MMA in 2022 – Highlights, Lowlights and Honourable Mentions

2022 was been a hell of a 12 months from MMA. We announced our end-of-year awards on the latest MMASucka podcast, so be sure to check that out, nonetheless, we haven’t appeared on the 12 months as a complete as of but. That is the place we’ll do this. We’ll take it month by month, trying on the highlights and lowlights, give honourable mentions for every month, and evaluate the 12 months as a complete. Strap it, it may get emotional.

MMA in 2022

January

Spotlight – UFC 270

Lowlight – 20 cancelled/changed UFC bouts throughout simply two occasions

Honourable Point out – Calvin Kattar placing on a clinic

UFC 270 was definitely the spotlight throughout January. Francis Ngannou stunned many by out-wrestling, Ciryl Gane to regain his heavyweight title. The occasion general was an excellent one, with loads of stable performances all through the cardboard. The co-main occasion between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno was the stand-out combat on the cardboard, offering loads of speaking factors and organising the fourth combat between the 2 males early in 2023.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 22: Francis Ngannou of Cameroon (prime) tackles Ciryl Gane of France of their heavyweight title combat throughout the UFC 270 occasion at Honda Heart on January 22, 2022 in Anaheim, California. (Photograph by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Photographs)

The low level of January was definitely having solely two UFC occasions, particularly when there have been a mixed 20 cancelled fights throughout each playing cards. It’s disappointing as a result of it performs havoc with the playing cards themselves and in addition impacts fighter performances in the event that they’re filling in on late discover, nonetheless.

Calvin Kattar’s principal occasion efficiency can be price a point out. He bounced again from a devastating, dominant loss to Max Holloway to placed on an analogous efficiency in opposition to Giga Chikadze. Beating Chikadze from pillar to put up, Kattar acquired himself again within the win column.

February

Spotlight – Jamahal Hill’s headline knockout

Lowlight – William Knight’s Weight Miss

Honourable Point out – Gegard Mousasi blowing away Austin Vanderford

February was a slower month for MMA with none enormous speaking factors. Israel Adesanya but once more beat Robert Whittaker, nonetheless, the combat by no means caught hearth and merely ticked over for 25 minutes. There have been 4 UFC occasions, two ONE championship playing cards and two Bellator occasions. The spotlight was Jamahal Hill‘s knockout of Johnny Walker. It was a surprising knockout which earned him a efficiency of the night time bonus and helped him on his solution to a title shot at UFC 283.

The lowlight was positively William Knight‘s weight miss. He weighed in at 218lbs for a scheduled 205lbs bout, breaking the report for the most important weight miss in UFC historical past. It wasn’t an excellent search for the game in any respect.

Honourable point out has to go to Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi took on the undefeated Austin Vanderford in Dublin and plenty of believed Mousasi was the underdog going into the bout. It didn’t play out that manner, nonetheless, as he blew away the American in a bit of below a minute and a half.

Dublin , Eire – 25 February 2022; Gegard Mousasi, left, in motion in opposition to Austin Vanderford throughout their Middleweight world title bout at Bellator 275 on the 3Arena in Dublin. (Photograph By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile through Getty Photographs)

March

Highlights – UFC London and ONE Championship X

Lowlights – Covington vs. Masvidal & Cain Velasquez’s arrest

Honourable Mentions – ONE Championship: Lights Out

Certainly, UFC London in March was probably the greatest playing cards of the complete 12 months. The cardboard consisted of 9 finishes throughout 12 fights, noticed the breakout performances of Molly McCann, Paddy Pimblett, Arnold Allen and Tom Aspinall. ONE Championship X was additionally a standout occasion. The three-part card featured a headline of two key bouts the place Demetrious Johnson defeated Rodtang in a blended guidelines bout earlier than Angela Lee placed on an excellent efficiency in opposition to Stamp Fairtex, defending her atomweight strap.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 19: (R-L) Tom Aspinall of England punches Alexander Volkov of Russia in a heavyweight combat throughout the UFC Battle Night time occasion at O2 Enviornment on March 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The UFC 272 principal occasion between bitter rivals was a little bit of a letdown. Jorge Masvidal was largely outclassed by his former pal turned foe, Colby Covington. Masvidal was dominated and controlled for a total of 16:14 of the bout. At no level did it really feel as if Masvidal may beat Covington and in consequence, the combat was a disappointment.

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez was additionally arrested for tried homicide after taking pictures at a person who allegedly molested a member of the family of Velasquez’s.

ONE Championship: Lights Out was an excellent occasion and the 2 principal fights on the cardboard produced two nice finishes. John Lineker received within the co-main occasion through knockout and Thanh Le brutally knocked out Gary Tonan in the principle occasion.

April

Highlights – Loads of enormous fights

Lowlight – The best variety of UFC pullouts/cancellations of the 12 months

Honourable Point out – Jessica Andrade’s submission

UFC 273, UFC 274, Bellator 277, Bellator 278, Bellator 279 and the start of the PFL playoffs all occurred throughout April. UFC 273 gave us an outstanding efficiency from Alexander Volkanovski, Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 and a combat of the 12 months contender in Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns. Bellator had three occasions, the place we noticed AJ McKee endure his first defeat and Liz Carmouche lastly seize gold in a serious organisation and the beginning of the bantamweight Grand Prix. The PFL common additionally started with two occasions.

One disappointment for April is that we noticed 27 alterations throughout 4 occasions. Large alterations to playing cards meant that typically, we didn’t get the perfect playing cards doable.

Jessica Andrade additionally pulled off the primary standing arm-triangle submission in UFC historical past which is unquestionably price a word.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 23: (L-R) Jessica Andrade of Brazil secures a choke submission in opposition to Amanda Lemos of Brazil in a strawweight combat throughout the UFC Battle Night time occasion at UFC APEX on April 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Could

Highlights – UFC 274

Lowlights – Namajunas vs. Esparza 2

Honourable Mentions – Paul Daley retires off the again of a giant knockout

UFC 274 offered us with an excellent combat in the principle occasion between Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira in addition to Michael Chandler‘s knockout of the 12 months contender in opposition to Tony Ferguson.

The most important disappointment throughout Could was when Rose Namajunas took on Carla Esparza in a rematch for the strawweight belt. It’s little doubt one of many worst UFC title fights of all time with each ladies being extraordinarily timid, reluctant to interact and throwing simply 68 complete strikes between them throughout 25 minutes.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MAY 07: (L-R) Opponents Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza face off previous to their UFC strawweight championship combat throughout the UFC 274 occasion at Footprint Heart on Could 07, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

We’ve got to pay homage to one of many veterans of the sport, Paul Daley. Semtex went out in conventional style, in his dwelling nation with a large knockout.

June

Spotlight – Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeria

Lowlight – Mousasi getting previous in a single day and Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s retirement

Honourable Mentions – UFC Austin

Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeria is arguably the perfect combat of the 12 months. The 2 males went forwards and backwards for nearly 25 full minutes till Prochazka pulled off a last-ditch submission to seize the belt away from the Brazillian.

The lowlight of June has to both be Gegard Mousasi’s age seemingly catching up with him as he was dominated by Johnny Eblen and misplaced his belt or once we noticed the retirement of one other legend in Joanna Jedrzejczyk as the former strawweight queen hung up her gloves for the final time.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – JUNE 12: Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland broadcasts her retirement after her TKO loss to Zhang Weili of China in a flyweight combat throughout the UFC 275 occasion at Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 12, 2022 in Singapore. (Photograph by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

An honourable point out has to go to the complete UFC Austin card and will very a lot have been seen because the spotlight of the month. A 13 combat card which noticed 9 finishes and 11 post-fight bonuses awarded. A very spectacular card.

July

Spotlight – The beginning of the PFL play-offs

Lowlight – Juliana Pena’s lacklustre efficiency & UFC London

Honourable Point out – Brandon Moreno’s knockout

July was definitely a slower month for MMA as a complete. The spotlight needs to be the beginning of the PFL play-offs. Reside from the Hulu Theatre at Madison Sq. Backyard, Stevie Ray, Omari Akhmedov, Olivier Aubin Mercier and Rob Wilkinson all picked up wins on the night time.

The lowlights included Juliana Pena‘s lacklustre defence of her bantamweight title. Going into the bout, everybody puzzled if she would turn into Amanda Nunes‘ cyrptonite. What performed out, nonetheless, was the other. Nunes dominated Pena, knocked her down a number of instances and didn’t give the defending champion an opportunity. The UFC returned to London, nonetheless, it didn’t catch hearth just like the earlier London occasion and it was disappointing.

An honourable point out has to go to Brandon Moreno’s brutal end of Kai-Kara France. A lovely liver kick to break down the Australian was all it took.

DALLAS, TEXAS – JULY 30: (R-L) Brandon Moreno of Mexico lands a kick to the physique of Kai Kara-France of New Zealand within the interim UFC flyweight championship combat throughout the UFC 277 occasion at American Airways Heart on July 30, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photograph by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

August

Highlights – British MMA

Lowlight – No damaged data

Honourable Mentions – Marlon Vera and Jamahal Hill and ONE on Prime Video 1

British MMA took over in August. The PFL made their UK debut in each Cardiff and London and in-particular Brendan Loughnane stood out as a brilliant patreon of the sport and a British standout. On the identical night time, Leon Edwards introduced the welterweight title again to his dwelling of Birmingham following an emphatic knockout of long-time champion, Kamaru Usman.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – AUGUST 20: Leon Edwards of Jamaica celebrates after defeating Kamaru Usman of Nigeria within the UFC welterweight championship combat throughout the UFC 278 occasion at Vivint Enviornment on August 20, 2022 in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. (Photograph by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

Following Edwards’ knockout of Usman meant that Usman didn’t tie the report of most consecutive wins in UFC historical past. Though this wasn’t the top of the world, August was a fairly good month and this gave the impression to be the one ‘lowlight’ of the month.

Marlon Vera and Jamahal Hill scored huge knockouts over Dominick Cruz and Thiago Santos respectively. Each knockouts have been stunning, deserved and devastating in nature, which means that they needed to be talked about. ONE on Prime Video 1 noticed Demetrious Johnson recapture the ONE flyweight belt in the identical method that he misplaced the belt, through flying knee.

September

Highlights – The UFC’s debut in Paris

Lowlights – Khamzat Chimaev’s weight miss

Honourable Mentions – Nate Diaz performed out his UFC contract with a win

The UFC lastly made their French debut on September third after the game of MMA was legalised in France in 2020. In the principle occasion, Frenchman, Ciryl Gane went to conflict with Tai Tuivasa instantly basic. Within the co-main occasion, Robert Whittaker dominated Marvin Vettori to cement himself as probably the greatest middleweight contenders.

At UFC 279, Khamzat Chimaev butchered combat week after he began a fight with Kevin Holland backstage and went on to disrespect the game and lose his principal occasion slot all due to an enormous weight miss. Scheduled for a welterweight bout, Chimaev weighed in 7.5lbs over and consequently, the whole card suffered a shake-up.

An honourable point out has to exit the Nate Diaz, nonetheless. He stored his UFC 279 principal occasion slot, confronted Tony Ferguson and bowed out of his UFC contract with a victory.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 10: Nate Diaz reacts after his submission victory over Tony Ferguson in a welterweight combat throughout the UFC 279 occasion at T-Cell Enviornment on September 10, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

October

Highlights – Islam Makhachev’s UFC 280 efficiency

Lowlights – TJ Dillashaw getting into a championship combat with an damage

Honourable Mentions – The entire UFC 280 principal card

The principle speaking level throughout October surrounded Islam Makhachev‘s dominant efficiency to seize the light-weight title. From minute one Makhachev took the combat to the champion, Charles Oliveira. He dictated the place the combat happened, dominated the BJJ phenom on the bottom, dropped him and consequently submitted him to grow to be the champion.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – OCTOBER 22: Islam Makhachev of Russia celebrates after his victory over Charles Oliveira of Brazil of their UFC light-weight championship combat throughout the UFC 280 occasion at Etihad Enviornment on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The let-down noticed TJ Dillashaw enter his championship bout with a shoulder injury which result in a lacklustre efficiency. The champion, Sterling, didn’t get the popularity he deserved for the win and we consequently noticed Dillashaw retire from the sport.

A shout-out has to go to everybody who competed on the UFC 280 principal card. We’ve already touched on the principle and co-main occasions, however Beneil Dariush and Manon Fiorot placed on thrilling performances and Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan placed on a three-round fight-of-the-year contender.

November

Highlights – PFL Finals and UFC 281

Lowlights – James Krause, Darrick Minner and the betting scandal

Honourable Mentions – Chandler vs. Poirier

November was an thrilling month for MMA. We had the PFL finals the place six millionaires and champions have been topped. The most important story to come back out of this occasion was the undefeated poster lady of the PFL, Kayla Harrison struggling her first skilled defeat by the hands of Larissa Pacheco. UFC 281 additionally offered us with loads of headlines because the dominant Israel Adesanya fell by the hands of his long-time fight sports activities rival, Alex Pereira. Pereira rallied within the remaining spherical to complete The final Stylebender and seize the 185lbs title.

The low-point of November and arguably of 2022 as a complete was the James Krause and Darrick Minner betting scandal. It’s alleged that Minner entered a UFC bout with an damage and Krause knowledgeable his Discord of this information, inflicting an enormous change within the betting strains in favour of Minner opponent to win through first-round knockout. As of but, nothing concrete has been established, nonetheless, Minner has been launched by the UFC and Krause and anybody from his health club is banned from UFC occasions.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 11: Coach James Krause gives instruction to Darrick Minner within the nook between rounds of his featherweight bout throughout UFC 269 on December 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

An honourable point out has to go to the violence dished out between Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. The three-round light-weight bout solely lasted seven minutes, nonetheless, it was all motion. Forwards and backwards, blood, each males battered and a end is what pressured us to say this epic bout.

December

Highlights – Thompson vs. Holland

Lowlights – MMA Judging

Honourable Mentions – Pimblett vs. Helwani

Rounding out the 12 months we had a lacklustre UFC PPV with UFC 282, a BellatorXRizin card to see out the 12 months and an entertaining ONE Championship card from Manila. The spotlight got here when Stephen Thompson confronted Kevin Holland in an thrilling conflict of strikers in a Battle Night time principal occasion. The 2 males went to conflict, respectfully, and have been in a position to placed on an excellent present for the followers. Thompson acquired his hand raised after Holland broke his hand and was unable to proceed. An ideal showcase for the game.

From an excellent showcase for the game to an actual darkish cloud over the game. On back-to-back nights, choose, Doug Crosby submitted extraordinarily questionable playing cards, leading to huge questions being requested. He submitted a 50-45 card for the dropping fighter within the Bellator 289 principal occasion earlier than submitting a questionable 30-27 in favour of Paddy Pimblett by which was a a lot nearer combat than the scorecard recommended.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 10: (L-R) Paddy Pimblett of England reacts after defeating Jared Gordon in a light-weight combat throughout the UFC 282 occasion at T-Cell Enviornment on December 10, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

A point out additionally has to go to Pimblett for his unusual fight-week beef with Ariel Helwani. Speaking to Dana White on his podcast, Pimblett launched an assault on Helwani stating that he requested Pimblett for cost for an interview and went on the decision Helwani names. It was all very unusual and didn’t go down properly within the community.

It’s been a particularly unusual 12 months for MMA. Bellator by no means fairly acquired going, the PFL did properly, acquired extra eyes than ever earlier than and importantly set themselves up for a giant 2023. The UFC continues to be the flagship organisation with, predictably ONE Championship dominating the Asian market. 2023 ought to be an thrilling 12 months with loads of prospects making their manner via and even greater and higher fights predicted!