1. Kevin Holland
Not even a modern day apocalypse could stop Kevin Holland from showing up to the Octagon five times in 2020.
Consider, he tied a modern era record using just a little over half a year as opposed to the full twelve months. Furthermore, he had one fight cancelled literally minutes before walking out due to an opponent fainting backstage and had another fight postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test. Of course, that only seemed to motivate him as he still came back two weeks later (his test being a false positive, per his own theory) and scored one of the best finishes of the year against one of the most decorated grapplers in the history of the UFC.
Having already been in the UFC for two years, he would not typically qualify for Breakthrough Fighter of the Year when naming year end awards. Depending on how your criteria, it is typically for fighters who made their debut in a major promotion in the calendar year. However, there is no denying he was one of the breakout fighters of 2020 and a well-deserved winner of our Fighter of the Year. In a year where the story seemed to be fighters who couldn’t make it to fights, it’s only fitting that one of the biggest stars is the one who made it to more bouts than anybody else.
