5 blockbuster UFC fights still to come in 2021
2021 has already given us some incredible UFC fights, whether through main event brawls or entertaining prelim scraps. With over four months of the year remaining, that trend is set to continue right up to 2022.
Given the landscape of each division and the UFC 264 and UFC 265 lineups, the rest of this year has been left with a host of confirmed, rumored and anticipated blockbuster clashes. So much so that there likely wasn't even enough events to fit every championship fight into 2021 at one point. But after the news that Robert Whittaker's rematch with Israel Adesanya will likely take place next year, that might not be as much of an issue anymore.
For this particular piece, we'll be looking solely at bouts either confirmed for a date or heavily spoken about by the fighters themselves. That means clashes like Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier for the lightweight title, which is expected to take place in December, and a unification bout between Francis Ngannou and newly-crowned interim champion Ciryl Gane won't be included.
Honorable mentions have to go to a few confirmed bangers. Namely, Islam Makhachev's biggest challenge yet against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 267 and Khamzat Chimaev's return to action against 'The Leech' Li Jingliang at the same pay-per-view.
With that said, let's take a look at five blockbuster UFC fights still to come in 2021.
#5. Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega - UFC 266
This fight was originally scheduled to go down back at UFC 260 in March. A positive COVID-19 test from Alexander Volkanovski led to its postponement, and in the end, was it such a bad thing?
Firstly, with Francis Ngannou's championship crowning in the PPV main event, the featherweight title fight would likely have been slightly overshadowed. At UFC 266, Volkanovski will headline the card and the anticipation is certainly much higher because of it.
Couple that with the second positive to come from the withdrawal, an entertaining season of The Ultimate Fighter with the champ and Brian Ortega as coaches, and both men, as well as the fans, have actually benefitted quite significantly from the bout's delay.
But come September, the pair will finally enter the octagon together. After battling it out on TUF, Volkanovski and Ortega will battle it out for gold at UFC 266 on September 25. Taking place inside the T-Mobile Arena, the event will see the Australian look to defend his 145-pound gold for the second time, having rematched Max Holloway immediately after taking the belt from the Hawaiian.
Ortega, meanwhile, will look to capture UFC gold at the second time of asking. 'T-City' previously fell short of the featherweight mountaintop when he challenged Holloway at UFC 231 in 2018. The TKO loss represented the first blemish on an otherwise perfect professional record.
But given Ortega's incredible rebound performance against 'The Korean Zombie' last year, as well as Volkanovski's battles on the feet with 'Blessed', this championship main event should have fireworks.