MMA in 2014: Grading the Top 25 UFC Fighters
Mixed martial arts in 2014 had the potential of being so much more, and yet it still provided us with some of the better fights and performances that we'll likely harbor in our Rolodex of memories for the years to come.
Some fighters broke through and made names for themselves. Others continued building their legacy, carving their place into the annals of MMA history.
Scroll through the slideshow as we grade the UFC's top 25 fighters and their 2014 performances.
All fighters who went undefeated in 2014 will automatically earn at least a B. Fighters who lost in valiant effort may still qualify for a B or higher. Only the most impressive performances will earn fighters an A or higher.
No. 25: Luke Rockhold
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Having only fought once (and losing) in 2013, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold needed to rebound in 2014 to create any sort of hope for a shot at the UFC's middleweight title.
And rebound he did. Big time.
After first-round victories over Constantinos Philippou and Tim Boetsch, Rockhold capped off his 2014 campaign with a second-round submission victory over longtime UFC middleweight Michael Bisping.
Bet on big things for Rockhold in 2015.
Final Grade: A+
No. 24: Rory MacDonald
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Like Rockhold, Rory MacDonald last left the Octagon in 2013 as a loser. Falling to Robbie Lawler in a close split decision, MacDonald would likely need to run through his share of welterweight opponents before he'd be considered for a shot at the belt.
And just like Rockhold, MacDonald stepped up in a big way. With dominant performances over former middleweight Demian Maia and rising welterweights Tyron Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine, MacDonald proved that he's ready to seize the moment now that training partner and former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is out of the picture.
Grade: A+
No. 23: Khabib Nurmagomedov
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Unlike either of the two previously mentioned fighters, Khabib Nurmagomedov entered 2014 with a relatively successful 2013. Having collected wins No. 19, 20 and 21 of his unblemished MMA record, he was primed to continue his successful ways as he climbed the ever-crowded lightweight rankings.
Unfortunately for Nurmagomedov and the fans, the Russian wrestler only managed to stay healthy enough for one Octagon appearance. Lucky for him, that performance was against rising lightweight contender Rafael dos Anjos. Nurmagomedov smothered his Brazilian counterpart for three rounds before earning the unanimous-decision victory and an A for 2014.
Grade: A
No. 22: Fabricio Werdum
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After knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett all in the first round a year ago, Travis Browne was likely one solid victory away from earning a shot at the heavyweight strap.
The problem was that he needed to get past a resurgent Fabricio Werdum, who'd been nothing short of unstoppable in his return to the UFC. For five solid rounds, Werdum peppered the faster, younger heavyweight with the striking he'd miraculously developed over recent years.
But he didn't stop there.
Having earned his chance at the heavyweight crown—only to have to settle for the interim title after an injury to the champion—Werdum wanted to leave zero doubt about who was most deserving of that belt. At that point, only a handful of people discounted the Brazilian heavyweight after he showed so much improvement on the feet.
Then he knocked out the tough-as-nails Mark Hunt to convince the few doubters.
Grade: A+
No. 21: Alexander Gustafsson
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Alexander Gustafsson was in a peculiar position at the start of 2014.
Having fought UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to a closely contested (but unanimous decision) loss, the Swede stepped into 2014 with the intention of giving most fans what they wanted: a rematch with the champion.
As fate would have it, Jones went in another direction, leaving Gustafsson without a dance partner until an outmatched Jimi Manuwa stepped inside of the cage. Sure, Manuwa had a puncher's chance. But as we've come to know him, Gustafsson also has a puncher's chance. And a kicker's chance. And a submission artist's chance.
If you let him go the distance with you, he has a good chance on the scorecards, too.
Grade: A
No. 20: Urijah Faber
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Urijah Faber walked into 2014 as a man worthy of a nap.
Having run through four opponents in the previous year, he was still likely a few fights away from stepping into the cage with then-bantamweight champion Renan Barao. After an injury to Barao's scheduled partner, Faber earned his fourth title fight in four years.
But just like all his previous four title fights, Faber fell short of the crown. Unlike the four previous losses, however, he didn't manage to make it the full 25 minutes.
He would rebound with submission victories to round off the year. But submitting two outmatched opponents (one that came after an unfortunate eye poke, mind you) isn't enough to earn Faber an A this time around.
Grade: B-
No. 19: Rafael Dos Anjos
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Although he didn't start 2014 on a high note, Rafael dos Anjos managed to turn the tables.
Sure, a victory over Jason High prevented anybody from attaching a "fluke" label to Dos Anjos' former five-fight winning streak. But it wasn't until he ran through former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson that people finally started to take notice.
And once they took notice, Dos Anjos used vicious leg kicks, solid jabs, constant takedowns and an aggressive top game to spoil Nate Diaz's return to the cage.
Grade: A-
No. 18: Vitor Belfort
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After dispatching all three of his 2013 opponents by head-kick knockout, Vitor Belfort was primed for his second crack at the middleweight crown. But that was when TRT was within the bounds of the UFC's laws.
Between waiting for the champ to stay healthy enough to defend the belt and needing to recover from the possible withdrawal effects of TRT, Belfort couldn't find time to extend his three-fight winning streak.
Grade: Incomplete
No. 17: Daniel Cormier
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Daniel Cormier entered 2014 with one goal in mind: marching toward the light heavyweight throne.
The former U.S. Olympian had spent his entire undefeated MMA career fighting at heavyweight, but a friendship with the incumbent champion forced Cormier to drop down to 205 pounds. His first fight at light heavyweight, originally scheduled against Rashad Evans, wasn't meant to be an easy task. But an injury to the former light heavyweight champion ensured it would be less difficult.
After finding success in his first fight at the weight class, Cormier was tasked with a slightly tougher but much older opponent in an aging and undersized Dan Henderson. Takedown after takedown led Cormier to land his second finish as a light heavyweight.
Grade: A
No. 16: Johny Hendricks
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An injury to Johny Hendricks' bicep prevented him from stepping into the cage more than twice in 2014. His first outing proved to be a successful one as he showcased his grit against "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler in a five-round war, earning the welterweight crown.
His second outing was similar, except he wouldn't retain the belt. He fought hard but often lackadaisically searched for a takedown that rarely came against Lawler. It wasn't enough to get him the nod—or the A in this case.
Grade: B+
No. 15: Lyoto Machida
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Lyoto Machida's drop to 185 pounds might just go down as one of the most successful weight class changes in the history of MMA. Few middleweights, with the exception of the champion, are a match for the former light heavyweight king.
That list of overmatched opponents includes Gegard Mousasi, Mark Munoz and CB Dollaway. If not for Machida's patient start to his UFC 175 title fight, Chris Weidman's name may have been added to the list.
Grade: B+
No. 14: Chad Mendes
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Chad Mendes only fought once in 2014, but he sure made it count.
Even in a losing effort, Mendes' back-and-forth, Fight of the Year-worthy title bout against Jose Aldo earns him an almost perfect mark for 2014. He took it to the champ for five full rounds before hearing Bruce Buffer's "and still" announcement throughout the Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro.
Grade: A
No. 13: Frankie Edgar
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Rather than keep himself fighting toward Jose Aldo's featherweight crown, Frankie Edgar strangely decided to play coach on The Ultimate Fighter. This wasn't only strange because it effectively took up a good portion of Edgar's time but also because it meant that he'd be capping off a trilogy against B.J. Penn—a man he'd already decisively defeated on two separate occasions.
The world didn't need to see that for a third time.
What the world did need to see, however, was Edgar inside of the cage with a viable contender inside of the 145-pound division. That's where Cub Swanson came into play. After serving up a five-round beating and a fifth-round submission, Edgar basically stamped himself an A-plus grade for the year.
Grade: A+
No. 12: Dominick Cruz
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Few fighters have ever taken part in such a feel-good story like Dominick Cruz provided us with in 2014. After suffering several injuries that kept him out of the cage for three years during the prime of his career, he made his return to the Octagon.
And what a return it was, as he blitzed Takeya Mizugaki in about one minute of the opening round at UFC 178.
But as fate would have it, an ACL injury would cut his return to the cage short, according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. Our collective hearts should go out to the former bantamweight champion, wishing him a speedy recovery. Here's to hoping that we Cruz shine inside of the cage in 2016.
Grade: A+
No. 11: Robbie Lawler
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A crushing knee to Mark Hunt's face effectively robbed the world of its feel-good career-revival story.
But then came Robbie Lawler and his welterweight title aspirations to save the day. But unlike Hunt's incomplete story, Lawler wasn't merely handed his title shot out of an inconvenient injury—he earned it. Victories over Jake Ellenberger and fellow feel-good candidate Matt Brown forced the UFC to grant him his second title shot in 2014.
His first attempt didn't go as planned, but his second did.
Grade: A
No. 10: Renan Barao
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A first-round TKO victory over Urijah Faber motivated UFC President Dana White to call Renan Barao the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
A five-round beating at the hands of T.J. Dillashaw may have kept him on the pound-for-pound best list, but he was nowhere near the top. It was so one-sided that many of us questioned whether he'd be able to rebound. He had his first chance in an immediate rematch with Dillashaw, before failing to make weight.
He'd have a second chance to prove his superiority against Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night 58. He managed to win the fight, but—whether it was a lack of complete dominance or killer instinct—he wasn't the same.
Grade: B-
No. 9: T.J. Dillashaw
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Renan Barao didn't have that great of a year. T.J. Dillashaw did.
Many of us pre-emptively painted Dillashaw as an outmatched challenger to Barao's seemingly permanent crown. I mean, if Urijah Faber, Michael McDonald and Eddie Wineland stood no chance of dethroning the champion, what business did Dillashaw—who was a mere 1-1 in his last two fights—have inside the cage with Barao?
Well, yeah, about that.
Dillashaw followed his dominant five-round title fight TKO victory with another dominant five-round title fight TKO victory against Joe Soto. He's about as real as it gets in this sport.
Grade: A+
No. 8: Anderson Silva
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Mixed martial arts has provided us with fewer more excruciating images than Anderson Silva's unfortunate incident at UFC 168 in December 2013. Yeah, let's just go ahead and call it that: an "incident."
But after Silva's incident came the former champion's long-awaited return. Fingers were crossed that he'd be capable of fighting again prior to the end of the calendar year, but that didn't happen. We'll just have to settle for seeing The Spider bounce back 13 months after his incident.
Grade: Incomplete
No. 7: Ronda Rousey
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Go ahead and drop Ronda Rousey's name in the mix for Fighter of the Year.
That's the least of what she has earned after defeating two of the best female mixed martial artists in the UFC's bantamweight division. She didn't manage to extend her armbar streak, but two first-round TKOs totaling one minute, 32 seconds aren't too bad either.
Grade: A+
No. 6: Cain Velasquez
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After defeating Junior dos Santos for the second time in 12 months, Cain Velasquez managed to cement himself as the absolute best heavyweight fighter on the planet.
There was no doubt.
Even with the question answered, most of us still wanted to see the champion defend his crown against Fabricio Werdum in November. But as has become custom with the UFC's heavyweight king, injuries kept Velasquez outside of the cage for all of 2014.
Grade: Incomplete
No. 5: Anthony Pettis
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Like a few other UFC champions, Anthony Pettis could only grace us with his Octagon presence once in 2014.
Sidelined due to injury and commitments to The Ultimate Fighter, Pettis made sure he reminded the MMA world of his special abilities as a fighter. He struggled to create distance against Gilbert Melendez's pressure-first wrestling game plan in the early goings of his only 2014 fight.
But much like all of Melendez's fights, the bout quickly turned into a back-and-forth brawl in the second round. Pettis caught the former Strikeforce champion with a heavy strike that opened up an opportunity to hand the challenger his first-ever submission loss.
Grade: A
No. 4: Chris Weidman
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Don't get me wrong—Chris Weidman looked good against Lyoto Machida. Really good.
But for as good as the champion looked against the challenger, you can't help but criticize his cardio in the twilight rounds of his first title fight against somebody other than Anderson Silva. He managed to bite down on his mouthpiece and brawl with a desperate Machida to finally earn the respect he deserved. Still, slowing down doesn't get you a solid A in this grade book.
Grade: A-
No. 3: Demetrious Johnson
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OK, I get it. He isn't that fun to watch.
Maybe it's all the decision victories he racked up since joining the UFC's ranks. Maybe it's how outmatched every one of his past and future opponents are before even entering the cage. Maybe it's because he's only 125 pounds—I sure don't know.
Either way, Mighty Mouse's dominance over both Ali Bagautinov and Chris Cariaso showed us that he's undoubtedly the best fighter on the planet at 125 pounds. Unless he decides to move back up to bantamweight, you can bet that he'll continue to hold onto that moniker.
Grade: A+
No. 2: Jose Aldo
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Recent outings forced many fans to criticize Jose Aldo for having lost his killer instinct. Whereas he was once the fighter who racked up seven TKO victories in eight WEC outings, Aldo became notorious for his dominant, but unimpressive, unanimous-decision victories inside of the UFC cage.
Leave it to Chad Mendes to bring out the best in Aldo and help change that perception.
Five grueling rounds of close action forced the world to remember why Aldo has long since held onto a position atop the world's pound-for-pound best.
Grade: A
No. 1: Jon Jones
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Contractual disagreements and injuries robbed the MMA world of the opportunity to watch the best fighter on the planet for much of 2014. Outside of a 25-minute drubbing of Glover Teixeira in late April, Jon Jones wasn't able to showcase the skills that skyrocketed him straight toward the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
His wrestling was often stifled by the challenger's capacity as a grappler, but Jones managed to utilize his reach to beat Teixeira.
But that's not what we'll remember about Jones in 2014. It's the fights that should have been that we'll remember. An injury to Alexander Gustafsson ruined the first fight. An injury to the champion ruined the second, arguably more exciting fight against Daniel Cormier.
Go ahead and go through your rituals to ensure the upcoming scheduled bout between Jones and Cormier proceeds as planned.
Grade: A
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University's student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
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