Ten Best – The Fighters of 2019

So, Israel Adesanya, how did you spend 2019? Well, start with beating an icon of the sport in Anderson Silva. Then engage in the Fight of the Year with Kelvin Gastelum, putting a stamp on the victory with an epic fifth-round surge. Finally, how about upgrading that interim middleweight title to undisputed with a one-sided stoppage of Robert Whittaker? Sounds like a year well-spent.

Triple C may only be Double C after relinquishing his flyweight title, but Henry Cejudo, the man still holding the bantamweight belt, did have a year to remember in 2019, first stunning the MMA world with a 32-second knockout of TJ Dillashaw in defense of his 125-pound crown, then coming back from some serious adversity to halt Marlon Moraes and take the 135-pound title. 

After a couple hard-fought and punishing losses to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje needed to make some tactical changes if he was going to stay on track to one day challenge for the UFC lightweight title. That was a scary proposition for those of us used to his take no prisoners style. But the “new” Gaethje is doing just fine, and after ending 2018 with a knockout of James Vick, he put two more KOs on the board in 2019, halting Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone.

How did 42-year-old Demian Maia make it on this list? It’s quite simple, actually. After three straight losses to Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman in 2017-18, the Brazilian gentleman only came back in 2019 with three wins (and two finishes), as he sandwiched a decision victory over Anthony Rocco Martin with submissions of Lyman Good and Ben Askren. And such success couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Finally, the rest of the sporting universe knows what most MMA fans have known for years, that Jorge Masvidal is a real fighter and an entertaining throwback to a different era in combat sports. But better yet, he may be in his prime right now, and for proof, just look at a 2019 campaign that saw “Gamebred” finish Darren Till, score the fastest KO in UFC history against Ben Askren and then win the inaugural BMF title with a stoppage of Nate Diaz. It’s the year we’ve all been waiting for from Masvidal, and in 2019 we got it.

From the spectacular to the sublime. That may be the best description of Valentina Shevchenko’s year, as she lit up highlight reels with her head kick knockout of Jessica Eye before a shutout of the first fighter to beat her – Liz Carmouche – in a fight that may not have been a thriller, but one that showed just how dominant Shevchenko has become as the UFC women’s flyweight champion.

Tyron Woodley held the UFC welterweight title for nearly three years and it looked like it was going to be an even longer reign before he ran into Kamaru Usman and got shut out over five rounds. That was impressive stuff from “The Nigerian Nightmare,” but he took it to another level in his first title defense, as he used his standup attack to hold off a fierce charge from heated rival Colby Covington, ultimately closing the show in the fifth round of a Fight of the Year candidate.

When discussing the greatest featherweights in UFC history, the conversation will come down to two names as the top of the list: Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski beat both of them in 2019. Let that sink in for a bit as Alexander “The Great” prepares to defend his shiny new UFC featherweight championship belt in 2020.

“No Mercy” is one of the cooler names in the mixed martial arts world, but the way Petr Yan has been going about things, “No Fear” might be more appropriate. Debuting in the UFC in June 2018, Yan fought five times in less than a year, a stretch that included 2019 wins over bantamweight contenders John Dodson and Jimmie Rivera. Only injury slowed him down after that, but in December, he knocked out UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber to keep the train rolling on its way to what he hopes is a 2020 title shot.

Winning 20 straight fights is a feat in and of itself; earning four of those victories in the UFC adds to the accomplishment achieved by Zhang Weili thus far in her career. But there’s more, and after decisioning perennial contender Tecia Torres in March 2019, she stepped up to face Jessica Andrade for the strawweight title in August and needed just 42 seconds to become the first Chinese fighter to win a UFC title. Not a bad year for Ms. Zhang, was it?

Honorable Mention (also in alphabetical order) – Gilbert Burns, Dan Hooker, Geoff Neal, Francis Ngannou, Amanda Nunes, Charles Oliveira, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Cory Sandhagen, Edmen Shahbazyan, Glover Teixeira