1. Justin Gaethje: I’ll let Kenny Florian say it best.
2. Shinya Aoki: 2008 lives! Once again, Shinya Aoki is on top of the JMMA lightweight scene, winning the OneFC lightweight title from Eduard Folayang in the biggest event of OneFC’s history at the legendary Sumo Hall via an Aoki-esque submission.
3. Xiong Jingnan: Stopped the meteoric hype train named Angela Lee, and put on a fantastic showing, not just warming the strawweight title for Lee, stopping her in the fifth-round by strikes.
4. Josh Emmett: YOWZA.
5. Oleksandr Gvozdyk: Boxing never ceases to be weird. In his WBC Light Heavyweight title defense, Gvozdyk was expected to rock Doudou Ngumbu, but after four rounds, Ngumbu was upright, but losing, when he suddenly pulled up lame like he pulled a hammy running out a ground ball at first base. After a bizarre break, Ngumbu couldn’t answer the bell and it was inevitably called for Gvozdyk. Yay?
6. Jack Hermansson: That’s three straight finishes for Hermansson, and they’re happening faster and faster. In a fast and furious 49 seconds with David Branch, Hermansson locked on a guillotine for a co-main event win at UFC on ESPN.
7. Brandon Girtz: It was a close one, but it was Girtz getting the best of Saad Awad in the main event of Bellator 219.
8. Liam Smith: Beefy got the better of Eggs, as Smith defeating Sam Eggington in the main event of Saturday’s Matchroom card on DAZN for a WBC secondary strap.
9. Daniel Straus: Sixteen months after a motorcycle accident that left him unable to move and unable to walk for eight months, Straus returned to the Bellator cage and notched a first-round win over Shane Kruchten.
10. Timofey Nastyukhin: Welp, time catches up to us all, and it looks like the wars and years have caught up to Eddie Alvarez, as it’s hard to imagine him getting finished by Nastyukhin even a couple years ago, but alas, here we are. Credit to Nastyukhin for spoiling the debut of Alvarez to OneFC.
11. Roberto Abreu: Another black belt superfight win for Cyborg, this time decisioning Luiz Panza in the main event of Fight To Win Pro 106 in Ft. Lauderdale.
12. Karen Antunes: Upset Talita Alencar in the co-main of Fight To Win Pro 106 to become the new women’s flyweight champion, and a Fight of the Night bonus doesn’t hurt, either.
13. Robbie Davies Jr.: Defended his BBBofC Junior Welterweight strap in the co-main of Saturday’s Matchroom DAZN card.
14. Vinicius de Jesus: Unseated Jeremiah Wells by unanimous decision to become CES Welterweight champion on UFC Fight Pass.
15. Derrick Krantz: Knocked out Justin Patterson in the first-round of their main-event scrap at LFA 63.
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