Who had the best year in MMA in 2023? There were a handful of standouts in last year, but in the end, it was hard to argue against two of them. We’re handing out our year-end awards for the seventh year running (the trophy is in the mail, we swear!) and this year might have actually had the most consensus for male and female Fighter of the Year ever.
Here’s our picks!
Fighter of the Year 2023: Male
Eddie Law: Leon Edwards. Leon followed up a massive upset in 2022 by confirming that victory over Kamaru Usman in March, and then shutting up one of the loudest and more outspoken fighters in MMA to cap the year off. Quiet, doesn’t try to sell fights, and constantly doubted the welterweight champ continues to prove the naysayers wrong.
Gabriel Gonzalez: Leon Edwards. While Leon Edwards needed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat last year, 2023 left no doubt about where his skills stood on the pound-for-pound list. He handled business at home against Kamaru Usman to officially go up 2-1 in their trilogy and his route of Colby Covington elevated him head-and-shoulders above the competition.
Jay Anderson: I wanted to get really crazy and pick Francis Ngannou for the sheer fact that he seemed to will the Tyson Fury fight into existence and acquitted himself well, crossing over to a second sport. But in reality, this is an MMA award and Ngannou didn’t fight in MMA in 2023. Instead, it came down to Leon Edwards or Sean Strickland for me. Edwards defeated Kamaru Usman (in a rematch/trilogy fight) and Colby Covington, while Strickland bested Nassourdine Imavov, Abusupiyan Magomedov, and Israel Adesanya.
While on paper, Edwards faced the stiffer competition, the Colby Covington who showed up at UFC 296 looked like a shadow of his former self. And it’s hard, really hard, to overlook that Adesanya win, and the way Strickland, who in 2018 was answering question from the media with “Yes sir” and a rather humble demeanor, has transformed himself into the bad boy of the sport. Or the unhinged lunatic of the sport. In any case, 2023 was Sean Strickland’s year.
Val Dewar: Islam Makhachev. Makhachev will draw criticism for only fighting a man from a lower weight class, but that man was the best pound-for-pound fighter on Earth. For me, this award comes down to who beat the best fighters this year, and I require the plural.
Islam Makhachev had better victories in 2023 than his undefeated, elite-level contemporaries, notably Leon Edwards, Alexandre Pantoja, and Sean Strickland – each of whom have just one elite win. Islam has a chance to win this award again and cement his place as the best P4P fighter in the world in 2024, as potential title challengers Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, and Arman Tsarukyan are truly elite, championship-level talents.
Jamie Theodosi: Sean Strickland. From beginning the year nowhere near title contention, to finishing it as champion, he just about edges Makhachev for me. Islam’s wins versus Volk were impressive, but the surprising element of Strickland’s year is more impressive for me.
Cade Morehouse: Sean Strickland had an impressive year in 2023. Sean is the fighter of the year because he impressively had wins over Imavov, Magomedov and dominated one of the best fighters in the world Israel Adesanya to become world champion.
Patrick McCorry: Sean Strickland. Anywhere, anyplace, had the biggest title fight upset since Peña v Nuñes in my eyes, and dominated Israel Adesanya.
Shawn Bitter: Sean Strickland. Strickland went from fighting on the first card of 2023 to ending the year winning the undisputed middleweight title. He did so in one of the biggest upsets in title fight history beating Israel Adesanya.
End result: While Leon Edwards had a strong argument it was impossible to argue against Sean Strickland as the 2023 Male Fight of the Year.
