1. Kyoji Horiguchi: Horiguchi is in rarified air, holding two titles from two major MMA promotions, becoming the first fighter to do so. For the second time in as many title fights, he defeated Darrion Caldwell, becoming the bantamweight champion in Bellator and Rizin.
2. Rory MacDonald: Well, the Lord may have not wanted for Rory to hurt his opponents, but the Almighty didn’t say anything about dope scrambles! MacDonald went grapple-for-grapple with Neiman Gracie and came out on top, retaining his Bellator welterweight title and advancing to the finals against a man very prone to violence, Douglas Lima.
3. Yuniel Dorticos: Absolutely starched Andrew Tabiti to advance to the finals of the Cruiserweight WBSS against (for now) Mairis Briedis.
4. Josh Warrington: Defended his IBF featherweight title in an uninspiring split-decision against Kid Galahad. He didn’t pick up any new fans with that, but afterwards he said he wants to come to the states to fight another bantamweight champion to unify, so I’m all the way on board with that.
5. Tyson Fury: You can only defeat who is across the ring from you, and Fury did so in emphatic fashion against Tom Schwarz, embarrassing him in the process, stopping him in the second round.
6. Mariana Juarez: Retained her WBC Bantamweight championship in the main event at Plaza de la Mexicanidad in Chihuahua.
7. Lyoto Machida: Put on a royal ass-whipping on Chael Sonnen and ended up retiring him after a stoppage. That’s four in a row for the Dragon, and a title fight has to be next.
8. Joao Gabriel Rocha: Won the enormous heavyweight King of Mats tournament in Moscow at the Abu Dhabis, defeating Kaynan Duarte in the finals.
9. Jordan Burroughs: In the biggest match at the Final X Lincoln for national team qualification, it was Burroughs who got the best of Isaiah Martinez, a two-time national champion at Illinois, and one of the best collegiate wrestlers ever.
10. Nathiely Karoline: Retained her black belt Middleweight title in the main event of Fight To Win 115 with a kneebar over Jessica Flowers.
11. Mairis Briedis: I’ll let Bad Left Hook’s Will Ecto to explain it in detail, but as of right now, Briedis is technically the semifinalist to meet Yuniel Dorticos in the World Boxing Super Series.
12. Stamp Fairtex: In the first of, I’m guessing, many matchups between Fairtex and Alma Juniku, it was Fairtex that retained her OneFC Atomweight muay thai championship in the main event of OneFC: Legendary Quest. They’re only 39 years old combined, so this could be the beginning of an excellent rivalry in women’s kickfighting.
13. Juan Archuleta: Absolutely put to sleep a former Bellator champ in Eduardo Dantas with one second to go in the second round in a knockout of the year candidate. That pretty certainly makes him a contender.
14. Jesse Hart: In a back-and-forth sometimes sloppy bout in the co-main of the ESPN+ card, Hart defeated Sullivan Barrera, and might have earned himself one more crack at super middleweight gold.
15. James Metcalf: Advanced to 20-0 and picked up the vacant British Commonwealth title at 154lbs in the co-main event of Warrington-Galahad.
Honorable Mention:
Sean Santella: Shorty Rock is the new CFFC flyweight champ after a dominant performance in the main event of Cage Fury Fighting Championship 76 on UFC Fight Pass.
Chael P. Sonnen: P is for retirement. Going to the studio full-time is an absolute original and one of the most entertaining athletes of our time. Also, a heck of a fighter.
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