The end of the year UFC awards are something that excites me. I have 4 awards I'm going to give out: Best fight, Best fighter, Best comeback fighter, and finally, Best upset fight. First, the best fight. This is a no brainer, it's Brandon Royval .vs. Joshua Van at UFC 317. With 417 significant strikes, this fight was an absolute BANGER. It was constant back and forth striking with Van counter striking the WHOLE time. In the last 10 seconds, Van dropped Royval, ultimately losing Brandon the fight. The second award is Best fighter. I give this award to Merab Dvalishvili. Although he lost to Petr Yan at UFC 323, he still defended his title 3 times and fought 4. As a champion, that is INSANE. Compared to Khamzat, who only fought once, he is a monster. The third award is best comeback fighter. This award goes to Alex Pereira. Though he only fought 2 times, he got 49-46'ed by Magomed Ankalaev in March and came back to fight and TKO Magomed in the first round at UFC 320. The fourth award, best upset fight, goes to Ethan Ewing vs. Malcolm Wellmaker at UFC 322. Malcolm Wellmaker was originally matched up with Cody Haddon and unfortunately, Haddon broke his foot on Thursday night. As a replacement, Ethan Ewing, coming off of a win from a regional promotion a week before, stepped in to face the UFC's Hottest prospect. Saturday night came, and Ewing outclassed hm in every angle. Striking, wrestling, and cardio. The betting odds were Wellmaker as a -850 favorite, the biggest of the card. Ewing beat Wellmaker 30-27
