UFC 2016 Awards: Cage Pages Fighter of the Year

This was the most heated race in years. But Michael Bisping defeated one of the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva, upset his biggest rival, Luke Rockhold, to avenge a loss and win the middleweight title, and avenged his most embarrassing loss in his career to Dan Henderson by preventing him from finishing his career with the middleweight title. If you told somebody last year that Michael Bisping was going to do all of that, you’d probably be locked in a padded cell.

Many will want to say McGregor, other will say Stipe Miocic. However, Nunes is by far the Fighter of the Year. She beats a very game Valentina Schevchenko, chokes Miesha Tate out in the main event of UFC 200 for the belt, and ends the return of Ronda Rousey in such a violent manner that it almost looked like child abuse.

Before this fight, I would have said Stipe Miocic because he had three first round KO’s against top fighters and won then defended the heavyweight belt. But Cody knocked out three fighters in the first round and also became the first fighter in nine years to beat Dominick Cruz. On top of that, he did it in stunning fashion while being a huge underdog. He won a UFC title at 25 which is a huge accomplishment in itself. In the cage, his fighting style is enrapturing and his power for the division makes him one of the most exciting fighters in the game.

Defeating Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, and Ronda Rousey in 2016, Nunes showed improvement in each bout. She has control over one of the most entertaining divisions in the UFC, and she’s earned it.

Weighing in the difficulty of schedule, performances, and circumstances, Michael Bisping stole the show by becoming the most unexpected UFC champion in 2016

Three wins against the best heavyweights on the planet, won the title, defended it, and broke the Cleveland curse all by first-round knockouts.

This dude fought four times in 2016, finishing three of them, and the only one that went to decision won him a title. In my eyes, there was no hotter fighter this year than No Love.

He went from fighting a nobody in February to beating the champion in December. With three knockouts and a close but clear decision against Cruz, he’s easily the Fighter of the Year.

He opened up the year with a 54-second KO and a Performance of the Night over Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195. He then goes into hostile territory and knocks Fabricio Werdum out in round one for another Performance of the Night bonus and the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 198. Finally, he defends the title for the first time in his hometown of Cleveland and knocks Alistair Overeem out in the first round in the Fight of the Night at UFC 203. Three first-round knockouts, three post-fight bonuses, winning and defending the title should earn Miocic the Fighter of 2016.

Three quick knockouts then put on the most impressive performance of the year against a top pound-for-pound fighter.

Absolutely no way should a fighter who was finished in two rounds be fighter of the year. Apologies McGregor fans. Three fights totaling eight minutes and 16 seconds of cage time, three knockouts. Winning the title and defending it. That earns you Fighter of the Year in my books. Bisping has a great story but his wins just don’t stack up.

How can you not give this to the Brit? 10 years in the UFC, Bisping has been through more than any fighter could ever imagine. A controversial yet hard fought win over Anderson Silva, his title-winning knockout over Luke Rockhold, and of course the revenge-worthy win over Dan Henderson, no one was taking this award from ‘The Count.’

Unranked to champ in a year. Fought four times.

Barely beats Bisping and Nunes. He started 2016 unranked to finishing it as champion and beat one of the best in Dominick Cruz.

SILVA, Rockhold, and Henderson…. Murderer’s row and he came back to win two of those fights.

She was incredible all year long.

Four wins. Three of those by way of first round finish. Then a masterful performance, knocking off the best bantamweight in history. Going from unranked to begin the year, to being crowned the 135-pound champ, Cody Garbrandt deserves the title of 2016’s top fighter. While it guts my “Notorious Fanboy” in me to not hand this out to Mr. McGregor for his two-title feat, he did suffer the loss early in the year to Diaz, and therefore dipped below the UFC’s newest champion. Garbrandt is a stud, and he has a bright future ahead that could see him land atop many Fighter of the Year columns in the coming years.

You can’t win a second belt, making history in the process, without being considered for fighter of the year. Critics will point to the fact that he lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, but the fact that he turned around and avenged that loss speaks volumes to who he is as a fighter. He didn’t shy away from the loss, he met it head on. Few fighters ever do that (though to be fair, few get the opportunities McGregor does).

It’s gotta be Mr. Bisping. He did the unthinkable. Entering the year, he was seen as the fighter who was nearing the end of the road and unfortunately never had a chance to win the belt. Now he enters this year as the middleweight champion with a win over the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva, and as the sole owner of the UFC’s wins record. How incredible would it be if he beats Yoel Romero?