UFC 2016 Awards: Cage Pages Callout of the Year

All the way to Romero’s “I love you Michael” and Bisping’s constant defiant attitude with the flipping of the bird, and Romero’s bone chilling “see you soon, boy.” This was one of the most entertaining callouts of the year, and I can’t wait to see what the UFC cuts from this for a promo when the fight is scheduled.

Not for the reasons you may think. It’s admirable for Gall to call out a veteran of the sport, one of the best welterweights to do it, and a fight that really would be some fun. The reason I chose this was for Hardy’s response. He turned it down because he didn’t want to beat up someone who could be a future champion and derail his journey. Basically, Hardy responded with a “come on, son. Cut it out.” and it was AWESOME.

I loved TJ Dillashaw’s call out of Dominick Cruz at UFC 207. I believe TJ should have been granted an immediate rematch, but instead, he starts knocking off the contenders that Cruz should have been fighting for him. The callout was one of the few callouts that actually made sense and was reasonable because he deserved it.

A callout is only worthwhile if it’s backed up. Cody Garbrandt had been angling for a title shot with Dominick Cruz for months, then made his callout count. The verbal warfare between the two was matched in the Octagon, and while many were laughing at Garbrandt beforehand, it was “No Love” who laughed last at UFC 207.

“Jose Waldo.” For a guy who has been in the shadow of the established names at featherweight, Max got everyone talking in calling out Aldo in such a manner and he’s added buzz what otherwise could have been stale pre-fight promotion.

Romero had just destroyed one of the best fighters in his division, and him saying he loved Bisping was a golden touch.

Just one fight after Dillashaw dismantled John Lineker, likely securing himself the next shot at the bantamweight title, Garbrandt won the 135 strap himself, and afterward had a not-so-subtle announcement for the number one contender. “TJ Dillashaw, come find me motherf***er!”

An intelligent call out that resulted in a win for Gall, he called Sage corny and said he wanted to knock the spikes out of his hair.

After becoming the interim featherweight champion following a third-round TKO over Anthony Pettis, Holloway called out Jose Aldo in his post-fight interview, calling him “Jose Waldo” and tried to get it trending on social media as a hashtag.

Has to be Diaz “You’re taking everything I’ve worked for motherf***er”

Not once but twice called out his man and submitted them both. Take notes young fighters. That’s how you build a brand.

I know what you’re thinking, Nate Diaz’s epic call-out of Conor McGregor speaks leaps and bounds above Khabib’s! However, since being played the pawn in the McGregor vs Alvarez fight, Khabib has clearly been frustrated with the UFC, this mix of English and Russian in his post-fight interview emphasized this and was bad-ass, to say the least.

Gall calling out Northcutt and then subbing him later that year. He knew what he had to do stay relevant.

UFC 205, Conor/Chicken, Irish 6 million/Russia 150 million. The speech itself was funny. He even put Joe Rogan on the spot asking if Rogan thinks he deserves a shot. He called out Conor and you could even say he called out the UFC a little for their heavy favoritism of Conor.

“SEE YJOU SOOM BOY” –That was such an amazing post-fight promo. The Soldier of God MARCHING in NY after SMASHING Chris Weidman and jumping out of the cage as Michael Bisping stood atop his throne in MSG — nothing beats it.

He called Sage Northcutt corny. Hilarious.

Conor McGregor’s witty jeer at Jeremy Stephens during the UFC 205 presser was brilliant and hilarious, but since it wasn’t an official callout, I suppose I will have to subside from picking him yet again. Instead, I’ll go with the verbal scuffle between Yoel Romero and Michael Bisping at the actual UFC 205 event. Romero just devastated the hometown hero in Chris Weidman, only to follow it up with a painfully funny interaction with “The Count.” From his flamboyant interpreter, to Bisping’s thumbs down and subsequent double “number one sign”, to “I love you, Mike”, this post-fight interaction had it all. Try watching that again and not laughing.

Khabib calling Conor McGregor “your chicken”. “Let’s go with your chicken” had me craving KFC instead of UFC.

In one night, Khabib went from the oft-injured lightweight with no relevant wins to the guy everyone wants to see fight Conor. What made the “chicken” callout even better is the story of Khabib pleading his case for a title shot to Dana White in between rounds of his savage beating Michael Johnson.