Event of the Year – LowKick MMA 2022 Awards
The UFC has drawn the curtain on what has been another scintillating year for the promotion. Numerous pay-per-view events and fight night cards took to our screens nearly every single week of the year it’s hard to narrow down our ‘Event of the Year’.
With so many events to choose from we got our team of writers here at LowKickMMA to vote on what was their event of the year in 2022. Let us take a look at how the results broke down.
Event of the Year: UFC London: Volkov vs. Aspinall (5 Votes)
Taking the crown as our Event of the Year for 2022 was none other than UFC London in March. Despite not being of the promotions pay-per-view events of the year the atmosphere inside the arena gave off exactly that. IMMAF champion and now flyweight contender, Muhammad Mokaev introduced himself to the UFC with his sub-minute submission victory over Cody Durden. The pride of Wales, Jack Shore extended his undefeated run to 16-0 with a calculated decision victory over Timur Valiev.
Ju-Jitsu ace Paul Craig implemented his truly unique fighting style onto Nikita Krylov with supreme effect, submitting the Ukrainian in the first round. Scouse supremacy reigned in London as Molly McCann delivered her iconic spinning elbow knockout and Paddy Pimblett secured his second finish in the promotion against Rodrigo Vargas.
Arnold Allen took down a veteran of the sport and continued his impressive run inside the promotion after defeating Dan Hooker via TKO. Saving the best till last, Tom Aspinall announced himself as a real threat to the heavyweight division with a flawless performance against longstanding UFC veteran Alexander Volkov, submitting him in the opening minutes of the first round.
Honorable Mentions
UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira (4 Votes)
Coming in at a close second was UFC 281 with 4 votes. When a card only requires the use of the ringside judges on three occasions you can be sure that it delivered, and this is exactly the case for UFC 281. Carlos Ulberg kicked off the action with a brutal knockout of Nicolae Negumereanu. Matt Frevola put an end to highly touted prospect Ottman Azaitar’s undefeated streak, knocking out the previously 13-0 lightweight in the first round. Erin Blanchfield unveiled her true potential after providing an absolutely dominant performance submitting Molly McCann.
Chris Gutierrez gave Frankie Edgar a sour ending to his career inside the octagon after he caught the 35-fight veteran with a brutal flying knee knockout. Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler turned in what many fans considered ‘fight of the year’ resulting in ‘The Diamond’ submitting the fellow former title challenger in the final round. Weili Zhang reclaimed her UFC strawweight championship after she submitted Carla Esparza.
Saving the best till last once again, Alex Pereira put a stop to arguably one the greatest middleweights of all time’s reign at the top of the division when he secured a TKO and his third victory over then champion, Israel Adesanya. Had UFC London not delivered on all aspects, it is almost certain UFC 281 would have been crowned Event of the Year.
UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka (2 Votes)
Taking the third and final sport in our Event of the Year competition is UFC 275 with 2 votes. Silvana Gomez Juarez acquired the first finish of the evening when she secured a technical knockout over Na Liang. Brendan Allen would then shortly follow up extending his good form in 2022 with a unanimous decision victory over Jacob Malkoun. Jack Della Maddalena overcame his toughest test to date since signing for the promotion and put his exquisite boxing ability to good use to see off Ramazan Emeev in the very first round.
Following on from Maddalena, Jake Matthews turned in his best performance to date after he brutally knocked out Andre Fialho in the second round. Weili Zhang secured herself another shot at her previously held UFC strawweight title when she dispatched former title holder Joanna Jedrzejczyk with a spinning back fist, sending the former champion into retirement.
Valentina Shevchenko overcame her toughest title challenger to date (or did not in some people’s eyes) when she edged out a split decision over Brazil’s Talia Santos.
In the main event, Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira delivered arguably one of the best fights of the year in their back-and-forth war for the UFC light heavyweight championship. Just seconds remained in the matchup and had the bout gone to the judges’ scorecard, Glover Teixeira would have secured his first successful title defense at the pinnacle of the 205-pound division. However, this was not to be as Jiri Prochazka submitted the Brazilian in the dying moments to crown himself as the new UFC light heavyweight champion of the world.
Full List Of 2022 Prospect Of The Year Votes
Frank Bonada: UFC London
Ross Markey: UFC 275
Murdo Todd: UFC 281
Patrick Post: UFC London
Ian Shutts: UFC London
Tim Wheaton: UFC London
Ollie Brockett: UFC 281
Keelin McNamara: UFC London
Marc Ray: UFC 275
Arshan Dhillon: UFC 281
Alex Lerman: UFC 281
UFC London claimed victory in our Event of the Year Awards 2022. Let us know in the comments below whether you agree with our decision.
Following the announcement of the promotion returning to the UK in March with UFC 286, do you believe it could deliver the same level of excitement as before?
