Fight Island 2022 Year End Awards

Our year end awards are here!

Each year, as we watch the various MMA events that are broadcasted we collate a collection of nominees for each of the year end award categories. For 2022, there were 12 ballots (11 if you don’t count the person who put “Robbie Lawler” for each entry on Fighter of the Year and Favorite Fighter and nothing else, but I’m not going to discount someone who votes a straight Brutal Bob ticket). An improvement over the 7 from 2021, but I believe Fight Island can get those numbers up for 2023.

[X] First Place Votes (Y) Total Points Received

1st place votes receive 3.03 points, 2nd place gets 2.02 and 3rd place provides 1.00 points for tie-breaking purposes.

Fighter of the Year

1. Alexander Volkanovski [4] (20.20)

2. Alex Pereira [5] (19.17)

3. Islam Makhachev [1] (7.07)

The Wollongong Wall crushed his challengers for another year. He defended the Featherweight title twice, first battering Chan Sung Jung over 3+ rounds, getting a TKO stoppage inside the first minute of the fourth. He then faced Max Holloway for a third time, completely shutting out the former champ on all three judges' scorecards. He’s got an incredible fight IQ, always comes in with an excellent gameplan, and if he does run into trouble during a fight, he makes necessary adjustments to eliminate the disadvantage he was facing. Dude is basically the Borg Collective: the fighter.

Favorite Fighter

1. 1. Charles Oliveira [4] (12.12)

2. Demetrious Johnson [2] (6.06)

3. Stephen Thompson [1] (5.05)

While the “Do Bronx” experience came to an end in 2022, he was still an exciting fighter who captured the hearts of PSP. He always looks for a finish, whether striking or grappling, and best of all to many, he made Dana mad by missing weight, getting stripped of the title, and then beating Gaethje anyway, keeping the belt vacant.

Fight of the Year

1. UFC 275 - Glover Teixeira vs Jiri Prochazka [7] (22.21)

2. UFC 281 - Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler [1] (12.11)

3. UFC on ESPN 42 - Stephen Thompson vs Kevin Holland [2] (8.08)

Styles make fights, and this was never more evident when Jiri Prochazka brought his unique brand of spinning madman striking to bear against the ageless, glacially slow single legs, heavy hooks and heavier top pressure of Glover Teixeira. Both men badly hurt the other multiple times, both men were on the verge of being finished multiple times, and both men dug deep and fought back to remain in the fight multiple times. For over twenty-four minutes they battled, before finally, Jiri, the Czech Cyclone, secured a rear naked choke to submit Glover for the first time in his storied, centuries-long career.

Best Division

1. Lightweight [4] (20.20)

2. Flyweight [1] (8.07)

3. Featherweight [1] (7.05)

Lightweight remains a horrifying shark tank of a division, if the sharks were made of enraged chainsaws, and each tooth of the saws were, in turn, made of tinier sharks. The top is a group of killers that can beat each other on any given night, and most have already traded wins and losses with each other in some of the best fights inside the cage. Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler, and the new champ, Islam Makachev are all terryfing matchups for any and everyone. Beneil Dariush is lurking, Rafael Fiziev is ready to punch and kick some top five faces, Jalin Turner is on a personal crusade to beat up all the Australians and New Zealanders in the UFC, which shows a unique dedication that has to be admired. Outside the UFC, guys like Usman Nurmagomedov, Tofiq Musayev and AJ McKee could be potential threats as well.

Best Major Show

1. UFC 275 [4] (16.14)

2. UFC 281 [4] (14.14)

3. UFC 270 [0] (7.06)

A main card with an 80% finish rate. Valentina Shevchenko made to look human for once. The 2022 Fight of the Year. UFC 275 brought a ton of action and excitement to the Singapore Indoor Stadium in June.

Performance of the Year

1. Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman [2] (6.06)

2. Bobby Green vs Nasrat Haqparast [2] (6.06)

3. Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway [2] (6.06)

What the fuck? I try not to editorialize too much in the write-ups, but Leon Edwards did not turn in the performance of the year against Usman. He lost 99.99% of the fight and landed a Hail Mary of a head kick. Impressive, yes. Outstanding performance it was not. Congrats, tho.

Anyway, Bobby Green put on a kingly display of slick boxing as he beat the hell out of lil Gastelum, Nasrat Haqparast. Volkanovski closed the door, nailed it shut, bricked over it, hung drywall, painted and put up a nice framed picture of his family on Max’s chances of reclaiming the Featherweight title.

Round of the Year

1. Charles Oliveira vs Justin Gaethje - Round 1 [3] (13.13)

2. Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler - Round 1 [2] (11.08)

3. Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk - Round 1 [0] (6.04)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Charles Oliveira got dropped in a championship fight. He recovered, partly thanks to his conditioning, partly thanks to a lot of fighters not wanting to enter his deadly guard game, punched Justin Gaethje in the face and submitted him. I’m doing those frantic few minutes of action a gross disservice, but that’s because you should watch the round again. It’s probably been at least a day or two since you’ve seen it, so go ahead and correct that and return to the rest of the awards.

Knockout of the Year

1. Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman - headkick [4] (16.16)

2. Demetrious Johnson vs Adriano Moraes - punches and flying knee [3] (13.11)

3. Michael Chandler vs Tony Ferguson - front kick [2] (10.08)

Styles make fights, and there’s no more one-sided match up in all of combat sports history than Leg vs Head. Leg wins a shocking number of encounters. In the waning seconds of the final round, down on all judges' scorecards, with commentary ready to file papers away and head out for a late night meal, Leon Edwards launched a high kick at Kamaru Usman’s head, changing both men’s lives permanently. If this were five years ago, there would be a freeze frame seconds before impact and “Roundabout” by Yes would be playing.

Submission of the Year

1. Jessica Andrade vs Amanda Lemos - standing arm triangle [3] (13.13)

2. Said Nurmagomedov vs Cody Stamann - ninja choke [2] (9.08)

3. Oliver Enkamp vs Mark Lemminger - buggy choke [1] (6.05)

The fighter known as Pile Driver is so incredibly powerful that even with a 3-inch height disadvantage, she still managed to apply and squeeze a standing arm triangle to completion.

Breakout Fighter of the Year

1. Alex Pereira [8] (27.26)

2. Shavkat Rakhmanov [1] (8.07)

3. Jack Della Maddelena [1] (5.05)
   Leon Edwards [1] (5.05)

In 2021, Pereira made his UFC debut. The next year, he’d gone 3-0 and won the Middleweight title after chasing down Israel Adesanya across sports, like a vengeful ghost that is only concerned about battering anime dorks.

Most Improved Fighter

1. Chito Vera [1] (7.07)

2. Benoit Saint-Denis [1] (7.05)

3. Islam Makachev [1] (3.03)
   Angie Hill [1] (3.03)
   Zhang Weili [1] (3.03)
   Larissa Pacheco [1] (3.03)
   Sean O’Malley [1] (3.03)
   Alexander Volkanovski [1] (3.03)
   Roman Dolidze [1] (3.03)

Marlon Vera has decided that enough was enough, it’s time for a change. No longer will he be content to scrape and struggle tooth and nail every fight. Now, he’s just going to wait, often minutes at a time, to throw one deathblow motherfucker of a strike, and it’s working out real well for him, having battered Rob Font into an unrecognizable goblin of a man across 25 minutes, and starching Dominick Cruz dead with a perfectly timed high kick that caught the Dominator flush on the jaw as he dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged as is his wont (Also, see what I said earlier about Legs winning most matchups against Heads?)

Upset of the Year

1. Mike Jackson vs Dean Barry [4] (17.16)

2. Larissa Pacheco vs Kayla Harrison [4] (14.14)

3. Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman [2] (10.10)

Jackson vs Barry was intended to be much worse than an overmatched opponent getting beaten. More than a squash match. It was supposed to be a public execution of a fighter that Dana White had personal beef with. Instead, the firing squad shot their own balls off and fell into a big pile of manure. Dean Barry, overzealous to prove his worth to Dana, could not stop fouling Jackson, getting himself disqualified after a slew of eye pokes and nut shots left Jackson unable to continue.

Comeback of the Year

1. Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman [7] (23.23)

2. Drew Dober vs Terrence McKinney [4] (9.08)

3. Christian Lee vs Kiarim Abbasov [0] (5.04)

Oh how the turns have tabled. Another sixty seconds and Kamaru Usman would have been getting serious Performance of the Year consideration for what he did to Leon Edwards across five rounds. Edwards might have had brief moments of success earlier in the fight, but if you have at any point in your life blinked, you probably missed them. Then bam, the Fire Nation attacked! I mean, Leon kicked Kamaru upside the head!

Worst Fight of the Year

1. Carla Esparza vs Rose Namajunas [10] (33.32)

2. Ryan Bader vs Chieck Kongo [1] (10.09)

3. Logan Storley vs Michael Page [0] (4.02)

NOTHING HAPPENED. For twenty-five interminable minutes, we all got to contemplate our lives, the nature of existence, the looming specter of death, both individually, and for society as a whole, all because Rose refused to do anything and Carla couldn’t do anything. Fuck!

Worst Event of the Year

1. UFC Fight Night 200 [4] (13.12) 2. Bellator 287 [1] (3.03)

2. Dana White’s Contender Series Week 1 [1] (3.03)

Co-Main event Nick Maximov vs Punahele Soriano. Main event Sean Strickland vs Jack Hermansson. Woooooooooof. It’s wild that a card with a fair number of finishes, including Shavkhat’s cool hook kick KO couldn’t save the top being so tedious and horrible.

Foul of the Year

1. Dean Barry vs Mike Jackson - eye gouge and low blow [4] (17.16)

2. Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold - low blow [3] (12.11)

3. Fabricio de Andrade vs John Lineker - low blow [0] (9.06)

The bronze medal just saw a no-contest. The silver medal didn’t even stop the fight from continuing. But congrats, Dean, you not only ended the fight but you lost because of it, you dirty cheating fucker.

Referee Incompetence of the Year

1. Mike Beltran allows Genaro Valdez to get battered across the cage [4] (16.16)

2. Mike Beltran allows Chase Hooper to get battered across the cage [2] (14.14)

3. Mike Beltran stops the fight early after Liz Carmouche’s pitter-pat ground and pound [1] (3.03)
   
   Chris Tognoni, generally speaking [1] (3.03)

Mike Beltran is a man of contrasts. He lusts for blood, but is also way too quick with the trigger. Guess that’s why he’s LASD gang-affiliated!

Judging Incompetence of the Year

1. Doug Crosby, a year of crapulence [3] (10.09)

2. Sal D’amato, what the fuck? [1] (9.09)

3. Paddy Pimblett over Jared Gordon [1] (3.03)
   Josh Emmett over Calvin Kattar [1] (3.03)

Doug Crosby, you absolute hack of a shit. You made commissions hold emergency training seminars for judges because of the garbage you scribble on your scorecards. And yet, despite the clear signs of incompetence, you continue to have a job as a judge, a judgejob. The whole system sucks.

Worst Coaching Gameplan

1. Pat Barry’s revolutionary “do nothing” / “if they’re booing, it means it’s working” strategy [9] (31.31)

2. James Krause using his advanced knowledge of fighters to bet against his own injured guys [1] (5.05)

3. Antonio McKee assuring AJ that he’s up going into the 5th round after AJ spent 20 minutes doing basically nothing [0] (3.02)
   
   Carla Esparza’s team assuring her that Zhang Weili couldn’t outgrapple her, and then Carla immediately getting choked out [0] (3.02)

If the gameplan is to make everyone mad and pissed off through inactivity, congrats to Pat, you concocted the gold standard that all other coaches will look to. If you want your fighter to win, you might need to encourage the fighter to actually fight.

Worst Booking Decision

1. Rizin going 0-5 against Bellator [2] (9.08)

2. Re-booking Maverick vs Young 7 days after Shanna got Covid, then immediately needing to hospitalize her [2] (8.08)

3. Frankie Edgar’s retirement fight [1] (3.03)
   Nate vs Khamzat [1] (3.03)
   Aldo’s retirement fight [1] (3.03)

Sakikabara thought he had the makings of a tremendous cross-over event. Too bad Rizin fell short in every fight, making all their fighters feel instantly inferior to Bellator. Granted, one of the “Bellator” fighters is just a Rizin fighter wearing a different hat for one day, but Kyoji Horiguchi was still a Bellator champ, however briefly.

Dumbest Career Move

1. James “The Gambler” Krause not knowing when to fold ‘em, or just walk away [9] (27.27)

2. Rizin getting steamrolled against Bellator [0] (9.08)

3. Khamzat fucking up his easy payday against Nate by being grossly overweight and nearly scuttling the entire PPV main card [0] (5.04)

“Oooh boy, I just love gamblin! How much you wanna bet that I love to gamble more than you? Fifty bucks? Five hundred bucks? C’mon, let’s make it interesting. Here. I’ll smash Darrick Minner’s knee with a crowbar and send him out to fight, so long as the line on his opponent is good enough!” That’s you, James. You dingus.

Best Post-Fight Interview

1. Chris Barnett [3] (9.09)

2. Renato Moicano [1] (5.05)

3. Tai Tuivasa [0] (1)

Huggy Bear is always high energy, whether it’s the front flip immediately after a KO win, his exuberance on the microphone despite his eyeball being fully swollen shut, or double-fisting beers on his way to the back. Bless this enormous ball of fun and only give him winnable fights for the remainder of his career.

Worst Hype

1. Eagle FC [1] (9.07)

2. Rose “I’m the Best” Namajunas [2] (8.08)

3. Paddy Pimblett [1] (5.05)

From trying to hype up a floppy-armed Junior Dos Santos being a viable challenger for Fedor, to trotting out Thiago “Armed standoff with police” Santos and declare him to be an upstanding family man, Khabib’s Eagle FC has done some gross stuff this year. Not sure if anything is more disgusting than getting attempted double-murderer Irwin Rivera on a card, and letting him talk about how important sleep is, because when you don’t sleep, your bipolar disorder kicks you into a manic episode and you end up stabbing your two sisters. So get some rest!

Best Insult or Trash Talk

1. Renato Moicano’s bleeped out post fight rant [1] (3.03)

2. Soo Chul Kim declaring he will win the fight and get a Nintendo Switch [1] (3.03)

3. Mizuki Inoue speaking on behalf of her brother, warning his opponent to “beat my brother, if you can” [0] (2.02)

Sadly, nobody knows what Moicano said that fateful night, because UFC has determined that violence (both in and outside the consenting confines of the cage), racism, bigotry, and other horrible things are just fine to see and hear, especially in the promotion of a fight, there shall be no cussing. Do you hear me? No cussing in the fight sport!

Soo Chul Kim just wants to play Zelda, man.

Most Overhyped and Underperformed

1. Rose “I’m the Best” Namajunas [4] (16.16)

2. Paddy Pimblett [2] (8.08)

3. Rizin’s performance vs Bellator [1] (3.03)

To be the best, you've got to beat the best. Rose has beat some of the best strawweights, especially in the process of becoming a two-time champion. And yet, when looking to defend her belt, as she proclaimed herself the best, she didn’t just fall short. She leapt from the edge of space and plummeted through the earth’s core.

Comedy in MMA

1. James Krause [2] (10.10)

2. SATAN Mayweather [1] (8.07)

3. Dean Barry vs Mike Jackson [2] (7.06)

Krause got himself banned, nearly got all MMA gambling stopped entirely, and fucked over numerous fighters as they scrambled to find new gyms and camps. But at least he hit his units or whatever gambling terms there are.

Greatest Schadenfreude

1. Kamaru Usman declaring his intentions of moving up TWO weight classes, gets starched by Leon Edwards [1] (8.07)

2. James Krause ruins his life [2] (7.06)

3. Rose “I’m the Best” Namajunas [1] (6.05)
   
   Giga Chikadze says he’s more deserving of a title shot than Korean Zombie, and once he makes short work of Calvin Kattar, will be next in line. Proceeds to get butchered by Kattar’s boxing [1] (6.05)

Kamaru, you fool. You don’t make your plans so blatantly known. The Fight Gods atop Mount Xyience love nothing more than to launch a Cran-Razz flavored lightning bolt of hubris at anyone.

Best Social Media Presence

1. Emily Ducote’s OK Pittie Pack of rescue dogs [2] (8.08)

2. Irene Aldana’s OnlyCats Instagram [0] (5.04)

3. Angela Hill [1] (3.03)
   Jack Slack [1] (3.03)
   Nate Quarry [1] (3.03)

Dogs are good, Ducote’s got many dogs, many good dogs.