Top 5 UFC Debuts in 2021
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Top 5 UFC debuts in 2021
The year 2021 turned out to be one of the biggest years in UFC history. This year the promotion surpassed multiple records and produced one of the biggest pay-per-views. In all this chaos, there were some of the most exciting debutants that showed potential to headline these pay pew views in the near future, let’s have a look at the top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
The first-ever pay per view of 2021 was headlined by none other than ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor and the final pay per view was headlined by Charles Oliveira. Not only these, Kamaru Usman, Nate Diaz, Israel Adesanya, Francis Ngannou, Nick Diaz, Dustin Poirier, and others entertained the fans at different pay per views of this year.
In this star-studded list making an impact on the same card is a really big thing and all these debutants showed the capability to headline future UFC pay-per-views in the future. Here goes our list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
List of Top 5 UFC debuts in 2021
5. Ian Garry (UFC 268 against Jordan Williams)
The Irish Welterweight fighter, Ian Garry seeks inspiration from one of the biggest stars in the UFC promotion and Ireland, Conor McGregor. Garry is utterly inspired by ‘The Notorious’ from the beginning of his career and he made his UFC debut against Jordan Williams on UFC 268.
Williams was the fame of Dana White’s Contender Series 33 and Ian Garry made a sudden impact on his debut by knocking him out in the very first round of their fight. His performance was praised even by Conor McGregor and this impactful debut made Ian Garry land on the number five spot in our list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
4. Alex Pereira (UFC 268 against Andreas Michailidis)
The debut of the Brazilian Kickboxing star Alex Pereira was one of the most awaited debuts of this year. Pereira holds two victories over the UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya in kickboxing and he is also known as Adesanya’s kryptonite.
He made his UFC debut against Andreas Michailidis on UFC 268 and Pereira produced a highlight-reel knockout on his debut when he knocked out Michailidis with a flying knee in the second round. He won the performance of the night bonus as well for this win and this KO of Alex Pereira is one on the list of best KO of 2021. All these things sum up as Alex Pereira’s debut on number four in our list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
3. Casey O Neil (UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Lewis against Shana Dobson)
The Scottish mixed martial artist, Casey O Neil became one of the most impactful players of the year 2021. O Neil is still undefeated in her MMA career and she made her debut against Shana Dobson on UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Lewis.
Casey O Neil knocked out Shana Dobson in the very second round of the fight and not only this she fought two more times this year and secured a win in both of them. O Neil secured her latest win against Antonina Shevchenko on UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Walker via second-round KO and grabbed the number three spot in the list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
2. Paddy Pimblett (UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till against Luigi Vendramini)
The former Cage warrior Lightweight champion, Paddy Pimblett is one of the most talked-about MMA fighters making his debut in the year 2021. Pimblett is a really popular fighter over social media and he made his debut against Luigi Vendramini on UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till.
Pimblett knocked out Vendramini in the very first round of this fight and made a high impact on his UFC debut. He is aiming to make a comeback in the first quarter of 2022 and this highlight reel KO of Paddy Pimblett made him take the number second spot in the list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
1. Michael Chandler (UFC 257 against Dan Hooker)
The former Bellator Lightweight champion, Michael Chandler’s name needs no introduction in the MMA world. He served as a backup fighter for the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, but Chandler made his UFC debut against Dan Hooker on UFC 257.
Michael Chandler knocked out Hooker in the very first round of their fight and announced his arrival in UFC. In his very next fight, he fought against Charles Oliveira for the vacant Lightweight title and lost that fight by second-round submission.
He fought one more time at UFC 268 against Justin Gaethje and produced a fight of the year contender performance. Chandler’s impactful debut against Hooker made him grab the number one spot in our list of top 5 UFC debuts in 2021.
Also Read: Top 5 UFC knockouts of 2020.
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Tanya Goyal
(254 Articles Published)