1 – Jan Blachowicz
What a six months it’s been for Jan Blachowicz. In September, the Poland native won the UFC light heavyweight title by stopping Dominick Reyes. In December, Blachowicz and his fiancée welcomed a son into the world, and last Saturday he successfully defended his title for the first time by beating middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. And while the narrative focuses first on Adesanya losing for the first time and falling short of his quest to add a second title to his resume, make no mistake about it, this was Blachowicz’ night and a confirmation that after a rollercoaster UFC career, he is the man at 205 pounds. And no one deserves that status more.
2 – Amanda Nunes
Fans around the globe were still stunned about the outcome of the Aljamain Sterling-Petr Yan title fight when “The Lioness” shook everyone back into the present with another brilliant performance, this one a first-round submission victory over Megan Anderson. Simply put, and I’ve made sure to make this distinction in my stories referencing the double champ, she is the best fighter in women’s combat sports history. That means MMA, boxing, kickboxing and any other pro sport that involves people punching each other. Nunes’ resume is unmatched, and it doesn’t look like she’s going to be slowing down anytime soon.
