MMA’s favourite cartoon man, TommyToe Hold hosted the 3rd annual Reddit MMA Awards on Tuesday. The community over on Reddit MMA voted for their favourites in 17 different categories, let's take a look at how the voting went who picked up the awards.
The first award up for grabs was “Breakout Male Fighter of 2016” and the nominees were Lando Vannata, Doo Ho Choi, Brandon Moreno, Mike Perry and Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou picked up some votes for an incredible 2016 in the UFC which saw him go 3-0 and finish all of his fights, while Doo Ho Choi also had a great year in 2016, he knocked out Thiago Tavares and was then part of a breathtaking brawl with Cub Swanson to close out the year but they both fell short to winner Lando Vannata.
Vannata began the year outside the UFC but got a short notice call to face Tony Ferguson and made the most of it by putting Ferguson in trouble during their back and forth “Fight of the Night” encounter. He followed that up with a wheel kick knockout against John Makdessi to put the lightweight division on notice.
Breakout Male Fighter of 2016 - Lando Vannata
In the category for “Breakout Female Fighter of 2016” there was really only two contenders. You have Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who beat Heather Jo Clark and Rose Namajunas to earn a title shot at her compatriot Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
She gave the champion a good run and stunned her with a right hand at one point but couldn’t do enough to win the title. There was one woman who was able to capture a UFC title this year though; first she stopped Miesha Tate at UFC 200 to claim the title and then defended it in less than a minute against Ronda Rousey.
It is of course Amanda Nunes.
Breakout Female Fighter of 2016 - Amanda Nunes
The next award was for “Top Prospect of 2016” which is an award for fighters who are new to the big show but have a lot of potential. The two top contenders for this award were Mickey Gall and Lando Vannata.
Gall, of course, beat former professional wrestler CM Punk and then young karate stylist Sage Northcutt and he has showed a lot of promise.
As we have already discussed though, Lando Vannata took it to a top contender and then scored a wheel kick knockout so he emerged victorious for his second award.
Top Prospect of 2016 - Lando Vannata
This was a year with many crazy knockouts; we had Michael Page’s skull crushing jumping knee while another big knee knockout came from Yoel Romero against Chris Weidman. And of course, who could forget Donald Cerrone’s smooth combination against Rick Story.
One knockout stands above the rest though – the punch from Michael Bisping that separated Luke Rockhold from his consciousness and crowned “The Count” as the new UFC Middleweight champion.
Knockout of the Year - Michael Bisping v Luke Rockhold
Of course the MMA world doesn’t totally revolve around the UFC as there are other promotions putting on great shows, and that is the focus of the “Best non-UFC Event of the Year” award.
Rizin, EFN and Bellator were featured for this award and it was Bellator 165 that claimed the victory. The main event of that show was an incredible back and forth fight between Ben Henderson and Michael Chandler with Chandler coming out on top.
Best non-UFC Event of the Year - Bellator 165
The winner “Quote of the Year” is not tough to guess, it is a moment that is forever immortalised in MMA history. Nate Diaz choked out Conor McGregor and got on the mic to say those four words “I’m not surprised, motherfuckers”
Quote of the Year - “Ay ...I’m not surprised, motherfuckers”
Sports and sportspeople are often defined by rivalries. Two teams or athletes who bring the best out of each other and captivate the public, the “Best Rivalry of 2016” is another easy one to predict.
After Diaz won the first meeting with McGregor the rematch in August was a classic, with momentum shifting one way then the other over the course of 25 epic minutes.
Best Rivalry of 2016 - Nate Diaz v Conor McGregor
Not every fight can be a classic, or even mildly entertaining. Some of them are downright terrible and the “Worst Fight of the Year” award is an ode to those terrible fights. When Dada 5000 took on the late Kimbo Slice we got treated to an awful fight.
The technique was sloppy, the conditioning non-existent and when Dada collapsed with exhaustion and a waft of air sent his way in the 3rd round we were all happy to see the end of this one.
Worst Fight of the Year - Kimbo Slice v Dada 5000
Behind every great fighter is a great coach, and a great coach is usually behind many great fighters; but who was the “Best Coach of 2016? Greg Jackson did very well in the voting for this category but he was just pipped by John Kavanagh.
His most high profile student McGregor had a great year, but Artem Lobov also picked up two wins in 2016 and Gunnar Nelson tapped out Albert Tumenov.
Best Coach of 2016 - John Kavanagh
The “Best Round of the Year” award was a close battle between the final round of Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit’s battle and the second round of the wild slugfest between Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi.
In the end it was Swanson and Choi that came out on top for their exhilarating contest.
Best Round of 2016 - Round 2 of Cub Swanson v Doo Ho Choi
It was a great year of UFC events, which is shown by the fact that UFC 200 didn’t even get nominated for “Best UFC Event of the Year”. The clear winner of this category was the historic UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, the promotion's first event in New York.
Best UFC Event of the Year - UFC 205
The award for “Best Male Fighter of the Year” was a three horse race between Stipe Miocic, Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping. Only one of these fighters beat one of the greatest fighters of all time, won the title in a massive upset and then avenged one of the most embarrassing losses of his career; your winner Michael Bisping.
Best Male Fighter of the Year - Michael Bisping
Long reigning UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk took the “Best Female Fighter of the Year” award by a huge margin. She overcame Claudia Gadelha in a brutal fight in July and then held off Karolina Kowalkiewicz in New York to hold onto her title for another year.
Best Female Fighter of the Year - Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Of all the ways to finish a fight in MMA, the most breathtaking are always the spinning attacks, and that is what the “Tragically_English Spinning Shit Award” of 2016 is dedicated to.
The winner of this award, and winning his third award of the year is Lando Vannata for his incredible wheel kick knockout against John Makdessi.
“Tragically_English Spinning Shit Award” of 2016 - Lando Vannata v John Makdessi
It was a year of many great fights, from Robbie Lawler v Carlos Condit right at the beginning of 2016 to Conor McGregor’s epic rematch with Nate Diaz, but one fight stands above them all. It was the epic back and forth contest between Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi at UFC 206 that saw both men hurt but continue to brawl it out that wins the 2016 “Fight of the Year”
Fight of the Year - Cub Swanson v Doo Ho Choi
We had our fair share of crazy moments in the world of MMA over 2016 but Fabricio Werdum kicking Travis Browne’s coach Edmund Tarverdyan after the fight was the “Most WTF Moment of 2016”
I have never before seen a fighter come to blows with an opposing coach after a fight, this was certainly a bizarre moment for all involved.
Most WTF Moment of 2016 - Werdum kicking Edmund after the fight was over
Finally we come to our last category, “Submission of the Year”, and Nate Diaz just about edged out Miesha Tate for his victory over Conor McGregor in March. He stunned McGregor with punches and when McGregor shot for a takedown Diaz moved to the back and locked in the rear naked choke for the submission finish.
Submission of the Year - Nate Diaz v Conor McGregor
Here is the full video posted by Tommy Toe Hold on YouTube, for your viewing pleasure:
