LowKickMMA 2019 Year-End Awards: Jorge Masvidal Cleans House
Another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) is in the bag, and now LowKickMMA will hand out its Year-End awards for 2019. The categories this year are Submission Of The Year, Knockout Of The Year, Comeback Fighter Of The Year, Breakout Fighter Of The Year, Fight Of The Year, and Fighter Of The Year.
When it was all said and done, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal took home awards for four of our six categories. Check out LowKickMMA’s 2019 Year-End Award results below.
Submission Of The Year
Our staff sent in a variety of picks for this one, from Misha Cirkunov’s Peruvian necktie submission of Jimmy Crute, to Jack Hermansson’s 49-second guillotine choke win over David Branch. However, as expected, Bryce Mitchell’s Twister submission win over Matt Sayles at UFC DC takes the cake.
“I really didn’t think we’d see another Twister submission again in the UFC. Thank you, Bryce Mitchell, for proving me wrong.” – Jordan Ellis
- Jon Fuentes: Bryce Mitchell sub. Matt Sayles UFC DC via R1 Twister – December 7, 2019
- Jordan Ellis: Bryce Mitchell sub. Matt Sayles UFC DC via R1 Twister – December 7, 2019
- Abhinav Kini: Misha Cirkunov sub. Jimmy Crute UFC Vancouver via R1 Peruvian Necktie – September 14, 2019
- Timmy Moran: Demian Maia sub. Ben Askren UFC Singapore via R3 rear-naked choke – October 26, 2019
- Ian Shutts: Jack Hermansson sub. David Branch UFC Philadelphia via R1 guillotine – March 30, 2019
- Tony King: Bryce Mitchell sub. Matt Sayles UFC DC via R1 Twister – December 7, 2019
Winner: Bryce Mitchell
Knockout Of The Year
As expected, this one was unanimous across the board. Jorge Masvidal’s five-second knockout win over Ben Askren at UFC 239 is not only the Knockout Of The Year for 2019, but it might just be Knockout Of The Ever. Our staff all agreed that Knockout Of The Year goes to “Gamebred,” without a shadow of a doubt.
“I’ll have to go with Jorge Masvidal and his knockout of Ben Askren. Masvidal’s KO of Darren Till was literally jaw-dropping for me but the Askren one was just on another level. I definitely started screaming in shock and disbelief (as well as appreciation).” – Abhinav Kini
- Jon Fuentes: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
- Jordan Ellis: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
- Abhinav Kini: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
- Timmy Moran: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
- Ian Shutts: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
- Tony King: Jorge Masvidal KO Ben Askren UFC 239 via R1 flying knee – July 6, 2019
Winner: Jorge Masvidal
Comeback Fighter Of The Year
Jorge Masvidal takes the victory again. For “Gamebred” to take 2018 off and come back into the Octagon against the likes of Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz – stopping all three – most of our staff agreed 2019’s Comeback Fighter Of The Year is Jorge Masvidal.
“To take off over a year from competing inside the Octagon, and come back and do what Masvidal did against the competition he did it against is nothing short of spectacular. In my opinion, there’s no other option for Comeback Fighter Of The Year but “Gamebred.” – Jon Fuentes
- Jon Fuentes: Jorge Masvidal
- Jordan Ellis: Jorge Masvidal
- Abhinav Kini: Justin Gaethje
- Timmy Moran: Jorge Masvidal
- Ian Shutts: Jorge Masvidal
- Tony King: Jorge Masvidal
Winner: Jorge Masvidal
Breakout Fighter Of The Year
This category was a lot more competitive than the rest, with several different suggestions being thrown out, however, the tallies once again crown Masvidal as the winner for Breakout Fighter Of The Year.
“Is it possible to be a “breakout” fighter when you’ve been in the UFC since 2013? I suppose so if you’re Jorge Masvidal. “Gamebred’s” stardom exploded in 2019. He had three great dance partners to help propel his popularity. After finishing Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz, it’s hard to ignore the star power of Jorge Masvidal leading into 2020.” – Timmy Moran
- Jon Fuentes: Jorge Masvidal
- Jordan Ellis: Jorge Masvidal
- Abhinav Kini: Petr Yan
- Timmy Moran: Jorge Masvidal
- Ian Shutts: Weili Zhang
- Tony King: Weili Zhang
Winner: Jorge Masvidal
Fight Of The Year
Another nearly unanimous vote from our staff here, as Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum’s interim middleweight title bout from April takes the win. The five-round war that propelled “Stylebender” into the championship limelight left fans in awe after en epic back-and-forth brawl that lasted all 25 minutes.
“One of those fights where you know you’re watching something special as it’s going on live. I’ve probably seen it three or four times since.” – Abhinav Kini
- Jon Fuentes: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title – UFC 236: April 13, 2019
- Jordan Ellis: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title – UFC 236: April 13, 2019
- Abhinav Kini: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title – UFC 236: April 13, 2019
- Timmy Moran: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title – UFC 236: April 13, 2019
- Ian Shutts: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington for the welterweight title – UFC 245: December 14, 2019
- Tony King: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title – UFC 236: April 13, 2019
Winner: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum – UFC 236
Fighter Of The Year
Rounding out our 2019 Year-End Awards, and taking home his fourth award of the year from us as 2019’s Fighter Of The Year, is the BMF Himself, Jorge Masvidal.
“He fought three times in 2019, finished each of his opponents, help force the UFC to create a brand new title, and had fans hanging on his every word in interviews throughout the year. How is the UFC’s BMF, Jorge Masvidal, not the Fighter Of The Year for 2019?” – Jon Fuentes
- Jon Fuentes: Jorge Masvidal
- Jordan Ellis: Jorge Masvidal
- Abhinav Kini: Jorge Masvidal
- Timmy Moran: Jorge Masvidal
- Ian Shutts: Israel Adesanya
- Tony King: Jorge Masvidal
Winner: Jorge Masvidal
