1. Rafael dos Anjos: One step closer to being a two-division champion after absolutely embarrassing Robbie Lawler and made him look, dare I say it, old.
2. Billy Joe Saunders: Absolutely embarrassed David Lemieux in front of his home crowd. It was never even a contest and he teed him up from the first round.
3. Jeff Horn: Capping off a pretty damned good 2017 for Horn, he outclassed Gary Corcoran until his corner stopped it in the 11th round. A date awaits with Terence Crawford in what will be a much more challenging 2018.
4. Alexander Povetkin: Is now a mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua after defeating Christian Hammer in Russia on Saturday.
5. Paiti Fontes/Talita Alencar/Jena Bishop/Raquel Canuto/Jessica da Silva Oliveira/Caio Terra/Joao Miyao/Osvaldo Augusto/Renato Canuto/Josh Hinger/Keenan Cornelius/Roberto Torralbas/Lucas Barbosa/Roberto Abreu: Your 2017 IBJJF No-Gi Black Belt gold medal winners. Extra credit to Barbosa and Oliveira for winning their absolute divisions.
6. Katie Taylor: The Irish gold-medalist made the first defense of her world title, defeating Jessica McCaskill and is now a defending champion.
7. Ricky Simon: It was a prospect vs. veteran battle for the LFA bantamweight crown. It was the prospect in Simon that took it to Camus over five rounds, and outworked him for a wide win on the scorecards and is the new LFA Bantamweight champ and should expect a call from the UFC very soon.
8. Jessie Vargas: Took out Aaron Herrera as expected on PBC’s FS1 card as he makes his way back up towards contending for a world title again.
9. Gary O’Connell: Spike battered away at Antoine Douglas, finishing the prospect in a fight he was a big underdog in, nuking Douglas’s status as a would-be champ for the moment and making a big name for himself on the HBO co-main event.
10. Luis Gomez: Slammed his way to the Titan Featherweight Championship at Titan FC 47.
11. Glover Teixeira: HE’S NOT DEAD YET! Glover might be positioned to be put out to stud, but he’s still a dangerous-ass fighter who’s a problem for anyone at 205.
12. Guan Acui: Won the one-night eight-woman Legend of Mulan tournament at Kunlun Fight 68.
13. Michael McDonald: Made a successful Bellator debut, well, except for the missing weight part.
14. Vitaly Minakov: Takes his career record to 21-0 after a 2nd-round TKO of Tony Johnson Jr..
15. Ryan Scope: The new BAMMA lightweight champion after a UD win over Mickael Lebout.
Honorable Mention:
Alexander Matmuratov: And still the Fight Nights Global featherweight champion after a UD win over Evgeniy Ignatiev in the main event of FNG 81
Artur Kyshenko
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