2020

2020 was the year mixed martial arts nearly stopped. As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sport worldwide, the number of professional MMA events tracked here fell to roughly 1,200 — down from more than 3,000 the year before, the steepest single-year contraction in the sport's history. Through the spring, promotions on every continent postponed or cancelled cards, and for a few weeks the global fight calendar went almost completely dark.

The restart was led from the front. The UFC resumed in May with empty-arena cards at its purpose-built APEX facility in Las Vegas, then exported the model abroad with the "Fight Island" series on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi — bubbled, spectator-free events that kept elite competition running while much of the sport remained paused. The finish mix held up under the strange conditions: knockouts and submissions still ended a clear majority of fights, with decisions accounting for roughly a third.

Amid the disruption the year still produced a defining moment: in October, Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 and walked away undefeated at 29-0, retiring on top. The venues and organisations below show how concentrated the year became — a handful of hub arenas carried an outsized share of a calendar that, in any normal year, would have been spread across the world.