MMA Fighting - MMA Fighting's Top 5 Fighters Of The Year

Episode Date: January 4, 2021

Check out the winners for MMA Fighting's 2020 Fighters of the Year. Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. MMA Fighting Presents, our 2020 Fighter of the Year. Number five. Israel, Arasagna. Arasania's year wasn't as spectacular as the one that earned him MMA Fighting's Fighter of the Year honors in 2019, when he beat Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastilum, and Robert Whitaker in an eight-month stretch. But it was impressive enough to land him in the top five. this year. Sure, Israel Adasanya kicked off his run on the wrong foot in 2020 with one of the

most bizarre title defenses in UFC history. Slow, lackluster, you name it, Adasani's decision win over Yowal Romero was historic for bad reasons. He still had his hands raised in the end, and the UFC thought they had the right nemesis to prevent it from happening again. Just like when Chale Sannin was thrown in a cage to challenge Anderson Silva. after some disappointing civil title fights. Undefeated Brazilian knockout artist, Paul Acosta, was thought to be the one to take Adasania to deep waters. Years of trash talk led to one of the biggest rivalries of the year,

and Adasania rose to the occasion. Bolhacchina could hurt the champion with his powerful strikes, some thought, and even threaten him on the ground if he chose to use his black belt in jiu-jitsu against the decorated striker. When they met in the Octagon on September 26th, though, It wasn't even close. With spectacular accuracy and precision,

Adasania dismantled Costa in the second. Unbeaten in 20 professional MMA bouts and running out of challenges at middleweight, the last style bender is expected to move up to light heavyweight in 2021 to challenge Blajovic for the belt, a win that could definitely earn him the number one spot in 2021's Fighter of the Year list. What they want is just want me to stand there.

You come, come here. Why are you running? Come here. No, yeah. You just want me to stand there so you can punch me. I'm not stupid, dummy. I told you, he's dumb. I'm smart. I understand this fucking game. This was my 100th win in combat sports all around. Listen, one fight, two fight, three fight, four fights, five fights, six fights, all the way to a fucking hundred. And I've had over 100 fights. I'm not a fucking baby in this game. I've been in this shit for a long time, for a goddamn long time. And I'm still friends. I'm 31. I look like I'm 26. I'm still fresh. Number four, Charles Olivera. Do Bronx flew under the radar for years while running through everyone the UFC put in front of him, including veterans like Jim Miller and Clay Guida. His current winning streak caught everyone's attention in 2020.

Charles Olivera headlined a UFC show for the first time as a lightweight in February, scoring an impressive submission victory over Kevin Lee inside an empty arena in Brasilia Brazil, the first show affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It took him nine months until he finally fought again, but man, was it worth the weight? The shoot-de-box talent, who was briefly linked to a 155-pound clash with B'Neil Daryouche, but then forced to withdraw, didn't think twice when the UFC started looking for an opponent for Tony Ferguson in December. At last, Olavera had the shot at a big name he had long campaigned for, and he dominated El Kukui in a way no one else had done before, earning a clear decision victory.

The winner of eight in a row in one of the UFC's toughest weight classes, Olavera has finally entered the mix for a chance to claim the gold. At number three, Jan Bolhovic. When 2020 started, everyone would have laughed at whoever, suggested that Jan Blajovich would be the UFC light heavyweight champion by the end of the season. A lackluster win over Jacques-Ré Sousa in November 2019 didn't exactly have fans clamoring for Blahovic to enter the title picture, but the Polish star pulled it off. The 37-year-old veteran, who was only a point short of Holland in MMA fighting's Fighter of the Year list,

avenged a 2015 decision defeat to Corey Anderson in his first appearance in February, knocking him unconscious in just three minutes. With John Jones off of the throne and heading to heavyweight, Wilhovic was in the right place at the right time, finishing Dominic Reyes in the second stanza at UFC 253 to be crowned Poland's second ever UFC title holder. At number two, Kevin Holland. Trailblazer was just three and two under the UFC banner when 2020 started

and didn't even enter the octagon until May, courtesy of the health crisis that took the world by storm. What Kevin Holland was able to do in the final seven months of the calendar earned him a number two spot in this list. In times where the UFC found itself in need for athletes willing and capable of competing during a pandemic, Holland was there. First, he dropped Anthony Hernandez in just 39 seconds. Three months later, Holland finished the future. knockout of the year winner Joaquin Buckley with a right cross. Holland entered the octagon twice in the next couple of months, winning a decision over Darren Stewart and then stopping Charlie on Tveros.

Holland had already exceeded everyone's expectations in 2020, but he was hungry for more. When former Strike Force middleweight champion, Honoldo Sousa, was left without an opponent for the final pay-per-view of the year, Holland answered the call yet again. winning wasn't enough. Holland Gay Jacques Jarre, one of the worst losses of his MMA career,

brutalizing the veteran with one of the best KOs of 2020. 5-0 this year. Are you the fighter of the year in 2020? That's depending on the main event tonight, right? So, if Diego goes out there and, if I hope I'm saying his name right, but if he goes out there and gets the job done, he's fighter of the year. If he somehow, some way, doesn't get the job done,

which would be a little weird to me. I think he should win. Then, yeah, I'm a fighter of the year. Ain't nobody else did this. And you can say competition this and competition that. Change the competition up, it would have been the same thing. And it's not my fault that everybody that I was originally scheduled to fight, caught COVID, got sick, or caught cramps inside their little vagina,

and just couldn't pull up. It's not my fault. And number one, Deveson Figuero. It's hard to imagine a Fighter of the Year award being handed to, an athlete that has missed weight for a championship bout, and hasn't actually won every time he's entered a cage to compete. But Deves and Figurado's perfectly imperfect year was hard to ignore. Deis the Geha started 2020 facing off against Joseph Benevides for the UFC's vacant 125-pound belt. But he stepped on the scale 2.5 pounds over the championship limit.

Benevides still had a chance to be crowned the new king that night in February, but Figurato simply demolished the veteran. The UFC wasted no time booking an immediate rematch, this time for the infamous Fight Island of Abu Dhabi. Figurato had pre-fight issues once again as he dealt with the death of his grandfather and a positive COVID-19 test that prevented him from boarding the UFC chartered flight in Sao Paulo.

credit goes to Figurato and his team who battled the result as a false positive and were eventually proven right, allowing them to arrive in Abu Dhabi with a few days before the official weigh-ins. Figero avoided controversy this time, making weight and stopping Benavides a second time. The first Brazilian man to claim a UFC belt

since Jose Aldo's second reign was then paired up against MMA star Cody Garbrand. but Alex Perez stepped in as a replacement after no love withdrew with an injury. In a stretch of 21 days, Figuero made weight twice and defended his belt against Perez and Brandon Moreno, albeit the second one via a majority draw after an epic 25-minute war. I broke records, Figaro told MMA fighting. I admit, I'm proud of myself for making what I thought wasn't possible. It never crossed my mind that I would make weight twice in 20s.

days. And I did it. I defended my belt. I did the fight of the night. I won two bonuses at the end of the year, so I'm definitely proud of myself. Looking back at the difficulties he faced throughout the year, including hospitalization the night before UFC 256, Figuero sees it all as, quote, the enemy placing barriers in an attempt to stop me, but I believe in God and I broke all those barriers. It was a tough fight, yes, but I walked away with my belt. Figuero said of his draw with Moreno on December 12th. I get in there to put on a show, brother. I get in there with a killer spirit. I want to rip my opponents head off and get out as quick as possible. Figaro doesn't plan on slowing down in 2021. In fact, he's aiming for four more title defenses

and more records broken. Can he do it again? You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.