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: Conor McGregor

For us, it was a very tight call this year.  But having fought three times, two of which involving some form of the Featherweight title.  It’s hard to deny that McGregor is the fighter of the year for 2015.

Runner-Up: Rafael dos Anjos

The reign of Rafael dos Anjos at Lightweight is starting to look like one that can last a very long time.  Although he only fought twice in 2015 — which is usually the case once a fighter gains a major belt, his presence as a top fighter in the sport is one that sees him as high as #2 on some pound-for-pound lists and #3 on ours.

3rd Place: Demetrious Johnson

Like “Cyborg”, the #3 for Women’s Fighter of the Year, DJ did nothing overly impressive this year, but defended his belt twice in dominant fashion.  He still owns the Flyweight division and lingers toward the top of the pound-for-pound lists.

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: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Won the UFC Strawweight championship and defended it twice.  Not much else to say here as she runs away with the award.

Runner-Up: Holly Holm

A 3-0 year, capped off by stopping Ronda Rousey, winning the championship and (perhaps) cementing herself as the greatest woman in combat sports history.

3rd Place: Cristiane Justino

A relatively dull year, but status quo for her.  Her potential is obviously limited by the division she fights in, but Holm’s comments about considering the idea of fighting Cyborg leaves us hopeful.

Men: Sergey Pavlovich

An impressive 2015 that saw Pavlovich run his record up to 6-0 (all knockouts) and get into the Top 50 at Heavyweight earns him the award.  Take notice that the three honorable mentions are also from Russia.

Honorable Mentions: Vladimir Mineev, Petr Yan, Velimurad Alhasov

Women: Cristina Stanciu

After starting at Bantamweight, she’s now fighting in the “wrong” division (Flyweight) to make waves in the UFC.  Though, it appears likely she can make 115.  She also has the “look” so it if she keeps winning, it may not be too long until she’s in the UFC — maybe on a European card.

Honorable Mention: Kanna Asakura

Most Improved Fighter of the Year: Alex Morono

Morono bursted onto the scene with a perfect 4-0 record in 2015, skyrocketing up the rankings and earning himself a spot on UFC 195.

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: Luke Rockhold TKO(4) Chris Weidman

While not a huge upset by betting odds, Weidman had amassed nearly a 1,000 point lead over Rockhold in the rankings.

Honorable Mentions: Alistair Overeem TKO(2) Junior dos Santos, Uriah Hall TKO(2) Gegard Mousasi, Frank Mir TKO(1) Antonio Silva

Most Lopsided: Uriah Hall TKO(2) Gegard Mousasi

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.

Honorable Mentions: Frank Mir TKO(1) Antonio Silva, Tony Johnson SD(3) Alexander Volkov, Frankie Saenz UD(3) Iuri Alcantara

Most Noteworthy Match of the Year:

Luke Rockhold TKO(4) Chris Weidman

The “most noteworthy” match of the year is a pretty basic calculation — a sum of quality if you will, taking a look back at the fights within the calendar year using the standing of the fighters involved at the end of the year.  In this case, it wasn’t close.  What more can you say?  The twice conquerer of Anderson Silva against the current Middleweight champion and top P4P fighter.  Not much else to say.