cub Swanson, as well as Jamey Simmons. Meanwhile, there has yet to be a UFC battle that this Ninja hasn’t survived, and no moment has been too big for this dual-sport athlete who eyes featherweight gold.
Heading Into 2022: In order to get that crack at the title in 2022, Chikadze will first need to defeat Calvin Kattar this weekend at UFC Vegas 46. He had hoped to be selected to fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 272 on short notice, but instead, as of this writing, it appears that honor will go to the next man on our list.
#47: Chan Sung Jung
The Korean Zombie, Image Credit: USA TODAY
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Whenever Chan Sung Jung competes, he never fails to bring the crowd out of their seats, with lively chants of “Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!” Throughout his 15 years as a pro, he’s managed to do this by ending 14 of his 17 fights before they had a chance to go to the judges.
Some of the names he’s notched onto his résumé include Dustin Poirier, Renato Moicano, and former lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar, with each of those victories winning Performance of the Night, with the chants growing louder.
In fact, six of The Korean Zombie’s seven UFC victories have earned him performance bonuses. And in terms of his current career trajectory, he has won three of his last four fights, most recently over Dan Ige last June.
Heading Into 2022: It is unknown what is next for Zombie as he enters the year as the #4-ranked featherweight. However, as alluded to earlier, there are very strong indications that Zombie will be challenging Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 272 as of this writing. Should Jung be able to capture UFC gold after a decade-plus run in the WEC/UFC, those chants will ring louder than ever before.
#46: Michael Chandler
Michael Chandler, Image Credit: Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Michael Chandler may still be considered the new kid on the block to many UFC fans, but this Division I All-American has been competing for world championships since 2011 when he captured the Bellator lightweight championship by defeating Eddie Alvarez via rear-naked choke.
Throughout his nine-year Bellator run, Chandler managed to capture the lightweight title on three separate occasions. In addition to his victory over Alvarez, he also holds wins over notable names like Benson Henderson, Brent Primus, and Patricky Pitbull among others.
Once he arrived in the UFC, he instantly showed the world that he could shake up any lightweight division in the world in a single round.
Michael Chandler KOs Hooker, Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Chandler had already paid his dues by his UFC arrival, but his knockout of Dan Hooker at UFC 257 made it clear that he belonged in MMA’s ultimate proving ground. And even though he would lose his next two fights, he did win a round against the current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, seemingly being within blowing distance of becoming champion himself. He then took part in what was arguably the 2021 Fight of the Year against Justin Gaethje. For these reasons, Chandler earned a spot within the top 50 of our list.
Heading Into 2022: Michael Chandler is ranked #5 at lightweight. There have been strong rumblings of a potential fight against Tony Ferguson being first up for “Iron” Mike, but Chandler has let it be widely known that he would much rather prefer a big fight against Conor McGregor.
#45: Derek Brunson
Curtis Blaydes, Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: In Derek Brunson, you are looking at a man whose strength of schedule is comparable to anyone in our sport who has never been champion. He’s shared the Octagon with names like Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Israel Adesanya, and many others. He’s managed to continue fighting the best of the best by having his arm raised far more often than not.
At the moment, Brunson is riding the second five-fight winning streak of his decade-long UFC career, including a dominant, statement victory over one of the names on our list, Darren Till, and wins over middleweights who, at the time, were riding major waves of momentum: Kevin Holland and Edmen Shahbazyan. By now, Blonde Brunson has given everyone plenty of reasons to believe in his rebirth.
Heading Into 2022: In addition to the quality of recent performances, which weighed strongly for Brunson, his career trajectory as a whole is as promising as it’s ever been. If he is able to defeat Jared Cannonier at UFC 270 in two weeks, then Blonde Brunson will almost assuredly have an opportunity to become Gold Brunson.
#44: Curtis Blaydes
Curtis Blaydes, Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Coming in at #44 is one of the more underrated fighters on our list, Curtis Blaydes. Curtis Blaydes is the type of guy who will beat you in a fighting game by tapping the same buttons over and over, no matter what you or those watching have to say about it. But make no mistake, Blaydes is the real deal—a true, authentic martial artist who has fought at the highest levels of MMA’s version of Mortal Kombat.
While Blaydes hasn’t always wowed with his performances, especially in his most recent wins, the fact remains that when he does win, you can count on it being a one-sided victory, which means that each of his 15 victories has either been a finish or a unanimous decision. This, along with the fact that he’s only ever been defeated by the current champion (Francis Ngannou) and the #3-ranked heavyweight (Derrick Lewis) means that Blaydes is one of the strongest fighters in our third category of likelihood to win a fight.
In category #2, which considers body of work, he holds dominant victories over heavyweight legends Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, and 10 of his 12 UFC wins have been over heavyweights who have been ranked in the UFC. And in terms of recent performances and career trajectory, Blaydes has won five of his last six fights and 9 of his last 11.
Heading Into 2022: Curtis Blaydes still finds himself ranked #4 in the company’s most dangerous division. He is in a bit of a tricky spot, seeing as how he’s already faced so many fighters in the division, including reigning champion Francis Ngannou, who holds two victories over Blaydes. With this in mind, it’s anyone’s guess who will make the one-man cut to be Razor’s next opponent.
#43: Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev, Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: In what is easily the trickiest placement on our list, Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev comes in at #43. Let’s examine how Chimaev ended up here based on the criteria.
First, for category #1, which considers career tajectory and recent performances, those who say Chimaev’s placement is too high will no doubt argue that his recent performances should not be overvalued due to the level of competition they came against. We would counter this by pointing out that Li Jingliang was and still is ranked at welterweight And yet, Khamzat Chimaev effortlessly did this to the man…
We would also like to point out that despite the other three victories coming over unranked opponents, going a total of four fights while only suffering one significant strike has to be worth special consideration. In fact, this incredible statistic also impacts category #2 (achievements/body of work/résumé) because that stat is an achievement no fighter in UFC can say after four fights.
In category #3 (likelihood to win a fight) the eye test and common sense make it clear that the guy is special. The only real question is: How special? The validity and uncertainty of that question along with the lack of notable wins is why Borz could not be ranked higher, although we believe him to be a top-10 talent as we speak.
To further support the strong points awarded to Chimaev in the third category is the following example: Even after only four UFC fights, he was listed as a -210 favorite against Leon Edwards in a hypothetical fight, despite Edwards being the UFC’s #3-ranked welterweight on a 10-fight unbeaten streak.
Heading Into 2022: With four easy smeshings now behind him, Borz is very hungry for more. He has regularly expressed his intentions to eat up his opponents, and next up to the plate may very well be Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 according to the latest reports.
#42: Jéssica Andrade
Jéssica Andrade
Reasoning Behind Ranking: “Borz” isn’t the only fighter on our list who knows about smashing. Our #42-ranked fighter, Jéssica Andrade, has been known to smash, pile drive, and womanhandle her opponents for years. The notable difference between Andrade and Chimaev is that Andrade is a former world champion and holds a victory over someone ranked higher on our list, Rose Namajunas. In fact, Andrade nearly holds two victories over Namajunas, seeing as how their rematch in the summer of 2020 was a split decision.
16 of Andrade’s 22 career wins have been finishes, and she holds big victories over names like Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres, and Kaitlyn Chookagian among many others. She is also the only woman in UFC history to have wins in three different weight classes in the UFC. And in terms of recent performances, Andrade has won two of her last three fights, with the loss coming against Valentina Shevchenko, which is difficult to fault anyone for.
Heading Into 2022: Jéssica Andrade is currently ranked #1 in the women’s flyweight division. It is unknown what her next move will be, but a potential trilogy fight against Rose Namajunas this year could make sense if Andrade opts to move back down to strawweight.
#41: Magomed Ankalaev
Magomed Ankalaev
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Magomed Ankalaev is one of the toughest assignments for any light heavyweight in the world right now. Since entering the UFC in 2018, he has shown no holes in his game but has rather been constantly sharpening his well-rounded skill set. And whenever his opponents believe they’ve found a door that leads to victory, Ankalaev puts an end to their elaborate plans.
Even in his sole loss in the promotion, which came in his UFC debut, Ankalaev was dominant for the entirety of his bout against Paul Craig until Craig pulled off a literal last-second submission.
Since then, he has gone on to win his next seven fights without issue, including four finishes, to improve his overall record to 16-1. Most recently, Ankalaev coasted to a victory over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 267. Due to his lengthy streak and impressive performances, Ankalev was awarded heavy points in category #1, especially considering that his career trajectory has him potentially one win away from a title shot.
Heading Into 2022: As mentioned earlier in this installment of the MMA News Top 100 Fighters of 2021, Ankalaev will next have an opportunity to extend his winning steak to eight along with a guaranteed spot within the top 5 in the division if he can get past #5-ranked Thiago Santos. The fact that Ankalaev is favored to do so against a former title challenger is an example of the respect he is given for his likelihood to win fights, which is weighted into our third category.
Entering 2022, this ranking for Ankalaev may be considered on the high end, but at the rate he’s going and with the way he has performed thus far, this number could be much, much higher next year.
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 7!
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
Reasoning Behind Ranking: With 17 of his 22 wins by finish, Jack Hermansson has been a constant reminder of how to make men panic. The last time Hermansson put the squeeze on his opponent was at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 when he submitted Kelvin Gastelum in the very first round.
“The Joker” most recently defeated middleweight prospect Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt. Hermansson is capable of being ranked higher on our list, but he’s had mixed results as of late, going 2-2 in his last four fights.
Heading Into 2022: Entering 2022, Jack Hermansson is the #6-ranked middleweight in the world. In his next bout, he’ll be facing the surging Sean Strickland on February 5.
#69: Dominick Reyes
Dominick Reyes
Reasoning Behind Ranking: It wasn’t too long ago that Dominick Reyes was 12-0 with seven wins by finish. Then, he gave the great Jon Jones arguably the closest fight of his career at UFC 247. Whenever you can say that, even when you’ve lost three straight, you’re going to get some respect from our panel, especially considering the fact that his latest defeat to Jiří Procházka was ultra-competitive and won Fight of the Night.
Heading Into 2022: Dominick Reyes will be in need of a win if he wants to reaffirm his relevancy at 205. “The Devastator” will undoubtedly have the support of California behind him as he looks to remind the world how the West Coast does it. The 32-year-old is currently ranked #7 in the light heavyweight division.
#68: Sean Brady
Sean Brady
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Standing at 15-0 at 29 years old, it may not be too long until Sean Brady is greeted by Brotherly love when he hits the top of the lightweight stairs. Brady is currently 5-0 in the promotion, but it was his one-sided victory over Michael Chiesa at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate that really put Brady on the map and in a firm spot on our list. He also won Performance of the Night in his victory over Christian Aguilera last year with his guillotine submission win.
STILL UNDEFEATED.
If @SeanBradyMMA gets a hold of your neck, it's over.
Heading Into 2022: It will be fun to see where Brady winds up on our list next year. In terms of the UFC rankings, he enters 2022 at #9 in the welterweight division and hopes to be facing Stephen Thompson the next time he steps in the Octagon.
#67: Tom Aspinall
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Tom Aspinall is on a seven-fight winning streak and has yet to taste defeat in the UFC. But what really stands out about Aspinall isn’t just that he’s winning but the way in which he’s doing it. Three of Aspinall’s four UFC victories have won Performance of the Night, and every single one of the wins has been finishes. His last two wins over proven names Andrei Arlovski and Sergey Spivak show that Aspinall will be ready to test himself against the big boys in the heavyweight rankings his next time out.
Heading Into 2022: As Tom Aspinall continues his move up the heavyweight ladder, what’s his ultimate destination? How far will this 28-year-old ascend this year? We’ll get a better idea of the answer to this question when he faces top-10 heavyweight Shamil Abdurakhimov on March 19.
#66: Mateusz Gamrot
Mateusz Gamrot
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Mateusz Gamrot fought three times in 2021, and he just kept on lighting up the win column. First up, he knocked out Scott Holtzman in April. Three months later, he won his second consecutive Performance of the Night when he submitted UFC veteran Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens.
Last up, he earned a TKO win over Carlos Diego Ferreira as the UFC said farewell to 2021.
Heading Into 2022: Will Gamrot extend his streak in 2022? If he is able to follow his pattern of activity, winning, and finishes, then we may very well be looking at a legitimate lightweight title contender by year’s end.
#65: André Muniz
André Muniz, Image Credit: Copyright: Troy Taormina
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Ever since his UFC arrival, André Muniz has been fighting as if every scrap battle is his one shot. You need not look any further for evidence of this than his last three fights, where the grappling force submitted each of his opponents in the very first round, including fellow black belt and MMA legend Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Muniz has an impressive record of 22-4 and is on an eight-fight winning streak. His UFC record currently sits at 4-0.
Heading Into 2022: Muniz comes into 2022 ranked at #13 at middleweight, but if the first four fights are any indication, then that number could be much higher at some point in 2022. One name Muniz has identified as a potential next opponent is Darren Till, with his native Brazil being the preferred destination.
#64: Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland Saying Lord Knows What
Reasoning Behind Ranking: After having mixed results at welterweight, Sean Strickland’s career has experienced a strong surge in the middleweight division. When he’s not making headlines for some of his comments, the eccentric fighter is marching to the beat of his own drummer to victories, five straight to be precise, with the last four being in his new home of 185. Most recently, Strickland defeated Uriah Hall in his first main event with a unanimous decision victory.
Heading Into 2022: Strickland will now face his stiffest middleweight test to date when he faces former top-5 contender Jack Hermansson in February. At the moment, Strickland is ranked #7 in the division.
#63: Marina Rodriguez
Marina Rodriguez
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Another high-level striker to win a main event in 2021 is Marina Rodriguez. In fact, Rodriguez won two main events, first over Michelle Waterson in May followed by a victory over our #89-ranked fighter, Mackenzie Dern, in a Fight of the Night back in October. She also pulled off what at the time was considered to be a significant upset when she defeated Amanda Ribas at UFC 257.
Based strictly on the year’s results, a case can be made that Rodriguez could be placed within the top 25 or even higher. However, none of her victories came over a highly ranked opponent, and it wasn’t too long ago that she suffered a loss to Carla Esparza and had a draw with Cynthia Calvillo. She also has a draw with Randa Markos on her résumé.
Heading Into 2022: Despite some of her questionable results earlier in her career, there’s no question that Marina Rodriguez has been outpacing the strawweight competition after finding her legs in the division. So much so that she is currently ranked #3 in the division. Who’s next for Rodriguez? None other than the #4-ranked Yan Xiaonan on March 5.
#62: Rafael Fiziev
Rafael Fiziev, Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Continuing with the trend of strikers who went unrestricted in 2021, Russian swinger Rafael Fiziev comes in at #62 on our list. Fiziev is currently enjoying a five-fight winning streak, capped off by one of the best knockouts of the year over fellow kickboxing threat Brad Riddell.
Fiziev does have one loss on his UFC record, but he’s only human, after all. That may be hard to grasp when you see a kick like the one above, but Fiziev has shown that he can be beat. What has become increasingly uncertain, however, is whether it will ever happen again.
Heading Into 2022: Rafael Fiziev will make his 2022 debut in his first main event against former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. dos Anjos was not eligible for our list this year due to not competing in 2021. Still, dos Anjos remains ranked in the top 10 at #6, so a victory for Fiziev, who currently sits at #11, would be massive.
#61: Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith, Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: If you’re among those who have been told that Anthony Smith is done and out of the light heavyweight title picture: they lied to you.
Entering 2020, Anthony Smith showed his bounce-back ability when he defeated Alexander Gustafsson in a Performance of the Night winner right after his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 235. But that was a rocky year for “Lionheart,” dropping back-to-back fights to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakić. Given the success those men have had, those losses have aged well for Smith.
But what has aged even better is Smith himself, who bounced back yet again with three straight wins, including a 2-0 record in 2021, with victories over Jimmy Crute and a Performance of the Night submission victory over Ryan Spann in September.
Heading Into 2022: With 52 professional bouts under his belt, it may be hard to believe that Smith is still only 33 years of age. What is in store in the year ahead for this battle-tested veteran? We’ll have to await the answer to that. But being that Smith is still ranked within the top 5 at light heavyweight, you can expect his next fight to be a big one as he continues to step to his comeback song.
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 5!
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list! You can view Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Part 3 begins right now!
#80: Chris Daukaus
Chris Daukaus. Image Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Coming in at #80, Chris Daukaus is ranked just above Tai Tuivasa (#82) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik (#81) despite having much less UFC experience. That is because, unlike the aforementioned heavy hitters, the power in Daukaus’ punches knocked out two men this year who have been ranked in the promotion: Alexey Oleynik and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
Furthermore, Daukaus’ only loss in the UFC was against the #3-ranked Derrick Lewis. We will find out if Tuivasa will fare any better against The Black Beast at UFC 272.
In the meantime, Daukaus’ two KO wins over proven opponents along with winning five of his last six fights, each by KO, is why the former Philadelphia police officer is our #80-ranked fighter of 2021.
Heading Into 2022: At the start of 2021, Daukas was 2-0 in the UFC and ready for a big step up in competition. By the finish of his second KO and Performance of the Night win of 2021, everybody knew his name. Daukaus is currently ranked #7 in the UFC’s heavyweight division and will be looking to bounce back from his KO loss to Lewis the next time he enters the Octagon.
#79: Kai Kara-France
Kai Kara-France. Image Credit: 2021 Jeff Bottari
Reasoning Behind Ranking: In 2021, Kai Kara-France was sure to get one message across loud and clear: Don’t Blink. Two first-round knockouts and two Performance of the Night bonuses make Kai Kara-France our #79 fighter of 2021. The 28-year-old is currently only ranked #6 at flyweight, but unlike all the flyweights ranked above him, Kara-France holds a KO victory over a former UFC champion: Cody Garbrandt.
In addition to his blinkless picture-perfect 2021, Kara-France has won three of his last four fights overall and has a 6-2 UFC record.
Heading Into 2022: Kai Kara-France will now set his sights on a title eliminator against Askar Askarov at the March 26 UFC Fight Night event.
#78: Marlon Vera
Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: You can add Marlon Vera to the 2021 Undefeated Club, with “Chito” spittin’ out buck shots to two victims with a pair of performance bonuses for his bounty. First, Vera outgunned Davey Grant in the Fight of the Night of UFC on ESPN: The Korean Zombie vs. Ige. Next, he turned in a viral KO of former champion and UFC legend Frankie Edgar, which is the primary reason behind his placement at #78.
Vera also holds a victory over our #87-ranked fighter, “Sugar” Sean O’Malley from 2020.
Heading Into 2022: Marlon Vera enters 2022 ranked #8 in one of the deepest divisions in the UFC at bantamweight. His next fight is up in the air, but one man he’s expressed interest in is former foe “Sugar” Sean O’Malley in a rematch of their 2020 bout that saw an ending that left many wanting more answers.
#77: Geoff Neal
Photo via Instagram @handzofsteelmma
Reasoning Behind Ranking: While it’s true that Geoff Neal picked up a victory over a ranked opponent in 2022, the main reason behind his ranking on our list is his résumé of a 50% finish rate in the UFC and once holding a seven-fight win streak, including a major win over someone who will be appearing later on our list, Belal Muhammad. At 31 years old, Neal still has time to make an even bigger splash in the deep welterweight talent pool.
Heading Into 2022: After defeating Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 269, Neal finds himself ranked #12 in the welterweight division. His next opponent is unknown, but after three straight fights that went to a decision, Neal’s Handz of Steel are itching to revert to laying out his opponents like hypnosis.
#76: Calvin Kattar
Calvin Kattar (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa via Getty Images)
Reasoning Behind Ranking: With only one fight in 2021 in what was a one-sided beatdown in favor of his opponent, Max Holloway, it certainly wasn’t the “recent performances” category that netted Kattar his #76 placement. However, let’s not pretend that this loss was not against arguably the greatest featherweight in UFC history.
In terms of body of work and likelihood to win a fight, Kattar’s overall record of 22-5 is one of the more impressive in the division and is no doubt a strong reason why he is ranked in the top 5 at featherweight.
In the UFC, Kattar is 6-3, with four of those six wins coming by way of finishes, including victories over the following respected names: Ricardo Lamas, Jeremy Stephens, Andre File, Shane Burgos, and Dan Ige. Additionally, two of his three losses in the UFC (Holloway and Zabit Magomedsharipov) have won Fight of the Night.
Heading Into 2022: After getting bruised up by Blessed to kick off the 2021 UFC season, Kattar will arrive in Las Vegas prepared to rise like the New Orleans sun above the brand-new horizon that is 2022. He will again kick off the UFC’s season this year when he faces Giga Chikadze next Saturday at UFC Vegas 46. This time, he’ll be the one hoping to lead the battering dance.
#75: Neil Magny
Credit: Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Magny went 1-1 in 2021, but one of those wins was an impressive, unanimous decision win over our #77 ranked fighter, Geoff Neal. Additionally, Magny has won four of his last five fights, with each being unanimous decisions. In terms of résumé, you’re looking at a man who holds victories over names like Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Kelvin Gastelum, and former world champion Robbie Lawler.
Heading Into 2022: Coming off his aforementioned victory over Geoff Neal, Neil Magny’s next assignment is undetermined. One thing we have learned from Magny over the years is that he will sign any contract in a heartbeat and he’ll do it with absolutely no regrets. Magny is currently ranked #8 in the UFC’s welterweight division.
#74: Gregor Gillespie
Gregor Gillespie, Credit: Don Wright-USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: In his lone fight in 2021, Gregor Gillespie arrived like a man unashamed of his first defeat, proving that he still has The Gift. Prior to his loss to Kevin Lee in 2019, Gillespie had established himself as one of the biggest and brightest prospects at 155 lbs. The Division I All-American wrestler was 6-0 in the UFC with five of the six wins being finishes. Frankly, many thought that we’d be seeing Gillespie challenging for a world title by now, with many wondering how he would have fared against the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov.
After being knocked out by Lee in 2019, Gillespie took over a year off from competition before bouncing back with yet another stoppage, this time against formerly ranked lightweight Carlos Diego Ferreira.
Heading Into 2022: Gregor Gillespie is currently ranked at #10 in the lightweight division. If Gillespie had it his way, his next opponent will be Tony Ferguson, whom he has called out in a somewhat uncharacteristic fashion.
#73: Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza, Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: With over a decade in the UFC under his belt, Edson Barboza has managed to remain relevant. During this lengthy stretch, the Brazilian has picked up victories over names like Paul Felder, Anthony Pettis, Beneil Dariush, Dan Hooker, and many others.
Although Barboza has never fought for, let alone won a title like some of the other veterans he is ranked above on this list, he has always managed to bounce back when faced with hardships like a true-life Rocky Balboa and has thus remained a fixture in MMA’s most competitive promotion. In 2021, Barboza went 1-1, with a KO victory over Shane Burgos and a loss to Giga Chikadze in his most recent bout.
Heading Into 2022: The 35-year-old Barboza will begin this year ranked at #10 in the featherweight division. He is scheduled to face Bryce Mitchell on March 5. Mitchell did not make this year’s list due to him not being active in 2021.
#72: Movsar Evloev
Movsar Evloev
Reasoning Behind Ranking: If you want someone who is flying under the radar and right under your nose, it’s this dude. Movsar Evloev has one of the most efficient fighting styles in the UFC as evident by his flawless 15-0 record. His hard-nosed style carries the melody of the mountains that has proven to be a safe play for gambling sharps to push. Evloev’s 5-0 run hasn’t been against easy opponents. He’s beaten game opponents like Enrique Barzola and Nik Lentz as well as fellow prospects Mike Grundy and, most recently, Hakeem Dawodu.
Heading Into 2022: Movsar Evloev will begin his 2022 campaign against our #86-ranked fighter, Ilia Topuria. Topuria arguably has a better win than any of Evloev’s by defeating Ryan Hall, but Evloev has four more victories on his undefeated record. If Topuria gets the win over Evloev, he’ll almost assuredly be ranked higher next year. If Evloev wins….and keeps winning…then there’s no telling where this Russian will land on next year’s list.
#71: Arman Tsarukyan
Arman Tsarukyan, Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Arman Tsarukyan has two losses on his 17-2 record. One of them took place in 2015. The other was against Islam Makhachev. So let’s just say we’re not faulting him too much for those losses, especially when you consider that he managed to be relatively competitive against Makhachev in an exquisite contest that won Fight of the Night in 2019.
When you have a Fight of the Night against Makhachev as opposed to being on the wrong side of a Performance of the Night…and you do so at 22 years old…you might just be a bonafide prospect of the highest degree.
Since that loss in his UFC debut to Makhachev, Tsarukyan has gone 4-0 in the UFC, including wins over much more experienced names like Olivier Aubin-Mercier, 3rd-degree Brazilian black belt Davis Ramos, and a Performance of the Night TKO over Christos Giagos in September.
Heading Into 2022: Arman Tsarukyan’s young MMA career has shown that the sky is the limit for the Armenian-Russian. This Master of Sport in MMA and wrestling is currently ranked #13 at lightweight and is scheduled to face Joel Álvarez on February 26, 2022. He had hoped to be fighting Dan Hooker, but Hooker has committed to dropping down to featherweight. He also agreed to fight Gregor Gillespie, but that fight never came to fruition, either.
Like many elite rising contenders before him, it may be a long climb up the ranks for Tsarukyan due to the ol’ “high-risk, low-reward” dilemma that he poses to his peers. But if he remains active in 2022, you can just close your eyes and imagine where he might be placed on our list next year.
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list! You can view Part 1 here and Part 2 down below, beginning with #90!
#90: Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez. Credit: UFC.com
Reasoning Behind Ranking: With three victories in 2021, if this list were strictly about the year each fighter had, a case could be made that Rodriguez could crack the top 25 of our list, maybe higher. But even based on our criteria in this list, #90 is a conservative placement for Rodriguez, who is 6-1 in the UFC overall to go along with his flawless 2021 record. So why isn’t he ranked higher?
The win that most stands out for Rodriguez is his unanimous decision victory over Kevin Lee last August. However, Lee was very unproven and arguably undersized at welterweight. And other victories over Preston Parsons and Mike Perry (name recognition aside) weren’t notable enough to give him a higher placement or even a place in the UFC rankings, which loosely relates to his career trajectory. Rodriguez also lost to unranked veteran Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision just last year.
Heading Into 2022: There is no denying that D-Rod will be pulling up to the entrance of 2022 with heavy momentum strapped to his back. And if he can replicate his 2021 success against some more proven and consistent welterweight competition, then not only will he keep earning more cash, but he’ll prove that being denied a spot in the UFC rankings and a higher spot in the MMA News year-end rankings just don’t make sense.
#89: Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern
Reasoning Behind Ranking: The numbers prove that Mackenzie Dern is one of the most respected fighters in the strawweight division. Dern is yet to be a betting underdog in any fight and has been as high as a -530 favorite during her UFC run. This respect helps her in category #3, which factors in how she is viewed by the public. Though she lost her most recent fight to Marina Rodriguez, it was a Fight of the Night-winning performance, and she has won four of her last five fights.
In terms of résumé, Dern has been able to win 7 of her 11 victories by submission, including three Performance of the Night wins in the UFC.
Heading Into 2022: Dern will be looking to execute more righteous submissions and take home more limbs as she steps into the new year. Dern is currently ranked #5 in the strawweight division and #14 in the UFC’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
#88: Nassourdine Imavov
Nassourdine Imavov, Image Credit: UFC.com
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Landing a spot in the Top 100 over names like Tony Ferguson, Cody Garbrandt, and Darren Till isn’t bad at all for a 25-year-old, but it’s been earned by Nassourdine Imavov with his last two performances, which saw this UFC gladiator turned Russian Sniper mercilessly execute Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan.
In fact, Imavov is the only person to ever finish Henisch, who has proven to be one of the most durable fighters at middleweight. Both Heinisch and Shahbazyan have been ranked in the past, and these victories in addition to the fact that 9 of Imavov’s 11 wins being finishes speaks to his current career trajectory. Imavov did suffer one loss on the year, however, to Phil Hawes in a majority decision loss in February.
Heading Into 2022: Nassourdine Imavov enters the year ranked #12 in the middleweight division. Maybe after his last two performances, the betting odds will give him more separation from his opponents than he’s had in the lines thus far. And maybe this Russian will continue to earn respect with more finishes to come and a potential higher MMA News ranking in our 2022 list.
#87: Sean O’Malley
Sean O’Malley (Image Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Reasoning Behind Ranking: “The Sugar Show” arrives at #87 on our list in what was a very tricky placement. On one hand, O’Malley’s recent performances are top-50 worthy, and he has never appeared overmatched throughout the course of an entire fight. His 15-1 record’s only glitch came from an ending that was arguably a matter of circumstance more than Marlon Vera’s intentional precision.
The biggest factor that puts O’Malley here is that he’s earned 12 of his 15 wins by finish, including five of his seven UFC victories.
O’Malley went 3-0 in 2021 with all three wins by KO/TKO.
Heading Into 2022: The question on everyone’s mind is: How will O’Malley stand up to tougher competition? It’s one of the most exciting questions entering the year for MMA fans as a whole. We shall certainly find out. In the meantime, O’Malley is ranked #12 at bantamweight, and his highly anticipated next opponent has not yet been uncloaked.
#86: Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Although Ilia Topuria is currently on the outskirts of the UFC’s featherweight rankings, he was previously ranked in 2021 and is 3-0 in the promotion with a flawless 11-0 career record overall.
Additionally, Topuria holds a victory over one of the most feared men in his division, grappling standout Ryan Hall. In that contest, Topuria was able to act as both the bull and the Matador when roping in a knockout of Hall in what was the American’s first loss in the UFC.
The primary reason Topuria is not ranked higher is because of his low sum total of fights. However, his well-rounded skillset has earned him respect from the oddsmakers, and there is major room for ascension for Topuria in next year’s list.
Heading Into 2022: Topuria has his first fight of the year booked when he takes on fellow prospect Movsar Evloev at UFC 270, where someone’s 0 will have to go. A victory here will most likely bring Topuria back into the UFC rankings and possibly even score him a top-10 opponent after that.
#85: Dan Hooker
Dan Hooker (Image Credit: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Dan Hooker could have very easily missed this year’s list altogether. Instead, he finds himself ranked over accomplished names like Tyron Woodley and Tony Ferguson and over prospects like Sean O’Malley and Ilia Topuria. The difference between being unlisted and his #86 spot comes down to the fact that Hooker did pick up a win in 2021 unlike the proven names. As for the prospects and the others, how many names beneath him would be expected to fare any better against Islam Makhachev or Dustin Poirier?
Hooker’s résumé is somewhat underrated, as the New Zealander holds wins over Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Jim Miller, and perhaps the biggest reason why he’s ranked where he is: a TKO win over someone placed much higher on this list: Gilbert Burns.
That said, it’s no mystery why he isn’t ranked higher. Hooker has lost three of his last four fights, two of which coming by first-round stoppage, first to Michael Chandler, then to Makhachev.
Heading Into 2022: Hooker’s current ranking at #8 in arguably the deepst division in the UFC (lightweight) adds further validity to his placement at #85 on our list. The New Zealander will now be returning to featherweight, however, where he’ll look to drop down and resume his Hangman ways.
#84: Michael Chiesa
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Michael Chiesa is the first person on our list who won a main event in 2021. That victory came over someone who will appear later, Neil Magny, and it was arguably the most impressive performance of Chiesa’s career. That along with the three prior welterweight victories earned by Chiesa, including over former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos, is what earned “Maverick” this placement.
Of course, this credentialed grappler would be forced to release his initial strangehold of the welterweight division after back-to-back losses against Vicente Luque and Sean Brady. This is what prevented the #10-ranked welterweight from a higher position.
Heading Into 2022: Overall, Michael Chiesa has still been successful at welterweight with a UFC record of 4-2 in the division. At one point last year, his name was floated around as a potential opponent for Kamaru Usman. He’ll have some work to do in 2022 if that convo is to be brought back up again anytime soon.
#83: Amanda Ribas
Amanda Ribas
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Despite her setback to #3-ranked strawweight Marina Rodriguez, Amanda Ribas’ career trajectory remains one of the most promising at 115. Her record in the promotion is 5-1, including a victory over our #89-ranked fighter, Mackenzie Dern, and she has some effective striking to match her elite ground game. In her most recent contest, Ribas defeated the current 11-ranked strawweight Virna Jandiroba via unanimous decision.
More than anything, it’s the impressive skill set that Ribas contains along with some evidence-backed results that land her at #83, and she remains one of the brightest prospects in the promotion, similar to Sean O’Malley who also has one recent defeat. In Ribas’ case, however, she holds two wins over ranked opponents.
Heading Into 2022: Amanda Ribas enters the year ranked #9 in the division. If you eat, sleep, and drink positive energy the way Amanda Ribas does, it should be easy to remind yourself that you were up one dominant round prior to your lone loss inside the Octagon against Marina Rodriguez. If she can clean up some defensive deficiencies while remaining at her aggressive, high-energy best, it’s easy to imagine Ribas being a top-5 strawweight by year’s end or firmly in the title picture.
#82: Tai Tuivasa
Tai Tuivasa
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Tai Tuivasa went from the prospect list to the chopping block and now to the edge of the heavyweight top 10. Purely based on 2021 performance, Tai Tuivasa could be placed within the top 20 of our list. He went 3-0 on the year with all three wins by KO, including one over a ranked opponent in Augusto Sakai.
His previous setbacks against arguably his toughest opponents prevent Tuivasa from being higher than #82. However, the new-and-improved “Bam Bam” has now changed his recipe by fighting with some more control mixed in with the usual chaos. And as a result, he’s added some scary spice to the UFC’s heavyweight division.
12 of Tuivasa’s 13 career wins are by knockout, and this heavyweight sleeper may be a mind-numbing barbiturate for his opponents, but he continues to lift fans out of their seats with one knockout banger after another.
Heading Into 2022: If Tai Tuivasa can match his 2021 success in 2022, there’s going to be a lot more shooeys, a lot more partying, and a lot more respect in next year’s MMA News rankings. Make sure you follow this big, bad man from the walkout to the beer-laden exit, as every second that he’s on screen is unpredictable and must-see.
#81: Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s placement over Tai Tuivasa is a strong example of why our list is not dependent solely on the year’s performances. Tuivasa went 3-0 in 2021 while Rozenstruik went 1-2. However, those two losses came against Curtis Blaydes (#4) and Ciryl Gane (#1), two men who would assuredly be strongly flavored over Tuivasa. And the one victory on the year for Rozenstruik came over Augusto Sakai in a TKO victory that predated Tuivasa’s win over him. Furthermore, Tuivasa’s other 2021 wins over Greg Hardy and Harry Hunsucker were against opponents Rozenstruik would also be expected to beat.
Because of his increasingly tentative style as of late, it’s easy to forget that Rozenstruik’s UFC résumé includes KO victories over three former UFC heavyweight champions. In fact, each of Rozenstruik’s six promotional wins have been by KO/TKO. That’s because whenever Bigi Boy unleashes and allows his hands to go psycho, his opponents are the ones who typically end up sedated.
Heading Into 2022: Rozenstruik remains ranked comfortably within the division’s top 10 at #7 and snuggly in the MMA News year-end rankings at #81. He is in an interesting spot in the heavyweight division at the moment. Coming off a lopsided loss to Curtis Blaydes and alternating wins and losses in his last five fights, Rozenstruik will more than likely be facing someone ranked beneath him in his next fight…perhaps against the aforementioned Tai Tuivasa to settle who is the better fighter and deserving of the higher MMA News ranking!
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 3!You can view Part 1 here
Happy New Year, fight fans! To kick off our 20th anniversary, we will be rolling out the MMA News Top 100 UFC fighters of 2021 throughout the month of January as voted on by our panel.
This list is NOT solely based on fights and performances of 2021. Being active in 2021 is what QUALIFIES one to make the list. Instead of only considering performances of the year, we are taking a holistic look at who is the better overall fighter exiting 2021 based on our selected criteria. A full explanation of the criteria can be found below.
1: Career Trajectory/Recent Performances (50%)
Where are the fighters trending right now? How much evidence-backed momentum do they have?
2: Career Success/Body of Work (25%)
Championships, wins, résumé, etc.
3: Likelihood To Be The Betting Favorite In Any Fight In 2021 (25%)
This was determined using past betting history, betting lines during 2021, and the projected odds moving forward as determined by the panel. This category is being used to get a gauge of the talent level the public feels the fighter is/was at.
Be sure to keep checking back right here at MMANews.com for frequent updates to this list throughout the month of January as we continue to update this list!
#100: Erin Blanchfield
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: With a Cold-Blooded performance over Miranda Maverick and five straight wins overall, the career trajectory category was the strongest reason behind her placement in the top 100.
Heading into 2022: At only 22 years old, Erin Blanchfield is arguably the biggest prospect at flyweight and perhaps all of the UFC’s women’s divisions, not just for the year ahead but for far beyond. Sitting at #100, the stage is set for Blanchfield to continue marching straight ahead with ice in her veins before possibly making the biggest jump of any fighter from this year’s placement to the next.
#99: Casey O’Neill
Casey O’Neill
Reasoning Behind Ranking: “King” Casey O’Neill has big plans to rule the fight game, and after going 3-0 in 2021 with three finishes, the 24-year-old may be well on her way. With a composure far beyond her years, O’Neill seems to welcome the pressure without folding a single crease and has been a blueprint of what a true MMA prospect looks like.
Heading Into 2022: O’Neill (#15) is in no hurry to rise up the ranks and is taking it one step at a time. Her next fight is scheduled against Roxanne Modafferi on February 12.
#98: Jack Shore
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Undefeated after 15 professional fights and a 4-0 UFC record, Jack Shore looks like he has it all. Former UFC champion Michael Bisping has compared Shore to Georges St-Pierre himself, which is some high praise coming from a high place. At 26 years old, we’ve only caught a whiff of Shore’s potential, so his number could be much higher in the 2022 MMA News rankings.
Heading Into 2022: Shore was originally slated to face fellow undefeated fighter Umar Nurmagomedov in his first bout of 2022 but will now be tasked with another Russian, Timur Valiev. This will be a stiff test for Shore, as he looks to shift his hype train into a Supersonic helicopter.
#97: Tyron Woodley
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: As will often be the case in these rankings, body of work and résumé plays a role in ranking position over prospects still on the rise, not only because they are more proven but because if they were placed against similar competition as most prospects, someone like Tyron Woodley would still be expected to win despite his decline.
However, that decline is very real and noticeable, with “The Chosen One” losing four consecutive bouts, not counting the Paul boxing losses. This losing streak and rapid fall from grace are why the former champion only barely made the list.
Heading Into 2022: Tyron Woodley may or may not compete in MMA this year, but he has expressed an interest to do so and to have an active 2022. And even if it does not and cannot come against Jake Paul, Woodley will no doubt be entering the new year with Revenge on his mind.
#96: Lerone Murphy
Lerone Murphy, Getty Images
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Lerone Murphy is undefeated and has maintained his flawless record after four UFC fights against some stiff competition. In 2020, Murphy earned Performance of the Night with his TKO win over formerly ranked featherweight Ricardo Ramos. In 2021, he defeated proven veteran Douglas Silva de Andrade as well as earned a KO win over Makwan Amirkhani.
Heading Into 2022: Thus far, Murphy has given no indication that he will be denied heading into 2022. He is likely one win away from finding himself in the featherweight rankings and could very well be deep in the top 10 by the end of the year and earn himself a much higher place on next year’s MMA News Top 100 list!
#95: Sodiq Yusuff
Sodiq Yusuff, Image: James Elsby-USA TODAY Sports
Reasoning Behind Ranking: “Super” Sodiq Yusuff has a UFC record of 4-1, with the one loss coming against a fighter in Arnold Allen who has not lost in eight years. In two of his four UFC wins, Yusuff displayed just how much power this one man has.
With his measured approach and calculated cruelty, the 28-year-old Yusuff has proven to be one of the top prospects at featherweight.
Heading Into 2022: Yusuff enters the year ranked #12 at featherweight. There are currently rumblings that Yusuff will be making his first Octagon appearance of the year against “Bruce Leeroy” Alex Caceres.
#94: Cody Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt (Image Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Reasoning Behind Ranking: While it is no secret that Cody Garbrandt has had his share of struggles as of late, there is also no denying that he’s made a big noise during his seven-year UFC run. This includes becoming bantamweight champion after a career-defining victory over arguably the greatest bantamweight of all time, Dominick Cruz.
Additionally, Garbrandt was able to make the cut due to his most recent victory being only two fights ago in a devastating KO over Raphael Assuncao that won him performance of the night. Garbrandt also made the list due to him being the betting favorite in two of his last three fights (category #3).
Heading Into 2022: Entering 2022, Garbrandt has lost five of his last six fights, which definitely makes his placement on the list up for debate. However, Garbrandt is always one win or KO away from showing that it’s not too late for this 30-year-old to recapture his glory days. And if he has it this way, that KO will come against “Suga” Sean O’Malley.
#93: Pedro Munhoz
Pedro Munhoz vs. Cody Garbrandt, UFC 235
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Pedro Munhoz remains a top-10 bantamweight in the UFC, but he only falls at #94 due to the Brazilian losing two consecutive fights via unanimous decision (José Aldo, Dominick Cruz) and losing four of his last fight fights.
However, Munhoz does have a victory this year over Jimmie Rivera in what was a Fight of the Night winner. He also holds an impressive KO victory over our #94-ranked fighter, former champion Cody Garbrandt on his résumé as well as a win over another fighter who will appear later in these rankings, Rob Font.
Heading Into 2022: Coming off a loss to Dominick Cruz at UFC 269 to end 2021, the 35-year-old Munhoz will fight to keep his spot in the bantamweight top 10 and prove that he’s still a Young Punisher who is ready to start killin’ ’em again. There is currently no word yet on who the first man in that potential murder lineup will be.
#92: Darren Till
Darren Till, Image Credit: 2018 Alex Livesey – Zuffa LLC
Reasoning Behind Ranking: Darren Till has lost four of his last five fights and narrowly made the top 100 due to holding two wins over other fighters ranked on this list and his likelihood to be the betting favorite in 2021 compared to others. Additionally, Till has a very high unlikelihood to ever be a heavy underdog due to his technical fighting style, which often has opponents fighting at his pace.
If you need another reason for Till making the list at #92, one need only look at the night he gave former champion and pound-for-pound ranked Robert Whittaker all he can handle just one fight ago, taking two rounds on all three of the judges’ scorecard. Not many fighters have the ability to do that or the potential for greatness that still remain within this 29-year-old.
It’s also worth remembering that Till has only fought the best of the best over the past three years, which leaves him more open to setbacks than many prospects who’ve seen more recent success but against lower competition.
Heading Into 2022: Darren Till enters the year still ranked as the #8 middleweight in the UFC. His next fight remains unclear at this time, but there have been informal talks of a potential fight against Uriah Hall.
#91: Tony Ferguson
Tony Ferguson
Reasoning Behind Ranking: It wasn’t too long ago that a #91 placement for Tony Ferguson would seem blasphemous. Today, after suffering three bad losses in a row, the ranking will likely warrant some explanation and be considered too high by some readers.
Tony Ferguson’s recent struggles are clearly behind the low ranking, but how did Ferguson make the list at all? Well, in category #2, which factors in career body of work and résumé, Ferguson remains tied for the most consecutive victories in lightweight history. In terms of category #3, which factors in respect from bettors and oddsmakers, Ferguson was a betting favorite against current champion Charles Oliveira in December 2020, and he was only a +130 underdog against #3-ranked Beneil Dariush in his most recent fight.
Finally, in terms of the most heavily weighted category of recent performances, while it’s true Ferguson’s defeats were one-sided, they came against the current champion, the current #1 contender (Justin Gaethje), and the current #3 contender (Beneil Dariush).
Furthermore, a strong case can be made that Ferguson’s fight against Gaethje was more competitive than the prevailing narrative would have you believe. After all, Gaethje may very well have been saved by the bell after a devastating uppercut to close out the second round.
Heading Into 2022: Tony Ferguson is still ranked at #7 in one of the deepest divisions in the UFC despite his recent struggles. Far from considering retirement, El Cucuy is eying a potential bout against Michael Chandler to kick off 2022 and get back in the win column to prove that the Boogeyman’s party has just begun.
Stay tuned to find out who is next on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters Of 2021 in Part 2!
Some of the better fights in the heavyweight division are being made currently. Last month, former title challenger Derrick Lewis made for a good step-up fight against prospect Chris Daukaus. And this month, an undefeated challenger in Ciryl Gane will face the ever-so-explosive champion Francis Ngannou.
There’s a lot of interesting things happening at heavyweight, but something is missing. Rather, someone is missing: and that would be Stipe Miocic.
Those who watched the UFC from 2016 to 2020 will remember Miocic as a dominant force at heavyweight. He defended his belt three times in his first reign, making him the most successful heavyweight champ in the promotion’s history—out-performing anyone who held the title since its inception in 1997.
He suffered a setback in 2018 against Daniel Cormier, getting stopped in the first round by the former light heavyweight. But in a testament to his adversity, he returned a year later to regain his belt. He went four rounds with Cormier and finished him in their 2019 rematch. A year later, he beat “DC” again and put an end to their rivalry.
After Miocic’s brutal second-round knockout loss to Ngannou last year, he has been completely out of the heavyweight picture. And unfairly so. His absence from the scene has been felt—so much so that he has had to come out and deny that he is going into retirement.
Lewis recently mentioned he wants to face Miocic because he is “one of the best of all time” at heavyweight. A question could be posed about whether that fight is intriguing. However, that’s not the first question that comes to mind. Instead, we think, “What is the ‘greatest of all time’ doing on the sidelines?”
In 2022, Where Does Miocic Fit In The Heavyweight Picture?
First, let’s look back to the summer of 2021 for a moment. When surprised by the news of an interim title fight between Gane and Lewis, Miocic was “bothered” that the UFC didn’t come to him regarding the fight. However, he also mentioned he wasn’t sure he would accept the fight if he was offered it due to his wife being pregnant at the time.
So sure, there was some justification for him possibly being left out of the interim title fight even though it might have been fair for them to at least approach him. But let’s take a step back: should he even be in the interim title bout? Even that may be a step down for him. He is one of the most successful heavyweights in UFC history. His loss—no matter how bad it was—shouldn’t write off his years of wins at a high level.
Miocic Should Get The Title Fight
Some may criticize that Miocic feels he deserves a fight against Ngannou. However, there’s more than enough reason for him to get that fight.
If his pure dominance in the division for numerous years doesn’t give the idea of another fight against Ngannou legs to stand on, there’s another fact that does. It’s that Miocic beat Ngannou before. He went the distance with him in early 2018, walking away with a scorecard win to retain his belt. It can’t be forgotten that a fight between them wouldn’t be a rematch; it would be a trilogy with an even score.
It could be said that Ngannou’s win over Miocic was quite decisive in early 2021. But the consistent results from Miocic as a champion, plus his older win against Ngannou, offers a good enough case for him to get a fight.
The lack of buzz around Miocic coupled with the fact that he hasn’t been mentioned by the UFC recently feels out of place in contrast to where he stands in the recent history of heavyweight MMA. It feels like a failure of the entire system from the highest, most influential names in the sport down to the casual viewer that Miocic is currently being forgotten in the divisional picture. Then again, maybe that can change in the new year.
UFC welterweight Colby Covington has taken aim at fan-favorite siblings Nick and Nate Diaz, branding himself the real “west coast gangster” over the Stockton natives.
Despite entering the UFC way back in 2014, Covington is yet to cross paths with either Diaz brother. However, that hasn’t stopped him from frequently insulting both men during interviews and interactions. That didn’t change when “Chaos” spoke exclusively to MMA News.
Nate currently has just one fight left on his UFC contract. After defeat at the hands of top-five contender Leon Edwards in his last outing, it appeared the Stockton star was on a collision course with surging Brazilian Vicente Luque. “The Silent Assassin” has consistently called Diaz out across the past year, and he was finally met with a response following his first-round submission victory over Michael Chiesa in August.
However, with Diaz citing negotiation issues, that matchup looks to be off the radar for now. But Diaz is certainly not out of options, and Covington made it known he’d even be interested in facing the unranked fan favorite.
“Chaos” told MMA News he’d “annihilate” Nate and send him packing out of the UFC. For that reason, Covington doesn’t believe Nate would accept him as the opponent for his final contracted fight. The 33-year-old suggested neither Nick or Nate would accept a clash against their “daddy.”
“Yeah, it interests me. But I’m not gonna waste my breath or get my hopes up that that fight is gonna happen,” Covington said. “They’re never gonna fight me. Those guys, they know who daddy is. They know who runs the west coast. I was born in Sacramento, grew up in Oregon my whole life. I’m the only west coast gangster out of those three names. They’re Stockton soy boys. I’m raw American steel-twisted sex appeal.
“I don’t think Nate’s gonna fight, I don’t know what they’re gonna do with him. He’s only got one fight on his contract. Of course, he’s not gonna accept me on the last fight of his contract, I’ll annihilate that guy, I’ll leave him for, literally, dead, he’ll have nothing left in the tank. I know he wants to get out of his UFC contract so he can go make some money elsewhere. No chance any of those guys are fighting me.”
Covington Believes Nick Diaz Is “Completely Washed Up”
The topic then diverted to the older Diaz brother. Nick recently arrived back on the MMA scene with a highly-anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 266. Prior to the September pay-per-view, the 38-year-old hadn’t been in action since a 2015 bout with the great Anderson Silva.
Discussing the result, Covington told MMA News that Diaz’s return went exactly as he’d expected. According to the #1-ranked welterweight, the veteran doesn’t have the discipline or commitment to make a successful comeback to the sport.
“Exactly what I expected, James. I heard the rumors, the guy’s not disciplined, man. Nick Diaz has no discipline. He was a good fighter at one point in his career, at one point in time; he wasn’t a great fighter, he was a good fighter, he was a brawler, he was in there, he would stay in there, but the guy let himself go, James. He’s in Vegas every week, partying, doing drugs, drinking heavy alcohol, just fucking losing control of his life, man.
“I knew what was going to happen. I knew he was gonna get knocked out by Robbie and that’s what happened. Look at his gut, dude. He looks so out of shape, man. That’s a retirement body, that’s a dad bod, and he should definitely just hang it up. He has a pretty good legacy, it’s average, but I don’t wanna see that guy get hurt… He couldn’t even go three rounds. They went to the third round and he literally just took a knee. He was done. He had nothing left. He came out there and threw everything he had at Robbie, all that weak shit he was throwing. There’s nothing behind those punches.”
Ultimately, Covington thinks UFC 266 signaled the end of Nick’s in-Octagon career, a sentiment shared by many in the combat sports community.
“It’s sad to see, man…. He was a talent, but talent can only go so far. You gotta work hard every single day, you gotta stay committed to the grind. You can’t cheat the grind, there’s no cutting corners in this sport… That guy’s completely washed up. His career is absolutely done, and I don’t think we should ever be talking about Nick Diaz ever again.”
But while Nick is potentially at the end of the road in the sport, Nate will throw down in the UFC cage at least one more time. Given his ongoing toughness and competitive abilities, which saw him nearly knock out the consensus #1 contender Edwards in June, it seems unlikely Nate’s active career will come to an end if he chooses to depart MMA’s biggest stage.
While the 36-year-old’s potential last Octagon dance is unlikely to come against Covington, it appears the former interim titleholder won’t be hanging up the phone if Dana White and the UFC come calling.
How do you think a fight between Colby Covington and Nate Diaz would play out?
No matter the year, there is one thing you can be sure will never change: there will continue to be the never-ending debates about who is the greatest of all time (GOAT). This year, however, I say we finally add an extra dimension to these debates that is long overdue: adding the term “BOAT” to the official sports lexicon.
There is a difference between being the greatest and being the best. Being the greatest is based primarily on accomplishments and résumé. Think of this as having the strongest and most accomplished career.
Being the best is based primarily on skill level. Think of this as having the most talent and being the most dominant.
Naturally, there is some overlap between the two, which is where most of the confusion lies when there are GOAT debates with varying criteria.
Being considered the best is something that is backed by the eye test, and then the accomplishments and résumé help prove that the talent level is as high as your eyes thought.
Being the greatest is like the number of trophies you have in your closet and the number of heads you have mounted on your wall. It’s based more on what you did than how you did it. But there is still naturally some skill and domination that played a factor in that. The biggest difference is being the best can be judged in a shorter period of time while being the greatest is almost always reserved for those with a very wide body of work.
Jim Brown, Pro Football Hall of Famer
In football, you could argue that Emmitt Smith or Walter Payton is the GOAT at running back based on the records they set and their Super Bowl victories. However, the title of “BOAT” might be reserved for a Jim Brown or Barry Sanders, who ran with a form that set them apart from the pack, even if they lack the championships that a typical “GOAT” would have.
In basketball, one might argue that Kareem Abdul Jabbar is the greatest center who ever lived, with six NBA titles, six MVPs, and two Finals MVPs to support that claim. But in terms of the best? Give me the 1999-2001 Shaquille O’Neal every time. Because no one was more dominant.
In MMA, we’ve seen a couple of glaring examples of people having debates without realizing that they were arguing two completely different things.
Let’s take Jon Jones vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, for instance. The following graphic best summarizes the difference between GOAT vs. BOAT (graphic via ESPN MMA).
Here, Brett Okamoto is arguing for Khabib as the BOAT while Marc Raimondi is arguing for Jon Jones as the GOAT. The clash comes when the opposing sides feel they are limited to one term of “GOAT.” What results are impossible debates about different topics unbeknownst to the participants. We’ll have more on the Khabib vs. Jones debate a bit later on.
BOAT Sightings
While we still have a ways to go before BOAT is officially added to the sports/MMA lexicon, there have been some “BOAT” sightings that have happened over the past year.
Alexander Volkov Cites Evolution
Below, Alexander Volkov essentially argues that Fedor Emelianenko is the heavyweight GOAT while Francis Ngannou is the heavyweight BOAT.
“Right now, it’s the UFC Champion Ngannou, most likely,” Volkov told RT Sport MMA in response to who is the greatest heavyweight of all time. “Depends on the particular era of MMA. Of course, in terms of achievements, Fedor is one of the greatest, a legendary fighter who was undefeated for many years, had spectacular fights, came back from different bad situations in his fights, beat them all in his time.
“But now, there’s a new generation with new skills, new physical conditions, new techniques. And it’s unclear if the fighters of the past generation would do well against the elite fighters of the present. So before we talk about the greatest heavyweight of all time, we need to define what it really means. For me, there’s no such thing. There’s just the best fighter at the moment. Now, it’s the UFC champion, in my opinion.”
Chael P. Sonnen Weighs In
Next, here’s Chael Sonnen giving his own breakdown of how the line between the best and the greatest often gets warped into a haze.
“Khabib is the most dominant. I can prove that,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “That’s not my opinion. I can prove to you that Khabib is the most dominant. I think that is a wonderful compliment to give a guy. You were the best fighter of all time. Hard to prove. Big compliment, hard to prove. Dominance is hard…Guys, Khabib has won more 10-8 rounds in his career than anybody in the history of unarmed combat. I’m including boxing. What an incredible statement. Then, OK, who’s the greatest of all time?
Khabib Nurmagomedov
“…Khabib does have one thing against him. It’s only one. It’s only one. But it’s still against him, and it’s gonna grow over time. Now that we’re still in the Khabib era, we’ve all seen him fight, we all miss him and want to see him fight again…over time, we’re gonna forget that. We’re gonna forget how we feel right now. We’re gonna see new talent in there. So we’re now left with paper.
“And this even happens now, I mean, Jordan vs. LeBron. You talk about Jordan had six rings and LeBron had none—at one point—but this was the argument. And you could see—many people said, ‘No, LeBron’s better. I don’t give a damn if he has the rings or not. He’s gonna get ’em and he’s better.”
El Cucuy Knows What’s Up
And what kind of guy is Tony Ferguson? Tony Ferguson is the kind of guy to hop on board the BOAT movement before it was cool. Be more like Tony Ferguson.
“B.O.A.T.🕶Status” Keepin’ It Sweet On Tiramisu🍮Tuesday # GetSum 🚣♂️💨🍃 -CSO- 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/FNZR1mqoDC
The two most frequent examples of GOAT vs. BOAT debates this past year were the Jon Jones/Khabib GOAT debate and the Georges St-Pierre/Kamaru Usman welterweight GOAT debate. For Jones’ part, he was offended that he was even being compared to the Dagestani in terms of their overall careers (graphic via ESPN MMA).
Here, Jones is solely arguing about greatness in terms of accomplishments. This quote and argument do not address actual talent and dominance over competition.
Now Jones did go on to say that Khabib had just started fighting elite competition, so his dominance is overstated. However, for one thing, “elite” is subjective. You could argue that Rafael dos Anjos was elite already at the time Khabib faced him in 2014. He just didn’t look like it because…you know, Khabib.
Second, if what Khabib did was easy, more people would be dominating “non-elite” competition the way Khabib did. Or maybe….just maybe…he’s just insanely good.
But the frustration Jones is experiencing in this quote below and that a Twitter user had in this tweet is a classic case of what happens when you are in debates about two different things: greatness in terms of accomplishments (GOAT) vs. being superior to everyone else purely in terms of talent (BOAT).
Georges St-Pierre vs. Kamaru Usman
First off, the date in which this viral graphic was created is unclear, as Usman’s unique opponents as champion is currently 3, not 1. Although this discrepancy calls the rest of these numbers into question, that’s not what I want to point out.
This is a classic example of the “lying with statistics” maneuver, and/or the cherry-picking fallacy. Because there’s no logical reason to have stats this in-depth but somehow neglect to mention UFC win/loss record, which at the very least is equally as important as anything else here.
And even aside from posts like these, the most common argument for GSP as the welterweight GOAT is that he had more title defenses. That’s where the majority of the pro-GSP GOAT arguments begins and ends. This argument completely ignores Usman’s longer, harder road to the title through no fault of his own.
Other things to be considered in Usman’s favor is his record for longest welterweight winning streak, having the highest winning percentage out of any fighter who has ever competed in the UFC, and the fact that he has never lost in the UFC while GSP lost twice, including to Matt Serra, and had an extremely hard time against Johnny Hendricks in a win closer than any of Usman’s wins.
Usman’s opponents were considered tougher at the time of the fights. Just compare Usman’s odds history vs. GSP’s odds history to see how experts/the public viewed their level of competition. For the most part, GSP’s level of competition was not as strong, which is something people knock Demetrious Johnson for.
In terms of GOAT vs. BOAT, GSP may very well still have the stronger argument for welterweight GOAT in terms of his overall career, but Usman would make for an easier argument on who is more likely to win any fight and is thus better.
At minimum, that is of equal value to being the GOAT. For instance, you can’t win money on someone’s overall career achievements. But you can win money when correctly judging who will be the better fighter on a given night. Usman has proven to be more reliable on that regard not only in terms of wins/losses but in terms of rounds.
To paraphrase Brett Okamoto in the earlier graphic, if my life is on the line and I’m picking who to bet on, I’m betting on the dude with the longest winning streak, the highest winning percentage in company history, and who in my opinion, the eye test shows is the more difficult fighter to beat overall. And none of those conclusions on Usman are being made with a small sample size. The man is setting records that can only be broken with amazing consistency.
Conclusion
In closing, there is a difference between being the best of all time (BOAT) and being the greatest of all time (GOAT). Let’s start firing up the scholarly articles, talk-show debates, or whatever is needed to get the term “BOAT” officially accepted into the sports lexicon! And come on, the boat emojis would be lit, too! ?️
Not recognizing the difference between GOAT and BOAT is a big reason why so many people grow frustrated when having these debates because they and their opponent are literally debating two different things without realizing it. Would differentiating these terms suddenly make these subjective debates more clear-cut and definitive? Of course not. But it sure would make the impossible a little bit easier and the goal post much clearer.
UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington claims he used to dominate former teammate Dustin Poirier so much in training that he’d “leave the gym crying.”
The rivalry between Covington and Poirier, who used to train together at Florida’s American Top Team gym, has existed for a number of years. It continues to grow with each social media exchange and interview, something that was evident when “Chaos” spoke with MMA News’ James Lynch.
Covington Claims He Was “Smacking” Poirier For Years
Given the animosity that exists between the pair, it seemed like Covington and Poirier were forging a path towards an inevitable grudge match inside the Octagon. The feud’s history can be traced back to their time at ATT. After the welterweight star went into attack mode following his departure, the foundation was laid.
With that in mind, you’d expect Poirier to want to get his hands on the former interim 170-pound titleholder. After “The Diamond” teased a move up to welterweight, it appeared the door was open for the two stars to settle their score inside the cage.
Covington told MMA News that he experienced enough success against Poirier in the gym to not care if his foe hangs up the gloves without facing him. According to the 33-year-old, he used to “smack” the Louisianan around so much that he’d leave the gym in tears.
“I used to smack him around so many times in sparring back in the day. I mean, for years, smacking him. He’d literally leave the gym crying. He’d go to Make Brown, just crying, ‘I can’t beat him, why’s his cardio so good, why does he just keep punching me in the face, I can’t do it.’
“I’ve had him literally leaving the gym more time than I can count on both hands. So I’ve already embarrassed him. He knows who daddy is. He knows who the real champ is. He knows who’s better. I wouldn’t care (if I never get to fight Poirier in the Octagon).”
Colby Covington, Dustin Poirier (Image Credit: @colbycovmma on Instagram)
Poirier, meanwhile, has suggested he may never fight at lightweight again, and recently saw a potential clash with Nate Diaz seemingly fall through. Should he commit to a welterweight switch in the coming months, perhaps we will see him collide with Covington after all.
How do you think a fight between Colby Covington and Dustin Poirier would play out?
We could see Jiří Procházka get crowned a new champion over the next year, although some questions give us hesitancy in that stance.
It didn’t take long for Jiří Procházka to fly up the UFC light heavyweight division and become a title contender. And while we don’t know if he is next for a title shot at the moment, all signs indicate that he is on a fast track to getting a championship fight if he keeps producing the results he has made thus far.
Procházka is still somewhat of a new name for UFC viewers. He has only fought twice since joining the promotion in 2020, including one main event bout. That’s certainly not to say he doesn’t have experience.
Viewers of the RIZIN product from Japan have a better understanding of him. Before his UFC run, many witnessed him score wins over notable names Karl Albrektsson and Vadim Nemkov. Only 29 years old, the Czech Republic fighter has competed as a pro for nearly a decade and has over 25 wins.
Procházka’s career started incredibly busy, fighting more than three times a year from 2012 to 2015. He continued to stay active in the following years, fighting two to three times a year in RIZIN from 2016 to 2019.
However, his activity as a pro has slowed down since joining the UFC roster, only fighting once a year since 2020. So when looking at the contender, it might be best to judge him off his two most recent fights instead of observing older tape. When looking at his two fights in the UFC, there is a lot to address. Here’s what we know about Procházka, what we’re concerned about, and what we have yet to learn.
Looking At Procházka’s Two UFC Fights
Jiri Prochazka (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa)
Procházka’s first two fights in the UFC showed his undeniable punching power. He displayed his ability to put away opponents with a wild striking style. However, he wasn’t a flawless fighter. In his UFC debut in 2020, Procházka scored a second-round stoppage win against a big name in Volkan Oezdemir. However, he got hit quite a bit along the way. He was visibly stunned by shots at times by Oezdemir but was able to work past those issues for a finish win.
The issue of getting hit continued to show in his main event fight against Dominick Reyes in May. He was notably wobbled halfway through the second round by a left cross, forcing him to shoot for a takedown and fight a guillotine choke submission on the ground. Reyes was able to touch him, but to Procházka’s credit, he powered through and eventually overwhelmed the two-time title challenger.
That fight also showed a side to his game that hasn’t been tested extensively in the UFC cage yet: his ground game. Although the fight was mostly on the feet, Procházka was taken down by Reyes in the first round quite easily. As was mentioned before, he also found himself fighting a choke after taking a desperation shot in the second frame.
This could be a glaring issue if he were to face current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Glover Teixeira, who has a clear talent for getting fighters to the ground and submitting them with ease. With that being said, his ability to defend wrestling and grappling hasn’t been tested more thoroughly by someone yet.
What’s Next For Procházka?
(via Zuffa LLC)
There’s good reason to believe Procházka could claim the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. He’s explosive with his punches and hard to read as a fighter. But should you go all-in on the Procházka hype train? That’s a hard call to make.
Like anyone ranked second in their division should, Procházka certainly believes he has a good case for getting a title fight next. But as it stands currently, we cannot confirm if that is actually what’s next for him, although all signs are currently trending in that direction. Therefore, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s next in line. Neither would it be a shock if he’s next to have that belt around his waist.
Do you think Jiri Prochazka will become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in 2022?
As you continue to celebrate Christmas 2021, join us in taking a look back at the MMA News’ Naughty & Nice List of 2018, courtesy of ex-staff member Adam Martin.
The following editorial is brought to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 21, 2018, 12:42 PM]
Headline: MMA Naughty & Nice Christmas List For 2018
Author: Adam Martin
Just like any other year, there was good and bad in MMA in 2018. Below are some instances of those in the business who were naughty, and those who were nice.
Naughty: Khabib Nurmagomedov Jumps Over Cage
There’s no question UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov tops the naughty list after jumping over the fence at UFC 229 and going after Conor McGregor’s corner. Regardless of what Team McGregor said to Nurmagomedov in the lead-up to the fight, he had no business scaling the fence and then launching himself into the crowd. Nurmagomedov hasn’t even received his full punishment for the incident yet, and he is likely headed for more fines and suspensions. But the worst thing about this is that the lightweight division finally had some momentum again and this incident stalled it. The UFC might want to book the rematch between Nurmagomedov and McGregor just because it will sell big bucks, but the promotion shouldn’t even risk something like this happening again.
Nice: UFC Lets Demetrious Johnson Go, Completes Trade with ONE
What wasn’t the greatest PR move was the UFC signing Greg Hardy to a contract. Yes, Hardy is an intriguing heavyweight prospect with huge knockout power and raw athleticism who could be something special. But you can’t ignore his past, and his domestic violence incident will always stay with him. The sport of MMA has a lot of people in it who have done some bad things, so Hardy shouldn’t be completely singled out, but the UFC signing him and then booking him on the same card as Rachael Ostovich was a terrible move.
Nice: “Jacare” Holds Up From Hurting Chris Weidman
Golden Boy MMA goes on the naughty list for actually booking Chuck Liddell to fight in the year 2018. Liddell had no business coming out of retirement and it wasn’t shocking at all to see him get brutally knocked out by Tito Ortiz at age 48. Shame on the promotion, shame on the commission, and shame on the fighter. This fight was embarrassing and should have never happened. Liddell should truly never fight again, and at this point it looks like Golden Boy MMA itself may never put on a fight again, either.
Nice: Chan Sung Jung and Yair Rodriguez Take Hospital Photo After Epic Brawl
Arguably the best fight of 2018 was the wild brawl between Chan Sung Jung and Yair Rodriguez at the UFC’s 25th anniversary event. The two featherweight sluggers went at each other for nearly five full rounds before Rodriguez landed an insane upward elbow with one second left in the fifth round to pick up maybe the single-greatest knockout in MMA history. After the fight, the two warriors posed in the hospital for a memorable picture that exemplified the respect and true martial arts that the bedrock of this sport was built on.
Naughty: Conor McGregor Bus Incident
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the bus incident back at UFC 223. Conor McGregor threw a dolly through a bus window which ended up injuring several fighters and leading to multiple fights being scrapped. It was one of the ugliest outside-the-cage incidents involving an MMA fighter all year, perhaps only eclipsed by Nurmagomedov jumping over the fence at UFC 229, depending on how you look at things.
What are some other examples of naughty and nice in MMA in 2018? Leave a comment below with your examples.
Today marks two years to the day since Jon Jones had his most recent drug test controversy when an “atypical finding” prevented him from being granted a license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to compete at UFC 232. And as with all his other testing incidents, Jones swore his innocence and continues to do so to this day.
Perhaps no one but Jon Jones himself really knows if he has intentionally taken performance-enhancing drugs during his MMA career. As his complicated test history has proven, science may not lie, but it also does not necessarily tell the whole truth. It is no secret that Jones has failed multiple drug tests, but the official statements that clear him of intentionally cheating are gradually fading to black as he continues authoring his legacy.
These statements declaring Jones’ lack of intent are very rarely mentioned in articles or general discourse related to his drug test failures. At this point, it may even come as a surprise to many newer fans that each drug test that Jones failed had a final determination that he did not intentionally cheat. Yes, the asterisks of Jon Jones’ legendary career are not only his failed drug tests but also the obscure asterisks attached to the drug tests!
This piece will aim to re-expose these asterisks that are seemingly buried deeper and deeper as time passes, not as an argument for Jon Jones’ innocence but as a resource for ethical journalism and a reference for objective and/or newer fans who are fascinated by the subject. It is not intended to sway any solidified opinions or provide an extensive examination of the cases in question. Rather, we will take a brief look at each drug test failure and grasp what exactly Jon Jones means when he says he was “proven innocent.”
The word “innocent” indeed may be a stretch, as even the biggest defender of Jon Jones would tell you that he has behaved carelessly at times and thus has deserved to be punished. They also would concede that banned substances have been found in Jones’ system, further tainting his “innocence.” But it seems the spirit of Jones’ argument is, “I was found not to be a cheater,” which is a fact…a fact that may be inconvenient for many to revisit or accept, but one supported by unambiguous documentation.
UFC 182
DRUG TEST ISSUES: Days after retaining his light heavyweight championship at the event against Daniel Cormier in 2015, a cocaine metabolite was found in Jon Jones’ system. He also had very low testosterone levels, which is an indication of possible PED use.
WHY JON JONES SAYS HE WAS PROVEN INNOCENT:
1) The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC)used the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code for its testing procedure for the event. According to the 2014 WADA Prohibited List, there should not have been any out-of-competition testing done for recreational drugs. Simply put, this test finding is irrelevant, which is why Jones was not sanctioned for the presence of a cocaine metabolite in his system.
2) After testing was done to determine if Jon Jones’ testosterone level stemmed from an exogenous (non-natural) source, the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) issued the following statement:
“Based on the review of steroid profiles and available IRMS data, there is no evidence to indicate the administration of exogenous testosterone or testosterone precursors.”
Though the testosterone levels raised reasonable suspicions and the cocaine positive will continue being a source of memes and jokes indefinitely, this all would take a backseat to the much larger testing issues to come.
UFC 200
DRUG TEST ISSUES: Days before the 2016 event, Jon Jones was removed from the main event against Daniel Cormier after testing positive for two banned substances: clomiphene and letrozole.
WHY JON JONES SAYS HE WAS PROVEN INNOCENT: A “dick pill” that Jon Jones consumed was proven to be the contaminated supplement that contained both banned substances. Jones’ poor decision-making in allowing the banned substances into his system resulted in the suspension, but the official statement provided by the independent arbitration panel presiding over the case said in no uncertain terms:
“On the evidence before the panel, the applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance.”
You can view the original document here.
Following the outcome and arbitration statement, Jones issued a statement of his own:
“Although I was hopeful for a better outcome in the USADA ruling today, I am very respectful of the process in which they allowed me to defend myself. I have always maintained my innocence, and I am very happy I have been cleared in any wrong doing pursuant to the allegations made that I had intentionally taken a banned substance.
“I am pleased that in USADA’s investigation they determined I was ‘not a cheater of the sport.’ Being cleared of these allegations was very important to me. I have worked hard in and outside of the octagon to regain my image and my fighting career and will take these next eight months to continue my training and personal growth both as a man and an athlete.”
Jon Jones often cites USADA when addressing his proven “innocence,” but it is actually not USADA making these statements but independent arbitration panels, which are used to preside over contested cases. Jones is erroneously conflating USADA with the independent arbitration panel, so when people respond with, “USADA never said you were innocent,” they’re not wrong.
It would be more effective and accurate for Jones to use phrases like “proven innocent in the final decision” or “by independent arbitration” to prevent his point from being lost in translation and the exchange veering off into semantics instead of whether or not his name was vindicated.
This outcome was very similar to that of the next test failure, which appeared to possibly be the case that would break Jonny Bones.
UFC 214
DRUG TEST ISSUES: Following his KO victory over Daniel Cormier in 2017, it was revealed that Jones had tested positive for trace amounts of Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone aka Oral Turinabol (an anabolic steroid). The result of the fight was then overturned to a no contest.
WHY JON JONES SAYS HE WAS PROVEN INNOCENT: Primarily (but not exclusively) due to the “extremely low” amount of Turinabol found in Jon Jones’ system and because it could not possibly have any performance-enhancing benefits, Jones was found to not have cheated intentionally. He was suspended anyway largely because he was never able to prove how the banned substance (trace or otherwise) entered his system. The suspension was later reduced because Jones agreed to provide “substantial assistance” to USADA, but the reduced suspension has nothing to do with why Jones claims he was proven innocent here.
Chief arbitrator Richard McLaren issued the following statement after an extensive investigation:
“I find that all of the evidence available to me leads me to conclude that the violation was not intended nor could it have enhanced the Athlete’s performance.”
You can find the official document here (Section 7.17, pg. 20).
This led Jones to issue this statement: “It’s difficult to express myself at this moment, but I can definitely say my heart is filled with gratitude and appreciation. I want to thank all of you who have stood by me during the toughest stretch of my life. It has meant the world to me and always will.”
Jones felt a sense of victory and closure after the independent arbitration panel’s findings, but this was not the end of the Turinabol chapter.
UFC 232
DRUG TEST ISSUES: An extremely low amount of Turinabol was found in Jon Jones’ system again leading up to his fight against Alexander Gustafsson in 2018.
WHY JON JONES SAYS HE WAS PROVEN INNOCENT: Aside from the same fact that scientists once again agreed that no performance-enhancing benefit could come from the amount of Turinabol found in his system, there was also no proof of re-administration. In other words, Jones tested positive for the same Turinabol traces he popped for in 2017 (UFC 214) due to the pulsing of the M3 metabolite. Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for the UFC Jeff Novitzky fielded questions on this complex issue, including addressing topics on the precedent for this M3 metabolite situation, microdosing, USADA objectivity, and the credibility of sources external to USADA.
One of those sources was Dr. Daniel Eichner, president of SMRTL. When Jones regained his Nevada State Athletic Commission fighter’s license after his latest drug test issue, the commission cited Daniel Eichner in their official statement:
“Dr. Daniel Eichner, President and Laboratory Director of SMRTL, reviewed the above investigative reports and determined that they show no evidence that dehydrocholormethyltestosterone (DHCMT) has been re-administered. Dr. Eichner further provided that there is no scientific or medical evidence that the athlete (Jones) would have an unfair advantage leading up to, or for, his contest scheduled on March 2, 2019.”
After this latest resolution, Jon Jones has repeatedly claimed that he’s been proven innocent and has accused his detractors of conveniently remembering the accusations but not the vindication. When Jones makes these claims, he is not specific on what “proof” he is referring to, so many fans may believe he is delusional or in denial. But the independent panels that presided over his cases felt that the evidence presented on Jones’ behalf met the burden of proof for non-intent, and this well-documented fact is what Jones is referring to.
CONCLUSION
In each of Jon Jones’ test failures, an authority prepared an official statement declaring that Jon Jones is not a cheater.
The semantics on the usage of the term “innocent” or whether it was USADA directly can be disputed, but the fact remains that an entity not named Jon Jones with authority presiding over the cases have said each time that he is not a cheater.
Whether because of contaminated supplements, trace amounts that could not affect performance, or non-re-administration, the fact is that Jones has been declared not to be a cheater, hence his use of the term “innocent.”
For media members, I feel that it is the duty of every journalist in this field to make reference to these official statements when writing on any topic directly related to Jon Jones’ test history. It does not need to be a thorough revisitation of each case; it could be put just as succinctly as Jeff Novitzky put it:
“You look at both of Jon’s (suspension) cases…Richard McLaren, maybe the most credible anti-doping guy in the world and/or his group in both written decisions, in both instances, they determined this was non-intentional.”
Even more succinctly stated and more article friendly: Each of Jon Jones’ test failures that led to suspensions was found to be non-intentional through independent arbitration.
To simply list the drug test failures is not presenting both sides of the story nor the whole truth. When the only statement on the other side is “Jon Jones has always proclaimed his innocence” without referencing the authorities who said the very same thing, there lies a crucial omission that misrepresents the case and Jones’ claims of innocence.
It is an integral and fundamental component of the story to include why Jon Jones claims he is innocent: because every time he failed a drug test, it was determined that he did not intentionally cheat. It is not editorializing nor opinionated to state that the final decisions in his cases included a statement that absolved him from being a drug cheat. That’s a very relevant, impartial fact.
For fans and media members alike, you are not necessarily a “hater” or biased if you believe that when there’s smoke, there’s fire. And for fans specifically, I can understand the urge to simplify things and not revisit each case individually and instead proceed with the snapshot information consumption that dominates today’s digital literacy.
But the objective truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as being “guilty by math.” In other words, each official statement saying that Jon Jones is not a cheater does not become void because there were other such statements issued in the past.
In the context of the law, a man cannot be found guilty by a jury of his peers just because he was tried multiple times for the same crime. In many cases, this wouldn’t even be permitted as evidence up for discussion during the deliberation. But regardless of where you believe Jon Jones sits on the innocence/guilty spectrum, it should be no mystery to anyone how or why he continues to proclaim his innocence.
Because at the end of the day, if you were in Jon Jones’ position where every time you were sanctioned, the presiding authority ultimately declared that you did not cheat, then you too would become quite accustomed to uttering the phrase, “I was proven innocent,” especially when people of all walks of life seem determined to pretend that no such proof exists.
Aleksandar Rakić Prepared For Everything With Jan Blachowicz
“I’m gonna be ready to wrestle 25 minutes, I’m gonna be ready to grapple or to strike against him,” Rakić said. “It depends what Jan is gonna give me. This I’m gonna see in the first minutes or the first round or the second round. I’m gonna be prepared for everything, and I know for myself, I’m improving all of the aspects of the fight.
“I want to be the next Georges St-Pierre, to be the most well-rounded fighter in the UFC roster in the light heavyweight division, and I’m in a good way for doing that.”
Rakić is coming off of back-to-back wins over Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith. The 29-year-old light heavyweight contender has burst into title contention since making his UFC debut back in 2017.
Living up to the wrestling prowess of Georges St-Pierre will not be an easy task for Rakić. St-Pierre is widely regarded as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time and one of the best grapplers in the sport’s history.
However, one thing is clear when it comes to evaluating Rakić’s potential: he’s aiming to be one of the best light heavyweights in the sport. If he’s able to put on another impressive performance against Blachowicz, fans will start taking more notice of his wide-ranging skill set.
What is your prediction for Aleksandar Rakić vs. Jan Blachowicz?
UFC light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakić believes he’s “much hungrier” than his upcoming opponent and former champion Jan Blachowicz.
Rakić has spent much longer on the sidelines than he wanted, but it appears he’ll finally have the chance to secure number one contender status when he returns to action in the first quarter of 2022. The Austrian last entered the Octagon at UFC 259 in March, where he defeated former title challenger Thiago Santos by way of a unanimous decision.
Following the announcement, Rakić spoke to MMA News’ James Lynch to discuss his upcoming fight with the Polish behemoth, his rivalry with Czech knockout artist Jiří Procházka, his experience training with Khamzat Chimaev, and his feud with former opponent Smith.
Rakić Targets Title Shot By Slaying A Former Champion
While Rakić has certainly been impressive in his UFC tenure to date, which most believe should see him unbeaten at 7-0 given the controversial nature of his split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir, Blachowicz will be no easy path to go through to reach the top step at 205 pounds.
Rakić told MMA News he’s expecting a motivated Blachowicz come March 26. However, given the fact he’s yet to feel what it’s like to sit on the top step, “Rocket” believes he’ll be “much hungrier” when the pair enter the cage together.
“I’m thinking that he’s gonna come with the extra motivation to our fight and to be a better version, you know. To beat a guy even more hungry than before and more willing to get the belt back, it’s gonna be awesome. He was already on the top, he knows how it feels. I was never on the top and I was never a champion. So I am much hungrier than him, that I can say.”
Nevertheless, Rakić acknowledges the challenge he has in front of him. Hailing from a central European country himself, the 29-year-old is aware of the toughness Blachowicz has inside him. With that in mind, the Austrian will be preparing for war as he looks to secure a title shot for later in the year.
“I have a great team and we’ve been watching Jan for a while now… He’s a tough guy. He’s from Poland; from this area, guys are really tough. He’s coming not to lose, he’s coming for everything. But I am from the same area. I’m the same…I’m gonna be right on point on the 26th of March to get the W and to secure my title shot.”
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With Teixeira and Procházka expected to collide for the gold in the second quarter of 2022, likely April or May, according to the Brazilian, it stands to reason the winner of Rakić vs Blachowicz will be fighting the champ in the back end of 2022.
Who do you think will have their hand raised in the March 26 UFC Fight Night main event, Aleksandar Rakić or Jan Blachowicz?
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