5 UFC fights from 2021 that deserved more attention
2021 has been a banner year for the UFC, with tons of memorable events and fights. The likes of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou stood out in particular.
With a UFC event taking place almost every weekend in 2021, there have been plenty of overlooked, but great fights, as well as the more memorable ones.
Some of these fights have been overlooked purely because they came on the undercard of an event with a bigger headliner, while others have been overlooked because they didn’t involve major UFC stars.
Merab Dvalishvili survived this flurry from Marlon Moraes and won by KO the next round 😳
(via @ufc)
https://t.co/b6Di3yfAVZ
Despite that, these fights are well worth watching, particularly for those UFC fans who didn’t catch them the first time around.
With that in mind, here are five UFC fights from 2021 that deserved more attention.
#5. Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza – UFC Fight Night 189
Prior to 2021, the last time we’d seen Santiago Ponzinibbio in action in the UFC was way back in November 2018. ‘The Argentine Dagger’ knocked out Neil Magny to put himself into UFC welterweight title contention. Following that, injuries sidelined him for the best part of three years.
Upon his return this year, Ponzinibbio was knocked out by Li Jingliang. So when the UFC matched him with up-and-comer Miguel Baeza at UFC Fight Night 189 in June, it felt like the promotion was using his spot as a fading former contender to build ‘Caramel Thunder’.
Early in the fight, it looked like that was exactly what would happen. Baeza took the fight to the Argentine in the first round, using a series of kicks to break him down. It looked like the bout wouldn’t last all that long.
However, in the second round, Ponzinibbio came roaring back, deciding to throw caution to the wind and wade in with wild punches that forced ‘Caramel Thunder’ to go on the defensive. What ensued was a back-and-forth brawl, with both men landing huge blows on one another. It was anyone’s guess how they remained standing.
The fight was punctuated by a huge shot from Ponzinibbio that knocked out Baeza’s mouthpiece, a moment that may well have swung the decision in his favor.
Fight of the Night ✅
Fight of the Year? 👀
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza was 🔥 🔥 🔥
#UFCVegas28 https://t.co/x5R0mQtgo5
Basically, this was an instant classic, but while it took the event’s Fight of the Night award, it’s largely been forgotten since. That's probably because it was followed a week later by a major event headlined by UFC superstar and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.