In 2021, UFC fighters put on a dizzying selection of historical battles. These extraordinary athletes pushed their bodies, minds, and spirits to their limits in the quest for fame, riches, and glory.
Several combatants deserve standing ovations for creating the kind of brutality that made even the most jaded spectators cringe from their couches. This year’s top nine were highly competitive. All other contenders for Fight of the Year in 2021 were knocked out by one Fight.
The recommendations for fighter, knockout, and bout of the year were voted on by a panel of CBS Sports experts, with some surprising outcomes. Take a peek below to see who won the Fight of the Year in 2021:
Terminator vs. Terminator is a battle between two Terminators. In their main card opener in November, Gaethje vs. Chandler fulfilled and beyond fan expectations. Over the span of 15 minutes, Gaethje and Chandler continuously bludgeoned each other, regularly reducing each other’s legs to rubber. Each man’s chin stood in opposition to the other’s power.
Chandler clipped Gaethje early in Match 1, but “The Highlight” recovered with his combinations and won the rest of the round. Gaethje landed a seismic uppercut in the middle bout that nearly knocked Chandler out. In Round 3, Chandler threw caution to the wind and squared up to Gaethje with his hands down. It was a terrible, stupid strategy, but Chandler’s tenacity is admirable. Finally, the judges reached a unanimous ruling favoring Gaethje (29-28, 29-29, 30-27).
Gaethje (22-3) has earned Fight of the Night accolades in 66 percent of his UFC fights, ten total performance bonuses in his first nine UFC fights, and is the only fighter in UFC history to collect a post-fight bonus in each of their first seven fights. In previous years, fights against Dustin Poirier, Eddie Alvarez, and Michael Johnson have been hailed as Fight of the Year. Chandler won his first UFC Battle of the Night award at UFC 268; yet, he was perhaps overlooked by the promotion in a fight you’ll read about momentarily. He also received a performance bonus for his January knockout of Dan Hooker.
Bottomline
Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler chose violence when they awoke. The two just put up one of the most memorable fights in mixed martial arts history, one that will live on in the minds of fight fans for a long time.
Given the two men’s histories, it was very clear that this was going to be a war once the cage doors at UFC 268 slammed shut. And both men made it clear during the build-up to their lightweight match that they were going in with the purpose of starting off the main show with a bang.
They certainly didn’t let us down. The first round was a slugfest, with both Gaethje and Chandler delivering a number of significant strikes that threw their opponent off balance.
With each shot, the raucous New York crowd erupted in applause.
Source: The information of this article sourced out of sports news section on vwin99.net
