5 of the most forgettable UFC events of 2021 so far

2021 has undoubtedly been an excellent year for the UFC, with blockbuster events like UFC 257, UFC 264 and UFC 268 gaining rave reviews from fans across the world. Nevertheless, not every event has been quite so successful.

2021 has seen the UFC produce a total of 39 events so far and unfortunately, a number of them have been completely unmemorable.

At times this was because certain fight cards lacked any of the marquee names in the promotion, and other times because the fights on offer simply didn’t deliver in the octagon.

Either way, it’s unlikely that UFC fans will be using the Fight Pass streaming service to re-live them any time soon.

Here are the five most forgettable UFC events of 2021 so far.

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#5. UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez – October 9th 2021

UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez turned out to be a disappointing show overall

The UFC’s decision to keep its Fight Night shows at the Las Vegas APEX has been a curious one. In many ways, it makes complete sense for the promotion. The UFC doesn’t need to worry about organizing more events around the United States, breaking into new markets and selling out arenas. This also gives them fewer worries with regard to last-minute changes to the fight card.

Naturally, the cost of producing events at the APEX is far lower than it would be if the promotion went elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the result of this decision appears to be the emergence of plenty of throwaway events, with UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez being a prime example.

This event in early October featured a high-end strawweight headliner, but little else in the way of depth – with a catchweight fight between the unranked Randy Brown and Jared Gooden acting as the co-main event.

Nobody would’ve minded the lack of name value had the fights on offer delivered plenty of action, but that wasn’t the case. The card had nine fights on offer and only four delivered finishes.

The headliner, meanwhile, just wasn’t all that exciting, as Rodriguez largely nullified Dern’s grappling and picked her apart for five rounds.

The UFC has been ensuring that all numbered events in 2021 are stacked beyond belief. UFC 267 and UFC 268 (which took place on back-to-back weekends) are testament to this. Hence, the three Fight Nights before UFC 267 had uninspired main cards to say the least.

#4. UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum – August 21st 2021

Jared Cannonier's win over Kelvin Gastelum headlined a largely forgettable show

This UFC Fight Night show from late August was another one that lacked depth in terms of name value. On paper, it did appear to have some interesting matchups.

With the likes of Kelvin Gastelum, Jared Cannonier, Vinc Pichel and Alexandre Pantoja in action, this felt like it could have been a truly action-packed event. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Things didn’t start badly at all. The prelims delivered four straight finishes, with one of them – Ignacio Bahamondes’ wheel kick knockout of Roosevelt Roberts – being among the best of 2021.

However, once the main card got started, things slowed down dramatically. Outside of Pantoja’s second round submission of Brandon Royval, we were treated to just one more finish – and even that came with just seconds remaining in the final round.

More to the point, fights like the heavyweight clash between Parker Porter and Chase Sherman, as well as Pichel’s fight with Austin Hubbard, were thoroughly skippable.

The headliner, meanwhile, wasn’t bad per say, but it definitely didn’t deliver the kind of action that we’d seen Gastelum and Cannonier produce in some of their previous outings in the octagon, making this one of 2021’s most forgettable events.

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#3. UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont – October 16th 2021

UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont featured a large number of last-minute card changes

In terms of weak main events, a clash between Aspen Ladd and Norma Dumont in the UFC’s already-thin featherweight division probably tops the list for 2021.

Of course, this wasn’t the fault of either fighter, or the fault of the UFC. This event was supposed to be headlined by a bout between Ketlen Vieira and Miesha Tate, only for the fight to fall through with four weeks to go when Tate contracted COVID-19.

Dumont was then pegged to headline against Holly Holm, only for ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ to withdraw, leaving Ladd to step in and save the show on a week's notice.

Interest levels remained remarkably low for the event, most likely because it came just two weeks before UFC 267, one of the most anticipated and stacked cards of the year.

Those UFC fans who chose to skip the show didn’t miss a lot either. Dumont’s win over Ladd went the distance and was uneventful to say the least.

While it was cool to see veterans Andrei Arlovski and Jim Miller pull off wins, Miller’s knockout of Erick Gonzalez was probably the only memorable moment on the entire card.

#2. UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Strickland – July 31st 2021

Sean Strickland's win over Uriah Hall capped off a UFC show that lacked name value

The final UFC Fight Night event of July featured a crazy number of late changes to its card. No fewer than ten fights ended up being scrapped due to various reasons, ranging from injuries and COVID-19 to bad weight cuts.

Sure, casual UFC fans probably hadn’t heard of most of the fighters in action, but the likes of Melsik Baghdasaryan, Jared Gooden and Cheyanne Buys still produced some excellent finishes.

However, the main event - which featured middleweights Sean Strickland and Uriah Hall – seemed to last forever and saw Strickland do just enough to edge out ‘Prime Time’ on the feet and come away with a unanimous decision victory.

It was an unfortunate end to a decent night of fights – and turned a surprisingly solid UFC event into one of the year’s most forgettable instead.

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#1. UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane – February 27th 2021

Ciryl Gane's fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik capped off a thoroughly forgettable night of fights in February

This UFC Fight Night saw a ludicrous number of late changes, with nine bouts being scrapped in the weeks and days leading up to the event, including the originally intended headliner between Jiri Prochazka and Dominick Reyes.

That wouldn’t have mattered so much had the fights that eventually took place delivered some action, but unfortunately, that wasn’t really the case.

Eight of the nine bouts on offer went the distance, with Ronnie Lawrence delivering the only finish of the night. He gained a $50k bonus for his KO of Vince Cachero, but the UFC only gave out a further two bonuses to the night’s one memorable battle – a bantamweight clash between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera.

The main event saw Cyril Gane take on Jairzinho Rozenstruik in his first UFC main event, and the clash ended up producing a snoozefest. Rozenstruik stayed on the back-foot throughout while Gane picked him apart with ease en route to victory. Both men were criticized for the lack of activity and excitement in the fight.

Given that the show was followed by a blockbuster at UFC 259 a week later, it’s hardly a surprise that it was instantly forgotten by UFC fans once it was over.