2017 has been a down year for MMA thus far.
That’s not really up for debate in a year that hasn’t seen any of MMA’s biggest stars compete and the majority of its most exciting fights get cancelled. That said, there has been some fun to be had.
Big knockouts and impressive submissions haven’t been scarce, and meanwhile the stars have been aligned for a booming second half of the year. While it has been a long while since a “fight night” felt like an “event,” fighters have still poured their hearts out over the last six months to deliver high-level, entertaining action.
So rather than dwell on the bad, let’s take a look at 2017’s high points so far and pick out the best fighter, fight, finishes and story we’ve seen up till now.