2023 was another excellent year for the MMA world because it featured many interesting battles, impressive win streaks and surprising upset victories. The year was full of surprises that gave a great dose of entertainment to the fans. On that note, let’s have a look at the 10 best MMA fighters of this year.
10. Patchy Mix
Mix had a notable campaign this year as he became only the second fighter to knock out Raufeon Stots. In addition, he also captured a $1 million grand prize as the winner of the promotion’s Bantamweight World Grand Prix. Patchy further unified the belt with a highlight performance against Sergio Pettis at Bellator 301. He defeated Pettis via submission in the second round.
9. Larissa Pacheco
The Brazilian fighter Larisa Pacheco became the first-ever PFL Women’s Featherweight World Champion after beating Marina Mokhnatkina at PFL 10 on November 24. Last year, she won the PFL Women’s Lightweight Tournament and shocked the world by defeating Kayla Harrison. This year, “The Iron Lady” first defeated Julia Budd and then scored two TKO wins against Amber Leibrock and Olena Kolesnyk before fighting Mokhnatkina.
8. Loopy Godinez
Loopy Godinez had a great year, as she won all four of her fights in 2023 and moved up to #11 in the UFC women’s strawweight rankings. The Mexican-Canadian fighter first defeated Cynthia Cavillo in April at UFC 297 and then returned the following month to beat Emily Ducote before defeating Elise Reed in September and earning the performance of the night. Loopy finished the year with a win over Tabatha Ricci and cemented herself as a strong opponent for 2024.
7. Tom Aspinall
On July 22, 2023, Tom Aspinall earned a first-round knockout win against Marcin Tybura. After this, the British fighter accepted a short-notice fight against Sergei Pavlovich. Within 1 minute and nine seconds into the first round, Aspinall knocked out the Russian fighter and won the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. With this win, Tom also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
6. Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje began his 2023 campaign with a win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286 on March 18, 2023, who was on a six-fight winning streak. He earned the Fight if the Night Performance for this victory. After this “The Highlight” avenged his 2018 loss to Dustin Poirier by scoring a knockout win at UFC 291 and also captured the BMF title.
5. Impa Kasanganay
Impa Kasanganay had an incredible 2023 campaign, as he didn’t lose a single bout this year. First, Impa defeated Osama Elseady by TKO at PFL Challenger Series 15 in his lightweight debut. Then “Tshilobo” went on a four-fight winning streak by defeating Cory Hendricks,Tim Caron,Marthin Hamlet and Josh Silveira, respectively. Two out of his four wins were by knockout and submission. His win against Silveria came at the 2023 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament, where Impa won the $1 million prize.
4. Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira first suffered a knockout loss in April to Israel Adesanya at UFC 297 and lost the UFC Middleweight title. After this, he returned to a new weight class and defeated Jan Błachowicz at UFC 291, earning himself a title shot. “Poatan” faced Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and won the match via knockout.
3. Leon Edwards
In 2022, Leon Edwards defeated Usman Kamaru at UFC 278 to win the UFC Welterweight Championship. In 2023, “Rocky” successfully defended his welterweight title against Usman in their rematch. After March, the English fighter returned in December at the UFC’s last event of 2023 and faced Colby Covington at UFC 296. Edwards dominated his opponent and won the fight via unanimous decision, making his second successful title defense.
2. Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski’s rivalry gained the most attention in 2023. The two fighters first locked horns in February at UFC 284, where Makhachev won the fight via unanimous decision. This bout emerged as one of the most spectacular superfights and it was named the Fight of the Year. In the rematch in October at UFC 294, Makhachev again defeated the Australian with a head kick in the first round, becoming the first man to defeat the featherweight champion in over a decade.
1. Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland faced a challenging situation after suffering two consecutive losses, first a devastating knockout by the hands of Alex Pereira and then a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier. However, in 2023, “Tarzan” scored two wins against Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov via unanimous decision and TKO, respectively. When Dricus Du Plessis withdrew from a scheduled fight with Israel Adesanya, Strickland stepped in on short notice for the title fight at UFC 293. He was the underdog for that fight and shocked everyone by dominating “The Last Stylebender” and capturing the Middleweight title. He ended this year with an impressive record of 3-0.
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