2015 Them's Fightin' Words Awards: Comeback Fighter of the Year

[Elsalvajeloco]

The nominees are...

Evan Dunham (XTREME COUTURE/DUNHAM JIU JITSU)
Bouts:
W-DEC3 vs. Rodrigo Damm (UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier, January 3, 2015)
W-DEC3 vs. Ross Pearson (UFC Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites, July 18, 2015)
W-DEC3 vs. Joe Lauzon (The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber, December 11, 2015)
 

Demian Maia (DEMIAN MAIA JIU-JITSU)

Bouts:

W-DEC3 vs. Ryan LaFlare (UFC Fight Night 62: Maia vs. LaFlare, March 21, 2015)

W-SUB2 vs. Neil Magny (UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia, August 1, 2015)

W-DEC3 vs. Gunnar Nelson (UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor, December 12, 2015)

 

Dustin Poirier (AMERICAN TOP TEAM)

Bouts:

W-KO1 vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira (UFC Fight Night 63: Mendes vs. Lamas, April 4, 2015)

W-TKO1 vs. Yancy Medeiros (UFC Fight Night 68: Boetsch vs. Henderson, June 6, 2015)

 

Robert Whittaker (PMA Super Martial Arts)

Bouts:

W-KO1 vs. Brad Tavares (UFC Fight Night 65: Miocic vs. Hunt, May 9, 2015)

W-DEC3 vs. Uriah Hall (UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm, November 14, 2015)

 

Alistair Overeem (JACKSONWINK MMA)

Bouts:

W-DEC3 vs. Roy Nelson (UFC 185: Pettis vs. Dos Anjos, March 14, 2015)

W-TKO2 vs. Junior dos Santos (UFC on Fox 14: Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone II, December 19, 2015)

 

Rose Namajunas (GRUDGE TRAINING CENTER)

Bouts:

W-SUB1 vs. Angela Hill (UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson, October 3, 2015)

W-SUB5 vs. Paige VanZant (UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas vs. VanZant, December 10, 2015)

 

2013 Winner: Robbie Lawler - AMERICAN TOP TEAM

2014 Winner: Anthony Johnson - BLACKZILIANS

 

Award voting will close 1/12 at 6:00 p.m. CST.

[Hail Sabin]

Got it as a 4 horse race.

[Jiji]

Yes, lots of good options but I'm going with Maia. The flawless victory over Nelson would be hard to believe if I didn't see it myself. He's been dominant and looks like a title contender. I'd also say his opposition was the strongest now that JDS is pretty well in full decline (sadly).

[TheVileOne]

I mainly picked Overeem since basically he went from a bad losing streak to getting back to contendership level.

[smitlick]

Whittaker for me. Even as an Aussie I didnt think he had any chance in either of his fights of winning and he managed to do both convincingly.

[Elsalvajeloco]

I was a little conflicted on whether or not to put Whittaker in the nominees. At first, I was going to go with Brian Ortega who was coming off the drug test failure. Then, I decided he would be a more suitable potential candidate for 2016 and on the strength of the Brandao win building his case. Another name was Nate Diaz, but again, he probably would be a better candidate for this year if he puts the wins together. Daniel Straus was another name, but he had the disappointing title loss and triumphant title win all within the same year. So he would probably be a honorable mention. King Mo would get an honorable mention as well even though I thought he would be a top choice had he won that one night tournament in September.

 

I thought Whittaker was the better choice because 2015 was his first full year at middleweight, and he had at least two good wins.

[twiztor]

Yes, lots of good options but I'm going with Maia. The flawless victory over Nelson would be hard to believe if I didn't see it myself. He's been dominant and looks like a title contender. I'd also say his opposition was the strongest now that JDS is pretty well in full decline (sadly).

 

this was my thought process as well. i wouldn't be surprised to see him get a title shot in 2016.

[Hail Sabin]

DC kept trolling Woodley on the UFC 195 postfight show that Lawler should fight Maia next.

[supremebve]

I thought Maia was the best fighter not to fight for a title last year.  He's one of the few fighters who can dominate a fight purely with his dominant jiu jitsu. 

[Execproducer]

I was a little conflicted on whether or not to put Whittaker in the nominees. At first, I was going to go with Brian Ortega who was coming off the drug test failure. Then, I decided he would be a more suitable potential candidate for 2016 and on the strength of the Brandao win building his case. Another name was Nate Diaz, but again, he probably would be a better candidate for this year if he puts the wins together. Daniel Straus was another name, but he had the disappointing title loss and triumphant title win all within the same year. So he would probably be a honorable mention. King Mo would get an honorable mention as well even though I thought he would be a top choice had he won that one night tournament in September.

 

I thought Whittaker was the better choice because 2015 was his first full year at middleweight, and he had at least two good wins.

Nothing against Rose, but that is the spot where you could have slid Diaz into the vote. At that point, Rose was a test and Nate was an step. Paige flunked and Johnson got shoved downstairs like Richard Widmark was in the Octagon. Shit, I think Nate is more annoying than his brother, but that was a helluva comeback.

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

DEMIAN MAIA is your 2015 Them's Fightin' Words Comeback Fighter of the Year.