The Forgotten Standout Performances of 2021
Highlighting all the tremendous efforts and breakout performances that have transpired in the shadows over the first 11 months of 2021 inside the Octagon
Here’s how my brain works on these rare weeks where there are no UFC events to build towards:
After writing yesterday’s Aftermath column about the four main card competitors that took a meaningful step forward with their important wins on Saturday, I got thinking one line in the closing collection of short paragraphs and how I could illustrate my point. Here’s the line that has been stuck in my head for the last 24 hours:
Performances are weighted based on the attention they received and the quality of the fight card they were on, when neither of those things have anything to do with the actual impact of a given victory or determining where an athlete stands in their respective division.
I honestly believe that.
I genuinely think there are performances that don’t get recognized or remembered because they’re on Fight Night shows instead of pay-per-view events, and because the athletes received little-to-no attention going into or coming out of their fight.
Basically, if the loudest voices in the sport aren’t talking about them, those performances quickly fade into the ether, where they instantly become part of the “I don’t remember that at all” collection. As a result, the competitors don't get the shine they deserve and are treated like unknowns whenever they return to action, some multiple times over, as you’ll see in the piece that follows.
The rebuttal to this, of course, is that the UFC puts on too many shows and therefore it is too difficult to keep track of all the great performances, all the breakout efforts, all the killer fights that happen inside the Octagon in a given month, let alone year.
To a certain extent, I agree: when there is no time to breathe between UFC events (not to mention everything else that happens in the combat sports space), it’s hard to remember what happened three weeks ago, never mind three months ago.
However, I would also counter that it’s easier to get caught back up on who is about to step into the Octagon on Saturday and what they’ve done of late now than it has ever been before thanks to Tapology and Wikipedia and Fight Pass. You may not remember Jeremiah Wells or what he did last time out ahead of his fight with Jake Matthews on December 4, but between looking up his record and pulling up his fight, it’s pretty easy to get a sense for who he is, what he did, and what to look forward to when he steps in there with Matthews two Saturdays from now in Las Vegas.
Also — and maybe I’m a complete weirdo here — but is it really that hard to build a spreadsheet with columns dedicated to the best knockouts, fights, comebacks, newcomers, etc. and update it after each event? I mean, I know it take a little effort, but in terms of the easy reference it offers, I would think that more people that cover this sport and this promotion would have something similar as a handy “Oh right, that guy!” tool to glance at when each new Fight Week commences.
Anyway, given all of that, my brain wouldn’t let me settle last night until I resigned myself to putting together the following list of the Forgotten Impressive Performances of 2021 for you here today.
So here goes.
January
Punahele Soriano (above): after getting his first promotional victory at the tail end of 2019, Soriano missed all of 2020 after suffering a hip injury. He returned in the first main card fight of the year, stopping fellow undefeated Contender Series graduate Dusko Todorovic in the closing moments of the first round to push his record to 8-0 and establish himself as someone to watch in the middleweight division.
Alessio Di Chirico: folks were paying attention to this one because his opponent, Joaquin Buckley, had back-to-back highlight reel finishes to close out 2021, including his Knockout of the Year effort against Impa Kasanganay. Just over two minutes into this one, “Manzo” put Buckley on his highlight reel, blasting him with a head kick to secure the finish.
Mike Davis: another instance where anyone paying attention was looking at the opponent, Davis was tabbed to welcome former Cage Warriors two-weight champ Mason Jones to the Octagon for the first time, and turned in an impressive performance, registering his second consecutive victory. “Beast Boy” has been hampered by injuries throughout his UFC run, but he’s an all-action fighter to remember and this was a really entertaining fight early in the year.
Warlley Alves: this was one of those performances that highlights the “pick and choose” nature of MMA coverage because when Mounir Lazzez won his debut, folks were rushing to proclaim him a future contender, but when Alves folded him over with a body kick in two-and-a-half minutes here, there were crickets. His “weed is bad” comments after the fight got more traction, but even those didn’t help this truly dominant effort stick in peoples’ minds for more than 48 hours after the fight.
February
Beneil Dariush: after beating Carlos Diego Ferreira in a hard-fought, dangerous pairing between Top 15 talents, Dariush cut an out-of-character promo talking about how guys like he and Ferreira don’t get enough love or the kind of opportunities fighters with their records should receive. He was absolutely correct and everyone loved him for speaking out… before letting him fade into the background of all conversations surrounding the lightweight division for a few more months.
Polyana Viana: sadly, most people will remember Viana’s name as a result of Colby Covington making crude insinuations that the two were in a sexual relationship earlier this year, and not because she turned in a dominant effort and connected on a really nice armbar on Mallory Martin in February for her second straight first-round submission win.
Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez: Hernandez tapped multiple time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion Rodolfo Vieira in February and it just stopped being talked about like a week later. It wasn’t one of those “just got caught” situations either — “Fluffy” ended up beating the hell out of Vieira before getting him to tap to a guillotine choke midway through the second round in what has to still be considered one of the bigger upsets of the year.
Julian Marquez: here’s another fight where people remember a tangential piece — Marquez hollering at Miley Cyrus — and not the performance itself, but after more two years on the sidelines, his Hail Mary finish of Maki Pitolo at UFC 258 is probably still in line for a podium finish in the Comeback of the Year race.
Aiemann Zahabi: there was a ton of hype behind Drako Rodriguez when he was on the regional circuit and heading into his UFC debut in February. Zahabi put an end to all that with an ultra-clean overhand right just over three minutes into their clash towards the end of February, scoring a walk-off knockout win.
Julian Erosa: “Juicy J” is guaranteed entertainment whenever he fights, and it’s genuinely wild to me that his 56-second sprint with Nate Landwehr doesn’t get more love as one of the more enjoyable, chaotic bouts of this year. Are we just spoiled with too many memorable finishes to remember a flying knee finish that happens in less than a minute?
Ronnie Lawrence: we talk all the time about how bantamweight is arguably the most impressive overall collection of talent in the UFC, but then fail to mention so many of the quality emerging talents working their way up the ranks. Lawrence is one of those names to track and he proved it with his smothering, third-round stoppage win over Vince Cachero in February.
Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera (above): there have been a bunch of Fight of the Year candidates in recent weeks, but the first truly great fight of 2021 and the silver medalist at the half-way point of this year was this banger (at bantamweight) between Munhoz and Rivera. As strong as some of the recent entries in the race have been, this one still deserves serious consideration.
March
Uros Medic (above): I was keen on Medic’s upside after he showed out on the Contender Series last season and in his promotional debut in March, he stormed through Aalon Cruz. This was a lopsided effort that had people screaming about stopping the fight sooner on Twitter, and yet when Medic returned six months later, few people were talking about him or this performance.
Kai Kara-France: folks are going to be mentioning Kara-France’s name again here real soon because he’s welcoming Cody Garbrandt to the flyweight division next month, but “Don’t Blink” has deserved love and attention all year for his comeback, walk-off win over Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 259 in March. After getting out-grappled for more than four minutes and 30 seconds, the New Zealander left Bontorin in a heap on the canvas before the first round ended.
Amanda Nunes: I know no one likes praising ridiculously dominant champions for turning in ridiculously dominant performances, but the way Nunes ran through Megan Anderson was still one of the most singularly impressive performances of the year. If we’re gonna shower Cris Cyborg with all kinds of love whenever she beats the tar out of someone in Bellator…
Matthew Semelsberger: My guy opened the show with a 16-second knockout win. I mean, it was his second UFC appearance and it was the curtain-jerker on a mid-March event following a pay-per-view, but still — 16-second, right hand down the pipe, “we’re done here” finishes shouldn’t just fade from memory, especially when your last name is Semelsberger.
Charles Jourdain vs. Marcelo Rojo: I think we take fights like this for granted, and that’s a shame to me because Jourdain and Rojo got after it, turning in one of the best fights from the first half of the year, with Jourdain making adjustments and reads through a pair of close rounds before securing the third-round finish. When fights like this just fall by the wayside, it’s impossible for me not to think people either have ridiculously high standards for what constitutes a memorable fight because this is one that jumps to mind whenever we talk about Fight of the Year or either guy’s name pops up.
Dan Ige: this is another one of those “how did you forget this one?” deals because Ige is a Top 15 guy at featherweight, a lot of people were psyched to see his fight with Gavin Tucker in March, and the Xtreme Couture product ended it in 22 seconds with a clean right hand down the pipe. It also produced my favorite celebratory Instagram post ever, one that remains the first thing that pops up on my laptop when I type “Dan Ige Instagram” into my search bar.
Bruno “Bulldog” Silva: this was one of the better “back against the wall” performances I can remember, as Silva entered having gone winless in his first three trips into the Octagon, but then unleashed a firestorm against JP Buys, a well-regarded Contender Series graduate who was still training at Fortis MMA at the time. It was also the kind of effort that made you rethink your assessments of Silva and the two men that had previously beaten him at flyweight, David Dvorak (more on him later) and Tagir Ulanbekov.
Max Griffin: maybe I’m biased because I’ve talked to Griffin a lot over his career and had a great conversation with him ahead of this March fight with Song Kenan, but the NorCal native went out and put it on Song in a way that should have made anyone that had seen him fight earlier in his career sit up and take notice. He was more aggressive, yet looser, and got Song out of there in a hurry.
Jamie Mullarkey: the Australian knocked out Khama Worthy in 46 seconds to open the main card at UFC 260, but because the final three fights of the night were finishes by Sean O’Malley, Vicente Luque, and Francis Ngannou, the veteran’s genuinely impressive effort got lost in the shuffle. You could argue it was also because neither Mullarkey nor Worthy were in the mix at lightweight, but we pay attention to a lot of people that aren’t in the mix in their respective divisions after they register performances like this, so this feels more like bad timing and a lack of effort more than anything else.
April
Mateusz Gamrot: this is another one of those ones that didn’t make sense to me because hardcores were very high on Gamrot coming into the UFC and while he lost his debut, here he was walking one off against a game veteran in Scott Holtzman. Talk about a terrific way to rebound from your first career loss and get moving in the right direction again.
Julian Marquez (above): fresh off fumbling the bag in the whole Miley Cyrus thing, Marquez earned his second win (and second bonus) in two months by putting Sam Alvey to sleep in their main card clash on ABC. I get that no one ever wants to give anyone credit for beating Sam Alvey, but two wins, two finishes, and two bonuses in two months after spending two-and-a-half years on the sidelines is kind of a perfect setup for a “Julian Marquez’s Incredible Comeback” story and yet no one really talked about it all that much and probably doesn’t remember it now, which is sad.
Danaa Batgerel: this is another one of those “happened on the wrong card” situations because normally, a 50-second knockout win like the one Batgerel recorded against Kevin Natividad at UFC 261 would at least trigger an “I think I remember that” memory for most fight fans, but with everything that came after it — Jimmy Crute’s foot, Chris Weidman’s leg, Shevchenko’s dominance, Rose reclaiming the strawweight throne, Usman baptizing Masvidal — folks straight up missed this one, which caused them to miss another great effort later in the year. (Yes, that’s foreshadowing)
Brendan Allen: I really don’t know why more people don't talk about Brendan Allen as a budding contender given that he subbed Kevin Holland two years ago and his only loss in the UFC came against Sean Strickland, who is now a Top 10 fighter in the middleweight ranks. Additionally, he flashed his legit upside in April, clasping onto a straight ankle lock at the end of the first round of his clash with Karl Roberson to get back into the win column in impressive fashion. But again, this happened at UFC 261, so preliminary card stuff just became background noise.
Randy Brown: “Rude Boy” turned in the third impressive prelim effort that folks just didn’t talk about or remember after the fact when he subbed Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira with a one-arm, no-hooks, rear-naked choke in under three minutes to close out the prelims. I would say, “If this happened on a Fight Night card, people would have been talking about it so much more,” but the reality is that people probably would have been advising fans to skip said Fight Night card due to fights like this being on the main card, which means it still wouldn’t have gone largely unnoticed.
May
Carlston Harris: no one was checking for Harris ahead of his promotional debut against Christian Aguilera, but the 33-year-old newcomer needed less than three minutes to register his first UFC win, catching Aguilera in a slick D’arce choke. It was the kind of effort that made me go back and check out his resume, which includes a win over UFC middleweight Wellington Turman, and his lone loss in an eight-fight stretch coming against Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi, the Brave CF super welterweight champ that was scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev last year before that event was cancelled due to COVID-19 and Chimaev signed with the UFC.
Gregor Gillespie (above): folks were bummed when Gillespie’s fight with Brad Riddell a couple weeks earlier got scrapped due to COVID protocols, but then didn’t seem to pay all that much attention when he got re-booked against a Top 15 opponent in Carlos Diego Ferreira. After getting worked over in the opening round, “The Gift” rallied to earn a stoppage in the second in one of the best comebacks of the year. I really don’t get how folks pick and choose when they’re excited about an athlete, and how they completely forget about them until like a week before they step into the Octagon. Am I really just wired differently than everyone else when it comes to this stuff?
Alex Morono: this is one of those instances where the performance became more about the guy on the receiving end than the guy doling out the punishment, as Morono’s short-notice, first-round finish of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone prompted more questions about whether “Cowboy” was Capital D Done than anything else. It makes sense, but it’s too bad too, because this was a really sharp effort from Morono.
Andre Muniz: remember when everyone was super-excited about Muniz out-grappling Jacare and leaving him with a broken arm? It’s not surprising to me if you just said, “Oh Yeah!” but there was a point right after UFC 262 where lots of people were super-excited about this result and what it meant for Muniz going forward. Clearly, that didn’t last long.
Beneil Dariush: three months after beating Carlos Diego Ferreira and lobbying for greater opportunities, Dariush dominated Tony Ferguson in another May effort that became more about the losing fighter than the guy that collected the win. This immediately became about Ferguson’s decline, and Dariush remains the odd man out in all lightweight conversations, despite the fact that he’s earned seven consecutive victories and beat two of the guys that have elevated Islam Makhachev into contender status this year at the start of his winning streak.
David Dvorak: Dvorak is a perfect example of my theory on how all kinds of people want to feign caring about the flyweight division when a great fight or stunning performance happens, but then forget about it as soon as the event is over. All kinds of people want to tweet out how terrible it is that the UFC almost did away with the 125-pound weight class, but if you asked them about Dvorak’s first-round submission win in May or how many UFC victories he’s earned, they’d have no clue.
For the record: he subbed out Juancamilo Ronderos, who took the fight on short notice after Raulian Paiva missed weight, and is now 3-0 in the UFC, 20-3 overall, and riding a 16-fight winning streak overall. You should pay attention to him.
Bruno “Bulldog” Silva: two months after battering JP Buys, the Brazilian “Bulldog” was back, collecting a second stoppage win and Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round mauling of Victor Rodriguez. I get that he’s been out of action for the last six months, but I would like to think that two finishes and two bonuses in a division everyone claims to love and care about deeply in the first five months of the year should be enough to make a guy stand out in your memory.
June
Kamuela Kirk: this is one of those ones that highlights how little transference there is when it comes to MMA fans because Kirk showed up on 10 days notice and out-worked Makwan Amirkhani to get a win in his promotional debut, and yet while “Mr. Finland” still gets love and attention before all his fights, I don’t think anyone remembers Kirk rallying to beat him at the start of June outside of seeing it on Amirkhani’s record.
Terrance McKinney: hardcore fans remember this one, but it honestly was surprising to me that there wasn’t more mainstream excitement about McKinney’s return last weekend before the fight was scrapped because “T. Wrecks” turned in one of the best debuts of the year in June, rolling in on short notice and laying out Matt Frevola in seven seconds. McKinney feels like a prime candidate to be a “Where did this guy come from?” fighter if he turns in another impressive effort whenever he gets rebooked.
Paul Craig: the Scottish submission ace pushed his unbeaten streak to five and his winning streak to three by leaving Jamahal Hill with a dislocated left arm in June. I know a lot has happened since, and Craig’s scheduled return opposite Alexander Gustafsson got scrapped, but given all the attention that has been on the light heavyweight division this year, I would have thought this effort and Craig’s run of success would come up more often than it has over the last several months.
Julia Avila (above): this is another one of those “lack of transference” situations because while people had been excited about the steady rise of Pannie Kianzad before her recent loss to Raquel Pennington, people kind of bailed on Avila, who beat her handily two years ago, when she lost to Sijara Eubanks. Anyway, in a division where new names are always needed and 3-15 feel fairly interchangeable, it’s surprising to me that Avila’s impressive performance against Julija Stoliarenko has continued to fly under the radar.
Marcin Prachnio: after beating Khalil Rountree Jr. in January to finally break into the win column in the UFC, Prachnio followed it up by earning Performance of the Night honors for his second-round finish of Ike Villanueva. This is another one of those things I don’t get, because all kinds of people pay close attention to who gets bonuses and have plenty to say about who does and doesn’t get them, but then bonus-winning efforts like this just disappear into the ether almost immediately after they happen.
Shavkat Rakhmonov: it really makes no sense to me how more people are super-excited about Rakhmonov, who followed up his debut submission win over Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira by pushing his record to 14-0 with a second-round submission win over Michel Prazares. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t gotten a bigger opportunity yet, but there aren’t a lot of unbeaten 27-year-olds with consecutive submission wins over quality grapplers in the UFC just hanging around at the moment.
July
Zhalgas Zhumagulov: only lunatics like me that have a weird aptitude for stuff like this will remember that Zhumagulov locked onto a slick ninja choke in the first fight at UFC 264, but given that he’s scheduled to face Manel Kape later this month, it’s worth mentioning so that people can check it out now.
Dricus Du Plessis: in a division where it only takes a couple solid wins to land opposite a Top 15 opponent, folks should be checking for Du Plessis, who registered his second straight stoppage win with a second-round finish of Trevin Giles on that same UFC 264 card in July. The 27-year-old South African is 16-2 overall and one to watch going forward.
Ilia Topuria: folks were pumped about Ryan Hall returning to action, but it feels like no one has talked about Topuria’s patient effort and punishing finish of “The Wizard” since it happened. It’s wild to me that people aren’t out here shouting about Topuria every time folks start talking about the top prospects in the UFC because he’s 24 years old, 3-0 in the promotion, and 11-0 overall, with a date opposite Movsar Evloev on the books for January.
Tai Tuivasa: for all the attention people commit towards expressing their hatred for Greg Hardy and his presence on the UFC roster, I would have thought Tuivasa’s first-round finish of him at UFC 264 would have maintained a little more steam, especially given that it was Tuivasa’s third straight first-round stoppage win.
Amanda Lemos (pictured above): you don’t get many 35-second, “Holy $@#% that was impressive!” finishes on the women’s side of the roster, so it’s absolutely wild to me that Lemos’ clean, technical destruction of Montserrat Conejo isn’t one of those performances than gets brought up routinely for being one of the best of the year, especially given how much attention has been on the strawweight division of late. The Brazilian has won four straight and looks like a real title threat, yet no one seems to be talking about her or this performance.
Mateusz Gamrot: “Gamer” got a shout out earlier in this piece for his knockout win over Scott Holtzman, and he’s back again here after following that up with a 65-second submission win over Jeremy Stephens. I know Stephens has fallen off, but a 65-second submission win from a guy that is now 19-1 (with one No Contest) and was a standout overseas before arriving in the UFC is one of those performances that shouldn’t just fall by the wayside.
Sijara Eubanks: “SarJ” returned to flyweight in the summer and flat-out trucked Elise Reed. Even while acknowledging that Reed is probably better suited to competing at strawweight, this was one of those efforts that can’t be ignored because it was so dominant, and Eubanks has had previous success at ‘25. She got pulled from her follow-up bout with Luana Carolina last month after testing positive for COVID, but she’s re-booked against Melissa Gatto next month, and if she dominates there, we’re gonna have to have a frank conversation about Eubanks being a contender at flyweight.
Mickey Gall: this is another one of those head-scratchers to me because Gall goes out and dominates Jordan Williams, choking him out in under three minutes, and it doesn’t really resonate, but when Ian Garry gets touched up by Williams early before putting him away at MSG earlier this month, we’re all heaping praise on the Irish newcomer. If beating Jordan Williams in the first is an impressive feat, everyone owes Gall some retroactive love.
Brendan Allen: after collecting a first-round submission win over Karl Roberson earlier in the year, Allen followed it up with his most complete performance to date in the UFC, out-working Punahele Soriano for 15 minutes en route to a second straight win. For whatever reason, Allen can’t seem to build any real hype, even when he dominates dudes that carried a bunch of hype into their fight.
Raulian Paiva: when people dismissed Sean O’Malley getting booked against Paiva, it told me no one remembered his come-from-behind victory over Kyler Phillips earlier this summer, where Paiva looked to be on his way out in the first, only to rally and beat Phillips. The former flyweight has solid power, good size, and clearly a ton of heart, and could be a real test for O’Malley if the ultra-confident, technicolor prospect isn’t careful.
Jason Witt vs. Bryan Barberena: this one isn’t going to win Fight of the Year, but it should land on the Honourable Mentions list at the very least, as Witt and “Bam Bam” beat the holy hell out of one another for 15 minutes.
Cheyanne Vlismas: folks moaned about this fight being elevated to the co-main event position on the July 31 fight card that was ravaged by COVID protocol issues and various additional changes, but yet no one seems to be talking about Vlismas’ near-illegal head kick finish of Gloria de Paula, which was one those “OH MY GOD!” kind of finishes where you think it’s going to be terrible, but it turns out to be spectacular instead.
August
Miles Johns: when you move to 12-1 with a second consecutive third-round stoppage win, you come from a great camp at Fortis MMA, and you hold a split decision win over surging bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez from your days fighting under the LFA banner, I don’t know how a finish like this just falls by the wayside, but that’s what happened with Johns’ UFC 265 win over Anderson Dos Santos.
Jessica Penne: the former title challenger went from not fighting for four years to earning two wins in under five months, capped by a first-round submission win over Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Given how much time we spent talking about gossip and nonsense in this sport, we really should spend more time talking about comebacks like this.
Jose Aldo: six months after putting on a Fight of the Year candidate with Jimmie Rivera, Pedro Munhoz got thoroughly out-hustled by Aldo, a dude we all thought was done and making a crazy decision by moving to bantamweight. This was an incredible performance that got overshadowed by people being more worried about the business machinations of the UFC than the action taking place in the Octagon.
Ramiz Brahimaj: everyone remembers when Brahimaj’s ear nearly got dislodged from his head in his debut loss to Max Griffin last year, but few can recall the Fortis MMA product’s impressive first-round submission win over Sasha Palatnikov in August.
Ignacio Bahamondes: I honestly expected more people to mention Bahamondes’ third-round spinning wheel kick finish of Roosevelt Roberts when Chris Barnett broke out a similar move to fell Gian Villante at MSG earlier this month, but then I remembered how many people dismiss Fight Night cards and Contender Series graduates automatically and likely missed this brilliant knockout.
Alexandre Pantoja (above): after edging out Manel Kape on the cards earlier in the year, Pantoja cemented his standing as the top contender in the flyweight division with a second-round submission win over Brandon Royval, after which, he politely asked new champ Brandon Moreno, whom he’s beaten twice before, if he would like to fight again. It was a charming moment following an impressive performance.
Saidyokub Kakhramonov: you would think with a name like his and having earned a short-notice, third-round submission win in his debut, more people would remember Kakhramonov, but if they did, I wouldn’t be writing this exhaustive piece, now would I?
Pat Sabatini: folks clearly forgot about Sabatini’s “rocked, recover, and finish” effort against Jamall Emmers in August because he was the betting underdog against Tucker Lutz last weekend. The former CFFC featherweight champ is now 3-0 in the UFC and better be on everyone’s radar now.
Abdul Razak Alhassan: I’m going to be interested to see how much love Alhassan’s “one shot, one kill,” head kick finish of Alessio Di Chirico earns in the Knockout of the Year conversation because it is a sure Top 10 finisher for me, but feels like the exact type of finish that folks will continue to forget when filling out their ballots because it took place on a maligned card and neither are big names.
Gerald Meerschaert: everyone remembers Meerschaert for getting starched by Khamzat Chimaev, but “GM3” has won back-to-back outings since, capped by halting Makhmud Muradov’s lengthy unbeaten streak in August. The veteran middleweight is always entertaining and if folks are going to point out his failings, we should highlight his triumphs every once in a while too.
Daniel Rodriguez: every time I see Kevin Lee’s name in the news, I think about Rodriguez rolling in on short notice and out-working the self-described “Top 5 welterweight” at the end of August. “D-Rod” is one of those dudes that gets nowhere near as much love as he deserves for being 6-1 in the UFC and having won 12 of his last 13 fights.
September
Carlston Harris (above): four months after submitting Christian Aguilera in his promotional debut, “Moçambique” was a back in the Octagon registering another first-round finish, choking out Impa Kasanganay. The now 34-year-old is a must-watch welterweight at this point and his upcoming bout with Shavkat Rakhamonov is genuinely intriguing.
Erin Blanchfield: for all the attention we pay to prospects, it’s wild to me that more people don’t talk about Blanchfield, who thoroughly dominated Sarah Alpar in her promotional debut in September. The 22-year-old is 7-1 overall and her lone loss was a questionable split decision verdict opposite Tracy Cortez. She’s set to face Miranda Maverick at UFC 269 next month in a clash of promising flyweights.
Nate Maness: the individual performance to finish Tony Gravely in September was strong, however this is also a “lifetime achievement award” because at 3-0 in the UFC with back-to-back finishes and bonuses, and a 14-1 record overall, I’m really not sure how more people aren’t talking about Maness as someone to watch in the bantamweight division.
Arman Tsarukyan: the 25-year-old Tsarukyan has felt like “The Next Islam Makhachev” since battling Makhachev in his debut, and he turned in a statement win in September, finishing Christos Giagos in just over two minutes. This was the kind of emphatic effort everyone wanted to see from the emerging lightweight, and yet it seems to have faded from memory already.
Jonathan Pearce: here’s another case of “great performance, wrong card” syndrome, as Pearce picked up his second straight stoppage win since returning to featherweight, becoming just the second person to beat (and first to finish) Omar Morales in the opening bout at UFC 266.
Matthew Semelsberger: after dropping a decision to Khaos Williams following his 16-second knockout win over Jason Witt at the start of the year, “Semi the Jedi” picked up a 15-second knockout of Martin Sano Jr. at UFC 266. Everyone will say Sano had no business being in the Octagon, which is true, but Semelsberger still clocked him with a beautiful shot to score his second rapid knockout win of 2021.
Jalin Turner: not only does Turner suffer from “Great Performance, Wrong Card” syndrome here, he’s criminally underrated overall, as this finish of Uros Medic at UFC 266 was his third straight stoppage win and fourth victory in five fights after debuting up a division with a loss to Vicente Luque. “The Tarantula” is still only 26 years old and is humungous for the lightweight divisions, so how we’re not talking about this effort and his upside more is beyond me.
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Marlon Moraes: did people really forget just how goddamn chaotic and amazing this fight was? I’ve seen a bunch of “Fight of the Year” tweets in the last few days and not one of them had this slobberknocker included and that’s a travesty because it might be the best of the year, given that it contains a round where Dvalishvili went from being on the brink of getting finished to having people wondering if he still won the round.
October
Alejandro Perez: any time someone hits a scarf hold armlock, we should talk about it for more than a minute or two after it happens, and when that person is returning after more than two years away, we really should talk about it even more. Sorry to let you down, Alejandro.
Douglas Silva de Andrade: when you knock a dude out while he’s in mid-air, we should talk about it for more than a minute or two after it happens, not instantly move on, coming away from the event underwhelmed after the last four fights failed to deliver. The Brazilian sniped Gaetano Pirello out of the skies and we just went about our business like it was a thing that happens all the time.
Jamie Mullarkey (above): we didn’t give him enough love when he blitzed Khama Worthy earlier in the year, and we didn’t give him enough Leo when he did the same to Devonte Smith in October. Mullarkey is good, and another one of these tough ANZAC blokes that is never in a boring fight.
Mariya Agapova: given how insanely high everyone was on Agapova before she lost to Shana Dobson, it’s funny to me how few people thought she could beat Sabina Mazo in October and how little attention her patient, technical finish received. She’s still 24 and every bit the intriguing talent she was before that loss.
Danaa Batgerel: after failing to take note of his 50-second finish of Kevin Natividad in May, folks weren't really prepared for Batgerel’s first-round finish of the returning Brandon Davis last month either. That’s three straight first-round stoppage wins for the clearly powerful fighter from Mongolia. What more do you need to see in order to pay a little more attention?
Gregory Rodrigues vs. Jun Yong Park: this is another low-key Fight of the Year contenders where each man was on skates at different points throughout the 8:13 the fight lasted. Again, for all the time we commit to nonsense, how can we not commit a little more time to fun, entertaining fights like this?
Alex Caceres: not only did Caceres pick up his career-best fifth straight win last month, but he did it by submission in the second round after eating a clean illegal knee to the dome. I get that my man has been around for a long time, but he’s never looked better and he rallied from something that might have had others looking for the exit and we just moved on from it like it was just a thing that happens all the time.
Lerone Murphy: “The Miracle” moved to 11-0-1 in his career and 3-0-1 in the Octagon with a beautiful second-round stoppage win over Makwan Amirkhani at UFC 267, timing up a knee as Amirkhani changed levels to start the second round. It was beautiful and Murphy is trending towards being “The Next Leon Edwards” and I genuinely hope that isn’t the fate that befalls him because he’s too talented to get shuffled into the shadows for another year or two before getting a chance to prove he’s a legitimate talent.
Michel Oleksiejczuk: the 26-year-old from Poland is such an impressive striker, particularly when it comes to his boxing, and more specifically his body work. His win over the heavily-favoured Shamil Gamzatov at UFC 267 didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved and while Oleksiejczuk still has to show he’s cleaned up the holes in his ground game, he should be getting more love for being an entertaining, technical prospect in the light heavyweight division.
November
Nassourdine Imavov: it feels like Imavov beating the hell out of Edmen Shahbazyan was both skipped over because of everything else on the card and because it was Shahbazyan’s third straight setback, but man — the 26-year-old looks like a legit prospect and one of the top breakthrough talents of 2021.
Bobby Green: Green’s first-round stoppage win over Al Iaquinta is getting more attention now because Iaquinta is talking about hanging up his gloves than it did in the moment. This is a perfect confluence of this effort happening on the wrong card, folks focusing on the opponent after the fact, and Green being the kind of underrated veteran that historically never gets enough love.
Alex Pereira: I’m honestly a little surprised this one didn’t get more love in the wake of UFC 268 given how much attention was committed to Pereira and his history with Israel Adesanya before and during his promotional debut, but surprisingly, his second-round flying knee finish of Andreas Michailidis kind of just came and went without much fanfare.
Da Un Jung: the 27-year-old South Korean hammered Kennedy Nzechukwu a couple weeks back to collect his second straight win and push his record to 4-0-1 in the UFC, extending his unbeaten streak to 15 in the process. How someone with a five-fight unbeaten streak in the light heavyweight division, coming off a first-round stoppage win over a promising prospect like Nzechukwu, who had two hellacious finishes himself this year, gets no mention coming away from the event is beyond me.
Rafael Alves: Alves’ finishing combo, which came less than two minutes into his fight with Marc Diakiese, was a thing of beauty; just a balletic sequence that deserves a little more love.
Andrea Lee: this might be the most confusing one on this list to me because all kinds of people have been all kinds of high on Lee for years, and yet when she goes out and scores a dominant stoppage win over a fighter ranked in the Top 5 like Cynthia Calvillo, very little gets said about it. What gives?
Joel Alvarez: he has to make weight, but there should have been a lot more talk about Alvarez and his prospects in the lightweight division following his first-round finish of Thiago Moises two Saturdays ago. The Spaniard has earned four straight finishes in the 155-pound weight class, taking a step up in competition each time out.
Song Yadong (above): this is another one of those “I just don’t get it” situations because folks were all-in on Song when he began his UFC run, cooled on him when he got a couple favourable results against Cody Stamann and Chito Vera, and seemingly bailed when he lost to Kyler Phillips earlier this year. But he’s not even 24 yet and picked up his second straight win a couple weeks back by finishing Julio Arce, showing improved patience and composure, and yet it feels like everything else on that card just got ignored after the fact because the main event was so much fun.