After fighting through the height of the pandemic, the MMA world returned to full blaze in 2021. The peak was this past summer in Las Vegas, where a packed house watched Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier deliver five fiery minutes, followed by a chaotic aftermath.
But there was no shortage of highlights throughout the year. Francis Ngannou finally overcame Stipe Miocic. Charles Oliveira seized control of the UFC’s lightweight division. Jan Blachowicz bullied Israel Adesanya into his first-ever MMA loss. Then Glover Teixeira (at 42!) made quick work of Blachowicz and won the UFC light heavyweight title.
And the list goes on.