Notable Info
- Logic change to more appropriately handle elite fighters coming back from extended and/or multiple neighboring periods of inactivity.
- Community adjustment made for Japanese Men’s population. For more info, see this post.
2016 Awards: Men’s Fighters of the Year
As a recap, most “Fighter of the Year” awards on other sites are really “Breakout Fighter of the Year” awards in that fighters who win, were usually not top fighters in the beginning of the year, but became so by the end of the year.
A fighter like this can and has won our FotY awards, but our award is more about maintaining a high standing during the award year by performing well a sufficient number of times and against a sufficient quality of opponents. It is more comparable to a season MVP in major team sports, not a playoffs/surprise MVP.
Winner: Stipe Miocic
Another fairly tight call, Miocic takes it with a 3-0 year, all being decisive victories with a title win and title defense.
Runner-Up: Michael Bisping
You couldn’t have went wrong putting Bisping at #1, who also went 3-0 with a title win and title defense. The difference being that two of his victories were extremely close against two legends of the sport at the very end of their respective careers.
3rd Place: Demetrious Johnson
DJ gets third place for the second straight year. I’m sure many would expect to see Conor here, but DJ is just one of a few fighters who had two decisive title wins in the year without a loss.
Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Saturday, March 14th 2026: Pancrase - 361 | |||
 [#4 SW] Yuta Miyazawa | [#9 SW] Kanji Funada | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/09/2025 [Pancrase] Last Opponent: [#33 SW] Tateo Iino Last 5: W W L W W | Last Fight Date: 4/27/2025 [Pancrase] Last Opponent: [#52 SW] Takafumi Ato Last 5: W W W W W | ||
| Friday, March 6th 2026: RIZIN 52 | |||
| [#5 W105] Saori Oshima | [#11 W105] Keito Oyama | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#1 W105] Seika Izawa Last 5: W L L W L | Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [NR] Bo Mi Lee Last 5: L W W W W | ||
| Sunday, March 8th 2026: Deep Osaka Impact 2026 1st Round | |||
| [#7 W105] Moeri Suda | [#10 W105] Namiko Kawabata | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/15/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#5 W105] Saori Oshima Last 5: W W W W L | Last Fight Date: 5/25/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#36 W105] Honoka Shigeta Last 5: L L L W W | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#5 LW] |  Justin Gaethje | [#11 LW] |  Paddy Pimblett | |
| [#1 LW] |  Ilia Topuria | [#1 WW] |  Islam Makhachev | |
| [#2 LW] |  Arman Tsarukyan | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [NR] | Khabib Nurmagomedov | [#1 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev | |
| [#3 BW] | Sean OMalley | [#174 MW] | Andrey Pulyaev |
2016 Awards: Women’s Fighters of the Year
As a recap, most “Fighter of the Year” awards on other sites are really “Breakout Fighter of the Year” awards in that fighters who win, were usually not top fighters in the beginning of the year, but became so by the end of the year.
A fighter like this can and has won our FotY awards, but our award is more about maintaining a high standing during the award year by performing well a sufficient number of times and against a sufficient quality of opponents. It is more comparable to a season MVP in major team sports, not a playoffs/surprise MVP.
Winner: Amanda Nunes
Nunes broke all kinds of barriers in 2016… the sexual preference, the woman to retire Tate and possibly Rousey, but to win and defend the title in the same year is “fighter of the year” material.
Runner-Up: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Joanna repeats again at the #2 spot. Like Cyborg, her robotic dominance can sometimes be lost behind the front page, but only fighting twice in a year is a small piece in that unfortunate reality.
3rd Place: Cristiane Justino
A relatively dull year (again), but status quo for her (again). With the 145 division opening up, there’s a chance for her to really start to show her worth, but the recently failed drug test casts a dark cloud over all of that.
2016 Awards: Rookies of the Year
Men: Jose Torres
It is very slim pickings on the men’s side of the award, but Jose Torres made the Top 100 and fought for Titan FC.
Honorable Mentions: Adilson Ramos
Women: Gabi Garcia
She’s a fighter without a division, but one that ran up a 4-0 record. The competition was extremely lackluster, but the early career prospect building system just isn’t there for MMA and especially not for the women.
Honorable Mention: Syuri Kondo, Amber Leibrock
2016 Awards: Most Improved Fighter
Most Improved Fighter of the Year: Emil Weber Meek
Meek pulled off a dominant victory over Rousimar Palhares in the upset of the year and followed it up with a victory of Jordan Mein in the UFC. After averaging a rank of approximately #450 in 2015, he is now a borderline Top 10 fighter in the division with a UFC contract.
2016 Awards: Upsets of the Year
Note: We have two ways that we derive biggest “upsets” based on points difference between winner and loser.
“Most Noteworthy” (X minus Y)
“Most Lopsided” (X divided by Y)
Most Noteworthy: Stipe Miocic KO(1) Fabricio Werdum
Werdum had a massive point advantage over Miocic prior to the fight, but in this case, it meant nothing.
Most Lopsided: Emil Weber Meek KO(1) Rousimar Palhares
This fight is more truer to the definition of an actual “upset” than the one above, but this is why we slice this award in two different ways.
2016 Awards: Most Noteworthy Match of the Year
Most Noteworthy Match of the Year:
Michael Bisping KO(1) Luke Rockhold
The “most noteworthy” match of the year isn’t about box office or the popular scene, instead it is a pretty basic calculation — a sum of quality if you will. Luke Rockhold finds himself in the most noteworthy match for the second straight year, but this time on the losing end. This is also the 4th straight winner in the Middleweight division, which speaks largely of its depth at the elite level.
2016 Awards: Comeback Fighter of the Year
As a refresher, our “Comeback” award is about coming back from inactivity or major injury (that we know about) and in doing so, really impressing. You can see more details at the bottom of the post about specific qualifiers.
Comeback Fighter of the Year: Dominick Cruz
Yet another ACL tear cost Cruz over 15 months away from the sport, but he returned to take the championship by defeating Dillashaw in January. Although Cruz lost the title to Garbrandt at the very end of 2016, it’s hard to argue a better candidate for this award.
Honorable Mention: Khabib Nurmagomedov
To qualify, fighters must be in an active status at the end of the award year and did not have a fight in the previous calendar year or are coming off of a known major injury that caused an inactive period of 15+ months.
Fight Matrix Program – UFC 207: Nunes/Rousey (12-30-2016)
Women Bantamweight (135)
[#1/#2DD/#3P4P] Amanda Nunes (13-4-0, +116) vs. [#2/#5DD/#5P4P] Ronda Rousey (12-1-0, -139)
Amanda Nunes is the All-Time #14 ranked Women’s fighter.
Ronda Rousey is the All-Time #1 ranked Women’s fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Amanda Nunes (3-0-0)
2016-07-09: W vs. [*] Miesha Tate (18-7-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 3:16 of round 1
2016-03-05: W vs. [#4BW/#7DD/#9P4P] Valentina Shevchenko (13-2-0) via UD (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
2015-08-08: W vs. [#6BW] Sara McMann (10-3-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:53 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Ronda Rousey (2-1-0)
2015-11-14: L vs. [#5BW/#10DD] Holly Holm (10-2-0) via KO (Head Kick and Punches) in 0:59 of round 2
2015-08-01: W vs. [#13BW] Bethe Correia (10-2-0) via KO (Punch) in 0:34 of round 1
2015-02-28: W vs. [#12BW] Cat Zingano (9-2-0) via Submission (Straight Armbar) in 0:14 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Amanda Nunes 174, Ronda Rousey 412
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Ronda Rousey leads 8-4
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Bantamweight (135)
[#1/#4P4P] Dominick Cruz (22-1-0, -213) vs. [#9] Cody Garbrandt (10-0-0, +174)
Dominick Cruz is the All-Time #1 ranked Bantamweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Dominick Cruz (3-0-0)
2016-06-04: W vs. [*] Urijah Faber (34-10-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
2016-01-17: W vs. [#2BW/#9P4P] T.J. Dillashaw (13-3-0) via SD (46-49, 48-47, 49-46)
2014-09-27: W vs. [#38BW] Takeya Mizugaki (21-11-2) via KO (Punches) in 1:01 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Cody Garbrandt (3-0-0)
2016-08-20: W vs. [#38BW] Takeya Mizugaki (21-11-2) via TKO (Punches) in 0:48 of round 1
2016-05-29: W vs. [#24BW] Thomas Almeida (21-1-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:53 of round 1
2016-02-21: W vs. [#261BW] Augusto Mendes (5-1-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:18 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Dominick Cruz 209, Cody Garbrandt 132
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 1 win(s) against common opposition.
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Bantamweight (135)
[#2/#9P4P] T.J. Dillashaw (13-3-0, -247) vs. [#5] John Lineker (29-7-0, +199)
T.J. Dillashaw is the All-Time #4 ranked Bantamweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: T.J. Dillashaw (2-1-0)
2016-07-09: W vs. [#21BW] Raphael Assuncao (23-5-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-01-17: L vs. [#1BW/#4P4P] Dominick Cruz (22-1-0) via SD (46-49, 48-47, 49-46)
2015-07-25: W vs. [#16FW] Renan Barao (34-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:35 of round 4
Last 3 Fights: John Lineker (3-0-0)
2016-10-01: W vs. [#10BW] John Dodson (18-8-0) via SD (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
2016-07-13: W vs. [#31BW] Michael McDonald (17-4-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:43 of round 1
2016-05-14: W vs. [#30BW] Rob Font (13-2-0) via UD (30-26, 29-28, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: T.J. Dillashaw 174, John Lineker 90
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: John Lineker leads 1-0
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Current MMA Rankings Updated (12-24-2016)
Notable Info
- Featherweight rankings expanded to Top 500.
MMA’s Most Overrated and Underrated Fighters
Just like every other sport, there are a lot of overrated and underrated fighters in MMA. Since there are so many weight classes in MMA, it can be hard to accurately asses the skills of every professional fighter. This leads to some fighters getting more respect than they deserve while other fighters never get the credit they have earned. These are the fighters that are in my opinion the most overrated and underrated in mixed martial arts right now.
Underrated
Khabib Nurmagomedov
It may be hard to imagine an undefeated fighter as underrated, but Khabib Nurmagomedov has been overlooked on a regular basis during his time in the UFC. Despite easily beating every top contender in the UFC’s lightweight division, Nurmagomedov has never been given a title shot. He has proven that he can beat any professional mixed martial artist, but Nurmagomedov is still only at number 12 on the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. His spot in the rankings is continually too low because he does not own a title, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the fighting ability of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The disrespect he gets in the sport is on display every time he is forced to fight on the undercard of a major UFC pay-per-view despite being one of the best in the world.
Stephen Thompson
In addition to only being defeated one time in his first 15 professional MMA fights, Stephen Thompson has had no problem defeating some of the top contenders in the UFC’s welterweight division. Thompson finally got the title shot he deserved at UFC 205, and he ended up fighting to a draw with champion Tyron Woodley. The 8th best fighter in the UFC was unable to defeat Stephen Thompson, but he is still nowhere to be found on the company’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Fight Matrix Program – UFC Fight Night 103: Waterson/VanZant (12-17-2016)
Women Strawweight (116)
[#17] Paige VanZant (7-2-0, 116.0lb, -115) vs. [*] Michelle Waterson (13-4-0, 115.0lb, -107)
Last 3 Fights: Paige VanZant (2-1-0)
2016-08-27: W vs. [#38SW] Bec Rawlings (7-5-0) via KO (Head Kick and Punches) in 0:17 of round 2
2015-12-10: L vs. [#8SW] Rose Namajunas (5-3-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:25 of round 5
2015-09-05: W vs. [*] Alex Chambers (5-3-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 1:01 of round 3
Last 3 Fights: Michelle Waterson (2-1-0)
2015-07-12: W vs. [*] Angela Magana (11-8-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:38 of round 3
2014-12-05: L vs. [#2AW/#10P4P] Herica Tiburcio (10-4-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 1:04 of round 3
2014-09-06: W vs. [*] Yasuko Tamada (15-10-3) via in of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Paige VanZant 112, Michelle Waterson 524
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Welterweight (171)
[#156LW] Sage Northcutt (8-1-0, 170.0lb, +124) vs. [#1186] Mickey Gall (3-0-0, 171.0lb, -147)
Last 3 Fights: Sage Northcutt (2-1-0)
2016-07-09: W vs. [#359LW] Enrique Marin (9-4-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2016-01-30: L vs. [#37WW] Bryan Barberena (12-3-0) via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) in 3:06 of round 2
2015-12-10: W vs. [#348LW] Cody Pfister (12-6-1) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 0:41 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Mickey Gall (3-0-0)
2016-09-10: W vs. [NA] Phil Brooks (0-1-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:14 of round 1
2016-02-06: W vs. [NA] Mike Jackson (0-1-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 0:45 of round 1
2015-11-21: W vs. [NA] Ron Templeton (0-1-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:53 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Sage Northcutt 161, Mickey Gall 98
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Bantamweight (136)
[#8] Urijah Faber (33-10-0, 136.0lb, -363) vs. [#52] Brad Pickett (25-12-0, 136.0lb, +283)
Urijah Faber is the All-Time #5 ranked Bantamweight and #12 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Urijah Faber (1-2-0)
2016-09-10: L vs. [#3BW] Jimmie Rivera (20-1-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-06-04: L vs. [#1BW/#4P4P] Dominick Cruz (22-1-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
2015-12-12: W vs. [#33BW] Frankie Saenz (11-4-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Last 3 Fights: Brad Pickett (1-2-0)
2016-10-08: L vs. [#15BW] Iuri Alcantara (33-7-0) via Submission (Triangle Choke) in 1:59 of round 1
2016-02-27: W vs. [#53BW] Francisco Rivera (11-7-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2015-07-11: L vs. [#25BW] Thomas Almeida (21-1-0) via KO (Knee) in 0:29 of round 2
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Urijah Faber 98, Brad Pickett 70
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Urijah Faber leads 8-3
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