UFC Pound-for-Pound King Daniel Cormier Was the Only Choice for 1st MMA Fighter of the Year ESPY
By Jerry Trotta
On Wednesday evening, ESPN kicked off its 2019 ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Traditionally, MMA fighters have gone head-to-head with boxers for the annual Best Fighter award, but this year, the organizers have split the honor into separate categories.
In turn, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo, and Israel Adesanya were nominated for this year's first-ever Best MMA Fighter award. And truthfully, when those names were revealed, most pundits and fans had to accept that there was only one brawler consummately deserving to hoist the prestigious award: the one and only DC.
Congrats @dc_mma. The UFC heavyweight champion was just named the ESPYS first-ever MMA fighter of the year. He beat out a strong field that included Cejudo, Nunes and Adesanya. pic.twitter.com/IrtxdNgQ2K
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 10, 2019
Don't even try to come at us with the notion that someone other than Cormier should've taken the award home. He won the UFC heavyweight title in June of 2018 with a thunderous first-round knockout of Stipe Miocic, and later defended the title at UFC 230 with a devastating submission of Derrick Lewis.
Keep in mind, Cormier was also the light heavyweight champion at the time of accomplishing all these feats. The world-beater, however, would ultimately relinquish that label to the winner of the Jon Jones-Alexander Gustafsson showdown after moving up to heavyweight.
As the No. 1-rated pound-for-pound fighter in all of UFC, he's the obvious choice for the inagural ESPY for the best in the MMA world.
Last day to vote for the Fighter of the year at the espys. Last year was a big one for me. 3 title fights, 3 finishes across 2 weight divisions. I’ve won Fighter of the year across the board. Let’s end it with the big one! Please vote. DC pic.twitter.com/6jKJeJC6iu
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) July 9, 2019
It's about time that the Ultimate Fighting Championship bows to their rightful KING! If you want to take this award from DC, you're gonna have to beat him in the Octagon.