Sherdog's Comeback Fighter of the Year

Ha-ha, all you guys . . . Have you heard of a fighter named Matt Brown? Dude's making a freakish comeback.


In all seriousness, good thread TS. I actually didnt even realize it was now four wins in a row for Matt. I remember when his pink slip was all but signed and delivered. He definitely deserves recognition.
 
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Classic
 
I went through this thread, expecting to see Matt Brown mentioned. But 8 pages??? Come on.

Matt Brown.

8 pages? Lol have a look at your page settings mate.

OT: Wineland and Varner came back harder than Arnie in the terminator, Brown has never been close to contendership, he shouldn't even be mentioned to be honest.
 
Like everyone else, I think the award should go to Matt Brown. More than a few people were surprised that he stuck around after the loss to Brian Foster (his third consecutive defeat at the time), but since then, he's looked more and more like a solid mid-level UFC fighter and less like the TUF washout that many expected him to be.

On a side note, I think you could make a case for Jamie Varner as well. It looked like he might be done fighting after the loss to Dakota Cochrane. Fast forward a year later, and he's looking like the same guy that was a champion in the WEC. He pulled off arguably the Upset of the Year against Edson Barboza, had a Fight of the Year contender with Joe Lauzon, and is now coming off a good win over Melvin Guillard.

Good shout out for Varner . . . I have to admit the guy's grown on me. While bigger names like Alvarez, Aoki, Melendez, Cerronne, Diaz etc and on and on capture the rankings and public attention, Jamie's somewhat unexpectedly made a resurgence as a forgotten man . . . Has made the MMA world pay attention that he really did have skills translatable to the world's biggest org.
 
Matt Brown went into 2012 a fringe ufc gatekeeper
He had a sick year, got some great wins but hes still a gatekeeper.
VARNER went from the brink of obscurity to a fixture of the UFC LW division

Brown is a very close second but Ill go with varner
 
So did Swanson.

I don't think anyone will dispute the fact that Cub had a great 2012. However, I think it's safe to say that he didn't face nearly as much adversity as either Brown or Varner heading into the calendar year. From 2009 to 2011, Swanson alternated between wins and losses, with those losses coming to legitimate top-five Featherweights in Aldo, Mendes, and Lamas. A "Comeback Fighter of the Year" candidate should be someone who's gotten back on the winning track after a notable rough patch in their career, and I don't see that with Swanson to the extent that I do with others. I think Cub would be better suited as a "Breakout Fighter of the Year" candidate.
 
Brown is a comeback fighter for sure (for those saying he isn't) . . . He won 4 out of his first 5 UFC fights with the lone loss a controversial one to Kim. Both he and the Korean were recognized as up-and-comers at the time. He then went to lose 4 out his next 5 with an all but guaranteed expulsion had he lost another. The 4 fight winstreak is more than significant.
 
On a side note, I think you could make a case for Jamie Varner as well. It looked like he might be done fighting after the loss to Dakota Cochrane. Fast forward a year later, and he's looking like the same guy that was a champion in the WEC. He pulled off arguably the Upset of the Year against Edson Barboza, had a Fight of the Year contender with Joe Lauzon, and is now coming off a good win over Melvin Guillard.[/QUOTE]

Definetely agree with this. Personally, I'd say Varner because of his level of competition. Plus, like you said, he looked down and out before coming back to the UFC. Matt Brown hasn't peaked yet to have a comeback. He just wasn't too good, so he trained and he's getting much better.
 
Cain came back from a devastating loss with two impressive wins and won his belt back in the process. Matt Brown had a great year but what did he come back from, obscurity to relevance?
 
Varner and Brown. There's no way to really say which one deserved it more, as Varner stepped up bigtime out of obscurity while Brown went on a progressive tear.
 
Tom Sylvia?
 
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