Media Sean Strickland awarded fighter of the year (Mod Edit: By MMAJunkie)

[EYEKICKFACES]

Then say that beforehand instead of promising the fight is for the #1 P4P when you’re full of shit. If they said Volk fights would be discredited and were a waste of Islam’s time then he never would have wasted his prime on those fights.

But they didn’t do that. They promised it was a P4P fight for the top spot, then didn’t like the result, and while choking back tears said nah the fights don’t count. It is akin to selling something for 500 bucks and then the seller says it was worth 50 cents. It only makes the seller look like a shit scammer.

Oh I agree with that, I never really believe any of the crap the UFC pushes. They may name him fighter of the year as a result since they pushed that angle, I just don't necessarily expect other outlets to agree.

 

[Psychojoe86]

Strickland or Makachev. Which is better for the criteria? Big underdog winning huge or big favorite delivering? It’s definitely debatable

Alex pereira also has a case, except he did lose to Izzy by brutal ko first

 

[MawrSeneca]

This is a popularity contest. No offense to Strickland, he got Upset of the year by beating Adesanya but when I think about FOTY it's usually a champion with multiple defenses or a contender who became champion by beating the champ and other highly touted contenders on their way up. Adesanya is a great win but who else did Sean beat? Imavov at 205 and the unranked and unproven Abus who gassed. Had Strickland beaten Whittaker/Vettori/Cannonier/DDP/Pereira then it would bolster his claim to FOTY. Adesanya isn't a valuable win compared to others in the UFC... Volk and Usman are way more valuable wins. Imagine beating Usman and Volk twice??? Islam/Leon have a way better claim to FOTY. Can anyone dispute that beating Usman and Volk twice is better than beating Adesanya by decision? FOTY is clearly Islam. Volk is a better win than Adesanya so it's ironic that beating Adesanya (who's lost last year and the year before) is the best accomplishment of the sport. If this is a popularity contest then just say it is. You cannot objectively say Strickland had higher accolades than what Islam accomplished.

 

[MawrSeneca]

Or, put another way. Winning 2 fights against the same guy from a weight class below you while not defending against anyone in your weight class does not get you fighter of the year.

Had Volk beaten Islam he would have been considered a living legend a consensus greatest fighter who ever lived. You ironically disparage Volk by trying to downplay Islam's accomplishment. Beating Volk who had no critical weight issue, fought on home soil and last minute isn't something many 155ers can do. It's kind of crazy how the narrative is spun so hard on this rivalry. Volk had everything to gain and Islam everything to lose.

 

[AmonTobin]

Grasso, Pereira, Diego Lopes were stand outs too for me this year.

 

[BjPenn2017]

Who TF at sherdog hates Sean so much? Led into 2023 being the first guy to main event two UFCs in a row in modern day I believe and won a short notice fight against imavov, beat that Russian dude on 6 week notice then won a fight everyone had him pegged as a warm body in.

Islam definitely not fighter of the year after beating up a little person on short notice, that’s actually fucking comical whoever decided that.

 

[Guy LeDouche]

Knowing the UFC their pick would probably go to O’Malley or Paddy.

 

[EYEKICKFACES]

Had Volk beaten Islam he would have been considered a living legend a consensus greatest fighter who ever lived. You ironically disparage Volk by trying to downplay Islam's accomplishment. Beating Volk who had no critical weight on home soil and last minute isn't something many 155ers can do. It's kind of crazy how the narrative is spun so hard on this rivalry. Volk had everything to gain and Islam everything to lose.

Had mighty mouse fought Jon Jones and won he'd be a legend as well. Yes, beating a man in a lower division means less than beating a man in a higher division. Not sure how you really don't comprehend that, it's not complicated.

 

[regmma123]

He was just on the receiving end of a highlight reel ko not too long ago

But is sherfront so is normal

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Well deserved!

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

This is great news and quite deserved.

Good for you Sean Tarzan! Your #BlueCollarMentality was been inspiring to many across the world. And also notable was the bravery he have in calling out the #SexualDeviancy behaviour of the former but then champ #Izzy, despite potential backlash for speak of member of family who was become deceased many year prior.

We need more #AmericanHero like you in order to win the fight against #Satan and the #AmericanApartheid which was been threaten our freedom.

In the name of America, Jesus, and Freedom, please do not stop.

View attachment 1019343
(Note for blind Sherdog brother/sister/otherwise and #UFCFriend on screen reader: this is image of Sean Tarzan with shirt off, looking to the future and enjoying his freedom. #Inclusivity)



Of course unless by stop, you was mean #StopAmericanHate.


#injesushisname #aparthoodiswrong #BlueCollarCulture

You're poster of the year material.

Bravo!

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

Well deserved. Fight anyone anywhere type of guy.

 

[maximus__]

1. Fight set up that is agreed upon beforehand as being for P4P #1 spot on Earth. You win.
2. Rematch the guy after you win. You win again, this time by violent finish
3. You don't become P4P #1
4. You don't win fighter of the year

Good for Sean I guess but sort of bullshit IMO with the goal post moving

Sherdog called it right / it is Islam

Islam isn't active enough to win it.They usually give it to people who fight atleast 3x. I don't think Sean should either because he was the higher ranked guy in 2 of those fights and should have beaten Imanov and Abus. He kinda got 2 gimme fights and then had that 10/10 perfromance vs Izzy.

 

[r-harper-1]

Islam 100%

 

[sanguinius]

1. Fight set up that is agreed upon beforehand as being for P4P #1 spot on Earth. You win.
2. Rematch the guy after you win. You win again, this time by violent finish
3. You don't become P4P #1
4. You don't win fighter of the year

Good for Sean I guess but sort of bullshit IMO with the goal post moving

Sherdog called it right / it is Islam

3 wins against guys in your weight class> 2 wins over someone from a lighter weight class.

 

[Iroh]

Strickland had a good year, but Islam went 2-0 against the P4P #1 fighter... levels to this

And thr first one he al.almost lost and he was also favored to win against the much smaller fighter.

I think overcoming an obstacle nobody thinks you can overcome is more impressive, than overcoming an obstacle everybody thinks you should be able to overcome.

 

[aali14]

Well deserved imo