Who was the fighter of the year?

With 2019 in the books, it is time to look back at the year and ask: Who was the fighter of the year?

Who was the fighter of the year?

Frank Hyden MMATorch Columnist

Israel Adesanya is my pick. He won three fights in 2019, against Anderson Silva in February, Kelvin Gastelum in April, and Robert Whittaker in October. He won the Interim UFC Middleweight Championship then unified it and became the undisputed champion. That’s a pretty good year.

Michael Hiscoe MMATorch Columnist

After spending years in the middle of the pack, Jorge Masvidal reinvented himself inside and outside of the cage and turned himself into a top tier welterweight and a bonafide superstar in the process. It started with a thudding knockout of former top contender Darren Till, and he followed up with the fastest, and perhaps most devastating knockout in UFC history with his flying knee on Ben Askren. Capping it off was a three round war with Nate Diaz that captured the attention of the mainstream with nothing on the line but a made up title. Masvidal’s rise through the rankings and his increased notoriety make him my fighter of the year.

Dylan Thompson MMATorck UK Specialist 

Jorge Masvidal – Hard to deny “Gamebred” as fighter of the year, he knocked out Darren Till viciously, then he went out and demolished Ben Askren with a flying knee within 5 seconds of the fight and then finished the year of with the BMF belt after dominating Nate Diaz in a fight that saw a doctors stoppage. If 2020 is anything like 2019 for Masvidal a lot of people are getting starched.

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• What was the fight of the year?
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