Kakutougi's Pick Your Best Of 2020 In MMA

[K1power]

Due to the pandemic we've had a lot fewer events in 2020. This should make it easier to come up with any picks since there is a lot less to remember and select from.

That said we'll be doing this in similar fashion to previous years.
Before starting off with my own picks I'd like to see what you guys thought of the year.

Here are some categories to help you get started:

- Fight(s) Of The Year

- Upset(s) Of The Year

- Fighter(s) Of The Year

- Breakout Fighter(s) Of The Year

- Knockout(s) Of The Year

- Comeback(s) Of The Year

- Controversy(s) Of The Year

- Event(s) Of The Year

- Story(s) Of The Year

You can name a single favorite, do rankings or just share something that stood out to you in 2020.

We'll be doing this for kickboxing, MMA and boxing.

Let's kick this off!

[K1power]

[K1power]

In last year's thread I talked about not having much to contribute due to not paying much attention to MMA and that one of my goals for 2020 was to get into it a little bit more.

Today, roughly a year later, I have mixed feelings on how that went. I've definitely paid somewhat more attention to the point where I have a bit more to contribute to this thread compared to last year. On the other hand, I can't honestly claim that I'm really back into MMA. Apart from covering the results and watching the occasional couple of fights or highlights, not that much has changed. I feel like keeping up was a bit easier in 2020, because we had less events due to COVID-19.

Anyway, here goes!

- Fight(s) Of The Year

Justin Gaethje vs. Tony Ferguson - A very high-paced, action-packed fight that was competitive until the finish.

- Upset(s) Of The Year

I'm not sure there were any major ones. At least not that I can think of.
Going by 2020's list of results, perhaps Aleksandar Rakić defeating Anthony Smith.

- Fighter(s) Of The Year

Khabib Nurmagomedov - Kinda hard not to go with Khabib. The guy goes into retirement with a perfect record by outclassing Gaethje.

- Breakout Fighter(s) Of The Year

Giga Chikadze - How could I not go with a kickboxer? Seriously though; 4 fights, 4 victories. Probably one of the busiest fighters in 2020 considering the impact of the pandemic.

- Knockout(s) Of The Year



- Comeback(s) Of The Year

Conor McGregor - After the big loss to Khabib in 2018 and no fights in 2019, McGregor returned to the octagon in 2020 with a bang, blowing Cerrone out of the water in 40 seconds. I wish it would have been against a stronger opponent who wasn't coming off back-to-back losses, but it is what it is.

- Story(s)/Controversy(s) Of The Year

As you can see I grouped story and controversy together, because there's some overlap in what I have to say about it.

Obviously COVID-19 is the story of 2020 and of course it affected MMA in a big way as well. While overall we still got quite a lot of events last year, if you compare it to 2019 there's a substantial difference.

There was a period last year when promotions just kept postponing/rescheduling/cancelling events. It didn't stand out so much for smaller promotions, but it really did when Bellator and UFC were affected by it.

The controversy - to me at least - was in the pushback against the rules and regulations brought on by COVID, namely by Dana White. Then there were fighters like Bryce Mitchell who used the UFC as their platform to protest against face masks.

Especially in light of a fighter like Khamzat Chimaev retiring due to long-term effects caused by COVID, the pushback against rules and regulations feels like such an insult.

I can't say that any of this really surprised me, just that it reinforced my distaste for certain people and ideologies.

- Event(s) Of The Year

I would probably have to go with UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje. One of the few UFC events I watched live last year and enjoyed.

And those are my MMA picks for 2020. While I'm probably still missing a ton of stuff, I was able to make a list that I wouldn't have a year ago. So yay!