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The UFC has officially announced who won awards for 2020 and to nobody's surprise, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Khamzat Chimaev, and Joaquin Buckley were among the fighters who won some silverware.
Some of the awards are Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, and Event of the Year among countless others. Here are the award winners.
Debut of the Year
Khamzat Chimaev won the award for his debut on Fight Island against John Phillips.
Chimaev stepped up on short notice and was a relative unknown entering Fight Island. At the end of his debut, he put the world on notice as he landed two takedowns and landed 43 significant strikes to Phillips before eventually getting the submission win in the second.
Comeback of the Year
UFC 248 was an event many MMA fans will remember. It had one of the best fights of all-time in Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk, was the final event with fans, and had an epic comeback.
On the main card, Beneil Dariush battled Drakkar Klose in an intriguing lightweight bout. It was a back-and-forth fight, but Klose started to land heavy shots in the second round and had Dariush on wobbly legs. Yet, as Klose went in for the knockout, Dariush landed a power shot which stunned Klose, and eventually landed the KO shot.
Submission of the Year
Khabib Nurmagomedov had a phenomenal submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, and it earned him the submission of the year award.
Nurmagomedov was fighting for the first time since his father passed away. In the first round, he had Gaethje in the mount position and searched for a submission. However, the American got out of it. Then, in the second round, he got back in the same situation and went for an armbar before switching to a triangle and forcing the tap.
Event of the Year
UFC 256 was the final pay-per-view event of the year, and it took home the award for the Event of the Year.
The December card started with a bang as Chase Hooper picked up an epic comeback win over Peter Barrett. The card also saw spectacular knockouts by Rafael Fiziev, Cub Swanson, Ciryl Gane, and Kevin Holland. In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira dominated Tony Ferguson, and to cap off the event, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno had a Fight of the Year contender.
Knockout of the Year
There can only be one winner here. Joaquin Buckley picked up the award for his highlight-reel KO win over Impa Kasanganay on Fight Island.
Entering the fight, Buckley was 0-1 in the UFC and the betting underdog against Kasanganay. However, as he threw a kick, Kasanganay caught it, but Buckley jumped in the air, spun and kicked Kasanganay in the face with his other foot, knocking him out cold.
Immediately, social media blew up, regarding it as one of the best knockouts of all-time.
