On Tuesday ESPN revealed their nominees for their annual ESPY awards and making the cut in the “Best Fighter” category are Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Georges St-Pierre and current UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.
GSP & Rose Nominated
St Pierre (25-2) cemented legacy as one of the best mixed martial artists of all time when he submitted Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November where he captured the promotions middleweight title. Even more impressive was the fact that prior to that title fight, the 37-year-old hadn’t fought in the cage since a Nov. 2013 win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. Since becoming the 185-pound champion, the Canadian opted to vacate his title due to health issues. The Tristar product is currently riding a 13-fight win streak.
On that same UFC 217 event in November, Namajunas (7-3) knocked out former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the first round, in one of the biggest upsets last year. The win was the 25-year-old’s fifth in her last six fights as she also dispatched the likes of Tecia Torres and Michelle Waterson during that run. While the nominations are only for 2017, Namajunas also defeated Jedrzejcayk at UFC 223 this past April to hand the Polish fighter the first back-to-back losing streak of her career.
The two UFC fighters will be going up against boxing standouts Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko.
Crawford (33-0) had an impressive 2017 earning a technical decision over Felix Diaz and then followed that up with a knockout win over previously undefeated Julius Indongo in August. Lomachenko (11-1) went 3-0 last year earning technical decision wins over Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux. The 30-year-old Ukrainian even caught the attention of current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway who showed him support prior to his fight in December.
Get yours next week my man! #HiTech
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 3, 2017
You can vote here to pick who you think deserves the “Best Fighter” ESPY.
Who do you think deserves the ESPY for “Best Fighter” Comment below and tell us what you think!
