MMA rankings report, 2021 review: Who made the biggest leap during the year?

Bellator champ Yaroslav Amosov and UFC champ Glover Teixeira were among those who shot up the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings in 2021.

Before another exciting year of fights begin in 2022, John Morgan and “Gorgeous” George Garcia look back at the biggest movers in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings during 2021.

Which fighters stood out in shooting up their respective divisions this past year? You can watch the video above for discussion on the fighters who made the biggest jumps this year including:

  • [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag], UFC heavyweight
  • [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag], UFC light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag], UFC light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag], Bellator light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag], UFC middleweight
  • [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag], UFC welterweight
  • [autotag]Yaroslav Amosov[/autotag], Bellator welterweight
  • [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag], UFC lightweight
  • [autotag]AJ McKee[/autotag], Bellator featherweight
  • Julianna Peña, UFC women’s bantamweight
  • Amanda Lemos, UFC women’s strawweight

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