Lightweight prospect of the year: George Hardwick (11-1)
Lightweight has a ton of guys that could’ve taken this award but Hardwick had an outstanding year. He went 3-0, and won and defended the Cage Warriors title. He took out Contender Series alum Kyle Driscoll and Bellator vet Chris Bungard being the key wins. Hardwick has a 100% finish rate and has finished his last five opponents. George and his brother Harry gained a lot of attention this year with their performances. George Hardwick had a slightly better year overall.
Featherweight prospect of the year: Jose Delano (12-2)
For Delano 2022 wasn’t too smooth even though he went 3-0. All three of his fights took place in the LFA cage as the promotion has been doing shows in Brazil. Delano made his LFA debut in a title fight versus Contender Series alum Jonas Bilharinho. Delano was an underdog but ended up winning. Unfortunately due to missing weight he didn’t win the title. He was given another chance at LFA gold against Michael Stack. He won but again missed weight so he didn’t get the title. LFA decided to do a four-man featherweight tournament to crown a champ. Delano is a part of it and won his fight and did make weight. Although he started off the year in a slump he ended it in a big way. Now he will open up 2023 fighting for the LFA featherweight title.
