The Fierce Fighting Championships (FFC), along with Zach Partridge of the Damage Plan MMA Podcast, made their selections for the year-end awards. The FFC held 13 cards this year, 146 fights, with 73% ending in a finish. 22 champions were crowned, with 55 amateur debuts and nine pro debuts.
Mike Jones won Performance of the Year with his fight against Trent Miller. Jones had taken the fight on short notice, as Greg Ellis was pulled out due to an injury. Miller was surging with a 5-0 record, trying to land a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series or the Ultimate Fighter. Jones had a near perfect fight and a flawless game plan, taking out the UFC prospect by TKO.
Some of the other winners were Kent Mafileo, with his back-to-back nod as Male Fighter of the Year. Jones was also nominated for the award, but he was occupied with fights in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) and only had one fight with Fierce this year. Hunter Birdsley won Dubuter of the Year, David Maggio won Submission of the Year, Anthony Castro won Knockout of the Year and Logan Taylor was the Amateur Fighter of the Year.
The fight of the year went to Nasir Davis and Jackson Degrey, which might ring a bell to the local MMA fans. The fight was held in July at the Carbon Events and Recreation Complex (CERCUT) at the Carbon County fairgrounds in Price.
This was one of the promotion’s smaller events of the year as they have most of their events in Salt Lake City at the Maverick Center and other large venues. The event was honoring the local community that have been fans of Fierce MMA, since the promotion began in Carbon County years ago.
Both athletes had a phenomenal back-and-forth matchup, going the distance in five rounds. The fight is considered one of the best in all of the years that the FFC has been around. Davis would ultimately win the match, as he was crowned the FFC first-ever double champions, holding the titles in the Bantamweight and Flyweight classifications.
The FFC will hold their first event of the year on Jan. 24, at the Salt Lake Masonic Temple in Salt Lake City for FFC 37.