Fight Facts: UFC 2021, a Year in Review

Prime the Cannons

The Purity of a Knockout: The highest number of knockouts, be it KO or TKO, occurred in 2021 for the UFC. When including a submission to strikes, 171 different knockouts were registered throughout the year. The previous record was set in 2015, with 155.

Astral Voyaging: Sixty-three clean knockouts took place this year, tying 2017 for the second-most all-time. In 2018, 70 fighters were deprived of consciousness due to strikes or were otherwise finished by a single blow.

Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: At UFC Fight Night 197 in November, eight fights ended by knockout in a litany of different ways. This event tied five other shows across UFC history including UFC 92 and UFC 199.

The New Knockout King: With his finish of Curtis Blaydes in February and subsequent knockout of Chris Daukaus in December, Derrick Lewis tied, then broke the all-time record for the most knockouts in the UFC. The Daukaus knockout, his 13th, broke a three-way tie with Matt Brown and Vitor Belfort.

Dizzying Year: Far more than in any year in the past, four different fights ended throughout 2021 from a spinning wheel kick. Ignacio Bahamondes, Chris Barnett, Rafael Fiziev and Cub Swanson all authored these types of knockouts, for the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th in UFC history, respectively.

Lashes Like a Whip: In a contender for Sherdog’s 2021 “Knockout of the Year,” Jiri Prochazka earned himself a title shot by decimating Dominick Reyes with a spinning back elbow at UFC on ESPN 23. It marked just the third in company history, with the first two by Dong Hyun Kim and Ricardo Ramos over John Hathaway and Aiemann Zahabi in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

He Knew When He Was Done: In the middle of Round 3, Nick Diaz ended his brawl with Robbie Lawler of his own accord, suffering a TKO loss due to retirement. It is the only stoppage of its kind this year in the UFC.

Keep Normalizing Corner Stoppages: A single corner intervened mid-fight to protect the health of their fighter in 2021: Cynthia Calvillo, who called an end to her fight with Andrea Lee at the end of the second round. It was the second corner stoppage TKO since 2018, with the first coming from Sam Hughes’ team in 2020.

He Wrecks, Alright: In a mere seven seconds, Terrance McKinney steamrolled Matt Frevola at UFC 263. “T-Wrecks” finds himself tied for the third-fastest knockout in organizational history with three others.

Stopping Power Whenever She Wants: Valentina Shevchenko became the first woman to register a stoppage in the fourth frame when she demolished Lauren Murphy with elbows and punches at 4:00 to retain her flyweight crown.

Side-Stomp Kick: With one brutal side kick to the knee, Khalil Rountree finished Modestas Bukauskas at UFC Fight Night 191. The knockout is the 14th to stem from leg kicks in UFC history, and the only one that took place in 2021.

Wake Up and Choose Violence: With at least one in every main event match and four on a prelim, the 14-fight showcase of UFC Fight Night 192 featured 15 knockdowns, tying this 2021 show with UFC 199 for the most under the UFC banner.

Hammer-Smashed Faces, All: At the end of UFC 268, Sherdog’s 2021 “Event of the Year” award winner, a record-smashing 1,973 significant strikes successfully found their targets. The previous record, set at UFC 238 in 2019 was over 150 strikes fewer.

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The Gentle Art

Fading Away Like Back to the Future: With a paltry 14.3% of all bouts ending by submission in 2021, this past year clocked in with the lowest submission rate in company history. Due to the sheer number of fights, even with that low rate, more occurred from January to December than any year prior to 2014.

The Scarf That Broke the Internet: In the second round of their UFC Fight Night 193 clash, Alejandro Perez tapped Johnny Eduardo with an unusual scarf hold armlock. While multiple scarf hold submissions had taken place in the past, this is the first of that modified variant inside the Octagon.

His Own Technicality: At the final UFC event of 2021, Jordan Leavitt hit an inverted triangle choke on Matt Sayles in the second round to get the tap. Other past inverted triangles had been seen in UFC bouts, but they all came from something extra like an armlock, making Leavitt’s the first pure inverted triangle choke in league history.

He Clubbed, Then He Subbed: In just 61 seconds, Alonzo Menifield tapped Fabio Cherant with a “Von Preux” shoulder choke at UFC 260. He is the fourth UFC fighter to pull off this move, joining Jason Von Flue, Ovince St. Preux and Jordan Rinaldi.

All-In on the Ankle: Brendan Allen submitted Karl Roberson with seconds left in the first round at UFC 261 with an unorthodox ankle lock. His maneuver is merely the third directly from the ankle, while the ninth overall when including similar Achilles holds and locks.

10-Finger, Gogo, Front, Ninja, All the Names: In handing Macy Chiasson her first career stoppage loss, Raquel Pennington submitted her with a rare front choke. She joins a small group of fighters to ever land this type of choke under the UFC lights alongside Oleg Taktarov, Ben Rothwell and Arnold Allen.

Still No Shame in Surrender: Like the year before, just one fighter tapped out to strikes in 2021: Ferreira, who succumbed to a knee to the side from Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 199. He and Mauricio Rua are the only fighters since 2017 to submit to strikes in the Octagon.

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