The premise of this thread is to highlight what fighter, year by year, had the most impressive year.
This will be a collective process where all I ask is you not only nominate your choice but give a reason as to why, who they fought, etc...., unless you agree with the first initial choice.
1993/1994- Royce Gracie.
While fighting 3 times in one year is average by today's standards, Royce completed this feat in one night, winning all three via finish on his way to becoming the first UFC Champion, while catapulting the sport into the millions of viewers who had never seen anything like that prior.
In 1994 he fought 8 times! Two times he fought multiple guys in one night, both UFC 2 and UFC 4, while competing one time in UFC 3 in a win against Kimo Leopaldo. In this two year time span, Royce went undefeated fighting 11 times, losing none, finishing all 11 fights. Add the fact he was the smallest man in an open weight tournament where the only rules were no biting, fish hooking, or eye gouging, this is a feat that may go unmatched in our lifetime.
1995-Ken Shamrock.
While I had first considered Dan Severn for 1995 having gone a respectable 6-1 beating guys like Tank Abbott, Paul Varelans, and Oleg Taktarov two times, he did lose to Ken Shamrock via guillotine choke. Ken went 5-1-2 with his loss being to submission expert Monoru Suzuki, his two draws were to respectable Royce Gracie and Oleg Taktarov. During this streak he beat Bas Rutten(who then went on a 21 fight win streak after losing to Ken) as well as Dan Severn.
1996-Don Frye.
Frye went 10-1 that year with his lone loss being to HW great Mark Coleman. In this streak Frye beat Gary Goodridge twice, Brian Johnston, and Tank Abbott. However it's arguable Coleman could be considered FOTY as he has a head to head win over Don Frye as well as wins over Goodridge and Johnston, Frye was more active which gives him the edge for me.(Feedback welcome on this)
1997-Randy Couture.
Making his mma debut this year, he went 4-0 beating Vitor Belfort(4-1 this year) and Maurice Smith. Smith was coming fresh off wins from Mark Coleman and Tank Abbott before being stopped by The Natural.
This will be a collective process where all I ask is you not only nominate your choice but give a reason as to why, who they fought, etc...., unless you agree with the first initial choice.
1993/1994- Royce Gracie.
While fighting 3 times in one year is average by today's standards, Royce completed this feat in one night, winning all three via finish on his way to becoming the first UFC Champion, while catapulting the sport into the millions of viewers who had never seen anything like that prior.
In 1994 he fought 8 times! Two times he fought multiple guys in one night, both UFC 2 and UFC 4, while competing one time in UFC 3 in a win against Kimo Leopaldo. In this two year time span, Royce went undefeated fighting 11 times, losing none, finishing all 11 fights. Add the fact he was the smallest man in an open weight tournament where the only rules were no biting, fish hooking, or eye gouging, this is a feat that may go unmatched in our lifetime.
1995-Ken Shamrock.
While I had first considered Dan Severn for 1995 having gone a respectable 6-1 beating guys like Tank Abbott, Paul Varelans, and Oleg Taktarov two times, he did lose to Ken Shamrock via guillotine choke. Ken went 5-1-2 with his loss being to submission expert Monoru Suzuki, his two draws were to respectable Royce Gracie and Oleg Taktarov. During this streak he beat Bas Rutten(who then went on a 21 fight win streak after losing to Ken) as well as Dan Severn.
1996-Don Frye.
Frye went 10-1 that year with his lone loss being to HW great Mark Coleman. In this streak Frye beat Gary Goodridge twice, Brian Johnston, and Tank Abbott. However it's arguable Coleman could be considered FOTY as he has a head to head win over Don Frye as well as wins over Goodridge and Johnston, Frye was more active which gives him the edge for me.(Feedback welcome on this)
1997-Randy Couture.
Making his mma debut this year, he went 4-0 beating Vitor Belfort(4-1 this year) and Maurice Smith. Smith was coming fresh off wins from Mark Coleman and Tank Abbott before being stopped by The Natural.
