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: Daniel Cormier

I like easy decisions.  Cormier picked up three wins, all in title fights and is now a double champion.  What more can you ask for?

Runner-Up: Khabib Nurmagomedov

After Cormier, it gets fuzzy.. you’re basically looking for fighters with two or more wins in major title fights and Nurmagomedov fits the bill.

3rd Place: Dustin Poirier

Wins over two highly ranked fighters in a calendar year is a larger rarity than you might think and I hate considering fighters for such a distinction if they only fought once.  Poirier had about as good of year as you can, without challenging for or defending a major title.

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

Only two fights in the calendar year, but is now a double champion and cemented her place in the Top 3 All-Time (Women).

Runner-Up: Valentina Shevchenko

Like Nunes, she only fought twice in 2018, but also like Nunes, beat one of the best female fighters of all-time and picked up a championship in doing so.

3rd Place: Jessica Andrade

The third position isn’t as definitive as the top two, as you argue other fighters here, such as Ayaka Hamasaki.  However, Andrade has probably established herself as the best non-champion on the female side of the sport.

Men: Rafal Kijanczuk

You can’t argue with a 7-0 record in a calendar year and his opposition has been very good for a rookie fighter.  We got the most recent win in the DB just a few minutes ago, so I expect him to get in or near the Top 100 on the next update.

Honorable Mentions: Khamzat Chimaev

Women: Kayla Harrison

It is tough to get excited over a fighter without an officially recognized division, but her 2018 performances have been good enough to net her this award.

Honorable Mention: Kay Hansen

Most Noteworthy Match of the Year:

Henry Cejudo SD(5) Demetrious Johnson

The “most noteworthy” match of the year isn’t about box office or popularity, instead it is a pretty basic calculation — a sum of quality.  This year’s choice is hard to argue against.. a #1 P4P fighter vs. a strong top contender for “the” title.  It is a shame that Johnson is going to One, where it seems his career will likely wither away.

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: Magomed Magomedkerimov

Magomedkerimov comes back in 2018 from nearly 2 years of inactivity, puts up a 5-0 record for 2018 and wins the $1 million prize over Ray Cooper III, who is our most improved fighter of the year.  Chad Mendes had this award in the bag, but his recent loss and retirement freed up the award.

Most Improved Fighter of the Year: Ray Cooper III

A relative unknown, Ray Cooper III went from a basically unranked fighter, to a Top 50 fighter.  Cooper and Magomedkerimov fed off of each other in these awards to some extent, but both are deserving.

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: Vadim Nemkov SD(3) Phil Davis

Nemkov, a virtual unknown, manages to take a close decision over the perennial Top 10, Phil Davis.

Most Lopsided: Jared Cannonier TKO(2) David Branch

About 2.5 years prior, Cannonier fought at 241 pounds.  Here, in his Middleweight debut, pulled off quite an impressive upset.