2. Miesha Tate–Holly Holm
As you can tell by this list, 2016 may end up being the “Year of the Rear Naked Choke” and for a good example, look no further than UFC 196, when Miesha Tate salvaged what was going to be a lopsided points loss to Holly Holm with a RNC finish that earned her the UFC women’s bantamweight title.

3. Brian Ortega–Diego Brandao
Brian Ortega’s ground game has already garnered rave reviews, but in his UFC 195 win over Diego Brandao, “T-City” may have decided to just show off a bit, as he moved from anaconda to guillotine to his trademark triangle choke in the space of seconds. Call it an introduction to the Art of the Choke.

4. Chas Skelly–Maximo Blanco
Venezuela’s Maximo Blanco is known for fast starts that take place without a touch of the gloves, and September’s match with Chas Skelly was no different. Only this time, Skelly came out just as fast, and his kick to the body landed first, putting Blanco on the deck. As Blanco rose, Skelly pounced, and his anaconda choke ended Blanco’s night in a hurry. Total time – 19 seconds.

5. Teemu Packalen–Thibault Gouti
Call it as close as you can get in mixed martial arts to a flawless victory. Finland’s Teemu Packalen landed a couple strikes on Thibault Gouti, dropped him, took his back and choked him out. All in 24 seconds that gave Packalen his first UFC victory. And as many wins as he secures from here on out, he’ll never forget that one.

6. Keita Nakamura–Kyle Noke
Entering his July bout with Kyle Noke, Keita Nakamura had ended 14 of his 15 submission wins via rear naked choke. At 4:59 of the second round in Sioux Falls, “K-Taro” made it 15 of 16. It’s not the flashiest maneuver, but it’s effective and Nakamura has taken it has his signature move, making it clear that if he gets your back, more often than not, it’s lights out.

9. Eric Spicely–Thiago Santos
This is my personal favorite for 2016, mainly because of the story behind it. Eric Spicely comes off The Ultimate Fighter 23, gets submitted by Sam Alvey, and basically his first stint in the UFC is over. But then he gets a call to fight Brazilian banger Thiago Santos in Brazil. He takes the fight and not only wins, but submits Santos in the first round via rear naked choke after showing off all the ground skills he didn’t get to display against Alvey. Now he has a new lease on his career. That’s a feel good story.

10. Francis Ngannou–Anthony Hamilton
Call this one a testament to the art of surprise. In his first three UFC fights, Francis Ngannou won each by knockout, and if he was going to beat Anthony Hamilton earlier this month, striking was probably going to be his method of attack. SURPRISE. Instead, “The Predator” locked in a kimura that caught everyone napping and gave Ngannou his fourth UFC win (and finish), and a Performance of the Night bonus.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Moreno–Louis Smolka, Khabib Nurmagomedov–Michael Johnson, Paul Craig–Henrique da Silva, Nate Diaz–Conor McGregor I, Tony Ferguson–Lando Vannata

40
UFC events in 2016 up until this point, starting with UFC 195 and ending with UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs. Waterson

12
PPVs

23
FOX and FS1 events

5
UFC FIGHT PASS events

10
Countries were visited by the Octagon – Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, England, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands and USA

2
Of those countries – Croatia and Netherlands – were new to the UFC

483
Fights

151
Knockouts

88
Submissions

106
First round finishes including 1 No Contest

7
Draws – Damon Jackson vs. Levan Makashvili (majority), Sergio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas (split), Kevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic (split), Michael Graves vs. Bojan Velickovic (majority), Christian Colombo vs. Jarjis Danho (majority), Alejandro Perez vs. Albert Morales (majority) and, the epic, Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson (majority) for the UFC welterweight title

17
UFC title fights

3
Interim title fights

9
New UFC champions were crowned (in chronological order) – Dominick Cruz, Miesha Tate, Stipe Miocic, Michael Bisping, Eddie Alvarez, Amanda Nunes, Tyron Woodley, Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo

155, 145
Pounds or weight classes that Conor McGregor won the UFC titles of with his knockout of Jose Aldo last year and his knockout of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, the “Notorious” one is the only fighter to ever hold UFC belts in two weight classes at the same time

3
New interim UFC champions (in chronological order) – Jon Jones, Jose Aldo and Max Holloway

1569
Days between current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz winning the belt back against TJ Dillashaw on January 17th and “The Dominator’s” previous title defense against Demetrious Johnson in October 2011

3360
Days between the beginning (WEC 26) and end (UFC 199) of the UFC/WEC bantamweight division’s best rivalry – Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber, also WEC 26 is Cruz’s one and only career loss thus far

34-10
Urijah Faber’s pro record that spanned 13 years including five successful WEC featherweight title defenses and ended with a unanimous decision win at UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs. Waterson

19-9
UFC/WEC record by “The California Kid” including 14 finishes

19
Seconds it took for Chas Skelly to snatch an anaconda choke of Maximo Blanco at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Johnson, fastest submission in 2016

13
Seconds it took for Anthony “Rumble” Johnson to score a knockout of Glover Teixeira at UFC 202, fastest KO/TKO in 2016 and fastest finish in 2016

18
Finishes in 2016 were under a minute – 15 KO/TKO, 3 sub

23:30
Time into the bout when, incredibly, Miesha Tate secured a rear naked choke of Holly Holm at UFC 196 to win the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, latest finish in 2016

3:16
Time into the bout when Amanda Nunes secured a rear naked choke of Miesha Tate to win UFC women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 200

9:12
Time into the bout when Nate Diaz secured a rear naked choke of Conor McGregor at UFC 196, stopping McGregor’s 15 fight win streak and 7 UFC fight win streak

12
Days notice that Diaz took the fight on against McGregor at 170 pounds, originally was a UFC lightweight championship bout between then champ Rafael Dos Anjos vs. McGregor

202
UFC event, five months later, where the highly anticipated rematch took place with McGregor defeating Diaz by majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47)

205
UFC event held at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first time in Octagon history

7736
Days between UFC’s first event in the state of New York (UFC 7) and UFC 205 as the New York legislature lifted the ban last March

1337
Days between Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon’s Fight of the Night war at UFC 155 and their Fight of the Night war rematch at UFC on FOX: Maia vs. Condit last August

10
Decisions at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping and UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson, most decisions in 2016 and tied with UFC 169 for most decisions in UFC history

6
Submissions at UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez, most submissions in 2016

8
Knockouts at UFC 199, most KO/TKOs in 2016

17
Days notice that Michael “The Count” Bisping took the fight with then UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, which Bisping won by first round knockout

20
UFC wins by Bisping including three this year, most wins in UFC history

5
The Ultimate Fighter winners that have gone on to win a UFC championship – Bisping, Carla Esparza, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin and Matt Serra

9
Active UFC fight win streak by The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner Tony Ferguson who added two wins this year, 4th longest active UFC win streak

10
Active UFC fight win streak by current interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway who added two wins this year plus the belt, 3rd longest active UFC win streak

11
Active UFC win streak by current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson who added two wins/title defenses this year, 2nd longest active UFC win streak behind Jon Jones’ 13

9
Successful/consecutive UFC title defenses by “Mighty Mouse”, tied with Georges St-Pierre for 2nd most successful/consecutive UFC title defenses behind Anderson Silva’s 10

347
Significant strikes landed by current UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk combined in her two successful title defenses this year over Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz

4
Successful/consecutive titles defenses by “Joanna Champion”, 2nd most active UFC title defenses behind Demetrious Johnson’s 9

4
Consecutive wins by Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone since moving to welterweight from lightweight

100
Percentage of Cerrone’s welterweight wins are by finish including three KO/TKOs (two by head kick) and one submission, plus three Performance of the Night bonuses

3
KO/TKOs were also scored in 2016 by Cody Garbrandt, current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Gegard Mousasi

1057
Days between successful UFC heavyweight title defenses as then champ Cain Velasquez defeated Junior Dos Santos at UFC 166 and current champ Stipe Miocic defeated Alistair Overeem at UFC 203

203
UFC event where CM Punk made his pro MMA debut inside the Octagon in a first round submission loss to Mickey Gall

1653
Days between former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar’s previous bout at UFC 141 and his return at UFC 200

9
Days notice for The Ultimate Fighter 25’s Brandon Moreno as he made his UFC debut against Louis Smolka, which Moreno won by guillotine choke in the first round

140
Pounds or catchweight that Cris “Cyborg” Justino fought at twice this year resulting in back-to-back KO/TKOs at UFC 198 and UFC Fight Night: Cyborg vs. Lansberg

UFC 209 airs live on Pay-Per-View from T-Mobile Arena. Stay tuned to UFC.com for more fight card announcements and ticket on-sale dates.

Winner of the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix, the Netherlands’ Overeem has been on a tear in the Octagon as of late, winning four in a row over Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Junior Dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski before coming perilously close to dethroning Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title in September. And while he lost that bout, „The Reem“ can get back in the title race with a win over the popular Hunt, a 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner whose last five wins have come by knockout, setting up perhaps the most highly anticipated heavyweight striking battle seen in years and one that will allow Hunt to avenge a 2008 submission loss to Overeem that took place in Japan’s DREAM promotion.

Undefeated UFC Bantamweight contender Cody Garbrandt calls in ahead of his UFC 207 title fight against Dominick Cruz to talk about how he matches up against Cruz, how he’s training for the fight, weightcutting, his untapped potential, and more. Plus, Jim and Matt discuss UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson, Jim’s comedy special taping, Matt’s trip on the Polar Express, and a new installment of Matt’s Movie Minute.

Some of the highlights from Episode 53 of UFC Unfiltered include:

Cody on Cruz trying to get under his skin

Cody on the UFC on Fox 22 interview with Cruz

Cody’s prepared to swim in deep waters

Cody on training to fight Dominick Cruz

Cody feels like Cruz has lost focus

Cody on his untapped potential

In a previously announced bout for the event, Holly Holm meets Germaine de Randamie in a five-round clash for the first UFC women’s featherweight title.

Winner of two of his last three, Felder is an exciting striker with Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night awards to his name, but in his January win over Daron Cruickshank, he showed off his submission game impressively. Then again, the ground game is where jiu-jitsu black belt Burns shines, with three of his four UFC wins coming by way of tap out. But the gritty Brazilian isn’t bothered by a standup battle with anyone, making this a clash that could end up going everywhere before a winner emerges.

Tickets for UFC 208 are on sale now and may be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.

Stay tuned to UFC.com for more fight card announcements.

2. Cris Cyborg
Like I wrote during the half-year awards, it’s almost not fair to include the Invicta FC featherweight champion because she’s been so dominant for so many years. But rules are rules, and perhaps the best female fighter on the planet did make her UFC debut in 2016, blasting through Leslie Smith at UFC 198 in May before finishing off the year with a second TKO of Lina Lansberg in September. And with the UFC opening up the 145-pound weight class for the ladies next year, 2017 should be an interesting one for the Brazilian bomber.

3. Lando Vannata
What’s there to say about Lando Vannata that hasn’t already been said? The Jersey native goes in on short notice against Tony Ferguson, nearly knocks out the top lightweight contender, and while he ultimately loses, he also picks up Fight of the Night honors. He couldn’t possibly top that as an encore, but then he does, knocking out John Makdessi with a kick to the head that will be showing up on this week’s Knockout of the Year list. That’s worth a spot here, don’t you think?

4. Randy Brown
Queens’ Randy Brown had an interesting first year in the UFC. Discovered on Dana White’s “Lookin’ for a Fight” show, Brown entered the Octagon with a lot of hype, and while he won his first fight against Matt Dwyer, he loses the second to Michael Graves. It’s crossroads time for “Rudeboy,” who responded with back-to-back finishes of Erick Montano and Brian Camozzi, cementing his spot as a legit welterweight prospect.

5. Brandon Moreno
The happiest person on the UFC roster is also one of the top flyweight prospects in the game. Mexico’s Brandon Moreno impressed in his fight on season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter, then he took a short notice fight against 125-pound contender Louis Smolka and finished him, setting off the best post-fight celebration of the year. But “The Assassin Baby” wasn’t finished yet, as he ended his 2016 campaign with another UFC win over Ryan Benoit.

6. Marc Diakiese
Europe introduced many quality fighters to the UFC in 2017, but the one who just might have the biggest upside is 23-year-old Brit Marc Diakiese. Unbeaten as a pro, Diakiese stopped Lukasz Sajewski in his debut in October and then followed that up with a win over Frankie Perez on December 9, making him a fighter to watch next year at 155 pounds.

8. Josh Emmett
Josh Emmett may not get the attention some of his more celebrated Team Alpha Male squadmates receive, but in his two UFC wins over Jon Tuck and Scott Holtzman, the unbeaten lightweight has shown the grit and willingness to deliver exciting fights that will probably change that situation in the coming months. Simply put, when Emmett is on the card, you’re going to see a fight.

9. Andrew Sanchez
A respected fighter on the regional circuit, Andrew Sanchez punched his ticket to the UFC in 2016 by winning season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter. And while “El Dirte” didn’t particularly thrill fans with his first Octagon win over Khalil Rountree Jr., his return to middleweight against Trevor Smith was a lot more representative of the skill set he brings to the division.

10. Mike Perry
Power punching “Platinum” Mike Perry could have punched his way to the upper reaches of this list if he had beaten Alan Jouban last Saturday in Sacramento, but Jouban showed off a great game plan and some veteran tricks to hand Perry his first pro loss. Before that, Perry made a name for himself in a hurry with knockouts of Hyun Gyu Lim and Danny Roberts, and if he takes the right lessons from the Jouban fight, he will be an even greater threat when he returns next year.

Honorable Mention: Will Brooks, Damien Brown, Katlyn Chookagian, Matthew Lopez, Alex Morono