My MMA Year-end Awards for 2015

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Conor McGregor. This one's the no-brainer of the list, as well as the most click-baity, so might as well lead with it. Cee McGee started the year with the cool-handed beat-down of Dennis Siver in January, battered Chad Mendes into submission after weathering some strong ground and pound, and then with one punch starched the Pound-for-Pound king, Jose Aldo, in 13 seconds. "Precision beats power, and timing beats speed," he told Joe Rogan afterward. Indeed, Mr. McGregor. Indeed.

BEST FIGHT: Cormier vs. Gustafsson. Most out there are handing this one to Lawler/MacDonald 2, but for my money, the UFC 192 main event was every bit as exciting, and without quite so much cringe-inducing gore as the UFC 189 co-main. Watching Cormier and Gustafsson wasn't just great for being a gutsy, back and forth war, either; it also reminded fight fans that a Light Heavyweight division sans Jon Jones can still be exciting, nay, enthralling. How enthralling, you ask? Well here was my real-time reaction to the thing (read, bottom to top, left to right):

Runners up: Lawler vs. MacDonald 2, Browne vs. Arlovski

BEST PERFORMANCE: Holly Holm (vs. Ronda Rousey). Both the runners up (below) made strong arguments, but neither was quite so awe-inspiring as Holly's ring-craft clinic against Rousey, so "The Preacher's Daughter" gets the nod. The MMA media have recapped this victory ad nauseam over the last month +, so I'll only add that this was a fight that reminded both casual and die-hard fans alike of two things: first, that this sport is still mixed martial arts, and no single discipline, even one as dominant as Ronda's Rousey-brand Judo, is so good that it trumps all the rest... and second, that no one is unbeatable, even in their prime, even at the height of their dominance. Styles make fights, folks, and Holly's proved the perfect foil for what Rousey brought to the cage that night. 

Runners up: T.J. Dillashaw (vs. Renan Barao), Conor McGregor (vs. Jose Aldo)

THE "GOING OUT ON HIS SHIELD" AWARD: Dan Henderson. Have you ever seen anyone MORE in denial about the diminished state of his own chin? Belfort, Cormier, Mousasi, Belfort again. Jack Slack of Fightland already said it better, but I liked how he said it so I'll reiterate--Tim Boetsch (and Shogun Rua, who was winning handily against Henderson until he ran into a blind counter hook) did Henderson a horrible disservice by fooling him into thinking he could still hang with the youngin's, and if Henderson doesn't get out soon, he won't even be able to remember his former glories, let alone regain them.

Runners up: Shogun Rua, Junior dos Santos (a late but surging entrant. Post-Cain, the poor guy is just never going to be the same, as a similarly declining Overeem highlighted recently)

UP-AND-COMER AWARD: Rose Namajunas. The Flyweight tournament was officially the last season of TUF I cared to tune in for, but I don't think I'm out of line in saying Namajunas was the runaway darling of the season. An underwhelming performance in the Finale, culminating in a submission loss to Carla Esparza took some of the sheen off, but after redefining "dominance" with wins over both Angela Hill and Paige VanZant, as well as a slick new 'do, Namajunas 2.0 seems poised to be the UFC's female breakout star of 2016.

And last but not least...

BEST VICTORY CELEBRATION: Andrei Arlovski. I briefly considered Sage Northcutt's gravity defying front flips, but those are quickly becoming a dime a dozen, and when it came right down to it, I just couldn't say no to this little number.

"The Pitbull Shimmy," I think it's called.