There was a lot of competition for 2017’s MMA Fighter of the Year.
Our longlist for the award was over a dozen strong, so we had to get ruthless in the cutting department.
Straight away, we ruled out ‘Borrachinha’, James Vick and – this might not be the most popular decision – Darren Till.
Paulo Costa got the axe because his biggest win came against Johnny Hendricks, who was 3-6 in his last nine outings heading into the bout. Vick’s three-straight finishes at lightweight were impressive, but none of them came against ranked opponents. As for Till, people may have forgotten this, but he missed weight by five pounds for his comeback fight in May.
Rafael dos Anjos had an amazing year, notching up three-straight wins against ranked opponents, including a fice-round domination of former champion Robbie Lawler. However, the standard was so high this year, he just about misses out.
Onto the big guns.
Francis Ngannou has set up one of the most anticipated heavyweight title fights in years and his two first round finishes in 2017 were outstanding. However, Andrei Arlovsi just isn’t as big of a scalp as he used to be. He’s 1-5 in his last six with his sole win this year against Junior Albini being a genuine contender for 2017’s dullest fight.
Time to knock off one of the biggest guns imaginable. Demetrious Johnson, you’re out of here! While breaking Anderson Silva’s consecutive title defence record was one hell of an achievement, it’s a career feat, not an annual one. His two wins came against Wilson Reis and Ray Borg who were worthy worthy challengers in their own right. Although, it’s fair to say they were not the toughest opponents ‘Mighty Mouse’ has ever faced.
Ngannou and Johnson won’t walk away empty handed – well, they will, we don’t actually hand out statues for these awards – they both fully deserve their respective knockout and submission of the year accolades.
https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/926551033928671232
And then there were three.
It was really tough to not give it to Max Holloway. Not only did he become the first man to beat Jose Aldo twice, but he also restored some much-needed order to the featherweight division.
While defeating Aldo again was impressive in itself, the fact that he did so while circling in the opposite direction from their first fight was simply mind-blowing. If you want more on that, check out Luke Thomas’ fantastic breakdown of that fight.
The thing is, the rematch was booked six months after their first encounter. Aldo simply did not have enough time to make the requisite adjustments to pose any real problems. Not that it would have likely mattered anyway. It would have been incredibly difficult to predict the mirror-image Holloway that showed up in the Octagon.
Likewise, Volkan Oezdemir was extremely unlucky to miss out on the top spot. In February, he was a relative unknown making his promotional debut on short notice. By summer, he earned himself a title shot after scoring three consecutive wins against ranked opponents, two of which were sensational first round knockouts.
He is, however, a victim of the lack of depth in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. There are only a handful of weight classes in which a fighter could secure himself a crack at the belt after just three outings.
Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for.
Our pick for 2017 fighter of the year is UFC middleweight champion:
Robert Whittaker
The champ.
This soft-spoken, unassuming Australian killer had his best ever year as a martial artist in 2017. After winning his first five fights since moving up to middleweight, he was handed a huge step-up in competition in the form of former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo Souza. ‘Jacare’s only loss in his previous 11 outings was a controversial split decision defeat to Yoel Romero.
Despite being massively outmatched in the size and grappling department, Whittaker fought a tactically perfect fight. His takedown defence was superb, he utilised his speed advantage and his striking prowess to light the legend up. That stellar finish was Jacare’s first knockout loss in nearly a decade.
His next challenge was perhaps the most terrifying one the division could throw at him – an interim title shot against Yoel Romero, who was unbeaten in the UFC prior to the fight and was coming off a frightening flying knee knockout of former champion Chris Weidman.
Again, Whittaker rose to the occasion and soundly defeated the Cuban monster via unanimous decision. Then-champion Michael Bisping entered the Octagon to hype a unification bout that would never come. After George St-Pierre usurped ‘the Count’s throne, he came face-to-face with Whittaker backstage.
Middleweight Title Fight GSP vs WHITTAKER Montreal @danawhite @GeorgesStPierre @ufc
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) November 13, 2017
Unfortunately, GSP would vacate the title before defending it, citing a medical condition as the reason for walking away. So, Whittaker lost out on not one, but two huge paydays in 2017. Instead, his first defence will be against Luke Rockhold in Perth.
It will undoubtedly be a memorable homecoming for Whittaker, but Rockhold doesn’t have GSP or Bisping’s drawing power. Who knows if he will ever get that deserved marquee fight for taking such a tough route to the zenith.
We won’t forget what he did in 2017 though. He’s a worthy winner because of what he’s achieved under such unforgiving conditions.
