With the COVID-19 pandemic extremely affecting the customary flow of various aspects of sports, the year 2021 will undoubtedly be the most unique and unpredictable year in the history of MMA. Since the beginning of the global pandemic in March 2020, there have been some major adjustments in the world of MMA, and we can expect that the new year will certainly bring about continuous changes within the combat sport. Although MMA fans don’t have a clue of how things will exactly progress this year, we can still look ahead with questions that could provide us even with a slight idea of what to look forward to in the next few months.
Here are some of the biggest questions MMA fans have for the year 2021:
1. Who is going to be the Fighter of the Year in the end of 2021?
- Some say that this question is very difficult, if not impossible to predict, because this award can only be won by a small margin. Kevin Holland is a potential answer even if he did not contend at the extent like Flyweight Champions such as Figueiredo did, but he competed consistently. Some express that any figure that can ace at least three top-end performances within the year, then he is most likely to win the title.
2. Who is going to be the next Breakout Star?
- To answer this, most MMA fans placed their bet on Khamzat Chimaev. He made the biggest impact in the year of 2020 by running through three opponents while barely dropping a sweat. Another option is Jiri Prochazka. Some fans might argue that he does not have the “game” to be UFC champion, but we could all agree that he has the style to quickly become a news attraction. Last year, he has always proved to be headline material by wiping out Volkan Oezdemir in July. Kevin Holland can’t also be removed from this list; the guy almost bagged Fighter of the Year on several media awards list and he is visibly a notable striker.
3. Who will be taking over the lightweight throne?
- With his most dangerous opponents’ loss of chief power in the division, it is safe to assume that McGregor will surely return to power and possibly take over the lightweight throne. If he retains sharp focus against Dustin Poirier in their upcoming rematch, then it will just be easy for him to obtain the UFC Lightweight Championship title. But, of course, this will still depend on whether or not Nurmagomedov will be back for this season.
4. Will the UFC get back on the road again amidst the current pandemic?
- Let’s admit it: as much as we enjoy watching UFC matches in Fight Island and the UFC Apex, we still anticipate the time where we can watch them live in our cities once again. UFC president Dana White has expressed in interviews that he’s not interested in holding fights on actual arenas just yet, but considering that people are already getting vaccinated and that some NBA teams are already permitting limited capacity live events, then perhaps White could change his mind as well. Let’s hope that we can safely watch fights live again in the months to come.
