The 2020 Heavies Awards - Comeback Fighter of the Year - Winner: Brian Ortega

2020 Comeback Fighter of the Year


  • Total voters
    271
  • Poll closed .
Cody Garbrandt is returning from a 3 fight losing streak, followed by a 3 year layoff.

With his knockout of Raphael Assuncao, Garbrandt gets his first win since Dec. 2016, already has himself back on the KO of the Year list, and would have fought for the featherweight title against Deiveson Figueiredo in Dec. 2020 if not for an injury.

Close second goes to Ortega, who surprised a lot of people with his performance against Korean Zombie, showing off impressive striking improvements.
 
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Hmm, Cody gets my pick. However, I think Whittaker should be on the list. He got 2 back to back wins over legit top 5 competition, after a lengthy layoff and a bad KO loss to Izzy.
 
The Heavies Awards
-2020-
Comeback Fighter of the Year

"Everyone loves a good comeback story." - Kenny Florian.

Next up on our 2020 Heavies Awards Extravaganza is the comeback fighter of the year award, and this year many have seen a resurgence within the Octagon. You have Brian Ortega, who came back from a 2 year layoff to reenter the rankings, or Mackenzie Dern who went 3-0 in 2020 after suffering her first loss. Please choose your Comeback Fighter of the Year, and let us know why!

Candidates


Mackenzie Dern
3-0 in 2020, back to back performance of the night awards.

Phoenix , Arizona
View attachment 824155

Dern suffered her first career loss in 2019, just three months after the birth of her daughter, and after a controversial win over Amanda Cooper where Dern failed to make weight. In 2020 however, she went 3-0 for the year while simultaneously putting her weigh-in issues in the past. Two of those victories came in the first round and also earned her performance of the night awards against Randa Markos and Virna Jandiroba respectively.


Brian Ortega
Returns in crazy win over Korean Zombie

Torrance , California
View attachment 824158
Ortega returned to the Octagon after a near two year layoff, and after suffering one of the worst beatings of 2018 and instantly inserted himself back into the featherweight title picture with the best performance of his career, dominating Chan Sung Jung in a landslide victory.

Sean Strickland
2 wins in 2 weeks, after a 2 year layoff.

Riverside , California
View attachment 824165
Strickland was out of action for two years after a horrible motorcycle accident and won two fights in two weeks, including a TKO of one of the middleweight division's more promising prospects in Brendan Allen. This victory also earned Strickland performance of the night.


Cub Swanson
Earned his first finish in 7 years.

Palm Springs , California
View attachment 824167
Swanson, a 14 year veteran under the Zuffa banner since WEC 26 back in 2007, returned from a year-long absence due to a knee injury and, at age 37, wiped out Daniel Pineda to earn his first finish since 2013.

Cody Garbrandt
Ends 3 fight losing streak, first win since 2016

Uhrichsville , Ohio
View attachment 824169

After a three fight losing streak, and being winless since 2016, Cody Garbrandt returned with a buzzer beater KO win over Raphael Assunção with just 1 second left on the round.

A special thanks as well to our Sherdog.com Staff Members, here is a link to the article on the main site:

https://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Sherdogs-2020-Comeback-Fighter-of-the-Year-176936
Bro, I'm sorry but you completely missed the best comeback fighter of 2020: MARCIN TYBURA

Look at his record:
2018: 1-1
2019: 0-2
2020: 4-0 + fame for beating Hardy

CooperativeBogusGreendarnerdragonfly-size_restricted.gif


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcin_Tybura#Mixed_martial_arts_record
 
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I gotta give it to Brian. He beat my boy KZ despite the odds and everyone counting him out and proved the doubters wrong. He made me more of a fan of him too.



And he's cute... ❤❤❤
4.gif
 
Hard one this, all very commendable.. Best list in a category so far imo(Not including Members here of course, they are all worthy).

I've gone with Ortega but could have gone with any, they are all kind of equal to me with Ortega and Cody probably a smidge higher.
 
Voted Strickland just because of what he had to come back from.
Same, plus he won 2 fights. I know that winning one fight technically fits the definition of comeback fighter, but it doesn’t feel right. Likewise I can’t vote for someone who only lost once. Dern has only lost once in her entire career. Same with Ortega (although Ortega is more understandable to me because his loss was pretty brutal, and his win in 2020 was pretty dominant).
If I’m being honest, I think @Hotora86 has a good point about Tybura.
 
Same, plus he won 2 fights. I know that winning one fight technically fits the definition of comeback fighter, but it doesn’t feel right. Likewise I can’t vote for someone who only lost once. Dern has only lost once in her entire career. Same with Ortega (although Ortega is more understandable to me because his loss was pretty brutal, and his win in 2020 was pretty dominant).
If I’m being honest, I think @Hotora86 has a good point about Tybura.
Thanks bro, Tybura on the rise and cracking the HW top 10 in 2021 fo sho! :)
 
Bro, I'm sorry but you completely missed the best comeback fighter of 2020: MARCIN TYBURA

Look at his record:
2018: 1-1
2019: 0-2
2020: 4-0 + fame for beating Hardy

CooperativeBogusGreendarnerdragonfly-size_restricted.gif


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcin_Tybura#Mixed_martial_arts_record

Same, plus he won 2 fights. I know that winning one fight technically fits the definition of comeback fighter, but it doesn’t feel right. Likewise I can’t vote for someone who only lost once. Dern has only lost once in her entire career. Same with Ortega (although Ortega is more understandable to me because his loss was pretty brutal, and his win in 2020 was pretty dominant).
If I’m being honest, I think @Hotora86 has a good point about Tybura.

Thanks bro, Tybura on the rise and cracking the HW top 10 in 2021 fo sho! :)
this year the number of people who could win a “breakout” or “comeback” award is pretty crazy. Think about this, giga chikadze went 4-0 as well this year and he hasn’t even gotten a shout out. Craziness. so many hugely successful guys this year that have been opportunists during the covid-19 mma climate
 
this year the number of people who could win a “breakout” or “comeback” award is pretty crazy. Think about this, giga chikadze went 4-0 as well this year and he hasn’t even gotten a shout out. Craziness. so many hugely successful guys this year that have been opportunists during the covid-19 mma climate
Giga is great (and a fellow Karateka!) but he is overshadowed by Holland for "breakout" and not really a "comeback" since he's on a 7 win streak since 2018.

Tybura on the other hand going 4-0 after 0-2 last year is clearly a comeback.

I assume the poll can't be modified at this point and Tybura PROBABLY would not win with the likes of Ortega and Cody being more popular but in my eyes (and looking at his record objectively) I think he deserves it.
 
Thanks bro, Tybura on the rise and cracking the HW top 10 in 2021 fo sho! :)
Lol let’s not get crazy. ;)
this year the number of people who could win a “breakout” or “comeback” award is pretty crazy. Think about this, giga chikadze went 4-0 as well this year and he hasn’t even gotten a shout out. Craziness. so many hugely successful guys this year that have been opportunists during the covid-19 mma climate
Very true. It’s been an insane year, and lots of new faces starting to break out of the pack. Will be really interesting to see how some of these guys do in 2021.
 
I voted Dern, but I'm second guessing myself because of Ortega. After Holloway comprehensively dismantled him and then his extended absence, he became an after thought. Now he's reintroduced himself as a factor at FW in a big way.
 
Giga is great (and a fellow Karateka!) but he is overshadowed by Holland for "breakout" and not really a "comeback" since he's on a 7 win streak since 2018.

Tybura on the other hand going 4-0 after 0-2 last year is clearly a comeback.

I assume the poll can't be modified at this point and Tybura PROBABLY would not win with the likes of Ortega and Cody being more popular but in my eyes (and looking at his record objectively) I think he deserves it.
Tybura is an excellent shout..

Has to be one of the most underrated fighters about right now.
 
Never thought much of Tybura until this last year. Lost money betting against him twice, but won it back in the last fight. Was on the verge of being cut, and then starts looking better and better. Gets my vote.
 
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