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Next month sees the first UFC title fight of 2021, as UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defends against Gilbert Burns. If Burns were to win, it’d be an upset – but not the biggest in UFC history.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of surprising fighters win UFC gold. So could we see another surprising UFC champion in 2021?
It might be trickier than ever for a fighter to even get a UFC title shot, let alone win a title these days, but there’s definitely the possibility. After all, as we’ve seen on countless occasions, nothing can really be called predictable when it comes to the UFC.
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Here are 5 surprising fighters who could become UFC champions in 2021.
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#1 Derrick Lewis – UFC Heavyweight title
One of the UFC’s more popular fighters thanks to his penchant for comedic interviews after his fights, Derrick Lewis has been with the UFC since 2014.
In that time, ‘The Black Beast’ has beaten 15 opponents in the UFC’s Heavyweight division, but he’s also been defeated on five occasions. In 2018, Lewis got as far as a shot at the UFC Heavyweight title, only to fall to Daniel Cormier in one-sided fashion.
So how could Lewis end up claiming the UFC Heavyweight title in surprising fashion? Well, he actually isn’t that far away if things fall correctly for him.
Lewis is due to face Curtis Blaydes next month. If he were to beat ‘Razor’, then he’d move up to the #2 spot in the division, behind champion Stipe Miocic and top contender Francis Ngannou.
Miocic and Ngannou are set to face off for the title at UFC 260 in March, and whoever wins, it’d be hard to deny Lewis a title shot. His claim would intensify if Ngannou in particular wins, as Lewis still stands as the last man to defeat ‘The Predator’ in the UFC.
Sure, ‘The Black Beast’ is a heavily limited fighter with clear holes in his game, meaning it’d be a tremendous surprise to see him claim UFC gold. But with perhaps two fights separating him from the title, we’ve seen stranger things happen before.
#2 Charles Oliveira – UFC Lightweight title
With Khabib Nurmagomedov not looking likely to return to action, the UFC Lightweight title is probably going to be vacated in the coming weeks.
And given that he recently defeated former UFC interim Lightweight champ Tony Ferguson, Charles Oliveira should be near the front of the queue when it comes to crowning a new champion. So why would it be a surprise to see him end up with the belt?
Well, the issue for Oliveira is that the Lightweight division, more than any other in the UFC, is driven massively by personality.
Oliveira is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken dude. So despite his talents, he’s probably still behind the likes of Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, and even Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor in the UFC’s pecking order.
How can ‘Do Bronx’ get his hands on the UFC Lightweight title? Really, there’s only one answer for the Brazilian – to keep on winning.
Given that he’s likely to have to win multiple fights in the UFC’s deepest division to claim the gold in 2021, it’d be a surprise to see him pull it off – but equally, he has the talent to do it.
#3 Jiri Prochazka – UFC Light-Heavyweight title
When a fighter first arrives in the UFC, it usually takes them at least two or three years to move into title contention, particularly if they’re not coming in as a well-known commodity – Michael Chandler, for example.
That’s why it’d be a huge surprise to see Jiri Prochazka claim the UFC Light-Heavyweight title in 2021.
The native of the Czech Republic only debuted in the UFC in the summer of 2020, coming in as largely an unknown and knocking out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir.
Incredibly though, Prochazka might only be one more fight away from a title shot. Light-Heavyweight is one of the thinnest divisions in the UFC right now, and ‘Denisa’ has been matched with another former title challenger in Dominick Reyes for his second UFC assignment.
If Prochazka can manage to get past ‘The Devastator’, then it’d be hard to deny him a shot at the champion. And given that the current champion is Jan Blachowicz – hardly an unbeatable fighter even if he’s been on a great run – then you never know.
Granted, Prochazka’s task would become much harder if UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya dethrones Blachowicz to become a double champion. But there’s definitely a chance than the Czech native could surprise everyone by pulling it off.
#4 TJ Dillashaw – UFC Bantamweight title
Former UFC Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has become the forgotten man in the UFC’s 135lbs division, and with good reason, too.
Dillashaw has not fought since his January 2019 loss to Henry Cejudo, as he’s been serving a USADA suspension following a positive test for the banned substance EPO. But with 2021 now upon us, Dillashaw is ready to return.
The UFC’s Bantamweight division is undoubtedly one of the promotion’s most loaded right now. New champion Petr Yan is set to defend his title against top contender Aljamain Sterling in March, while other dangerous contenders like Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font are lying in wait for their shots.
But could Dillashaw work his way back to the top and reclaim the title he never lost inside the Octagon? It’d be a surprise, but it’s possible.
After all, it wasn’t the EPO that allowed Dillashaw to develop the phenomenal striking he used to down Cody Garbrandt and Renan Barao.
It’ll be a long route back to the top for the former champion, but if he’s willing to fight enough in 2021, he could surprise everyone by reclaiming the gold by the end of the year.
#5 Kamaru Usman – UFC Middleweight title
Kamaru Usman is of course the reigning UFC Welterweight champion, and the likelihood is that he’ll be able to hold onto that title throughout 2021. However, could he stun everyone by going for another UFC title?
It’s definitely possible. If Usman gets past Gilbert Burns, which he’ll definitely be favoured to do, then there’d be an argument that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has cleaned out the UFC Welterweight division.
And with current UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya moving up to 205lbs to challenge for the UFC Light-Heavyweight crown, there’s a definite chance that the 185lbs title becomes vacant at some point in 2021.
If that’s the case, then it may well become tempting for Usman to make a run to claim it.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ could easily move up to 185lbs, as he’s a hulking Welterweight with a long reach already.
And more importantly, his wrestling-based game would give most of the top UFC Middleweights a lot of problems, as the likes of Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, Darren Till and Paulo Costa are all known more for their striking than their grappling.
So could we see Adesanya and Usman holding titles at the end of 2021, just in two different weight classes? It’d be a surprise, but it’s definitely possible.
