Men’s Fighter of the Year: Demetrious Johnson

The “safe” pick for this award is probably Chris Weidman, but Johnson eeked it out for us, having defeated three quality challengers and putting the icing on the cake by stopping Joseph Benavidez by KO in the first round.  Not only that, but Johnson was the top-ranked Flyweight for the entire calendar year.  He is well on his way to surpassing the three-headed Japanese dragon (Yamaguchi, Urushitani, Kojima) in the All-Time Flyweight rankings.  Some would argue that he has shot past them already, but for us, he needs more tenure in the division.

2nd Place: Chris Weidman

Many will doubt one of his wins against Silva and some would doubt both, but you can’t argue that he scored two official wins over one of the top two or three greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

3rd Place: Cain Velasquez

Solid contender “Bigfoot” Silva and easily the next-best in the division, Junior dos Santos, really had nothing for Velasquez in the two 2013 matchups with the champion.  Velasquez is now one of the top several Heavyweights in history and it will be interesting to see how close he can come to the legendary Fedor.

Women’s Fighter of the Year: Ronda Rousey

Rousey, a repeat winner, defended her universally recognized title twice in the calendar year.  Although by our ratings, she didn’t face the strongest contenders available — actually not even close, Rousey remained #1 by a wide margin for the entire year in the strongest division in Women’s MMA.

2nd Place: Barb Honchak

Perhaps forgotten about, in 2013, Honchak scored strong victories against the currently ranked #2 and #3 fighters in her division.  She also won and defended the only title in the division that actually matters.  It’s tough to do more than that.

3rd Place: Cris Cyborg

Cyborg returned from inactivity to go 2-0 on the year and again, prove that she is easily the best fighter in her division.  Here’s hoping she can somehow shed 10 pounds and make the fight with Rousey happen sometime in the near future.

Most Noteworthy Match of the Year: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva II

No surprise here.  A rematch consisting of undefeated, defending champion Chris Weidman against one of the greatest fighters in history, Anderson Silva.  Not much more needs to be said on the matter.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva I, Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos III

Most Improved Fighter of the Year: Albert Tumenov

The future looks bright for 22 year old, Albert Tumenov.  Previous to this year, the recent UFC signee was making a career out of fighting and beating unknowns.  Now 12-1, Tumenov took out a respectable journeyman in Yasubey Enomoto, to become a Top 75 fighter in a packed Welterweight division.

Honorable Mentions: Mateusz Gamrot, Derek Anderson

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Ryan LaFlare

Guys like LaFlare wreak havoc on the ratings — but that’s OK.  Almost three years of professional inactivity didn’t seem to affect him at all.  He increased his level of opposition significantly and rattled off four wins, three of which were in the UFC.  Way to go.

Honorable Mention: Yancy Medeiros

To qualify, fighters cannot have had a fight in the previous year or are coming off injury that caused inactivity of 15+ months.

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: Phil Davis UD(3) Lyoto Machida

I begrudgingly dub this most noteworthy upset of the year.  Not only was this a big upset by points, but it was an upset that never should have happened.  With the judges asleep at the wheel, we saw Davis get an incredibly dubious decision against Machida.  How upsetting.

Honorable Mentions: Antonio Silva KO(3) Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira UD(3) Rashad Evans

Most Lopsided: Celine Haga UD(2) Naho Sugiyama

Although Sugiyama was coming off her first loss against Penne, having finally left Japan.  Who saw this?  Haga, formerly 3-11, beats Sugiyama, 8-1, after “Sugi Rock” returns to the comfortable confines of Japanese soil.

Honorable Mentions: Phil Davis UD(3) Lyoto Machida, Rustam Khabilov UD(3) Jorge Masvidal

Men: Steve Mocco

After going 3-0 on the year, with two of those wins coming by stoppage, Mocco has gained a respectable ranking (#87) at the year-end.  His wrestling pedigree is sure to see him vault higher up the rankings, but will his lack of height create an issue against the division’s giants?

Honorable Mentions: Mikhail Gazaev, Magomed Biboulatov

Women: Livia Renata Souza

Although listed as a Strawweight by Sherdog’s Fight Finder, she toiled in the barren wasteland that is the Women’s Flyweight division and managed to amass five wins against no losses in 2013.  Those performances accumulate to earn her a #6 ranking at year’s end.

Honorable Mentions: Faith Van Duin, Alida Gray