Sherdog.com’s 2016 Year-End Awards: The Complete List
Another memorable year has come and gone in the sport of mixed
martial arts. Though Bellator
MMA, the
World Series of Fighting,
Rizin Fighting Federation, One
Championship and
Invicta Fighting Championships all made moves, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship once again dominated the
headlines; and change became an operative word.
It started with UFC 195 on Jan. 2 and finished with UFC 207 on Dec. 30. Within the confines of those 12 months, Zuffa sold the UFC to WME-IMG for an eye-popping $4 billion and ushered in a new era for MMA’s premier organization. Matchmaker Joe Silva, play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg and others with longstanding ties to the promotion said their goodbyes.
The winds of change also blew inside the cage. Seven of the 10
weight classes saw their titles switch hands, some of them more
than once. Fabricio
Werdum, Luke
Rockhold, Robbie
Lawler, Eddie
Alvarez, Rafael dos
Anjos, Dominick
Cruz, Holly Holm
and Miesha Tate
were all dethroned. Meanwhile, at 145 pounds, Conor
McGregor was stripped of his championship two weeks after
becoming the company’s first simultaneous two-division titleholder.
Only Daniel
Cormier, Demetrious
Johnson and Joanna
Jedrzejczyk were safe at the top.
The spaces in between were filled with fights that stretched the bounds of what was thought possible, bone-jarring knockouts, slick submissions, judging controversies, athletic commission shenanigans and the rise of new stars that will help carry the combat sports torch into a promising but unknown future.
A complete rundown of Sherdog.com’s 2016 Year-End Awards:
• Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Fight of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Knockout of the Year by Todd Martin
• Submission of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Story of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Beatdown of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Event of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Breakthrough Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Robbery of the Year by Todd Martin
• Round of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Upset of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Comeback Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• All-Violence Team by Jordan Breen
It started with UFC 195 on Jan. 2 and finished with UFC 207 on Dec. 30. Within the confines of those 12 months, Zuffa sold the UFC to WME-IMG for an eye-popping $4 billion and ushered in a new era for MMA’s premier organization. Matchmaker Joe Silva, play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg and others with longstanding ties to the promotion said their goodbyes.
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The spaces in between were filled with fights that stretched the bounds of what was thought possible, bone-jarring knockouts, slick submissions, judging controversies, athletic commission shenanigans and the rise of new stars that will help carry the combat sports torch into a promising but unknown future.
A complete rundown of Sherdog.com’s 2016 Year-End Awards:
• Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Fight of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Knockout of the Year by Todd Martin
• Submission of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Story of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Beatdown of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Event of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Breakthrough Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Robbery of the Year by Todd Martin
• Round of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Upset of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Comeback Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• All-Violence Team by Jordan Breen
More