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The awards below are equation-guided and have been awarded by FightMatrix to fighters, based on their career results and its relation to the FightMatrix rating system.
Older awards were populated retroactively at their creation, using a manner similar to that in which we’d use for future awards. In these cases, the text will be presented in italics.
Keep in mind, that annual awards strictly adhere to the calendar year. This is especially important for the “fighter of the year” awards where things like rank position are considered.
FightMatrix Fighters of the Year
The “Fighter of the Year” award looks back on the entire year as a whole and the fighters’ ranking position held and performances within it. Further credit given for type of wins, and activity.
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| 1993 | Royce Gracie | Ken Shamrock | Masakatsu Funaki |
| 1994 | Ken Shamrock | Royce Gracie | Manabu Yamada |
| 1995 | Ken Shamrock (#2) | Bas Rutten | Dan Severn |
| 1996 | Bas Rutten | Jay R. Palmer | Masakatsu Funaki |
| 1997 | Masakatsu Funaki | Bas Rutten | Yuki Kondo |
| 1998 | Frank Shamrock | Semmy Schilt | Guy Mezger |
| 1999 | Semmy Schilt | Kazushi Sakuraba | Matt Hughes |
| 2000 | Nate Marquardt | Alexandre Franca Nogueira | Tito Ortiz |
| 2001 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Tito Ortiz | Alexandre Franca Nogueira |
| 2002M | Matt Hughes | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Murilo Bustamante |
| 2002F | Yuka Tsuji | - | - |
| 2003M | Fedor Emelianenko | Randy Couture | Matt Hughes |
| 2003F | Jennifer Howe | - | - |
| 2004M | B.J. Penn | Fedor Emelianenko | Matt Hughes |
| 2004F | Yuka Tsuji (#2) | Megumi Yabushita | Roxanne Modafferi |
| 2005M | Takanori Gomi | Mauricio Rua | Matt Hughes |
| 2005F | Yuka Tsuji (#3) | Hisae Watanabe | Satoko Shinashi |
| 2006M | Chuck Liddell | Fedor Emelianenko | Shinichi Kojima |
| 2006F | Tara LaRosa | Hisae Watanabe | Megumi Fujii |
| 2007M | Anderson Silva | Quinton Jackson | Randy Couture |
| 2007F | Tara LaRosa (#2) | Megumi Fujii | Yuka Tsuji |
| 2008M | Anderson Silva (#2) | Miguel Torres | Thiago Alves |
| 2008F | Megumi Fujii | Gina Carano | Cristiane Santos |
| 2009M | Georges St. Pierre | Lyoto Machida | Mike Brown |
| 2009F | Tara LaRosa (#3) | Megumi Fujii | Sarah Kaufman |
| 2010M | Georges St. Pierre (#2) | Jose Aldo | Dominick Cruz |
| 2010F | Cristiane Santos | Megumi Fujii | Sarah Kaufman |
| 2011M | Jon Jones | Anderson Silva | Frankie Edgar |
| 2011F | Naho Sugiyama | Miesha Tate | Sarah Kaufman |
| 2012M | Ben Henderson | Jon Jones | Cain Velasquez |
| 2012F | Ronda Rousey | Ayaka Hamasaki | Jessica Penne |
FightMatrix Most Improved Fighter of the Year
| Year | Fighter |
| 2011 | Michael Chandler |
| 2012 | Joshua Sampo |
Based on increase in rank (and points as a tie-breaker) from the end of the previous year.
FightMatrix Comeback Fighter of the Year
| Year | Fighter |
| 2011 | Shinichi Kojima |
| 2012 | Georges St. Pierre |
Fighters cannot have had a fight in the previous year or are coming off of injury that caused an inactive period of 15+ months.
FightMatrix Rookies of the Year
One men’s fighter prior to 2010. One men’s and one women’s fighter for 2010 and after.
| Year | Fighter |
| 1995 | Ricardo Morais |
| 1996 | Jay R. Palmer |
| 1997 | Randy Couture |
| 1998 | Sergio Melo |
| 1999 | Mamoru Yamaguchi |
| 2000 | Kazuyuki Fujita |
| 2001 | B.J. Penn |
| 2002 | Yoshinori Momose |
| 2003 | Ansar Chalangov |
| 2004 | Mark Hunt |
| 2005 | Jake Ellenberger |
| 2006 | Jamal Patterson |
| 2007 | Bryan Baker |
| 2008 | Jon Jones |
| 2009 | Joe Warren |
| 2010 | Cole Konrad (M) / Liz Carmouche (F) |
| 2011 | Sultan Aliev (M) / Ronda Rousey (F) |
| 2012 | Smealinho Rama (M) / Joanne Calderwood (F) |
Prior to 2011, fighter must debut in and have three pro fights in the calendar year. In 2011, rules changed to allow fighter to have a maximum of 1 pro fight in the year previous to award year. This fight would also count toward the three pro fight requirement.
FightMatrix Most Noteworthy Match of Year
Analyzed at year-end, looking back at the most noteworthy match of the year based on cumulative rank strength of the involved fighters.
| Year | Match |
| 2002 | Jens Pulver vs. B.J. Penn |
| 2003 | Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |
| 2004 | Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira III |
| 2005 | Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko Filipovic |
| 2006 | Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes |
| 2007 | Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre |
| 2008 | Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson |
| 2009 | Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn |
| 2010 | Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar |
| 2011 | Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II |
| 2012 | Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos II |
In ties, preference given to stronger division. No contests excluded.
FightMatrix Most Noteworthy Upset of Year
Analyzed pre-bout, the largest difference (X minus Y) between raw rating points, normalized by division.
| Year | Match |
| 2004 | Mark Hunt SD(3) Wanderlei Silva |
| 2005 | Sam Greco TKO(1) Heath Herring |
| 2006 | Mark Coleman TKO(1) Mauricio Rua |
| 2007 | Matt Serra TKO(1) Georges St. Pierre |
| 2008 | Frank Mir TKO(2) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |
| 2009 | Mamed Khalidov TKO(1) Jorge Santiago |
| 2010 | Fabricio Werdum SUB(1) Fedor Emelianenko |
| 2011 | Robert Peralta SD(3) Hiroyuki Takaya |
| 2012 | Joshua Sampo UD(3) Antonio Banuelos |
FightMatrix Most Lopsided Upset of Year
Analyzed pre-bout, the largest proportional difference (X divided by Y) between raw rating points.
| Year | Match |
| 2004 | Mark Hunt SD(3) Wanderlei Silva |
| 2005 | Sam Greco TKO(1) Heath Herring |
| 2006 | Tristan Yunker SUB(1) Clay Guida |
| 2007 | Gabriel Gonzaga KO(1) Mirko Filipovic |
| 2008 | Junior dos Santos TKO(1) Fabricio Werdum |
| 2009 | Marius Zaromskis TKO(1) Hayato Sakurai |
| 2010 | Jadamba Narantungalag UD(3) Akihiro Gono |
| 2011 | Robert Peralta SD(3) Hiroyuki Takaya |
| 2012 | Ilir Latifi UD(3) Tony Lopez |
Certain fights are excluded from upset records, including those with a loser who was inactive or outside the Top 20 (approximate) and previously undefeated/inactive winners.
[...] MMA Awards [...]
At last check.. #16.
Where does Igor rank on your all-time heavyweights list for this site?
I wonder because his name rarely is brought up when it comes to former elite heavyweights.
I found the lack of Wanderlei Silva and CroCop even more disappointing.
I’m not sure Vovchanchyn was ever Top 5 in that win streak. Hard to be considered fighter of the year in that case..
The lack of any Igor Vovchanchyn is very disappointing. At some point during that 30 fight winning streak he had to be relevant.
User error. This is not dynamically populated. I double-checked my entries and they were incorrect. I did it fast yesterday.. as stated, its in beta still.
I am curious what led to some of the changes on the Fighter of the Year list. How did Fedor Emelianenko go from being Fighter of the Year for 2005 to not being in the top 3? I think I am remembering yesterday’s list correctly.