The 2017 Heavies Awards - Breakout Fighter of the Year - Winner: Francis Ngannou

Breakout Fighter of the Year?


  • Total voters
    397
  • Poll closed .
I think he's more like Uriah Hall - popular because he spinning shitted some bums and because he looks different, but will get smashed against decent opposition. Also his debut was a gimme which he still made look difficult and boring.
He is only 23 so plenty of room/time for improvement.I just don’t see him getting smashed m8,not at 135 anyway.He’s 5’11” and too long for that division.72” reach.But who da fuq knows.I like the kid so I’m probably biased.
 
Ngannou has definitely made the biggest name for himself, but I'm still tempted to go with Volkan just for being absolutely nobody in 2016.
 
He is only 23 so plenty of room/time for improvement.I just don’t see him getting smashed m8,not at 135 anyway.He’s 5’11” and too long for that division.72” reach.But who da fuq knows.I like the kid so I’m probably biased.

I feel the opposite about him so I am surely biased too... I just don't like him, but I do like having someone to root against so I hope he does ok.
 
Ngannou is damn near committing murder in these fights. He's the first fighter in awhile who has that legitimate "god damn you scary" aura.
 
For me it's an obvious choice between Rose, Ngannou or Volkan. All their opponents were top 10 ranked fighters, unlike the other fighters, for one thing. Secondly, the wins were incredibly impressive when compared to the others. I don't pick Rose, because she's already proven in previous years to be a top female fighter, so it's not like some big surprise, even if the JJ win was a pretty decent upset. Also, I don't like to pick women's MMA over men's just because of the weak talent pool.

Thus it's between Ngannou and Volkan for me. Beating Arlovski really isn't some great feat when you consider he's 1-5 in the past 2 years. Yeah, beating Overeem is a pretty big deal ever since Overeem's resurgence, but Ngannou was literally tailor-made to beat Overeem; can match Overeem's brute strength, and generate ridiculous power where even a small touch would KO Overeem. He was a perfect stylistic matchup, as we all know Overeem folds when he can't bully the other fighter or pick them apart on the outside.

This leaves Volkan who definitely takes the top spot for me. He quite literally broke out of nowhere when he fought a top 5 ranked OSP on weeks notice and came out with a solid split decision win in a really good fight. He then completely destroyed #7 Cirkunov in like 28 seconds, followed by a 42 second thrashing of #3 Manuwa. That's how you breakout in the UFC.
 
Really tough one with brilliant options. Covington has the best resume of them; Ortega perhaps the most impressive, killer-instinct finishes. But for me, Ngannou, breathing new life into the top tier of HW contenders stuffed full of over-the-hill veterans and potential rematches.
 
I knew Ngannou was gonna win I woulda went with that, but Rose deserved the vote.
 
With 397 votes cast in the poll, the winner of the 2017 Heavies Award - Breakout Fighter of the Year goes to Francis Ngannou, who starched Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem in the first round and earned a title shot against the HW champ Stipe Miocic in less than one week from today. Ngannou earned 160 votes, almost twice as many as the next closest fighter.

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In second came Octagon newcomer Volkan Oezdemir, with 82 votes, booping his way into our hearts with a short notice split decision win over Ovince Saint Preux followed by two physics-defying knockouts of Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa.

Rose Namajunas snagged third place, because although she had been on the scene and fought for the inaugural UFC women's strawweight belt, her massive upset of Joanna Jedrzejczyk scored her 58 votes.

In fourth, Darren Till remained undefeated as he beat up on Jessin Ayari and Bojan Velickovic before clubbing Donald Cerrone in the first round in 2017, earning 41 votes.

"T-City" Brian Ortega tapped his way into contender status by guillotining Renato Moicano and Cub Swanson this past year, earning three post-fight bonuses for those two fights combined, getting 39 votes and fifth place on the list.

Making a lot of new friends this year, Colby Covington went from decent wrestler to top contender by stifling "Stun Gun" Dong Hyun Kim and Demian Maia, while getting in a boomerang fight with Fabricio Werdum and also enraging the community by posting spoilers on Twitter about the new Star Wars film. His new persona picked up 13 votes on here and sixth place.

Last but not least, Nicco Montano went from a loss on a regional promotion to a UFC champion after her season of TUF where she beat Lauren Murphy, Montana De La Rosa (nee Stewart), Barb Honchak, and Roxanne Modafferi en route to the inaugural UFC women's 125 pound crown. Despite this, she only earned four votes.
 
the deserved winner
 
shoulda been no time. ngannou has been around longer w/ hype and didnt he beat arlovski in 16? he had 1 fight this past year while voltron beat osp as a last minute replacement then knocked out 2 other top 10 guys within a minute each time.
 
You’ve got to look at the quality of opposition, and to me it’s between Covington, and Namajunas, or Volkan.

Ngannou beat a couple of expire dude’s, and although Covington got some great scalps, he really squeaked it out. Rose and Volkan were dominant, but nobody had a more important and unlikely win than Rose did, so I’d have to give it to her by a whisker over Volkan.
 
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