2021 was another amazing year for MMA. Dana White and the UFC put on another year of spectacular fights, despite Coronavirus forcing the world to continue in national lockdowns. But Dana White made a point to say ‘f*ck you’ to Covid, and to keep putting on UFC events regardless. It was a controversial move that massively paid off.
With 2021 done and dusted, we have a new year of fights to look forward to. Here are some UFC fights that NEED to happen for the fans in 2022.
Table of Contents
1. Nate Diaz v Tony Ferguson
Diaz v Ferguson would be the sloppiest boxing, ridiculous cardio, iron chins, untappable juggernaut bout that you can ever hope to see in MMA. Both fighters can fight forever without getting tired or slowing down, they both seem to absorb a scary amount of shots without getting KO’d, they both press forwards in their fights and they refuse to put on a boring show.
Now is also the perfect time to make this fight, as it’s looking unlikely that Ferguson will return as a legitimate contender to the LW title, as he has now lost 4 fights in a row against top competition. Diaz is a money fight and fans also want to see their favourite, Ferguson, make bank before he retires, due to how much entertainment he has given us fans of MMA.
2. Colby Covington V Jorge Masvidal
Two best friends turned bitter rivals, this matchup would pin two of the biggest trash talkers in the Welterweight division against each other in a fight that has already sold itself through a couple of years of back and forth trash talk between the 2 in interviews and on social media.
Colby and Masvidal are both hot stock right now. Even though they have both recently lost to WW Champ Kamaru Usman, they are both legitimate top contenders with big names, something which must get Dana White’s promotional mouth drooling.
A match-up between these two would allow them to finally settle their well-known beef in the Octagon, and it would make for one hell of a pre-fight press conference.
3. Jon Jones V Francis Ngannou
Who wouldn’t want to see arguably the greatest P4P MMA fighter to ever live (Jon Jones) fight the consensus scariest ever heavyweight to enter the Octagon (Ngannou).
Jones has been preparing for his move to heavyweight since, well, forever! He’s spent about 2 years now building his frame to be able to move up from light heavyweight to heavyweight. There’s been a fair bit of speculation as to when Jones will sign up for a fight, and who he will face on his HW debut.
Jones is obviously going to fight someone highly ranked, perhaps even the HW Champion, because of how big of a star he is in the UFC, and Francis Ngannou would be the perfect choice. Ngannou is a monster who continues to knock out everyone that he fights. How amazing would it be to test Jones’ so far perfect record against a man who puts everyone he fights to sleep.
4. TJ Dillashaw V Jose Aldo
2 veterans of the lighter weight divisions of MMA, Dillashaw v Aldo would be a fight for the long term fans. Both fighters have been champions in the past, Aldo was the WEC & UFC featherweight Champion for years, whilst Dillashaw is a 2-time UFC bantamweight champion.
Both fighters are in the GOAT conversation for their divisions and they are still active as top contenders today. They are also both extremely technical fighters, with ridiculously high fight IQs.
If Dana White booked this barn burner of a fight for 2022, the MMA world would go absolutely bananas.
5. Israel Adesanya v Kamaru Usman
I’ve put this one last on my list because it’s quite unlikely to happen, as Izzy & Usman are good friends. Then again, the UFC has pitted friends against each other in the past (Sonnen v Evans, Khabib v Johnson) as this is the fight game after all.
Kamaru has taken out every serious welterweight contender in his title reign, besides Leon Edwards while Izzy has done the same in the middleweight division. They are both running out of good PPV fights to put on. So If Kamaru goes up in weight, as Izzy definitely can’t go down to welterweight healthily, then that would be a fight the fans would definitely he hyped to see. It would also give each other a fight that “gets them up in the morning” as fighters love to say as necessary for motivation for their fight camps.
