Top 13 MMA promotions in 2021

Conan Altatis

May 7

Based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport. It incorporates techniques from various martial arts and combat sports including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, sambo, capoeira, karate, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, wushu and taekwondo.

The first ever MMA event was titled "The Ultimate Fighting Championship," which was later renamed "UFC 1: The Beginning." It was an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States on November 12, 1993.

Now, a professional MMA fighter typically signs with an MMA promotion where he or she competes exclusively until the contract expires. Here is the list of the top 13 MMA promotions in 2021:

#13. Cage Warriors

founding year: 2002
founder: Dougie Truman
headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
president/CEO: Graham Boylan
notable current fighters: Nathias Frederick, Agy Sardari, Jordan Vucenic, Jack Cartwright, Jake Hadley

#12. Legacy Fighting Alliance

founding year: 2017
founder: Ed Soares
headquarters: Houston, Texas, United States
president/CEO: Sven Bean, Ed Soares
notable current fighters: Spike Carlyle, Josh Fremd, Nick Browne, Victor Altamirano, Zviad Lazishvili

#11. Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki

founding year: 2004
founders: Martin Lewandowski, Maciej Kawulski
headquarters: Warsaw, Poland
president/CEO: Martin Lewandowski
notable current fighters: Phil De Fries, Tomasz Narkun, Mamed Khalidov, Roberto Soldić, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Darko Stošić, Guto Inocente, Szymon Kołecki, Scott Askham

#10. Rizin Fighting Federation

founding year: 2015
founder: Nobuyuki Sakakibara
headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
president/CEO: Nobuyuki Sakakibara
notable current fighters: Kyoji Horiguchi, Ayaka Hamasaki, Gabi Garcia, Keita Nakamura, Daron Cruickshank, Satoru Kitaoka, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Takanori Gomi, Tenshin Nasukawa

#9. AMC Fight Nights

founding year: 2010
founder: Kamil Gadzhiev
headquarters: Moscow, Russia
president/CEO: Kamil Gadzhiev
notable current fighters: Armen Petrosyan, Vladimir Mineev, Moris Boleyan, Andrey Koreshkov, Zuluzinho, Alexander Shlemenko, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, Moris Boleyan, Vladimir Egoyan, Nariman Abbasov

#8. BRAVE Combat Federation

founding year: 2016
founder: Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa
headquarters: Seef, Bahrain
president/CEO: Mohammed "The Hawk" Shahid
notable current fighters: Anton Turkalj, Ikram Aliskerov, Mohammad Fakhreddine, Jarrah Al-Silawi, Mehdi Baghdad, Leonardo Mafra, Amin Ayoub, Jose Torres, Eldar Eldarov, Muhammad Mokaev

#7. Invicta Fighting Championships

founding year: 2012
founders: Shannon Knapp, Janet Martin
headquarters: Enka Village, North Carolina, United States
president/CEO: Shannon Knapp
notable current fighters: Pam Sorenson, Lisa Verzosa, Karina Rodríguez, Amber Brown, Alesha Zappitella, Ashley Cummins, Sharon Jacobson, Alexa Conners, Raquel Pa'aluhi, Kaitlin Young

#6. Pancrase

founding year: 1993
founders: Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki
headquarters: Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
president/CEO: Masakazu Sakai
notable current fighters: Isao Kobayashi, Taichi Nakajima, Toru Ogawa, Taiki Akiba, Masatatsu Ueda, Satoru Enomoto, Koshi Matsumoto, Akira Okada, Yoshinori Suzuki, Issei Tamura

#5. Absolute Championship Akhmat

founding year: 2014
founder: Mairbek Khasiev
headquarters: Grozny, Russia
president/CEO: Alexey Yatsenko
notable current fighters: Tony Johnson, Aleksander Emelianenko, Elias Silvério, Levan Makashvili, Magomedrasul Khasbulaev, Magomed Bibulatov, Azamat Kerefov, Murad Zeinulabidov, Hacran Dias, Daniel Omielańczuk

#4. Bellator MMA

founding year: 2008
founder: Bjorn Rebeny
headquarters: Hollywood, California, United States
president/CEO: Scott Coker
notable current fighters: Sergio Pettis, Gegard Mousasi, Ryan Bader, Juan Archuleta, A.J. McKee, Patricio Freire, Yaroslav Amosov, Goiti Yamauchi, Adam Borics, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

#3. ONE Championship

founding year: 2011
founder: Chatri Sityodtong
headquarters: Downtown Core, Singapore
president/CEO: Chatri Sityodtong
notable current fighters: Aung La N Sang, Angela Lee, Christian Lee, Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Brandon Vera, Reinier de Ridder, Shinya Aoki, Eduard Folayang

#2. Professional Fighters League

founding year: 2018
founder: Ray Sefo
headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
president/CEO: Ray Sefo, Peter Murray
notable current fighters: Anthony Pettis, Fabricio Werdum, Emiliano Sordi, Rory MacDonald, Clay Collard, Kayla Harrison, Ray Cooper III, Curtis Millender, Movlid Khaibulaev

#1. Ultimate Fighting Championship

founding year: 1993
founders: Art Davie, Bob Meyrowitz, Campbell McLaren, David Isaacs, John Milius
headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
president/CEO: Dana White
notable current fighters: Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, Israel Adesanya, Amanda Nunes, Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, Rose Namajunas, Valentina Shevchenko, Jon Jones, Dustin Poirier, Stipe Miocic, Max Holloway, Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev, Holly Holm, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Colby Covington