This has been quite the year for fighters leaving their mark in Octagon. As far as annual awards go, usually there is one that clearly should be considered as the best for a calendar 12 months. Kamaru Usman earned the nod in 2021 with a perfect run and the next closest competitor was Charles Oliveira.
Alex Pereira ran away with the award in 2022 amid his rise to the top. Islam Makhachev was the clear top dog in 2023 with his pair of wins over Alexander Volkanovski. Last year was the first time in a while that the award changed hands in a final fight of the year as Petr Yan essentially stole the recognition from Merab Dvalishvili with his stunning win in December.
A Dvalishvili win would have been historical as he was going for a fourth title defense in a calendar year. event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! All this to say, this year has four legitimate contenders to consider for the honor already.
Justin Gaethje owns a pair of incredible wins as an underdog against Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria. Joshua Van erased any doubt about his legitimacy as the flyweight champion with his wins over Tatsuro Taira and Alexandre Pantoja. And the winner of Ciryl Gane vs.
Josh Hokit will have a case with Gane owning a win over Alex Pereira and Hokit looking to go 4-0 in a calendar year and capping it off with winning the heavyweight title. Then there's Sean Strickland, who also picked up a pair of upset wins in reclaiming the middleweight title. Denzel Freeman, Curtis Blaydes, Derrick Lewis *Hokit and Gane scheduled to fight for heavyweight title at UFC 334 in November With that in mind, the CBS Sports experts took a look at some early considerations for who would get their vote as of today for this prestigous award.
With all due respect to the fighters who still have time over the next three months to boost their FOY case, no one is besting what Gaethje has been able to accomplish through two fights in 2026. The 37-year-old Gaethje, who likely would've retired had he lost either of his fights this year, scored a pair of upsets in two of the best scraps of the calendar year while finally adding an undisputed lightweight championship to his already Hall-of-Fame resume. Gaethje also defeated a pair of unbeaten fighters in order to do so and overcame adversity in both fights to complete one of the great renaissance runs for an aging legend in the sport's history.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
