Hot Tweets: The 2022 MMA All-Star Teams, plus future champions for 2023

Properly, we’ve carried out it – 2022 is functionally within the books. Tonight, Bellator and RIZIN will host the ultimate MMA occasion of the 12 months, and so whereas that is ever so barely untimely, screw it, we’re doing a 12 months Finish Scorching Tweets to rejoice this very silly, but pleasant, sport of ours.

The good Jordan Breen used to do an “All-Violence Crew” for Sherdog, and I’m bringing the idea again! MMA is simply too deep and too enjoyable for us to solely rejoice 5 fighters as The Better of the 12 months. Sure, Alex Pereira can be the general MVP, however what about the remainder of the Professional Bowl?

The idea is straightforward: naming the most effective fighters in every weight class for the 12 months, based mostly on efficiency. We’re not simply speaking about, “Listed below are the champions for every weight class,” since you might merely go take a look at the MMAFighting International Rankings for that. As a substitute, we wish to reward pleasure and exercise. So there could also be some overlap, however in some cases, we would identify a fighter who has taken some Ls in 2022, as a result of the best way they did it was enjoyable as hell, and violence is a very powerful issue for our All-Star groups.

So with out additional ado, listed here are the 2022 MMA All-Stars:

First Crew: Sergei Pavlovich. This man delivered three highlight-reel knockouts of ranked opposition in a mixed 5 minutes 52 seconds. What extra are you able to ask for?

Second Crew: Jailton Almeida. Like Pavlovich, Almeida delivered three first-round finishes in 2022, however will get docked factors for bizarre catchweight fights, decrease high quality opposition, and taking a full 11 minutes and 59 seconds to get it carried out.

Third Crew: Tai Tuivasa. Look, this record isn’t nearly wins, it’s about pleasure, and between his KO of Derrick Lewis, his “Struggle of the 12 months” contender with Cyril Gane, and getting sparked by Pavlovich, plus his big persona, Tuivasa sneaks into the ultimate spot.

Honorable Mentions: Ante Delija, Phil De Fries

First Crew: Rob Wilkinson. The 2022 PFL gentle heavyweight champion had himself one hell of a 12 months, profitable $1 million on the again of 4 large finishes.

Second Crew: Ryan Spann. Two bonus-worthy KOs in a mixed 3 minutes and 42 seconds finally ends up being adequate for Second Crew honors in a down 12 months.

Third Crew: Jamahal Hill. Like Spann, with out big competitors this 12 months, Hill rounds out the 205-pound All-Stars on the again of two large KOs over legit opposition.

Honorable Mentions: Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira (collectively), Luis Henrique, Nikita Krylov, Dustin Jacoby, Sullivan Cauley

First Crew: Alex Pereira. The general MVP of 2022, and the Breakout Fighter of the 12 months, Pereira put Sean Strickland on a poster after which upset Israel Adesanya. Nobody did extra this 12 months.

Second Crew: Roman Dolidze. Each time Dolidze fought in 2022, he was taking residence a efficiency bonus. Two first-round finishes and one second-round stoppage, throughout high quality opposition, makes for a spectacular 2022.

Third Crew: Chidi Njokuani. It was razor-close between Njokuani and Gregor Rodrigues, however in the long run, “Bang Bang” had two bonus profitable finishes and was in a “Struggle of the Night time” with “Robocop,” which is sufficient to beat Rodrigues’ battle with Armen Petrosyan.

Honorable Mentions: Gregory Rodrigues, Brendan Allen, Bo Nickal, Brunno Ferreira, Tom Breese

First Crew: Andre Fialho. Fialho fought 5 occasions in 2022, and his worst combat was a really enjoyable scrap towards Michel Pereira. After that, Fialho received two POTN bonuses and was then on the mistaken finish of two POTN bonuses. That’s a violent 12 months.

Second Crew: Kevin Holland. Per normal, Holland fought a ton in 2022, and in addition per normal, he gave pretty much as good as he acquired. Two POTN profitable finishes from “Trailblazer” have been backed up by what would have been a POTN bonus loss had Khamzat Chimaev not blown weight. Then he ended the 12 months getting beat up by Stephen Thompson in a “Struggle of the 12 months” contender.

Third Crew: Jack Della Maddalena. It speaks to how absurdly sturdy the welterweight contenders have been this 12 months that JDM, solely barely makes an All-Professional group. JDM scored three POTN profitable first-round KOs in a mixed 8 minutes and 55 seconds. Not too shabby.

Honorable Mentions: Shavkat Rakhmonov, Bryan Barbarena, Alex Oliveira, Phillip Rowe, Neil Magny, Jeremiah Wells.

First Crew: Drew Dober. A POTN, a FOTN, and three of the most effective fights of the complete 12 months make the highest light-weight and simple name.

Second Crew: Terrance McKinney. When McKinney fights, somebody goes to sleep, a method or one other, and virtually at all times rapidly. McKinney scored two first-round submissions this 12 months, and practically a first-round KO of Dober, however for Dober’s Jay Leno-esque chin. As a substitute, he was the one who acquired slept, and thus falls to the Second Crew.

Third Crew: Arman Tsarukyan. Bringing a distinct type of violence to the desk, Tsarukyan beat the most effective competitors at light-weight this 12 months, scoring one POTN bonus and narrowly falling to Mateusz Gamrot in top-of-the-line fights of 2022.

Honorable Mentions: Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Grant Dawson, Bobby Inexperienced.

First Crew: Alexander Volkanovski. The runner-up for Fighter of the 12 months, Volkanovski had about as excellent of a 2022 as you possibly can script. Nobody appeared higher in a cage this 12 months, and presumably ever.

Second Crew: Brendan Loughnane. Although he was brief on finishes this 12 months, Loughnane ship 4 glorious efficiency, capping it off with an undressing of Bubba Jenkins within the PFL Championships.

Third Crew: Kleber Koike Erbst. The RIZIN featherweight champion is 3-0 this 12 months (now 3-1 after Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN), all by the use of submission, and he faces off with Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull in only a few hours, in a bout that may virtually absolutely finish with him taking a submission victory or getting brutally knocked out.

Honorable Mentions: Ilia Topuria, Damon Jackson, David Onama, Jonathan Pearce, Arnold Allen.

First Crew: Marlon Vera. Although he solely scored two wins in 2022, they have been fairly the wins. First “Chito” beatdown Rob Font in April in top-of-the-line fights of the 12 months, after which he despatched Dominick Cruz into the shadow realm a number of months later, with top-of-the-line knockouts of the 12 months. That’s sufficient to take high honors at 135.

Second Crew: Aljamain Sterling. It was a reasonably weak 12 months for bantamweight, however not for Sterling, who scored marquee wins over Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw. Whereas some could quibble with the “how” of each performances, on the finish of the day “The Funk Grasp” delivered qualities beatdowns over a number of the greatest opposition.

Third Crew: Raul Rosas Jr. You could possibly persuade me of numerous different contenders for the ultimate group, however when it comes all the way down to is, Rosas fought six occasions in 2022, scoring 5 finishes, 4 within the first spherical. That’s as near excellent as one can get.

Honorable Mentions: Raufeon Stots, Camero Saaiman, Mentioned Nurmagomedov, Ali Taleb, Mario Bautista.

First Crew: Brandon Moreno. Although he solely fought twice this 12 months, each have been exceedingly memorable. His trilogy bout with Deiveson Figueiredo was the third greatest “Struggle of the 12 months,” and his liver-kick KO of Kai Kara-France was wildly underrated (and in addition earned FOTN honors).

Second Crew: Matt Schnell. All hail, “Hazard,” the king of get-or-get-got fighters in all places. Schnell fought thrice in 2022 and didn’t see the third spherical in any of them.

Third Crew: Muhammad Mokaev. Going from obscurity to a High-15 spot on this planet isn’t any small accomplishment, and whereas many needed extra from Mokaev, the 22-year-old nonetheless scored two finishes and a virtually flawless 2022.

Honorable Mentions: Jared Brooks, Joshua Van, Makoto Takahashi, Danial Williams, Davi Costa, Ryuya Fukuda, Carlos Mota.

Ladies’s Bantamweight

First Crew: Amanda Nunes. The toughest weight class this 12 months by a rustic mile, largely as a result of there’s so little exercise. Taking a look at Tapology’s High-50 bantamweights, they fought a mixed 59 occasions, with out accounting for fights between one another! That’s impossibly low. And so with out a standout performer, I’m giving high honors to Nunes, who put three fights value of a beatdown on Julianna Peña of their rematch.

Second Crew: Tamires Vidal. “Tratora” authored a heel hook end in LFA after which a first-round flying knee in her UFC debut. Sufficient mentioned.

Third Crew: Mayra Bueno Silva. A FOTN win over Yanan Wu and a slick armbar towards Stephanie Egger are sufficient to seize a spot, on this weak division.

Honorable Mentions: Melissa Dixon, Jessica-Rose Clark, Talita Bernardo

Ladies’s Flyweight

First Crew: Molly McCann. One of many best picks of the 12 months. Again-to-back spinning elbow KOs is the stuff Violence All-Stars groups are made from, and her getting thumped by Erin Blanchfield is simply the icing on the cake.

Second Crew: Talking of Blanchfield, she completely ruined fools this 12 months. Two complete demolitions by arguably the most effective prospect in girls’s MMA.

Third Crew: Dakota Ditcheva. If the PFL had a girls’s flyweight event, Ditcheva would have an excellent shot at turning into a millionaire. 4 fights in 2022 with three finishes is sufficient for Third Crew honors.

Honorable Mentions: Liz Carmouche, Manon Fiorot, Gabriella Fernandes, Rin Nakai, Ivana Petrovic.

First Crew: Weili Zhang. After a disappointing 2021, Weili was flawless this 12 months, scoring brutally violent finishes over Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza, contenders for KO of the 12 months and Submission of the 12 months, respectively.

Second Crew: Amanda Lemos. After getting violently subbed by Jessica Andrade to begin the 12 months, Lemos bounced again in an enormous means with nasty finishes of Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez.

Third Crew: Angela Hill. Hill has been a staple of the All-Star groups for years and 2022 was no exception as in her three fights this 12 months she landed 288 complete strikes, plus two takedowns.

Honorable Mentions: Emily Ducote, Vanessa Demopoulos, Silvana Gómez Juárez, Jaqueline Amorim, Sofiia Bagishvili, Ediana Silva.

At Giant Bids

First Crew: Larissa Pacheco. Let’s be actual, the “At Giant” bids sections is just about completely to honor Pacheco this 12 months, who had three first-round knockouts after which the upset of the 12 months along with her win over Kayla Harrison within the PFL Championships. She undeniably deserves to be an All-Star in some capability this 12 months.

Second Crew: Kayla Harrison. Regardless of dropping within the championships, Harrison nonetheless had three wins this 12 months, two by end, and her combat towards Pacheco was extremely enjoyable. Plus, she will get some bonus factors for a way she dealt with the loss.

Third Crew: Seika Izawa. If kicking off the 12 months by turning into the RIZIN atomweight champion wasn’t sufficient, Izawa adopted that up with slick submissions in her subsequent two bouts. At solely 25, Izawa could effectively discover herself on this record for years to return.

Honorable Mentions: Hisae Watanabe, Si Woo Park, Ayaka Hamasaki, Jillian DeCoursey.

And there you might have it! That part ran fairly lengthy, so to wrap up the 12 months, let’s speedy fireplace via some remaining questions.

Straightforward, Sean Strickland marching at Alex Pereira along with his chin up and palms down. And hilariously sufficient, he says he wouldn’t change a factor.

The one factor that comes shut is that one month stretch the place folks significantly debated Kamaru Usman going as much as 205 to combat Jan Blachowicz, although we had just lately seen Blachowicz beat the then-middleweight champion, largely attributable to being considerably greater than him.

An honorable point out goes to the complete Jorge Masvidal-Colby Covington state of affairs. This sport is hilariously silly some occasions.

James Krause. Like, his complete 2022.

First off, I hate touts. They simply really feel so skeevy. And being a loud and unabashed tout whereas actively serving as a coach within the sport you might be touting about is simply extremely poor judgement. Then, whenever you issue within the Darrick Minner state of affairs and no matter occurred there, effectively, that’s about as large of a mistake as one could make.

I wish to be clear: I’m not accusing Krause of something, as a result of I really have no idea something. That can come on the finish of this investigation, I suppose. However at greatest the optics listed here are horrendous, and at worst, individuals are paying hefty fines and serving jail time. To not point out that it appears fairly unlikely at this level that Krause will ever be allowed to teach one other UFC fighter once more. That’s one fairly large mistake.

Tony Ferguson isn’t a nasty selection, neither is Derrick Lewis, however give me T.J. Dillashaw. Dillashaw solely fought and misplaced as soon as, however he obliterated his shoulder, alienated any of the few followers who caught with him via the EPO scandal, and successfully torched any declare he could have had (nonetheless specious) to the title of biggest bantamweight of all time. After which he retired. An absolute fustercluck of a 12 months for Dillashaw.

An honorable point out to Jared Vanderaa who went 0-4 in 2022.

Alexander Volkanovski’s win within the trilogy towards Max Holloway was fairly presumably the best MMA efficiency in historical past. He was as shut as doable to flawless towards top-of-the-line fighters on this planet, a person who had given him loads of bother earlier than. It was unimaginable, and that’s from somebody who thought he would look nice. Islam Makhachev dusting Charles Oliveira is No. 2.

It is a matter of some podcast conversations developing, so keep tuned for that, however taking pictures from the hip, listed here are me Finish of 12 months Champion predictions for 2023, with zero clarification:

Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes

205: Magomed Ankalaev

185: Alex Pereira

170: Khamzat Chimaev

155: Islam Makhachev

145: Arnold Allen

135: Marlon Vera

125: Brandon Moreno

W135: Amanda Nunes

W125: Valentina Shevchenko

W115: Weili Zhang

And that’s it for 2022! Thanks for studying and thanks for everybody who despatched in Tweets! See y’all within the new 12 months!