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We had another electric year in the Octagon and across MMA in 2023. A year packed with the usual nonstop violence, upsets, and pure noise. We saw it all. A GOAT retired. A rare competitor reached champion immortality. A super-fight for the ages. Just one bolt after another. You know I gotta hop on here and give some recognition to the warriors who gave us all that entertaining noise. For my third annual MMA Awards, I have 14 awards that show recognition to the best fighters, fights, and moments across a year of violence inside the Octagon. Let's start with the best moments.
2023 didn't deliver us too many epic lines or promos like the year prior, but that worked out to be ok as it allowed me to easily pick this year's winner for Best Line. The female GOAT. The Lioness. Amanda Nunes gave us an electric and emotional retirement promo after her dominating win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289. After layin' down both her UFC titles, Nunes sprang to her feet and shouted "Double champion forever, baby!". An epic line in epic fashion to create an epic moment. Double champion forever. Damn straight! Nothing will take that away from her. One of the greatest feats ever and one of the greatest combat careers ever. She had herself a perfect final bow with that mic drop line to top it off. Enjoy the moment:
video via UFC//X
The winner for Best Walkout was a NO brainer as The Korean Zombie gave us one of the greatest walkouts in MMA history. In his farewell match, in his home-continent Asia (Singapore), to the Cranberries epic "Zombie" track with a mass of his supporters chorusing along... he gave you utter goosebumps. A chill that just wouldn't leave your spine feelin'. The louder the spectators got, the more your hair would rise on your arms. My words do no justice; take a gander yourself:
video via BrytheMMAguy//X
Honorable Mention:
Pantoja over Moreno
O'Malley over Sterling
Pereira over Procházka
We had some monumental victors in 2023, but none greater than Sean Strickland and his earth-shattering performance over Israel Adesanya to win the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 293 in Sydney. Strickland winning was wild enough; doing so in dominant fashion was a STUNNER. Hands down the Biggest Win in 2023.
Honorable Mention:
Volkanovski vs. Makhachev
Aldana vs. Rosa
Grasso vs. Shevchenko II
There was no topping the flyweight championship war between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja for Fight of the Year. We had some solid honorable mentions, but Moreno/Pantoja was too damn good. The two warriors electrified UFC 290 in Vegas in a barn-burner that will go down as an instant classic of the sport.
Honorable Mention:
Pereira vs. Procházka
Sterling vs. O'Malley
Poirier vs. Gaethje II
Best Sell is quite obvious: the super-fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev. The honorable mentions had some spice, no doubt, but I mean cmon! Volk vs. Islam was just on another level. We all knew the fight on full camp would be a straight up banger, so much in fact that press conferences, promos, and fight hype didn't mean squat. That's when you know you have a top tier sell- when people are already sold before mouths need to even run. The best form of art from sport- competition.
Honorable Mention:
Adesanya on Pereira
Holloway on The Korean Zombie
Gaethje on Poirier
Barboza on Quarantillo
video via Streetfight3233//X
Honorable Mention:
TKZ going out on his sword in Singapore
Volk steps in to fight Makhachev (II)
Islam Makhachev gets my award for Savage Moment of the Year with his unreal knockout of Alexander Volkanovski. The knockout itself was savage, but the context around it... now that's where the REAL savagery came from. Islam trained for Charles Oliveira just to learn 11 days before their scheduled fight that Oliveria had to back out due to a cut making way for Volkanovski to step in on short notice. That was a massively different fight for Islam, but he didn't complain. He showed up, showed out, and retained his belt. Against the pound for pound number one at the time. Pure savagery.
Honorable Mention:
Alex Pereira
Kevin Holland
Sean Strickland
Makhachev may have had the savage moment of the year, but Volkanovski was still the full out Savage of the Year. Volk steppin' up to fight Islam on short notice was a GIANT risk, one that may have hurt his elite confidence barrier. Despite the loss, the attempt was pure savagery. That was just the tip of the iceberg, he also defended his featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez just 5 months after that unreal war in February versus Makhachev that gave Volk his first loss in MMA in ten years and the first of his UFC career. We have seen fighters take a whole 8-12 months off after that kind of loss... not Volk. Dude is the definition of a savage.
Honorable Mention:
Ikram Aliskerov
Honorable Mention:
Strickland dominates Adesanya
Makhachev KOs Volkanovski
I gave the KO nod to Josh Emmett, but there was no chance that Justin Gaethje was leaving here without an award for his jaw-droppin' leg kick knockout of Dustin Poirier. You see the honorable mentions, both complete stunners and moments that could have won this award. But lets be real, not a cat in sight expected Poirier's body to go limp mode to face canvas. Poirier was arguably the biggest juggernaut in the sport outside of Holloway... more so in fact considering the power differential at 155. Seeing him drop like that had me picking pieces of my jaw off the floor, cha heard. Enjoy the poetry in motion again:
video via seankolo99//X
Alexa Grasso had the Submission of the Year with her epic rare-naked choke on the dominant Valentina Shevchenko to win the undisputed flyweight title becoming the first ever Mexican-born female champion in UFC history.
Honorable Mention:
Islam Makhachev
Leon Edwards
Honorable Mention:
Korean Zombie retirement
Amanda Nunes retires as double champ
Sean Strickland beats Adesanya
Sean O'Malley beating Aljamain Sterling to become bantamweight champion was hands down my Moment of the Year. We saw two legendary retirement moments, but the O'Malley win gave off major noise and excitement to give the UFC fans a new charismatic champion to endorse... well, continue to endorse.
Was there any doubt? What a rise. Strickland went from a brawling Fight Night Main-Eventer, who spars trolls online, to UFC champion and one of the most talked about attractions in MMA. A career jump unlike any other. Sean Strickland is hands down the Most Improved Fighter of 2023.
Honorable Mention:
Alex Pereira
Suga Sean O'Malley reached a new plateau of box-office stardom with his title win in 2023. Suga Sean, hate 'em or love 'em, is hands down the Attraction of the Year in 2023.
Honorable Mention:
Erin Blanchfield
Tatiana Suarez
I put honorable mentions to be kind... we didn't really have any strong cases for Female Fighter of the Year like years in the past. Alexa Grasso walks away with the honor for 2023 after winning gold for the first time in her career and for shining in the two top female fights of the year in terms of sell/pre-fight hype.
Honorable Mention:
Alexandre Pantoja
Alex Pereira
Leon Edwards
What a year for Sean Strickland as he leaves the awards here with the most hardware. Best Win, Most Improved Fighter, and now Male Fighter of the Year. Strickland went 3-0 with a championship win over one of the sport's most dominate champions ever to complete the best year of his career... and life. This was a quick decision for me. Bravo on a terrific year, Strickland.
Founder's Final Pound-For-Pound of 2023:
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