The year’s end is MMA’s award season. Unlike the NBA, NFL or any other major sport, cage fighting isn’t limited to a specific time period - there is no offseason. So we can break down accomplishments over the course of one full year and make our selections. The most prestigious award is without a doubt Fighter of the Year. It’s a huge honor bestowed by every major media outlet - ESPN even includes it in their ESPYs. And it’s a damn fun award to debate.
Based on performance and merit, we’ve got a few candidates for you to consider. The only real eligibility requirement here is that each candidate had to have at least three bouts this year - you can’t be FOTY if you’re not active. From there, we took a look at who they beat and the headlines they made to qualify each. Where applicable, we’ve got odds on their upcoming fights.
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1. Conor Mcgregor
2016 Record: 2-1, 2 KOs
Next Fight:
In terms of cultural impact, McGregor is an obvious choice. He’s like the sport’s own Donald Trump - any move he makes - from getting a boxing license down to a single tweet - immediately becomes front-page news on any MMA outlet and even ESPN. He’s so damn popular that even his coach wrote an autobiography to cash in.
In the fight world, he became the first man in history to simultaneously hold belts in two weight classes. And he won both titles by embarrassing the men who held them - a 13-second knockout of the featherweight GOAT Jose Aldo and an utter domination of the respected Eddie Alvarez. It’s insane how easy he made it look against elite competition.
What holds him back is his loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196. Sure, he got that one back - but it was a close fight that wasn’t even a UD. There are other fighters on this list who went undefeated in 2016, which keeps Mystic Mac from being a unanimous choice. Still, he became the biggest star in UFC history, something that we can’t ignore.
2. Donald Cowboy “Cerrone”
2016 Record: 3-0, 2 KOs, 1 SUB
Next Fight: TBA
After getting starched by Rafael Dos Anjos in his first and only lightweight title shot, Cerrone announced his plans to fight at 170 pounds. To many, it seemed like “Cowboy” had conceded that he would probably never win a 155-pound strap and was prioritizing fun fights over contendership.
He made his welterweight debut in 2016, cruising to a first-round win over blown-up lightweight and Alex Oliveira. That was to be expected. But he the went out and demolished Patrick Cote and Rick Story - the latter a top-10 fighter - to vault up to No. 5 in the divisional rankings.
The assumption for a fighter moving up in weight is that he’ll have a more difficult time dealing with bigger guys. Cerrone debunked that common train of thought completely and is now on the cusp of a title shot.
3. Michael Bisping
2016 Record: 3-0, 1 KO
Next Fight: TBA
We all thought that Bisping was destined to be an excellent fighter who just didn’t have the goods to be a champion. He lucked into a title shot against rival Luke Rockhold after Chris Weidman pulled out with an injury, and with just two weeks notice he pulled through as a -550 underdog to notch the biggest major upset this year.
The rest of his 2016 resume is impressive, yet ironically an argument against him winning the award. The Brit beat two of the sport’s greatest legends, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva, easily the most illustrious scalps of his long and storied career. But the versions he beat were long past their primes - Hendo was 46 when he lost and Silva still hasn’t won a fight since 2012.
Honorable Mentions
Max Holloway recently became the first man to stop Anthony Pettis inside the distance, securing the interim featherweight championship. However, that was only his second fight of 2016 - largely due to the holding pattern caused by McGregor for much of the year.
Amanda Nunes is scheduled to defend her title against Ronda Rousey next week. Should she emerge the victor (and I think she will), that would conclude a 2016 where she beat contender Valentina Shevchenko, retired Miesha Tate to capture the belt and defeated the biggest star in women’s MMA history.
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