Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Make your pick for the 2019 event of the year in Bloody Elbow’s Year-End Awards.
It’s back!
Over the next few days, Bloody Elbow is going to ask for your opinion on some of the best things that have happened in the MMA world over the course of 2019. There will be a total of eight different categories you’ll be asked to vote on. For the sake of simplicity we’re going to stick with high-level and relevant MMA stuff in these posts. While I’m sure there was a ludicrous knockout in an unscheduled MMA event at The Lumberyard strip club in Des Moines, or an insane pancreas lock submission on an obscure ZST! card in Japan, let’s just stick to stuff a lot of us have seen, okay? (If that spiel looked familiar, it’s because I’ve used the same one for nine years in a row. Originality? What originality? Also, is ZST! even a thing any more?)
It’s pretty simple. I’ll post 5-10 options in a category, you vote for what you think was the best. If you think I left something really important off my list, post it in the comments and we can add it to the poll if it’s deemed worthy. I can almost guarantee you won’t like all my suggestions, but narrowing down these lists is tough.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get onto the fourth poll – the best event of the year. 2019 was a banner year for great top-to-bottom events, so this might be a tougher choice than expected.
Before that though, if you haven’t yet, go back and vote on the first three categories – Best Submission, Biggest Upset, and Newcomer of the Year.
UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz
Only seven finishes out of 12 fights, but some of them were awesome. Two sick head kicks (Kevin Lee and Edmen Shahbazyan), and a one-hitter quitter (Jairzinho Rozenstruik). And of course, the battle for the BMF belt that saw Jorge Masvidal earn a doctor stoppage TKO over Nate Diaz.
UFC Rochester: Dos Anjos vs. Lee
Nine finishes out of 13 fights. The undercard kicked off with five straight fights that didn’t see the final horn, setting the tone. Aspen Ladd and Sijara Eubanks put on a very fun fight as well. Then on the main card, Charles Oliveira and Vicente Luque looked very impressive putting away their opponents. Rafael dos Anjos wore down Kevin Lee in the headliner and submitted him in the 4th round.
UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2
While it was decision-heavy with four finishes, a few of the fights that went the distance were incredible. Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum and Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier are fight of the year contenders, and that was enough to put that event on this list.
Bellator 214: Fedor vs. Bader
Four out of five finishes on the main card, including Aaron Pico getting melted by Henry Corrales and Jake Hager picking up his first MMA win. But this was all about the finals of the Heavyweight Grand Prix, where Ryan Bader became a champ champ by stopping the great Fedor Emelianenko in just 35 seconds.
UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos
The undercard here wasn’t much to write home about, outside of a quick Edmen Shahbazyan submission and Song Yadong’s power punching. But that main card? Wooboy. Michael Chiesa dominates Diego Sanchez. Jan Blachowicz breaks Luke Rockhold’s face. Jorge Masvidal finishes Ben Askren with a flying knee in five seconds. Amanda Nunes stops Holly Holm. The main event didn’t really deliver, but it didn’t matter.
UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington
Punehele Soriano kicked things off with some scary power. Matt Brown busted up Ben Saunders. Irene Aldana finished off Ketlen Vieira in beautiful fashion. Geoff Neal stopped Mike Perry in 90 seconds. And on the main card, Petr Yan destroyed Urijah Faber to kick things off. Marlon Moraes and Jose Aldo put on one of my favorite fights of the year. Amanda Nunes and Alexander Volkanovski put on clinics to keep and win titles, respectively. And that main event? Wow. It was violent and awesome.