The 2020 MMAdissect Awards
Fighter of the year: Deiveson Figueiredo
Deiveson Figueiredo kicked off 2020 by being given a shot at the vacant UFC Flyweight Championship against Joesph Benavidez. Figueiredo defeated Benavidez via TKO at 1:54 of the second round in this bout that took place on February 29th. Unfortunately, Deiveson Figueiredo missed weight for this fight (127.5), and was ineligible to win the title because of it.
A few months later on July 19th Deiveson Figueiredo and Joesph Benavidez met again for a rematch. This time both fighters successfully made weight, meaning that the winner of this fight is going home with a belt no matter what. Deiveson Figueiredo yet again defeated Benavidez this time obtaining victory via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:48 of the very first round. This fight got Deiveson Figueiredo a performance of the night bonus and the vacant UFC flyweight championship.
At UFC 255 on November 21st, Deiveson Figueiredo had his first title defence against Alex Perez in his third fight of the year. Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Alex Perez via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:57 of Round 1 in this fight and successfully defended his title. Surprisingly, Deiveson Figueiredo didn’t win his fourth fight of the year which took less than a month after his 3rd fight of the year. Deiveson Figueiredo’s 4th fight a bout with Brandon Moreno resulted in a Draw at UFC 256 on December 12th. This fourth fight would’ve been our fight of the year if it wasn’t for JJ vs Weili taking place this year and got both fighters a fight of the night bonus. (Side Note: a point was deducted from Figueiredo in round 3 because of a groin strike.)
Fight of the year: Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jędrzejczyk
This fight took place at UFC 248: Adesanya vs Romero on March 7, and went down as an instant classic. The sheer output of strikes in this fight was mind melting and kept everyone watching on the edge of their seat. Weili landed 165 of 408 significant strikes (40%), and Jedrzejczyk landed 186 of 360 significant strikes (51%). The total strike counts had Jedrzejczyk landing 170 of 413 strikes, and had Weili landing 196 of 370 strikes. In total, there was 783 strikes thrown during this 5 round contest.
Significant Strikes Per Round:
Round 1: Jedrzejczyk - 30 of 64 (46%) Weili - 30 of 76 (39%)
Round 2: Jedrzejczyk - 32 of 62 (51%) Weili - 20 of 65 (30%)
Round 3: Jedrzejczyk - 38 of 76 (50%) Weili - 38 of 73 (52%)
Round 4: Jedrzejczyk - 40 of 79 (50%) Weili - 40 of 91 (43%)
Round 5: Jedrzejczyk - 46 of 79 (58%) Weili - 37 of 103 (35%)
Weili also landed 1 of 8 takedowns (12%) and had 1:14 of control time.
It was a safe bet to name this bout the fight of the year the second that the fight concluded. Both women absorbed a substantial amount of damage with Joanna establishing a notable hematoma on her forehead. If you haven’t seen the fight then it’s essential that you do so as soon as possible. Weili won this fight via split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) and defended her UFC strawweight championship.
Knockout of the year: Joaquin Buckley
On October 11, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs Sandhagen Joaquin Buckley fought Impa Kasanganay on fight island. In the second round of the fight Buckley landed a spinning back kick that instantly cemented itself as KO of the year. This honestly could go down as KO of the decade and you can catch the video down below.
Submission of the year: Jimmy Flick vs Cody Durden
On December 19, at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs Neal, Jimmy Flick defeated Cody Durden via Submission (Flying Triangle Choke) at 3:18 of round 1. The shock and awe of this smooth move won it our spot for submission of the year.
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland has made the most of 2020 by racking up a seriously impressive 5 win streak this year. What’s even more impressive is how his first of his five fights this year was on May 16, 2020. At UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs Harris, Holland kicked off with win streak with a TKO win over Anthony Hernandez at 0:39 of the round 1. His second fight of the year took place on August 8, at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Oleinik in Las Vegas, Nevada. This second fight resulted in Holland getting a TKO victory over KO of the year winner Joaquin Buckley at 0:32 of round 3.
The third win in this streak was a hard fought split decision victory over Darren Stewart on September 19th, at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Woodley. The fourth win in this streak involved the rare occurrence of a slam TKO on October 31, 2020. The fourth fight of this year for Holland took place at UFC Fight Night: Hall vs Silva where he defeated Charlie Ontiveros via TKO at 2:39 of round 1. The last fight of Kevin Hollands amazing 2020 year happened right around the end of the year on December 12th. The last win was another KO which Holland managed to pull off without even being on his feet. This knockout win was over Ronaldo Souza at 1:45 of the first round at the UFC 256 event.
Overall, Kevin Holland made a gigantic statement and sent waves through the middleweight division. This year Holland tied the UFC record for most wins in a calendar year and collected 3 performance of the night bonuses. Fans absolutely love it when fighters are active, and making five appearances in a year is a good way to keep your name fresh in people’s minds. For all these reasons above this is why we decided to give Kevin Holland our breakthrough fighter of the year award.
Upset of the year: Roxanne Modafferi (+650) defeating Maycee Barber (-1000)
You would have won a nice chunk of change if you bet on Roxanne Modafferi before this fight that took place at UFC 246 on January 18. Just about everyone going into this thought Maybe Barber would win the fight, but Roxanne proved that all her doubters were wrong. Roxanne Modafferi defeated Maycee Barber via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
Comeback of the year: Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
This fight took place at the same event that the Weili vs Jedrzejczyk fight took place on March 7. Dariush was absorbing some big strikes, looked wobbled, and was potentially close to finished. Beneil pulled through though, started swinging back, and got the big KO victory. Dariush got this knockout victory in the second round at 1:00 and won himself a performance of the night bonus.
Non-Fighter Related Awards:
Referee of the year: Herb Dean
Analyst of the year: Megan Olivi
Ring card girl of the year: Brookliyn Wren
MMA Journalist of the year: Brett Okamoto
MMA media source of the year: Tapology
