B/R MMA 2018 Half-Year Awards: Best Fighter, Fight, Finishes and Story

The first half of 2018 didn't exactly go off like gangbusters for the UFC.

With many of the fight company's biggest stars either suspended (Jon Jones), chasing other dreams (Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey) or some version of the two (Conor McGregor), signature moments were hard to come by.

That doesn't mean it was a total loss, of course. Through 18 events over six months, new champions were crowned and new memories were forged as some fresh faces began to stand out from the crowd.

Fact is, there was a lot to like inside the Octagon. You just needed to look closely to see it.

With the year's halfway point upon us, Bleacher Report's MMA staff got together to vote on our mid-year awards. Here are our picks for best fighter, best fight, best knockout, best submission, biggest story and best social media moment. Mostly UFC cards were considered for inclusion, with select bouts from Bellator and other leagues as well. 

When the Octagon traveled south to Rio de Janeiro for UFC 224 on May 12, opening the pay-per-view card with a middleweight clash between aging Brazilian stars Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort was a matchmaking no-brainer.

As luck should have it, the bout also delivered in the way pairings in MMA's senior circuit rarely do—with a 40-year-old Machida knocking Belfort, 41, out cold with a teeth-rattling front kick one minute into the second round.

The victory was Machida's second of 2018 and improved his record to a modest 3-4 dating back to July 2014. For Belfort, who promised this would be his last UFC fight, the defeat dropped him to 2-4-1 over roughly the same period.

Longtime observers will note these front-kick finishes are something of a habit for both Machida and Belfort. Machida KOed Randy Couture using a jumping crane kick during the American's farewell fight at UFC 129 in December 2011.

Meanwhile, Belfort was a recipient of a front-kick knockout by Anderson Silva at UFC 126 in February of the same year.

Runner-up: Brian Ortega d. Frankie Edgar

Aleksei Oleinik's first-round submission of Junior Albini during the preliminary portion of UFC 224 in May gave Oleinik a singular claim to fame.

The 41-year-old Russian submission wiz is the only athlete in UFC history to win a fight using the rarely seen Ezekiel choke—and now he's done it twice.

Oleinik's first Ezekiel choke victory in the Octagon came when he nabbed Viktor Pesta with the move in January 2017. That result was shocking enough, but nobody expected him to sucker Albini with the same technique just 16 months later.

Not even Oleinik.

"I didn't think I could do this," Oleinik said at the UFC 224 postfight press conference, via MMA Junkie. "He has a very long neck, a good neck for this submission, but I didn't believe it. When he took me down—I don't know for what—he helped me. If he'd stayed [upright] I don't think I could have done it."

Perhaps Oleinik is just being modest. His pair of Ezekiel choke wins in the UFC are no fluke. During his 22-year, 68-fight professional career he's been credited with a total of 11 wins using that submission.

They don't call him "The Boa Constrictor" for nothing.

Runner-up: Paul Craig d. Magomed Ankalaev

Nobody expected Conor McGregor's UFC return to go quite like this.

After spending all of 2017 away from the Octagon to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in last summer's mega-hyped boxing match, McGregor made a surprise appearance at UFC 223 media day on April 5.

That's when all hell broke loose.

McGregor and a group of associates stormed into the loading dock of Brooklyn's Barclays Center where, according to Rolling Stone's Mike Bohn, they were looking for UFC 223 headliner (and current interim lightweight champion) Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Earlier that week, a video of an altercation between Nurmagomedov and McGregor teammate Artem Lobov had surfaced online.

When McGregor located Nurmagomedov aboard a charter bus full of UFC athletes, the 29-year-old Dublin, Ireland, native allegedly threw multiple objects—including a trash can and a metal hand truck—at the bus, shattering its windows.

In the wake of the incident, three fights were scrapped from UFC 223, and McGregor was charged with assault and criminal mischief. As of this writing, the charges are still pending, though McGregor is attempting to negotiate a plea deal, according to NBC News.

The weekend of UFC 223, UFC President Dana White called McGregor's actions "the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company," via ESPN. He also implied he might be done doing business with his biggest star and former 155-pound champion.

Fast forward a couple months, and White now says he'll let the courts handle McGregor's transgressions and that he's "pretty confident" McGregor will end up fighting Nurmagomedov for the title before the end of the year, according to CBS Sports.

Runner-up: UFC's broadcast deal with ESPN

Al Iaquinta's occasionally rocky relationship with his UFC bosses took a surprising turn at UFC 223 on April 7.

When Tony Ferguson pulled out of a scheduled interim lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov less than a week before that event, Iaquinta stepped up as a last-minute replacement opponent.

Iaquinta didn't win the fight, but he also didn't get completely trucked by the undefeated and formidable Russian fighter. In the wake of that bout—having saved the PPV, earned some political capital and done a major solid for his employers—was it possible Iaquinta's rapport with the UFC might be improved?

Nah, son.

Ragin' Al can't help but keep it real.

Iaquinta has gone right back to antagonizing the UFC on his social media accounts. Whether it's his outspoken support of unionization efforts, his needling of Dana White over financial negotiations, early weigh-ins or his takes on CM Punk's latest UFC fight attempt, Iaquinta's Twitter presence is fiery and unapologetic.

He's been the best thing going in fighter social media so far this year.

Runner-up: Jon Jones' Twitter feud with Colby Covington

As 2018 reaches the halfway point, the fact that Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje is the clubhouse leader for Fight of the Year surprises absolutely nobody.

When matchmakers booked these two high-octane, never-say-die lightweights as the main event of UFC on Fox 29 on April 14, it was anticipated as a surefire crowd-pleaser.

On fight night, Poirier and Gaethje didn't just live up to that hype—they exceeded it.

For three full rounds, the two brawlers showed off the savagery and recklessness that had earned them reputations as popular, full-throttle daredevils.

Gaethje scored early and often with thudding leg kicks, forcing Poirier to switch stances from the accumulation of blows. But Gaethje also lost a point as the fight reached its fever pitch during a wild third frame, after he poked Poirier in the eye twice.

Undeterred by the punishment (or the fouls), Poirier continued to fire crisp, gutsy punching combinations. At the beginning of the fourth, his style finally proved more effective.

He stung Gaethje with a counter left hand and then pursued the former World Series of Fighting champion around the cage as Gaethje attempted to regain his balance. A one-two combo against the fence dropped Gaethje to one knee and convinced referee Herb Dean he'd seen enough.

Poirier earned the fourth-round TKO victory and perhaps rightful No. 1 contender status in the UFC's most competitive division. Gaethje dropped his second straight fight.

In practice, however, there were no losers here.

Runner-up: Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero II

"Thug Rose! Thug Rose! Thug Rose!"

So shouted light heavyweight champion and occasional color commentator Daniel Cormier at the end of UFC 217 in November 2017, after "Thug" Rose Namajunas upset Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win the strawweight title via first-round TKO.

Like Cormier, our minds were blown, too.

Jedrzejczyk had been so dominant through five successful defenses of her 115-pound championship that even though Namajunas was regarded as a dangerous opponent, her reign was considered relatively safe. 

In the wake of watching Namajunas floor Jedrzejczyk with a left hand and pound out a TKO win, many observers wondered if it was a fluke. So much so that a rematch between the two was slated for UFC 223 in April.

This time, Namajunas not only silenced her doubters, she improved on her original performance, out-dueling Jedrzejczyk en route to a unanimous decision that left little room to question her dominance.

That second victory established Namajunas as the new standard-bearer at strawweight and came just a few days after she was on the bus allegedly attacked by Conor McGregor. Knocking Jedrzejczyk off her throne is good enough to give Namajunas the nod as our pick for best fighter during the first half of 2018.

Runner-up: Brian Ortega