For WMMA, we saw Rose beating Zhang twice, Shev continuing to dominate, and Nunes putting on undoubtedly the worst display from a champion in UFC history by quitting when she faced an opponent who could take her shot and punch back.
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But I think the year 2022 will be better than this year and I think it will be the greatest year in combat sports history.
In kickboxing, they have already scheduled a rare fight between top two pound for pound fighters, Takeru vs Tenshin, in their primes. That is a very rare occurence, and I think the only time that ever happened in MMA might be GSP vs Penn 2, though it was a one sided beat down.
In boxing, they are very well situated, they have Usyk vs Joshua, with potential Fury vs Joshua/Usyk for unifcation. With Crawford being a free agent, we could very well see Spence vs Crawford, the best fight in boxing that could be made, probably, right now. Canelo is moving up to cruiseweight, and we have a lot of promising fighters coming up the ranks as well.
In MMA, we have Gane vs Ngannou in the first month of the year, which is probably the best heavyweight fight in a long time. I think it's at worst top 5 all time.
I know some are pointing to Gane not having a lot of fights, but Cane was also 9-0 when he was fighting JDS on that first main card, and there were many people who was talking him up already. I mean, Cain was 11-1 after JDS rematch win, then he would have rematches against Big foot and JDS, then he lost to Werdum, but many, many crowned Cain as the best heavyweight in the world regardless of number of fights he had, though Fedor is obviously the GOAT. A number of fights doesn't always show how good a fighter is. Cormier was 9-0 going into Strikeforce GP final too.
Also, we may see the return of Jon Jones, and we will see the return of Stipe for heavyweight. I personally think Jones got shook by Ngannou, and probably praying that Ngannou beats Gane, which won't be easy.
LHW isn't as deep as it used to be, but we have a lot of promising young fighers coming up, like Jiri, Rakic, Anakaleev, Hill, and Bellator LHW GP will conclude next year, and if Nemkov wins, and he said he'd like to come over to the UFC, perhaps we'd see the best LHW outside UFC come over too, and that would certainly help, since LHW can indeed use some more talents.
MW was the weakest division of all time during Anderson's heyday, and it's probably the weakest division alongside FLW and WMMA divisions right now, I mean it's probably weaker than WMMA strawweight division, but we have some interesting up and comers like Imavov, Muniz, Perreira, Du Plesis and Silva.
For WW, we have Khamzat, it's really Khamzat world that we are living in right now, but we have interesting welterweights too like Brady, Shavkat, Belal and guys like Burns, Leon and Covington and Luque who's been in top 10 longer who are pretty talented as well. If you bring over Amosov from Bellator, then that WW division in my opinion is as strong as any field of competition in MMA history.
Usman, covington, Leon, Burns, Luque, Amosov(B), Khamzat, Brady, Belal, Shavkat. WW has a pretty interesting mix of vets and prospects, it's fucking awesome. A journeyman like Masbumdal's fame after catching a lightening in a bottle is also coming to an end as well. Seems like he's really trying to pick and choose his fights rn, he's probably aware of his level.
My Sean "Khamzat Slayer" Brady bandwaggon if you'd like to join:
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/sean-khamzat-slayer-brady-bandwaggon-hop-in.4215131/
LW is probably the most exciting division right now in ALL of MMA. Oliveira showed what he's made of, that he's got that grit too to go along with his talents. Dariush vs Islam is probably the one of the best fights that UFC can put on. We have some exciting prospects like Gamrot, Gilepsie, Alvarez, Fiziev, Arman, Grant, and Poirier and Gaethje may have limited ground game, but they can bang it out with anyone and would pose a stiff challenge for anybody. Chander, Tony, and RDA is probably getting ready for their last stands too.
FW, I personally find Volk pretty boring, good, efficient, but very effectively boring, I'm not saying he's bad, he's good, but yeah, not a fan. I fear if Max-Volkv 3 happens, he would 48-47 Max....but we do have some GREAT prospects in FW coming up, Bryce Mitchell, Evloev, Topuria, Allen and etc. I feel it is a bit early for Evloev vs Topuria, but UFC gonna UFC. I got Evloev tho. In my opinion, the best FW prospect in the UFC. Max is obviously a hell of a fighter, and Yair, Ortega, Giga, Emmett, KZ, Kattar are also pretty talented fighters who are going to try to stay or go up the rankings. My personal opinion is that, one of the best FWs right now is in Bellator, AJ Mckee. And we can't sleep on Pico either, probably the best pure wrestler, not MMA wrestler, in MMA right now. If his chin isn't cracked for good, nor his mind and confidence, who knows. I lean towards Bellator rushing Pico ruined him, but I've been wrong before.
For BW, Yan is looking pretty good. We got Dillsnake hanging around slithering around, Goat-Aldo is still looking strong, Cruz is still going strong, UFC is feeding O'Malley like he's their long lost son but I'm not too high on him but if you like freakshow like that that's a thing, Merab is looking strong as ever, and we have a super prospect like Jack Shore on the upswing, and Valiev, Umar, Barcelos, Yanez are pretty decent prospects, with Stots in Bellator looking like a dark horse. Sandhagen and Sterling are also pretty good too, Vera is looking decent, but the guy sounds like a d-bag so not a big fan I guess.. Also, Bellator is hosting a BW GP that's looking pretty sick too, they actually have a pretty strong BW weight class with guys like Guchi, Pettis, and etc. If you ask me, BW right now might be the strongest it's ever been, with legends mixed in with veterans and great prospects and decent prospects all together. Great to be a BW fan right now.
For FLW, MM got ktfo in 2021 and I doubt he will have easy time coming back to relevance in OneFc. However, Moreno and Fig is throwing it down early 2022, and we have guys like Askarov who's probably next in line, and someone like Kape, I know it hasn't been a smooth road for him, but maybe he will turn it around. FLW isn't necessarily deep nor brimming with great prospects, probably the weakest division, outside female FW division if you can call that a weight class, but it does have great fighters like Moreno, Fig, Askarov. Super shallow I guess, but it is what it is I suppose.
For WMMA strawweight, if you ask me, this weight class is fucking legit. I'm by no means WMMA defender or anything, but this weight class deserves a lot of love and respect in my opinion. Obviously we have Rose, Zhang, golum at top though she might be gone somewhere looking for Frodo I don't know, Esparza has a beautiful MMA wrestling, Ribas and Dern has beautiful BJJ and willing to throw down though they do have their flaws, Marina know how to throw them hands, we have great prospects like Lemos, Pinheiro, Godinez, and tough veterans like Hill, Torres and Waterson.
Personally would like to see Buys vs Lemos, Pinheiro and Godinez in this order.
For WMMA flyweight, it's looking pretty spicy as well, it's looking really good. Shev is obviously at the top of the food chain, I don't think present top 10 will dethrone her, but we have real good list of prospects coming up too. Erin Blanchfield looking amazing, so did Casey O'Neil. Then you have Fiorot. Now, these three, Fiorot, O'Neail and Blanchfield, they have incredible potential I think. Personally would like to see Buys vs Fiorot, Blanchfield, and O'Neail in this order. Now Gato looked phenomenal as well, and there's gansta in Mariya Agapova too. They have some super interesting prospects coming up, and obviously we do have veterans like Grasso, Santos who might be able to challenge Shev down the road. Why is Jessica Eye still in the UFC that I don't know.
For WMMA BW, Nunes quit in her last fight, and Pena in my opinion isn't all that great, but all the credit to her in the universe, so I'm not sure what's going to happen to this weight class. Pretty weak weight class, incomparably weak compared to both weight classes below it, not a whole lot of positive from it, especially so called Goat champ quitting like that, but Karol Rosa is someone to look out for, she's pretty good, and Aldana is pretty good, she's got neat sharp boxing with interesting power.
For WMMA Featherweight, I don't know what to say really.
Anyhow, I really think 2022 will be the best year for combat sports history. We have so many great prospects coming up with strong field of top level fighters and many decent ones who can give anybody a good fight on any given day, and kickboxing/boxing also have some great fights lined up as well.
