In the FightMatrix world, “fighter of the year” is determined by rank strength, divisional strength, and performances within the calendar year.
3rd Place: Miesha Tate
Winning one of the select few women’s titles that matter, Tate only fought one time within 2011 — though that one fight was enough to score her a 3rd place slot on the year.
2nd Place: Cristiane Santos
She remained the top woman in the sport, although like Tate, she also only fought once. Her win, a 0:16 knockout over Yamanaka, the #1 contender who also saw time on the division dominance list, coupled with holding the top spot in the entire sport, was enough to edge out Tate for 2nd place.
1st Place: Naho Sugiyama
Probably not the popular choice in the largely US-based MMA world, but when you look at the real data, it’s hard to argue against this selection. Although fighting in perhaps the weakest division in women’s MMA (though our lowest division runs up to 110lb), Sugiyama went 4-0 on the year, winning the JEWELS GP in this division. Three of her four wins were over fighters currently ranked in the Top 4. In what was a weak MMA year for this gender, Sugiyama gets a lot of love from the FightMatrix system.
Honorable Mention: Sarah Kaufman