Sherdog.com’s 2014 Fighter of the Year

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2. Donald Cerrone

Cerrone prides himself on activity and entertainment. He delivered both in 2014.

“Cowboy” went 4-0 over the last calendar year, scoring victories over Adriano Martins, Edson Barboza, Jim Miller and Eddie Alvarez -- fighters with a cumulative 90-18 record. In doing so, he strengthened his fight-anyone-anytime-anywhere reputation, added three finishes to his resume and pocketed $150,000 in post-fight performance bonuses. Cerrone, 31, has never fought for an Ultimate Fighting Championship title, though that figures to change if he maintains his current trajectory.

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The Jackson-Wink MMA mainstay stopped Martins, Barboza and Miller -- all inside two rounds -- but saved perhaps his best performance for Alvarez, the former Bellator MMA champion who finally set foot inside the Octagon at UFC 178 on Sept. 27 in Las Vegas. The two lightweights went at it for 15 minutes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, as Cerrone utilized textbook muay Thai in capturing a unanimous decision. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28 for Cerrone, who improved to 12-3 in UFC competition with a fifth consecutive victory.

Alvarez had his moments, a first-round clinch exchange in which he tore into “Cowboy” with a volley of right hands chief among them. Cerrone withstood the onslaught and pushed him into the second round, where his investment in leg kicks and knees to the body paid dividends. He saved his best work for round three, as he chopped down Alvarez with repeated kicks to the leg. Cerrone drove the wounded Philadelphia native to the mat, settled in half guard and polished off the win with some effective ground-and-pound.

Cerrone -- who had agreed to a high-stakes showdown with No. 1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov before the Dagestani grappling juggernaut suffered a knee injury -- will carry his latest burst of momentum into a UFC 182 matchup with the unbeaten Myles Jury on Jan. 3.

Continue Reading » No. 3: T.J. Dillashaw