Fight Facts: UFC 2021, a Year in Review

A Crown for a King

A Round Robin of Royalty: Of the 19 championship tilts throughout 2020, no defending champ lost their belt to a challenger. In 2021, it occurred a remarkable six times in 20 title fights.

Don’t Get So Defensive: While two champs racked up multiple title defenses this past year – Valentina Shevchenko’s two and Kamaru Usman’s three – two additional fighters in Charles Oliveira and Rose Namajunas captured their respective championships and defended them once before the year was out.

Lightweights Don’t Hold on Long: With Oliveira claiming the vacant lightweight throne from Michael Chandler at UFC 262, then holding on to it by tapping Dustin Poirier at UFC 269, he is the ninth 155-pounder in UFC history to successfully defend his strap.

The Nunes Rematch is Ruined: Crushing Jessica Andrade and wrecking Murphy, Shevchenko worked her way up to her sixth consecutive title defense. Ronda Rousey is the only other woman to defend her belt that many times in a row, and Shevchenko became the seventh champion in UFC history to amass this length of a reign.

The End of The “Lioness” Era: Julianna Pena shocked the world as she submitted Amanda Nunes at UFC 269, ending a reign of nearly 2,000 days with the Brazilian as the champ at 135 pounds. When Nunes first claimed the throne in July 2016, not a single current titleholder had their belt.

Viva Morenexico: Conquering Deiveson Figueiredo and claiming flyweight gold at UFC 263, Brandon Moreno earned himself a place in the record books as the first Mexican-born champ in UFC history.

Ah, the French Champagne: Even though it was for the interim variety, Ciryl Gane became a heavyweight champion by knocking Lewis out at UFC 265. Gane is the first fighter born in France to serve as a UFC champ.

Yan’s Master Plan: For the first time in company history, a belt changed hands due to a disqualification. In the fourth round of their UFC 259 bantamweight encounter, Yan illegally kneed Sterling to end the fight. Sterling was awarded the previously vacant title due to the intentional strike.

No Champ-Champ For You: In an attempt to become a simultaneous two-division champ, Israel Adesanya moved up to 205 pounds and took on Jan Blachowicz for the latter’s title. Adesanya fell short for the first time in his pro career, and moved back down to middleweight to defend that crown against rival Marvin Vettori three months later.

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I’m Rich

Do Bron$$: For his pair of lightweight championship stoppage victories this year, Oliveira earned two “Performance of the Night” bonuses. “Do Bronx” tied former foe Donald Cerrone for the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history with 18, although his 12 POTNs are far and away the most of any competitor.

Trips Set: Just like 2020, three different fighters throughout the past year earned three post-fight bonuses after their performances. Both Adrian Yanez and Sean O'Malley pocketed three for their three wins, while Davey Grant earned one POTN for a knockout win and two “Fight of the Nights” in losing efforts.

Ultimate No-Brainer: For his thrilling knockout of Reyes, Prochazka took home both FOTN and POTN awards after 9:29 of intense action. He is the lone fighter to claim double bonuses in 2021.

Plus an Extra 30% Fine: Gregor Gillespie battled and ultimately defeated Ferreira at UFC on ESPN 24, stopping the Brazilian at the tail end of the second frame. As Ferreira missed weight and the bout earned FOTN consideration, Gillespie took home both halves of the bonus for a crisp $100,000.

Marquee Money: Twenty-one bonuses ended up going out to headlining fights, accounting for only about 14% of all bonuses this year in that one slot. Main event fighters did earn more post-fight bonuses in total.

Main Card Opening Magic: Unlike previous years, the fifth-from-last fight on UFC cards ended up earning the most FOTN awards. Typically, the marquee bouts take the most FOTNs, but this year, main card openers claimed more than any other slot.

Co-Conspirators to the Bonus Heist: Co-main event competitors took home more POTN honors than any other, with 16 going out throughout the year. The year before, “featured fight of the night” spots claimed the most performance bonuses.

Dana Winfrey: The conclusion of UFC 269 saw the promotion dole out eight $50,000 checks including one for FOTN and six for POTN. The $400,000 sum is the highest bonus total in recent memory, but remains behind the $516,000 that came after UFC 129.

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