And The Knockout Of The Year Goes To....
It's time for the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show Awards Ceremony - the most prestigious awards show on Earth!
If you're like, "What the fuck is the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show" - it's a live podcast that I do with Big Ev/JackMac twice a week to discuss the world of fights/fight news/and more! To be honest, we've got a super small audience right now (probably due to the fact that we're horrible at promoting it) but I think it's a really fun show. We've had some great interviews with the likes of Dana White, Ajlamain Sterling, Michael Chandler, Chris Weidman/Anthony Smith, Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski, and more - and Ev and Jack gamble on the fights every single weekend (and both have a pretty good record this year), so I'll always get their picks and try to answer as many chat questions as possible.
We have a lot planned for 2024 to try to turn this into a bigger production, but for now, enjoy our year-end recap show, where we handed out a bunch of fake awards. Here's just a FEW of the categories we went over, and who I had winning each....
Knockout of the Year
Winner: Josh Emmett sends Bryce Mitchell into the shadow realm with one punch
I know this one literally just happened on Saturday, so it may be recency bias giving it the crown, but that knockout (and Bryce having a seizure afterwards) was HAUNTING.
Submission of the Year
Winner: Shavkat Rakhmonov chokes out Geoff Neal with a standing sleeper hold
Alexa Grasso submitting Valentina Shevchenko to dethrone her as a HUGE underdog was obviously the most meaningful/important submission of the year, but Shavkat hitting Geoff Neal with a WWF-style sleeper hold was the one that I kept coming back to this year personally. Walking away from it ala Jones-Machida was the cherry on top, too.
Performance of the Year
Winner: Sean Strickland dominates Israel Adesanya on his way to winning the UFC Middleweight Championship
This one should be obvious. I don't know anyone that expected Sean Strickland to beat Israel Adesnaya, let alone DOMINATE him for five straight rounds - shutting down his jab/offense completely. Then, to end the fight walking the champ down and screaming in his face to "do something"? That was insane. Easiest pick on the whole awards show.
Prospect of the Year
This could've very easily gone to Diego Lopes, who has faced a higher level of competition than Bo Nickal so far in the UFC, but I really believe Bo could be the next big thing - and he made his UFC debut this year and went 2-0. It just felt right to give him the "Rookie of the Year".
Funniest Fighter of the Year
Winner: Derrick Lewis
2023 was a funny ass year in MMA. You had Sean Strickland going on rants and tirades a few times a week, Mike Perry being a lunatic over in Bare Knuckle, Conor McGregor facing off with anyone and everyone they'd let him, and even Donald Trump getting his own walkouts at UFC cards flanked by the "Right Wing Avengers".
Nothing made me laugh as hard as Derrick Lewis knocking out Marcos Rogério De Lima with a Jorge Masvidal-style flying knee combination (and then the ridiculous follow up celebration), though. I was in tears for like five minutes straight. The Black Beast wins again.
DAWG of the Year
Winner: Mike Breeden
Alright, yes, we created the DAWG Award just to give it to Mike Breeden. I've never seen a comeback quite like his over Anshul Jubli this year, which started when Breeden literally barked like a dog in his opponent's face until he was confused enough to knock out. The DAWG Award will now be known as the Mike Breeden DAWG Award going forward.
….to hear the rest of the categories and Big Ev/JackMac's winners, listen in to our year-end awards show now!