5 most shocking UFC moments of 2021

#4. Anthony Hernandez submits Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rodolfo Vieira – UFC 258

Anthony Hernandez shocked the grappling world with his submission of Rodolfo Vieira

The UFC has seen countless numbers of major upsets take place in the octagon over the years, with stunners like Matt Serra vs. Georges St-Pierre and Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey still fondly remembered by fans.

2021 saw a number of upsets in its own right, but the most shocking was undoubtedly Anthony Hernandez’s win over Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 258 in March.

In this instance, the fact that Hernandez defeated Vieira wasn’t the most shocking part. After all, ‘Fluffy' was bringing more MMA experience into the octagon for his fight with the Brazilian, including three fights in the UFC compared to Vieira’s two. However, to say that not a single person watching would’ve expected Hernandez to submit Vieira would be an understatement.

Vieira, who debuted in the UFC in 2019, held a reputation as one of the greatest grapplers on the planet. With wins over the likes of Andre Galvao, Xande Ribeiro and Braulio Estima, he’d more than earned his nickname of ‘The Black Belt Hunter’ and his list of accomplishments on the mat would simply be too extensive to list.

However, at UFC 258, those grappling skills were unable to help him out of a hole when he gassed out badly in the second round of his fight with Hernandez. When ‘Fluffy’ latched onto a guillotine choke early in the second round following a flurry of elbows, the unthinkable happened and Vieira was forced to tap out.

Vieira has since rebounded with a win over Dustin Stoltzfus, but it definitely felt like his hopes of becoming a UFC middleweight contender went up in smoke here, making this one of 2021’s most shocking moments.

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#3. Vyacheslav Kiselev allows Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos to abuse Benoit Saint-Denis – UFC 267

Referee Vyacheslav Kiselev was removed from UFC 267 after a shocking performance

The UFC’s fighters are naturally responsible for most of the shocking moments on this list. Unfortunately, one of the most jaw-dropping incidents of 2021 was made possible by a truly diabolical refereeing job.

Vyacheslav Kiselev had not refereed in the UFC prior to UFC 267 and it’s safe to say that after the officiating job he did in the fight between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint-Denis, it’s unlikely that we’ll see him return any time soon.

Essentially, the fight was an absolute massacre. Zaleski dos Santos abused his opponent from the word go, with UFC debutant Saint-Denis simply unable to offer any offense in return.

Despite the Frenchman doing little more than cover up, Kiselev somehow allowed the fight to go the distance, with the UFC newcomer absorbing a criminal amount of strikes.

To make matters worse, the official was even given a perfect opportunity to stop the fight in the third round when Saint-Denis informed him that he couldn’t see, only for Kiselev to ignore him and fail to call a doctor into the octagon.

Unsurprisingly, the UFC were so appalled by the Russian official’s performance that they immediately removed him from the rest of the event, but that didn’t really help Saint-Denis, who took what could easily have been seen as a career-altering beating.

Undoubtedly, this diabolical refereeing job belongs near the top of the list of 2021’s most shocking UFC moments.