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The nominees are... MICHAEL BISPING (30-7, 3-0 in 2016) Bouts: W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) ANDERSON SILVA (UFC Fight Night 84: Silva vs. Bisping) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) LUKE ROCKHOLD (UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping II) W-DEC5 (UNANIMOUS) DAN HENDERSON (UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson II) CONOR MCGREGOR (21-3, 2-1 in 2016) Bouts: L-SUB2 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) NATE DIAZ (UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz) W-DEC5 (MAJORITY) NATE DIAZ (UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor II) W-TKO2 (PUNCHES) EDDIE ALVAREZ (UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor) AMANDA NUNES (14-4, 3-0 in 2016) Bouts: W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO (UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz) W-SUB1 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) MIESHA TATE (UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes) W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) RONDA ROUSEY (UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey) CODY GARBRANDT (11-0, 4-0 in 2016) Bouts: W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) AUGUSTO MENDES (UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs. Cowboy) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) THOMAS ALMEIDA (UFC Fight Night 88: Almeida vs. Garbrandt) W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) TAKEYA MIZUGAKI (UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor II) W-DEC5 (UNANIMOUS) DOMINICK CRUZ (UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis) DONALD CERRONE (32-7, 4-0 in 2016) Bouts: W-SUB1 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) ALEX OLIVEIRA (UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs. Cowboy) W-TKO3 (PUNCHES) PATRICK CÔTÉ (UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs. Thompson) W-TKO2 (STRIKES) RICK STORY (UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor II) W-KO3 (HEAD KICK) MATT BROWN (UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis) STIPE MIOČIĆ (16-2, 3-0 in 2016) Bouts: W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) ANDREI ARLOVSKI (UFC 195: Lawler vs. Condit) W-KO1 (PUNCH) FABRÍCIO WERDUM (UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miočić) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) ALISTAIR OVEREEM (UFC 203: Miočić vs. Overeem) 2013 WINNER: CHRIS WEIDMAN 2014 WINNER: ROBBIE LAWLER 2015 WINNER: CONOR MCGREGOR Award voting will close 1/25 at 8:00 p.m. CST.

The nominees are... FRANKIE EDGAR (20-4-1, 2-0 in 2015) Bouts: W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) URIJAH FABER (UFC Fight Night 66: Edgar vs. Faber, May 16, 2015) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) CHAD MENDES (The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber, December 11, 2015) DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON (23-2-1, 2-0 in 2015) Bouts: W-SUB5 (ARMBAR) KYOJI HORIGUCHI (UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi, April 25, 2015) W-DEC5 (UNANIMOUS) JOHN DODSON (UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson II, September 5, 2015) LUKE ROCKHOLD (15-2, 2-0 in 2015) Bouts: W-SUB2 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) LYOTO MACHIDA (UFC on Fox 15: Machida vs. Rockhold, April 18, 2015) W-TKO4 (PUNCHES) CHRIS WEIDMAN (UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor, December 12, 2015) CONOR MCGREGOR (19-2, 3-0 in 2015) Bouts: W-TKO2 (PUNCHES) DENNIS SIVER (UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver, January 18, 2015) W-TKO2 (PUNCHES) CHAD MENDES (UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor, July 11, 2015) W-KO1 (PUNCHES) JOSÉ ALDO (UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor, December 12, 2015) RAFAEL DOS ANJOS (25-7, 2-0 in 2015) Bouts: W-DEC5 (UNANIMOUS) ANTHONY PETTIS (UFC 185: Pettis vs. Dos Anjos, March 14, 2015) W-TKO1 (STRIKES) DONALD CERRONE (UFC on Fox 17: Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone, December 19, 2015) DANIEL CORMIER (17-1, 2-1 in 2015) Bouts: L-DEC5 (UNANIMOUS) JON JONES (UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier, January 3, 2015) W-SUB3 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) ANTHONY JOHNSON (UFC 187: Johnson vs. Cormier, May 23, 3015) W-DEC5 (SPLIT) ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON (UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson, October 3, 2015) 2013 WINNER: CHRIS WEIDMAN 2014 WINNER: ROBBIE LAWLER Award voting will close 1/17 at 10:30 p.m. CST

DONALD CERRONE Wins: KO1 Adriano Martins (January 25, 2014), SUB1 Edson Barboza (April 19, 2014), KO2 Jim Miller (July 16, 2014), DEC3 Eddie Alvarez (September 27, 2014) JOSÉ ALDO Wins: DEC5 Ricardo Lamas (February 1, 2014), DEC5 Chad Mendes (October 25, 2014) RONDA ROUSEY Wins: TKO1 Sara McMann (February 22, 2014), KO1 Alexis Davis (July 5, 2014) ROBBIE LAWLER Wins: TKO3 Jake Ellenberger (May 24, 2014), DEC5 Matt Brown (July 26, 2014), DEC5 Johny Hendricks (December 6, 2014) Losses: DEC5 Johny Hendricks (March 15, 2014) FABRÍCIO WERDUM Wins: DEC5 Travis Browne (April 19, 2014), TKO2 Mark Hunt (November 15, 2014) FRANKIE EDGAR Wins: TKO3 B.J. Penn (July 6, 2014), SUB5 Cub Swanson (November 22, 2014) 2013 WINNER: CHRIS WEIDMAN Credit: MMA-Core.com for the GIFs Award voting will close 1/3 at 4:45 p.m. CST

CHRIS WEIDMAN Wins: KO2 ANDERSON SILVA (July 6, 2013), TKO2 ANDERSON SILVA (December 28, 2013) Chris Weidman spent the better part of a year between fights before getting a crack at his division's crown jewel. A torn labrum put the Long Island native out of commission and his title hopes on the shelf. In addition, Hurricane Sandy ravaged his home and left the undefeated fighter in a rough financial position. Weidman faced some condemnation in his run up to UFC 162. His record did not feature a murderer's row of other contenders or familiar faces of the past like Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, or Dan Henderson. Perhaps the most impressive win in retrospect besides current welterweight Demian Maia would have been now TUF alum Uriah Hall. Nevertheless, Weidman charged into his UFC 162 performance as if he was the long awaited number one contender all along. Weidman's confidence and poise in his shocking second round knockout over Anderson Silva showed he was the rightful heir to the middleweight throne. It was much more than a return to normalcy. The antics and overall experience of the longtime champion were not enough to guide him to another stellar title defense. Weidman fought a brilliant tactical fight with few errors and took advantage of Silva's most critical mistake. Weidman continued to show growth in his maturation as an elite fighter in the return match with "The Spider" at UFC 168. Matching wits with Anderson had not yielded great results for other fighters, but Weidman's fight IQ allowed him to win both fights. Silva had prepared mostly in LA while Weidman prepped with his training partners in Long Island and New Jersey for any possible adjustments. One adjustment Weidman did make that paid dividends was checking leg kicks. Silva's leg kicks had proven to be a big transition for his other attacks, and Weidman successfully countered to take another victory over the man who once sat atop of the pound-for-pound list. CAIN VELASQUEZ Wins: DEC5 Junior Dos Santos (December 30, 2012), TKO1 Antonio Silva (May 25, 2013), TKO5 Junior Dos Santos (October 19, 2013) The UFC heavyweight division has been an odd duck for a number of years. A more specific timeframe would be since spring of 2007. With the purchase of PRIDE in 2007 and a number of their fighters heading to greener pastures, the UFC seemed to be in full control of their manifest destiny. MMA fans began fantasy booking the UFC's remaining slate for the next several months as well as proposed PRIDE tournaments. Much to the chagrin of the fanbase of the two MMA promotional titans, talent began to scatter in several directions. K-1 Hero's/FEG pulled up and passed Dream Stage Entertainment in the race for Japan while later doomed companies like Strikeforce, Affliction, and EliteXC ate up contract-after-contract. Free agency had never been so sweet for the sport. Fast forwarding to the spring of 2012, free agency had become a much different term in the sport. Fedor Emelianenko, the most glaring omission from the UFC's buyout years earlier, was on the eve of retirement. In the time since, Zuffa had failed to nab the services of the stoic gentleman from Stary Oskol. Fedor had taken his losses and was no longer an invincible force. His retirement was escalated by the fact M-1 no longer had a different and diverse platform for the former PRIDE heavyweight champion. Fedor had went from performing on shows with Takada hitting percussion in diapers to events with Megadeth three song medleys serving as intermissions. Fedor had been adapt at being the lone star in the small ponds, but was not as big a factor in the expanision of the sport across the globe since April 2007. The UFC had been making moves though. UFC 70, the show where the entire heavweight landscape changed with a kick to the head, was the first UFC show overseas in a good bit. Five years later, the UFC was in the midst of their expansion to increase their Latino and Brazilian fanbase. An average UFC PPV show now in Las Vegas has a bigger Brazilian atmosphere than a Gracie vs. Luta Livre show in 1992. Part of the expansion can be attributed to their two heavyweight stalwarts, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. After quickly toppling Velasquez in November 2011 on the first ever UFC on Fox show, Dos Santos fell prey to a much healthier fighter in their UFC 155 rematch. Velasquez beat the Brazilian from pillar to post without much resistance. Much like the first matchup, both fighters were not up to snuff when they stepped into the cage. Dos Santos was dealing with health issues and a rocky marital split. At UFC 160, the two heavyweight behemoths grabbed two decisive wins to put them both on the collision course again. Not to the surprise of anyone, a trilogy was in order to decide the true successor to the Fedor era. The American Kickboxing Academy product wasted no time in putting a stamp on the action by beginning the rubber match much like the second bout. Dos Santos, now with longtime coach Yuri Carlton finally in his corner on fight night, spent much of his time on the defensive. What was so impressive about Velasquez's performances in fights two and three was Dos Santos had never been a shrinking violet in his career, but Velasquez made the much more offensive minded fighter into a passive and timid participant. While "Cigano" surely got his licks in and busted Velasquez up at points, the third bout was never really up in the air outside of a puncher's chance. Velasquez secured the win and his spot in the pantheon of elite fighters. OTHER NOMINEES: H/T Patrick L. Stumburg (http://www.mmamania.com/2014/1/1/5240400/ufc-mma-top-5-fighters-2013-pettis-barao-lawler-belfort-johnson) ANTHONY PETTIS Wins: TKO1 DONALD CERRONE (January 26, 2013), SUB1 BENSON HENDERSON (August 31, 2013) DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON Wins: DEC5 JOHN DODSON (January 26, 2013), SUB5 JOHN MORAGA (July 27, 2013), KO1 JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ (December 14, 2013) RENAN BARAO Wins: SUB4 MICHAEL MCDONALD (February 16, 2013), TKO2 EDDIE WINELAND (September 21, 2013) ROBBIE LAWLER Wins: TKO1 JOSH KOSCHECK (February 23, 2013), KO2 BOBBY VOELKER (July 27, 2013), DEC3 RORY MACDONALD (November 16, 2013)