Let's just go ahead and admit that 2015 was, like, basically the best year for MMA ever ...
... but no, seriously it was.
Starting the year with Jon Jones' heated clash against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, and all the way through Conor McGregor's stunner over Jose Aldo at UFC 194, the last 365 days have been filled with some of the sport's most memorable and transcendent moments. Not in the least of which was Holly Holm's shocking knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.
The UFC, MMA's premiere brand, saw its championship belts change hands in seven different weight classes. Names like Lawler, Dillashaw, and Johnson prevailed, while heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez fell to Fabricio Werdum in Mexico City, and Anthony Pettis' run atop the lightweight division came to a premature halt against Rafael Dos Anjos.
A little known Polish kickboxer, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, also emerged, following a championship performance in March up with two title defenses, one in front of 56,000-plus Australians at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium. And middleweight Luke Rockhold finally earned his first UFC belt, after previously holding the title in the now-defunct Strikeforce organization.
Yes, 2015 was filled with some of history's most exciting MMA fights, and combat events, and fighters, and knockouts, and submissions; but the year belonged to one athlete in particular, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who is our Fighter of the Year.
Beginning with a January second-round TKO over Denis Siver in Boston, McGregor steamrolled his way into the championship picture, first taking the interim title over Chad Mendes at UFC 189, before unifying the belts with his 13-second KO of longtime strapholder Aldo, just weeks ago.
McGregor not only scored a trio of knockouts on the year, he also called his shots, predicting all three wins and his ascendance up the UFC ranks.
With his performance inside the cage earning McGregor the year's top honors, the Irish phenom was also the most talked about fighter of 2015. Following his career-defining performance against Aldo, nearly every ranked fighter in the featherweight and lightweight divisions has called McGregor out in hopes of earning a giant payday opposite the newest face of the UFC.
The "Mystic Mac" has made as big an impact on mixed martial arts in the last year as any fighter has in the last decade. And with a potential title shot looming at 155 pounds, McGregor heads into 2016 with a chance to make history and hold two belts at once.
Runner Up: Holly Holm
Fight of the Year: Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald - UFC 189 (July 11, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Leading up to their UFC 189 title fight, welterweights Lawler and MacDonald were mostly radio silent, playing as the co-stars to McGregor and Aldo's long-awaited matchup. But exiting the Octagon on July 11, the reigning, defending champion and the now-beaten challenger knew they had just delivered the year's top performance.
A re-match of their UFC 167 fight, won by Lawler via split decision, the 2015 bout was for the belt, with the champ cruising through an unorthodoxly slow first round.
MacDonald would pick up the pace in the second, however, trading punches with Lawler, setting up high kicks behind the jab.
One shin to the side of Lawler's head, in particular, wobbled the champion in the fourth round, nearly opening the door for MacDonald to finish the fight. But Lawler survived through to the fifth round, as the pair squared off past the bell, refusing to concede dominance, even during the one-minute rest period.
In the final stanza, Lawler cemented his place as champion. With MacDonald ahead on all three judges' scorecards, Lawler came from behind to land the knockout punch. Bloodied and battered, bruised and broken, Lawler and MacDonald went 21 minutes in an all-time classic.
Runner Up: Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson - UFC 192 (October 3, 2015, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas)
Knockout of the Year: Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey -- UFC 193 (November 14, 2015, Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia)
Highlight knockouts have been in great supply in 2015. But there is no question that Holly Holm's kick that sent Ronda Rousey crashing to the mat, the kick heard and seen around the world, takes top honors.
On a very personal note, watching Holm cap off a perfect performance against Rousey with the head kick, was easily the most important moment I can ever remember in mixed martial arts, the impact was real and felt for weeks.
Here is this infallible athlete in Rousey. She's unbeaten, untouched, and what we later learned, also untested. And then there's Holm, the biggest underdog ever (sic), who just comes in and cleans shop.
The whole premise is just entirely too perfect, more outrageous than fiction really, and that head kick, along with the vision of Rousey's jaw absorbing the blow and her fall to the floor, will resonate for many, many years to come.
Runner Up: Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo - UFC 194 (December 12, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Submission of the Year: Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano - UFC 184 (February 28, 2015, Staples Center, Los Angeles, California)
Ronda Rousey's headlining performance at UFC 184 was indeed a major moment in her lightning rod of a career.
Having taken time off for surgery and movie shoots in late 2014, Rousey carried a card into her hometown of Los Angeles, and delivered a wild finish. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist needed just 14 seconds to submit challenger Cat Zingano with an armbar.
Rousey absorbed an early rush from Zingano, transitioning to the ground. She instantly isolated the arm and finished the fight. All in attendance were stumped and stunned.
Looking back, it was this submission (which came after a 16-second knockout in 2014) that cemented Rousey as a fast and quiet finisher going into her UFC 190 bout with Bette Correia.
Runner Up: Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez - UFC 188 (June 13, 2015, Mexico City, Mexico)
Round of the Year: Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne - UFC 187 (May 23, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada) Rd. 1
Friends, and former teammates, roommates, and training partners, Arlovski and Browne, both nearing in on contender status, needed less than five minutes to deliver one of the year's most memorable bouts.
It was Arlovski who gained the first advantage, connecting on heavy punches, dropping Browne in the process. Wobbled, Browne survived a second onslaught, landing a knockdown blow of his own, before Arlovski recovered and sealed the victory.
Fast and furiously paced, these heavyweights went straight for each other and punched until the referee called uncle on them.
Runner Up: Jeremy Stephens vs. Dennis Bermudez - UFC 189 (July 11, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada) Rd. 2
Event of the Year: UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor (July 11, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
There were so many, so many fine contenders for the year's top event. On more than one occasion, multiple new champions were crowned. There were also stadium shows in Stockholm and Melbourne. But in the end, UFC 189 clearly distinguished itself as the year's best, Sinead O'Connor and all.
With the main event changed just two weeks prior, the intended mega card lost some luster after Jose Aldo withdrew from competition with a broken rib. But 11 fights, four knockouts, two submissions, and an interim title later, UFC 189 delivered more action than any other fight card of the year.
The undercard was a slow affair, with the first five bouts going the distance. However, a heavy Irish contingent, in attendance during International Fight Week, kept the energy and momentum alive in the arena. And following Matt Brown's first-round submission over Tim Means, the action rolled, with all five main-card bouts ending before the final bell.
Young Brazilian Thomas Almeida landed a picturesque flying knee to the jaw of Brad Pickett. Iceland's Gunnar Nelson knocked Brandon Thatch to the canvas with precise punches to the chin before sinking in a rear-naked choke, before Jeremy Stephens kneed his way to a finish over Dennis Bermudez in the night's featured bout.
With Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald then delivering the year's best fight, the night was capped by a TKO victory for Conor McGregor. And somehow, between all this melee, Sinead O'Connor managed to serenade the Irish phenom from the dressing room, all the way to the Octagon.
A truly special night in MMA, everything went right at UFC 189, and the results will be hard to top.
Runner Up: UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor (December 12, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Coach of the Year Rafael Cordeiro (King's MMA)
Veteran trainer Rafael Cordeiro has been in the corner of many of MMA's most famous champions, among them Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
Relocating to Los Angeles after leaving Brazil's Chute Boxe Academy, Cordeiro opened King's MMA, home of UFC champions Rafael Dos Anjos and Fabricio Werdum.
With both Dos Anjos claiming the lightweight title in March over Anthony Pettis, and defending his belt against Donald Cerrone in December, Cordeiro revamped the champ's striking technique to match an already world-class Jiu Jitsu resume. Cordeiro's work can also be seen in heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum's standup, and coaching two new champions crowned in 2015 earns Cordeiro top honors.
Runner Up: Javier Mendez (American Kickboxing Academy)
Story of the Year: The USADA Era Begins
While 2015 closed out with wicked knockouts and vicious fights, the year started off on a rather dark note. Longtime champion Anderson Silva tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, highlighting a long history of steroids in MMA.
In the wake of the Silva test, the UFC took swift action, hiring Jeff Novitzky, the man who took down cyclist Lance Armstrong and BALCO's Victor Conte in high-profile PED stings.
With Novitzky spearheading a new anti-doping regime, the UFC officially entered into its partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency in July 2015. Fighters are now tested randomly, in and out of competition.
It was a long time coming for MMA, especially as anti-doping campaigns have become commonplace in American sports following the 2005 Congressional hearings on PEDs in baseball. The UFC and Novitzky upped the ante, installing the most comprehensive and stringent testing program in all of professional sports.
Runner Up: Free Nick Diaz
2015 Picks Record: 42-21, 2 NC