MMA Rank 30-21 – Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, four current champions could see careers swing in 2022
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On the eve of the UFC’s return to action with its first card of 2022, and a stretch of fights that will in many ways shape the rest of the year, there is potential and excitement in the air throughout the MMA world. But when the dust settles at the end of 2022, who will have had the best year?
A two-step voting process involving ESPN’s MMA contributors set out to project which 30 fighters will show out the most in 2022. The final list features fighters from three promotions — veterans and rising stars, champions and contenders — ranked by their potential for success over the next 12 months.
A lot can change over the course of a year, and the fight game can be unpredictable. From 30-21 alone, five fighters who didn’t crack the top 30 in 2021 qualified, and three who were in the top 15 dropped into this third tier. Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim have a lot to say about these 10 fighters.
Follow the link to each UFC result to watch a replay of that fight on ESPN+. Fighters 20-11 will be revealed on Thursday, and 10-1 will be released on Friday.
2021 record: 2-0 (TKO3 over Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov; TKO1 over Ryan Bader)
2021 ESPN MMA rank: Unranked
Next fight: TBD vs. Vadim Nemkov, for the Bellator light heavyweight championship (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Finals)
2022 outlook: Anderson’s time has come — again. As recently as two years ago, he was on the verge of reaching the top of the UFC’s light heavyweight division, riding a four-fight winning streak that included a victory over current champ Glover Teixeira. It was a different future champion who halted Anderson’s ascent, as Jan Blachowicz knocked him out in early 2020. Next stop: Bellator. Anderson has knocked out his first three opponents inside their circular cage, most recently a 51-second demolition of ex-champ Ryan Bader in the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix semifinals in October. That puts him in an as-yet-unscheduled finale against champion Vadim Nemkov. A championship is…
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Source : espn
