Sherdog.com’s 2015 Year-End Awards: The Complete List

Another year has come and gone in mixed martial arts, and as has been the case since Pride Fighting Championships shuttered its doors in 2007, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was front and center.

What began at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 concluded with UFC on Fox 17 in December. In between, the MMA world was witness to fights that stretched the bounds of what was thought possible, historic knockouts, slick submissions, judging controversies, athletic commissions run amok and the rise of new superstars that will carry the combat sports torch for the foreseeable future.

Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold, Fabricio Werdum, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Holly Holm ascended. Jose Aldo, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Cain Velasquez, Carla Esparza and Ronda Rousey fell. The UFC-Reebok apparel deal and performance-enhancing drugs continued to make waves, while Bellator MMA, the World Series of Fighting and One Championship fought to keep pace in the cutthroat world of fight promotion. It was an eventful 12 months, to say the least.

A complete rundown of Sherdog.com’s 2015 Year-End Awards:

• Fighter of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Fight of the Year by Todd Martin
• Knockout of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Submission of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Story of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Beatdown of the Year by Jordan Breen
• Event of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Breakthrough Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Robbery of the Year by Chris Nelson
• Round of the Year by Eric Stinton
• Upset of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Comeback Fighter of the Year by Danny Acosta
• All-Violence Team by Jordan Breen