MMAmania’s 10 Most Popular Articles Of 2021 — Pt. 1

What storylines kept our readers engaged the most in 2022? Let’s recap the articles that drove massive amounts of traffic last year!

Another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) action is going into the books.

2022 will go down in combat sports history for several reasons. For one, there was a bizarre amount of main events that either ended in injury or were canceled by tragedy in the final lead up. Fortunately, this was also the year that UFC returned to traveling beyond its UFC Apex boundaries, crossing the sea for major events in Paris and London. Perhaps that’s indicative of a larger change, and 2022 will go down as the last year the majority of events took place in Las Vegas (although that remains to be seen).

Per usual, there were incredible submissions, stunning upsets and wild back-and-forth wars in the last 12 months. Still, as the year comes to an end, what stories drove the most traffic through MMAmania.com amidst the chaos?

Let’s take a look at the first batch (No. 6 to No. 10) …

*** Note: To check out the Top 5 stories at MMAmania.com in 2022 click here at 11 p.m. ET ***

Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Number 10: Floyd Mayweather hit with ‘embarrassing’ lawsuit after failing to pay Logan Paul
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Floyd Mayweather owes Logan Paul somewhere between $5 and $10 million according to Jake Paul.
Why It Blew Up: Last year’s theme for the Top 10 was Conor McGregor. This year, however, the Paul brothers are the most frequent subjects. Floyd Mayweather remains a massive star as well even after more than five years of retirement, so it’s only natural that a scandalous headline involving all three was sure to be a home run. I have yet to hear any update from the lawsuit, but perhaps that’s a killer headline for 2023.

---

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Number Nine: ‘Fat’ Jake Paul announces move to heavyweight following Anderson Silva fight, calls out Tyson Fury
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Jake Paul puffed out his belly and continued to talk trash with the Fury family.
Why It Blew Up: Remember what I just said about the Paul brothers? Here’s Jake again! This time, Paul was just a few days out from his bout with Anderson Silva, arguably the most high-profile fight of his career yet. Then, “The Problem Child” links himself to Heavyweight king Tyson Fury, and whaddaya know, people are interested! The social media star knows how to draw attention.

---

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Number Eight: Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle removed from their seats during Canelo-GGG 3 in favor of Travis Scott
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Joe Rogan and Dave Chappelle got bumped from third row to front row
Why It Blew Up: I think it’s fair to assume most fight fans view Rogan and Chappelle more favorably than Houston hip-hop star Travis Scott. I gather that the headline alone probably drove many indignant fans to the article, where much like Rogan and Chappelle themselves, they were pleasantly surprised to find out the comedic duo actually got an upgrade! Of course, it also helps that Canelo vs. GG 3 was a major event, even if it didn’t quite reach the highs of their first two battles.

---

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Number Seven: UFC star Sean O’Malley just had stem cells injected into his wiener
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Sean O’Malley recounts his experience with, uhh, male enhancement.
Why It Blew Up: I don’t know how it’s possible to read that headline and not laugh. O’Malley is a proud sexual deviant and revels in the attention, so why wouldn’t the colorful No. 1-ranked Bantamweight contender shoot enlargement stem cells into his dong? Like Paul, O’Malley knows how to remain in the news even without a fight booked.

---

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Number Six: Jake Paul’s ‘private’ drug test results leaked by overseas outlet
Writer: Jesse Holland
Summary: Jake Paul tests clean, but the public wasn’t supposed to know
Why It Blew Up: Similar to the Rogan and Chappelle incident above, this one sounds wildly controversial. While the Florida Athletic Commission did indeed allow drug test results to leak, neither Paul nor Tyron Woodley came up with any bad results. Paul haters didn’t know that though, so there was surely a major rush of traffic in the hopes of catching Paul pissing hot. Maybe next time!

---

Honorable Mention

Stayed tuned for the five most popular posts of the year, which will run later this evening right here. Until then, check out some honorable mentions from positions 11-20, which include stories about a former UFC champion who refuses to stop getting face tattoos, a wild reaction to CBD, and the cost of Francis Ngannou’s fight for freedom.