5 of the most forgettable UFC events of 2021 so far

#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.