McGregor drops out of rankings

Despite not fighting all year, Conor McGregor still somehow managed to stay in the limelight throughout 2022 albeit often not for the right reasons.

Multiple Twitter spats have kept the Irishman in the public eye, but in terms of fighting itself, McGregor caused a stir when he was removed from the USADA's (United States Anti-Doping Agency) testing pool.

This meant that he couldn't legally compete in the UFC - with fighters required to have been in the pool for at least six months and be tested twice before they can enter the octagon.

It quickly became clear that a huge fan favourite wouldn't be competing again any time soon and he has since dropped out of the UFC rankings completely.

Oliveira stripped of title

When the weigh-ins rolled around for UFC 274, fans were heavily invested in the build-up to the main event between lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.

Unfortunately, the hype was cut short after then-champion Oliveira came out to weigh in, only to miss the 155-pound limit and eventually be stripped of his title - meaning their fight just a few days later would have no belt at stake.

The Brazilian choked out his opponent in the first round but it would ultimately mean nothing with regard to the lightweight title.

It would later come out that the scales used backstage weren't calibrated properly which meant that a lot of the competitors on the card were caught off guard when it came to the official UFC weigh-in.

Paddy 'The Baddy' and 'Meatball' Molly

One of the long-term stories in MMA this year has been the growth of Scouse fighter Paddy Pimblett.

He actually made his UFC debut in 2021, but three of his four fights have come this year - with Pimblett winning all of them.

Alongside him has been 'Meatball' Molly McCann, who has been in the UFC for the last four years but has enjoyed a big popularity boost through her friendship with her fellow Liverpudlian.

Her results have also been impressive in 2022, winning two of her three bouts as the UK gained two more popular figures on the biggest MMA brand in the world - although Pimblett's stock has started to fall following some media controversy.

UFC 279

In one of the wildest turn of events the UFC has seen during 2022, the entire main card of UFC 279 was changed just days before the event took place.

Welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev was set to take on the experienced Nate Diaz in what would be a farewell bout for the fighting veteran.

However, a backstage altercation caused their press conference to be called off before Chimaev completely missed his target weight.

Diaz refused to fight against a far heavier opponent, meaning the entire main card was shuffled around with one day's notice.

Tony Ferguson was drafted in to fight Diaz, while Chimaev was pitted against Kevin Holland.

This left Li Jingliang and Daniel Rodriguez to go against each other as their initial opponents were sent to fight against the two main event stars.

Nunes gets her revenge

Before her bout with Julianna Pena in 2021, Amanda Nunes had lost just one fight in her UFC career - back in 2014 against Cat Zingano.

She embarked on a 12-fight win streak before being choked out by Pena last December and losing her bantamweight title, with a rematch set up for the summer of 2022.

Nunes bounced back in style and took Pena through all five rounds before winning via unanimous decision to regain her belts.

The victory took her career MMA record to 22 wins, losing just five times.

James Krause betting scandal

UFC coach and former fighter James Krause was handed a suspension earlier in December for suspicious betting patterns surrounding fights involving his students.

The abnormal betting activity was reported during a fight between Darrick Minner - coached by Krause - and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke back in November.

Minner would lose the fight in the first round via TKO after appearing to injure his knee, with an unusual amount of bets placed on that exact result.

Krause was alleged to have leaked information about the injury before the fight and even ran his own Discord server and YouTube show centred around gambling.

This resulted in Minner's contract being swiftly ended and Krause being handed a suspension along with any other fighters who still chose to be represented by the coach.

Adesanya loses middleweight crown

One of the most dominant fighters in MMA over the last few years has been Israel Adesanya.

The 'Stylebender' mainly fights in the middleweight division and became the undisputed champion in 2019 when he defeated Robert Whittaker.

That win was the seventh in a long unbeaten streak for Adesanya, which continued all the way to 2022 before he was dramatically beaten by Alex Pereira.

It was his first loss as a middleweight in the UFC - and just his second overall after losing to Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout.

The shock loss brought an incredible 12-win streak to an end in a twist not many fans saw coming.

Edwards beats Usman

Speaking of shock losses, an even bigger surprise came when Leon Edwards snatched the welterweight title from a seemingly unstoppable Kamaru Usman.

A historic fifth-round head kick knocked out the champion and handed him his first UFC loss since his debut in 2015.

What made the win even more special was the fact that Edwards could finally get his revenge after Usman had beaten him seven years ago in just his second fight with the promotion.

Vacant UFC light heavyweight title

The final point came right at the end of 2022 with the light heavyweight title remaining vacant after a disappointing split draw between Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.

In a bout that disappointed many fans, the two fighters ended up drawing despite a wide consensus that Ankalaev was a worthy winner.

That meant a major UFC accolade remained vacant heading into 2023, after former champion Jiri Prochazka had to give up the title due to a serious shoulder injury.