2021 was the biggest year for the UFC, as it produced some of the biggest events and fights in MMA history. Fighters laid their all on the line and got the MMA community excited during the entire year. However, according to Henry Cejudo, there was one fight that stood out for him. That was the UFC 266 main event.
Alexander Volkanovski looked to defend his featherweight belt for the second time in the main event of UFC 266. ‘The Great’ took on Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega in what was a huge grudge match. As both men had animosity between them from their times as the coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, it made for a great build-up for the fight.
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Volkanovski ended up winning the fight via unanimous decision, but it was not at all an easy win for him. Both men constantly traded shots while standing up and even though Volkanovski did more damage, Ortega had him in some spots.
In the third round, he had the champion locked in a tight guillotine and triangle choke. Volkanovski somehow got out of both the submission holds and immediately went back to pressuring ‘T-City’. The constant back-and-forth made it the greatest MMA fight ever, according to Cejudo.
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On his podcast, he said, “The one I really like the most. I’m going to have to go to Alexander ‘The Average’ and Brian Ortega. That isn’t, to me, in my eyes, the Fight of the Year, but this is the greatest fight in my eyes in mixed martial arts history. It displayed striking, defense, escaping from submissions, takedowns, takedown defense. I mean, it was everywhere.”
Henry Cejudo reveals his pick for fighter of the year 2021
The former two-division UFC champion, Cejudo, has made his choice on who, according to him, was Fighter of the Year in 2021. ‘The Messenger‘ picked the current UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, as the one.
Usman defended his title three times in 2021 and defeated top guys like Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal, and Colby Covington. Per Cejudo, nobody had a resume like that in the year.
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During his podcast, he said, “I’m gonna have to give it to none other than ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. Stand up and yeah, let’s go because you know what? This guy is pretty much-stopping people, and he’s beating the No.1, No.2 contenders. I mean, this guy has lapped the whole division at 170 pounds. You gotta give it to the pound-for-pound king.”
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‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ is currently 20-1 in his professional MMA career and is undefeated in the UFC. He is the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and, with his performances in 2021, has made a case for being the greatest welterweight of all time.
Do you agree with Henry Cejudo? Was Volkanovski vs. Ortega the greatest MMA fight in history? Let us know in the comments!