Rory, Hendricks and benson
Not in that order, but those three for sure with Matt brown as a runner up with the one arm'd fighter guy going a hard undefeated still!
Rory came out if his shell and defined himself as this hipster whose going in for kills. He didn't finish Bj but he did show his growth and developing to his own character. He's a top guy who went 2-0 this past year, if he would've squeezed in another fight no doubt he might've won this thing.
Benson Henderson faught Edgar twice with one fight being more controversial then the other it's hard to me to believe that makes hi the fighter of the year. But e did dominate nick Diaz and opened the year off in Japan against Frankie. He's done really well can't blame if anyone posted him as number one FOT
Hendricks and weidman are both at this standstill where both are doing so well at their divisions so early taking out top guys, I can see why both could be considered. Hendricks ko's Fitch who was one of the most smartest fighters to walk across the octagon in 12 ish seconds and no ones even done that before! Then he gets a controversial decision over a tough koscheck an then ko's kampman just as fast!t 
Bendo.
Not his fault if people thought he lost. Either way he is the champ and more active than most of the fighters on the roster
camozzi -Bendo.
Not his fault if people thought he lost. Either way he is the champ and more active than most of the fighters on the roster
What do you mean it's not his fault people thought he lost? People thought he lost, because he did less, on account of his ability or training, thus it's his fault. Not one media member who is sourced by MMA Minority Report scored that fight for Bendo. 7 for Frankie, and one draw. That's pretty definitive. He got 2 of 3 official judges, one of those being Dave Hagen, who is the worst in the sport if you look at his history. One bad, suspiciously discriminating scoring after another pretty much from that guy. I regard Bendo as having lost because I live in reality not in technicality. The flip side is I regard Frankie to have won that fight. In pretty much every competition there has to be a winner and loser. They both didn't win. Frankie won, in reality.
And with that said, I can't regard a fighter who lost in a calendar year as fighter of the year. Yes, winning 2 of 3, one dominant, in title fights, is an outstanding year, but not the best.
This was a really bad year for MMA in numerous departments, one of them being standout fighter of the year candidates. All the injuries and squash matches played a huge part in that.
As a result I'm forced to come up with a non obvious candidate for Fighter of the Year, that being.......Cub Swanson. 3-0, 3 (t)ko's, never trailed at any point in those fights, and beat solid comp for his class in Oliveira, Pearson, and Roop.
Cain Velasquez making a late season push for fighter of the year.
Only gonna consider UFC fighters cause I cant see enought of other fighters in Ireland.
Big Fan of Benson but imo clearly lost the 2nd fight against Frankie so not for me. Hendricks had 2 fights this year - one of which was a drab affair against Kos which he could have easily lost the decision.
Im gonna go with Stefan Struve - 3 fights and 3 impressive finishes
Lahzerous -
people getting mindmelded by quantity of fights...its about quality
Velasquez..smashed bigfoot(ok big deal) but destroyed jds (incredible...)
so question is did anyone top that...
Anderson..Sonnen and Bonnar..no chance
Hendricks...incredible murderers row but still not on Velasquez level
Benson..still not the nth level domination of Velasquez
Jones...maybe only one close but sp tainted by Sonnen dicktuck tough..
Conclusion: Velasquez clear winner
Pancake Syrup - Lauzon. Record aside he has 2 FOTY candidates and is one of the most exciting fighters every year. But if we're talking record probably Benson Henderson
Got it w the first post.
Cain ?
Bob Sapp.
UGCTT_Dinamita - Matt Brown
I picked Bendo because his rise to be champ and his run has been great. But it doesn't have to be a champ and there are plenty of other candidates. Matt Brown is one. Dennis Siver had a great year too. Cub Swanson and Cain are two.
Ronda Rousey/ Chael Sonnen
Both are being pushed so hard that they have Dana's footprint on their asses.
To award Fighter of the Year would be like acting as if the UFC has such a thing as a ranking system or a top ten at any weight.
It's all promotion and no one garnered more than Chael and Ronda so they share the award.
Bendo for sure!
Bendo.
A.silva
Kinda hard not being fighter of the year after going undefeated for how many years now 7?
Anderson or Bendo
Only real candidates are Bendo, Cain, and Hendricks. Anderson's 2nd best win of the year was against Stephan Bonnar. That's not fighter of the year material.
lurkingveteran - people getting mindmelded by quantity of fights...its about quality
Velasquez..smashed bigfoot(ok big deal) but destroyed jds (incredible...)
so question is did anyone top that...
Anderson..Sonnen and Bonnar..no chance
Hendricks...incredible murderers row but still not on Velasquez level
Benson..still not the nth level domination of Velasquez
Jones...maybe only one close but sp tainted by Sonnen dicktuck tough..
Conclusion: Velasquez clear winner
This ^ 
Jones benson or may Diaz ( shame he lost to bendo )
Its Cain. He absolutely dominated a guy who was undefeated in the UFC and destroyed a top 10 guy before that. Bendo dominated Nate but he arguably lost to Frankie
lurkingveteran - people getting mindmelded by quantity of fights...its about quality
Velasquez..smashed bigfoot(ok big deal) but destroyed jds (incredible...)
so question is did anyone top that...
Anderson..Sonnen and Bonnar..no chance
Hendricks...incredible murderers row but still not on Velasquez level
Benson..still not the nth level domination of Velasquez
Jones...maybe only one close but sp tainted by Sonnen dicktuck tough..
Conclusion: Velasquez clear winner
Agreed