The 2020 Heavies Awards - Breakout Fighter of the Year - WINNER: Kevin Holland!

Who is the Breakout Fighter of 2020?

  • Total voters
    339
  • Poll closed .
The rise of Chimaev since his first UFC fight in July 2019 is hard to top. Two fights in 10 days (at middleweight, then welterweight), followed by another middleweight fight 2 months later. All three fights finished in dominating fashion.

Chimaev has gone from virtual unknown, to a potential UFC title challenger in two weight classes, in the span of less than 6 months.

Kevin Holland's 5-fight win streak from May to December is hella impressive as well, but he's been establishing himself in the UFC since 2018, so I don't consider it as much of a "breakout".
 
Ares Black said:
All the statistics and logic point to Holland as the obvious choice, but my gut says Khamzat Chimaev is the true breakout star of 2020.

Holland is a future entertaining gatekeeper.(probably)

Chimaev is a future quadruple champ.(maybe)
Click to expand...
Holland will be Champ IF Whittaker and Izzy does not EXIST and Quadruple belongs to Cejudo if he wants to come back and Fight Volk for the FW belt
 
Kevin Holland winning this poll is perhaps the most blatant form of recency bias mankind has ever seen.

I voted Gilbert Burns. Because he is the best fighter that is also a breakout on the list. But Chimaev is a close second. Holland...okay he knocked out a 41 year old Jacare in super impressive, flashy unorthodox fashion. Yes. But has he really beaten better competition than even Khazmat's? Not really. And he got subbed by Brendan Allen right before 2020 officially happened as a year.
 
JayPettryMMA said:
The Heavies Awards
-2020-
Breakout Fighter of the Year

Who's ready to break out? Several of these fighters did just that in 2020, either by making a big splash in their UFC debuts or by notching some big wins over top names to move up the rankings.


In a field chock full of UFC newcomers and events as far as the eye can see, it's tough to stand out from the pack. Please choose your Breakout Fighter of the Year, and let us know why!


The Sherdog.com Staff also voted on each of these awards, but this is where you can agree or disagree with them. The Breakout (Breakthrough) Fighter of the Year for Sherdog.com can be found here!


Nominees


Joaquin "New Mansa" Buckley: 2-1 in 2020
View attachment 823585
Although he started off 2020 on a rough note, losing his UFC debut to Kevin Holland, "New Mansa" notched two strong candidates for "Knockout of the Year," both against previously undefeated fighters.


Gilbert "Durinho" Burns: 2-0 in 2020
View attachment 823586
Soundly defeated a Top-10 and then a Top-5 fighter in Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley to propel himself into title contention at welterweight.



Khamzat "Borz" Chimaev: 3-0 in 2020
View attachment 823587
Debuted in the UFC, won his first three fights in dominant fashion, became the UFC's promotional darling, and secured a matchup with a Top 5 fighter in Leon Edwards—all in less than six months.



Kevin "Trailblazer" Holland: 5-0 in 2020
View attachment 823588
Became just the third fighter in UFC history to go 5-0 in a calendar year, wrapping things up with a knockout of longtime contender Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in December.



"Lucky" Lauren Murphy: 3-0 in 2020
View attachment 823589
At age 37, Murphy catapulted herself from also-ran to probable title challenger in the flyweight division.



Kalinn "Khaos" Williams: 2-1 in 2020
View attachment 823590
Debuted in the UFC, won his first two fights by knockout in under a minute of total cage time, but he lost his third this year by decision to Michel Pereira.


Image credit for each to Getty/Zuffa LLC. Description credit to SD Senior Editor Ben Duffy.


Polls close in seven days, so, who you got?​
Click to expand...


"Lucky" Lauren Murphy, doesn't belong on that list. You could have added BOBBY GREEN who made a 4 fights with 3 wins. Also YOUSSEF ZALAL who had 4 fights too, with 3 wins.
 
Rebelfett said:
Voted for a guy who fought 5 times and won all 5. It shouldn't be that close. A guy who actually beat ranked opponents and made a few statements doing it is much more deserving than a can crushing hype train. Also burns would've been my 2nd choice
Click to expand...


Kevin Holland beat no ranked fighters to become 15th and beat no ranked fighters to become 10th ranked. Be biased all you want but don't lie.
 
Moeshaak Hammer said:
2019 Usman won the title and defended it and everybody gave the fighter of the year to Jorge, its a popularity contest not merit based.
Click to expand...
The award being discussed is breakout fighter of the year. It was given to Jorge because he arguably had the two best ko’s of the year after having been a relatively low profile fighter for years. I can give you the info on fighter of the year if you’d like.
 
Chimaev without a doubt, it's not even close. He's already getting top 3 fighters as opponents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,456
Messages
55,420,666
Members
174,766
Latest member
durbanik916

Share this page

Back
Top