2018 MMA Year End Awards

2018 MMA Year End Awards
March 26, 2019 
By Ryan Porzl

Another year gone which means it's time I give my year end awards for what I considered both the best and worst in Mixed Martial Arts.



Fighter of the Year: Michael Chandler (Bellator)- I know everyone has decided on Daniel Cormier for this but I feel Chandler slightly deserved it for several reasons. For one, Chandler went 3-0 while looking strong in all three fights. While Brandon Girtz isn't a big name, he was a replacement for Brent Primus so it's a bit understandable. His other two wins were against great competitors such as Goiti Yamauchi who has been one of Bellator's top prospects for years and Primus while dominating both which is impressive. Chandler's win over Primus was a perfect way to cap off the year as he avenged his title loss from a year before which came due to an ankle injury, he handed Primus his first loss, and he regained the Bellator Lightweight Championship. Chandler also made history as his title win over Primus marked the first time a fighter won a Bellator championship for a third time and Chandler also becomes the first three time champion, not counting tournament wins. It's also even more impressive when you look at the title win was three weeks after the seventh anniversary of Chandler's first title win which was his legendary first encounter with Eddie Alvarez. Seven years is a long time in life but it can be an eternity in MMA and while many have come and gone over the years, Chandler and him as champion are the few consistent things in Bellator's lightweight division.

Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes (UFC)- This was an obvious choice as Nunes was a wrecking ball in 2018 going 2-0, retained one title, and earned another. In her first fight of the year, she retained her Women's Bantamweight Championship against top contender Raquel Pennington by TKO. However, she earned her place here at the end of the year with the shocking destructive win over Cris Cyborg needing only 51 seconds to blow the doors off MMA's most dominant female fighter while making history becoming the first female fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously by also winning the UFC Women's Featherweight Championship.

Knockout of the Year: Andrey Koreshkov over Vaso Bakocevic (Bellator 203, 7/14)- Andrey Koreshkov is one of those guys who is capable of a brutal or cool looking knockouts and he proved that at Bellator 203. Taking on Vaso Bakocevic, Koreshkov threw a nice spin kick to the stomach as Bakocevic tried to back off which resulted in Koreshkov propelling Bakocevic to the cage before he crumbled to the floor and it was game over.

Submission of the Year: Kazuyuki Miyata's Hammerlock over Erson Yamamoto (Rizin 14, 12/31)- Despite being a good fighter with a solid record, Kazuyuki Miyata will always be remembered for being the recipient of arguably the knockout of the year from Kid Yamamoto back in 2006. With Yamamoto's death in September, Miyata will never be able to avenge the loss from Yamamoto but he got something close by not only defeating Yamamoto's nephew but he got to retire in style by catching Erson's arm while on his back, roll on top, and get the submission with a rare hammerlock. The lead up and the rare submission is enough to get this award and extra points for Miyata being a pro and not breaking Erson's arm like Shinya Aoki did to Mizuto Hirota in 2009.

Fight of the Year: Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC, 4/14)- This had "dream fight" written all over it given both men are known for exciting fights and this one didn't disappoint. This wasn't the wild, balls to the wall type of fight but a nice technical affair with Poirier attempting to stop Gaethje with crisp boxing combining good combos to the face and stomach while Gaethje despite to play lumberjack by repeatedly targeting the leg with leg kicks. We also got a Gaethje even throwing Marius Zaromskis' rolling thunder somersault kick. We also got a nice come from behind as Gaethje was breaking down Poirier until Poirier finally rocked Gaethje in the fourth round and wouldn't take his foot off the gas until he scored the TKO. This is one of those fights that prove you can have an exciting fight without it being a barnburning brawl.

Story of the Year: The Conor McGregor/Khabib Nurmagomedov saga- A lot of things happened in the world of Mixed Martial Arts in 2018. The UFC announced a big deal with ESPN, Bellator had it's heavyweight grand prix, Rizin saw continued growth and an appearance by Floyd Mayweather Jr., WSOF become PFL and took Bellator's old tournament concept, UFC and ONE traded talent, and Kid Yamamoto passed away. However, all those took a backseat to the rivalry and antics between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The saga began the same as all MMA rivalries do which was the usual trashtalk in interviews and on social media. In April, things intensified when Nurmagomedov had a confrontation with fighter Artem Lobov who McGregor. Days later, after a promotional appearance at the Barclays Center, McGregor and a group of 20 attempted to confront Nurmagomedov while he and others were in a bus in the parking garage which resulted in McGregor tossing a metal dolly at a window trying to hit Nurmagomedov. After this incident as well as Nurmagomedov winning the lightweight title (which was vacant due to McGregor's inactivity), a highly anticipated fight was booked between them at UFC 229 in October. After convincingly winning the fight over McGregor, Nurmagomedov climbed out of the octagon and fought with McGregor teammate Dillion Danis which resulted in chaos between the corners with McGregor getting into a fight with Nurmagomedov's cousin and 2 of Nurmagomedov's cornermen climbing into the Octagon to attack McGregor. The incident was heavily reminiscent of the infamous Strikeforce Nashville Brawl from 8 years ago.

Upset of the Year: Amanda Nunes over Cris Cyborg (UFC 232, 12/29)- Not to take anything away from Nunes and while she had as good of a chance as anyone to beat Cyborg, it was always going to be considered a massive upset when someone finally took down Cyborg, especially with Cyborg going into this fight on a 21 fight unbeaten streak (20 wins, 1 no contest) and hadn't lost in 13 years. Especially in the destructive manner she did.

Beatdown of the Year: Chris Gruetzemacher over Joe Lauzon (UFC 223, 4/7)- Joe Lauzon has had his share of wars and brutal fights which is a big reason why he's known for his exciting style and half a dozen "Fight of the Night" bonuses. However, that style eventually catches up to a fighter and when it does, it can be an ugly sight to behold. Such was the case when Lauzon went up against Chris Gruetzemacher with Lauzon not only seeing his body fail him but was forced to wave a white flag of surrender no fighter wants to do. After a decent first round, Lauzon got absolutely torched throughout the second round with Gruetzemacher lighting him up with great head and stomach shots. Lauzon's spirit was in it but he couldn't do much except act like a wandering zombie throwing strikes that contained almost no power on them while his eyes got swollen, he got cut, he bled, and even some of his blood smeared on his face. Even the announcers couldn't help but think if the wars caught on to Lauzon and that the fight should be stopped after the round as the fight went from a fight to a legalized massacre. The beating proved so brutal, Lauzon's corner stopped the fight realizing he couldn't continue and it proved to be the right decision with the announcers praising it.

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Kevin Belingon (ONE)- If you followed ONE Championship almost since the beginning, you'll know that Kevin Belingon has been considered a big prospect. However, despite his talents, Belingon wasn't able to fully put it together over the years most notably getting submitted quickly by Bibiano Fernandes in his first title shot. Then in 2018, it all changed and Belingon finally reached the potential many thought he had. Belingon went 3-0 in 2018 first TKOing former title contender Andrew Leone with a knockout of the year candidate spin kick, then he defeated featherweight and lightweight champion Martin Nguyen by unanimous decision to win the interim bantamweight champion, and capped off the year by avenging his loss to Bibiano Fernandes by split decision to become the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world while handing Fernandes his first loss in 9 years. After years of going up and down, Belingon finally put the puzzle together and not only scored the 3 biggest wins of his career but finally reached the top of the mountain as he fulfilled his potential of becoming a ONE champion.

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Fedor Emelianenko (Bellator) and Kazuyuki Fujita (ROAD FC)- Both Fedor and Fujita were two men who's biggest runs were in PRIDE Fighting Championships more than a decade ago and even crossed paths with each other in 2003. That being said, both had some rough few years. For Fedor, he broke a three year retirement in 2015 but the only thing he had to show heading into 2018 was a dominant win over a much inexperienced fighter, a highly controversial win over a middle of the card fighter he probably should've dominated, and a loss in his Bellator debut against Matt Mitrione. However, The Last Emperor proved he still had gas left in his tank this past year when he entered Bellator's Heavyweight Grand Prix and scored two good impressive wins over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and title contender Chael Sonnen. The win over Mir marked Fedor's fifth over a former UFC Champion (sixth counting Nogueira as an interim champion) while Sonnen had become somewhat a "PRIDE Hunter" holding good wins over Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva, and Rampage Jackson in recent years. The wins over Mir and Sonnen were his biggest in years and it lead him to the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix which will be his first title fight in 9 years.

For Fujita, he's been in one of the biggest slumps in the sport going on an eight fight losing streak over the past ten years. He was becoming one of the sadder cases in MMA with his losses and the fact he looked so old and his legendary chin was gone. The man Eddie Bravo correctly said in 2000 you could hit with a bat and he wouldn't get knocked out after Ken Shamrock punched himself out now saw himself getting knocked out fight after fight. Then this year, things began to pick up and Fujita finally broke his losing streak and went from entering the year on an eight fight losing streak to leaving with a three fight win streak and being a potential replacement in the ongoing ROAD FC Openweight Grand Prix. While Fujita's wins aren't over any elite fighters, it's still nice to see him get back on his first win streak since 2006 and the fact he showed to have a little bit left at 48. He'll never fight in UFC or anything but he's showed he can still pull out wins against the right opponents and appears to have more confidence.

Announcer of the Year: "Big" John McCarthy (Bellator)- McCarthy is best known as the most famous referee in MMA history and while he did commentary in the past including the Affliction: Banned, I didn't know what to expect as McCarthy has a wealth of knowledge but not everyone translates to announcing but McCarthy did and is great in the part. Even though McCarthy is not a former fighter, he comes off knowledgeable, isn't annoying, and not biased. He also had a tough task of being one of the announcers replacing Jimmy Smith who was not only very good but was a voice for Bellator and he did a good job replacing Smith to the point where Smith's absence isn't as felt as it could've been. McCarthy also adds credibility as he speaks well, clearly knows the sport, and doesn't come off over the top or silly which definitely is good especially with him announcing with people like Mike Goldberg or Mauro Ranallo who can be over the top or go from catchphrase to catchphrase.

Gym of the Year: Alexander Nevsky Club (Stary Oskol)- Though they didn't win a major championship this year, the Alexander Nevsky Club made a big name for themselves in Bellator. Fedor turned the clock back and had one of his best years in years making it to the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix with wins over Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen. Vadim Nemkov has been a promising light heavyweight but he took it to the next level in a huge way defeating two former light heavyweight champions in Liam McGeary and then Phil Davis in a massive upset which all but confirms him as the next contender for the light heavyweight championship whenever Bader is ready. Antoly Tokov established himself as a top middleweight by thrashing newcomer Vladmir Filipovic and then scored one of the biggest wins of his career by defeating the former middleweight champion and two time tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko. Valentin Moldavsky had a successful debut albeit against an inexperienced Ernest James but his performance and previous run in Rizin show he's someone to look out for. While Fedor ultimately came up short in his quest for a championship, don't be surprised if someone else from the gym strikes gold in 2019.

Promotion of the Year: Rizin Fighting Federation- Got to give Rizin credit. Despite only being around for 3 years, they've already established themselves as one of the top promotions in the world. The promotion seems to be firing on all cylinders with 2 of their shows involving kickboxer/MMA fighter Tenshin Nasukawa drawing nearly 30,000 fans to Saitama Super Arena (first in a kickboxing fight with Kyoji Horiguchi and then a boxing exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr.) which made Rizin 13 and Rizin 14 among the highest attended MMA shows in Japan in probably nearly a decade and being the top 2 highest attended MMA shows in 2018 as UFC's highest was UFC Fight Night 136 which drew 22,603 compared to the 27,208 for Rizin 13 and 29,105 for Rizin 14. The promotion also has the right idea by running about 6 shows a year which allows them to make the events better and gets fans more interested instead of UFC, Bellator, and ONE where you can argue they run too many shows and oversaturate themselves. Rizin seems to realize quality over quantity. Rizin also took a step forward by crowning their first champions in the Women's Super Atomweight division and Men's Bantamweight Division. The Bantamweight one was a feather in the cap as top star Kyoji Horiguchi defeated Bellator Bantamweight Champion Darrion Caldwell. Rizin left 2018 looking good and giving us a reason to look forward to 2019.

Worst Fighter of the Year: Francis N'gannou (UFC)- Amazing how much can happen in a year. Entering 2018, N'gannou was the new apple in Dana White's eye, a wrecking ball, and a guaranteed future UFC Heavyweight Champion. However, that changed throughout 2018 as N'gannou would stumble through bad performance after bad performance while Dana White would throw him under the bus. He not only failed to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship but gave an awful performance against Stipe Miocic as he showed no ground game and cardio so bad he makes Mark Coleman look like Cain Velasquez. He then lost a second straight fight when he lost to Derrick Lewis in what many consider the worst fight of the year as the two did almost nothing for 15 minutes. While N'gannou did bounce back in a big way with a quick win over Curtis Blaydes, it still didn't make up for the first two lackluster performances especially when it looked like he would be an elite heavyweight earlier in the year.

Worst Fight of the Year: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz (Golden Boy Promotions, 11/24)- There's nothing sadder in the world of combat sports then an aging legend insisting on fighting long after their prime and all the while they're accumulating more permanent damage. Ken Shamrock has been the poster boy for this type of fighter for 15 years but Chuck Liddell may now give him a run for his money which says a lot. Once one of MMA's biggest and most successful stars, Liddell infamously was forced into retirement in 2010 at the request of good friend Dana White after suffering three brutal and scary knockouts in a row. It was clear to everyone but the Iceman himself he was done as his iron chin was now less sturdy then wet paper and he was clearly slowly and old. Liddell was promised a lifetime job in exchange for hanging up the gloves but he still continued to talk about one day making a "comeback". Once WMG bought UFC and let Liddell go, it didn't take long for him to announce he was back. There were many reasons why this fight was so ugly but the biggest one is cause we all knew Liddell and Ortiz were past their prime but at least Ortiz looked decent in Bellator while Liddell was near 50, haven't fought in 8 years, and looked like a punch drunk old man. Many were also worried of the possibility of Liddell getting knocked out by a guy he knocked out twice. Sure enough, the fight was as hideous as we knew it would. Both looked old and moved at half speed but then Liddell's chin failed him again as Ortiz broke the glass jaw like a baseball going through a window and Liddell went nighty night courtesy of a man who couldn't knock him out in their primes to save his life. Ortiz's attempted grave digger routine afterward was appropriate and appropos because that's symbolizes Liddell's legacy and his life if he keeps going. When I usually pick worst fights, I go for not just bad but sad ones and this fit the bill in spades.

Worst Announcer of the Year: Joe Rogan (UFC)- Again Rogan gets this and for the same reason he's had it for years. Again, Rogan comes off very stale and tired who feels like he's stuck around for too long and needs to go. Rogan does have his moments but he sometimes comes off annoying and I don't know what he brings to the table anymore with many current and retired fighters now doing commentary as they can explain stuff much better. He also feels like he's not as motivated and seems to be calling fewer shows as he mostly sticks to PPVs and shows in North America. All in all, Rogan had good moments in his career and is a future Hall of Famer but it feels like his time is done and even he seems to know it in a way.

Worst Promotion of the Year: UFC- Nothing to add that I haven't brought up over the years. Again, the UFC gets this due to staleness of the product, oversaturation, and format that make shows go too long. At times, it's hard to get excited when there's a show almost every week and you have a hard time remembering who is fighting who at which event. Then there's the fact every show seems to drag and doesn't need to last a quarter of the day.