The UFC has listed “best of” year categories at the end of the year for things like “best fighter”, or “best finish.” Starting at the end of 2019, the promotion will begin a new end-of-year awards program that is sponsored by Toyo Tires. It will be officially known as “UFC Honors, Presented by Toyo Tires.”
The awards will be in two groups, one group of awards chosen by UFC President Dana White and the other by fans according to the announcement from the UFC. “Every year, there are so many great fights and so many unbelievable performances in UFC,” White said. The change might be welcome moving forward as having the fans pick some of the winners could go over better than picking one that might seem like a snub to some fighters, like Aljamain Sterling last year when his “funk strudel” (suloev stretch) seemed to get no credit at all.
Good thing the fans will get to pick “Submission of the Year.” With the UFC’s large roster and regular event schedule, it can be hard choosing all the categories so the UFC will utilize social media and online voting. “It’s going to be almost impossible to pick the best, but I’m going to have fun trying,” White said in the announcement and agrees that, “It’s also cool that the fans will get to vote in some categories.”
The categories for White and fans are as follows:
UFC Honors President’s Choice:
– UFC Performance of the Year
– UFC Fight of the Year
UFC Honors Fan Choice
– Toyo Tires’ UFC Knockout of the Year
– Toyo Tires’ UFC Submission of the Year
– Toyo Tires’ UFC Event of the Year
– Toyo Tires’ UFC Comeback of the Year -from UFC.com
The nominees will be announced at the beginning of December with fans getting their chance to vote throughout the month. The winners will be announced before the end of the year.
