Honorable Mention

Jiří Procházka

Division: Light Heavyweight

2022 Title: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Jiří Procházka had a great year in 2022. He became the light heavyweight champion after defeating Glover Texiera, however, he later vacated the title because of an injury.

Shavkat Rakhmonov

Division: Welterweight

2022 has also been a great year for Shavkat Rakhmonov, who scored two finishes against Carlston Harris and Neil Magny. He also won the performance of the night bonus in both of his fights.

Top 10 UFC Fighter of the Year 2022 Rankings

10. Arnold Allen

Division: Featherweight

Arnold Allen is one of the most talented contenders in the UFC featherweight division. He fought twice in 2022 and won both of his fights.

He defeated Dan Hooker in March and scored a win against Calvin Kattar in October. He won both his fights via knockout and won a performance of the night bonus as well.

9. Belal Muhammad

Division: Welterweight

Belal Muhammad has become one of the top contenders in the UFC welterweight division this year.

He scored an impressive win over Vicente Luque in early 2022 and knocked out Sean Brady in October to end the year and win the performance of the night bonus as well.

8. Jamahal Hill

Division: Light Heavyweight

Jamahal Hill has had the best year of his career yet in 2022. He fought twice and scored solid wins against high-level opponents.

Now, he will be fighting Glover Texeira for the UFC light heavyweight title. Hill knocked out Johnny Walker, and Thiago Santos this year, and won post-fight bonuses in both of his fights.

7. Marlon Vera

Division: Bantamweight

Marlon Vera had a really good year in 2022. He fought twice and defeated high-level opponents to move up in the Bantamweight rankings.

In April, he defeated Rob Font, and in august, he scored an incredible knockout win against former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Vera also won post-fight bonuses in both of his fights this year.

6. Aljamain Sterling

Division: Bantamweight

2022 Title: UFC Bantamweight Champion

After becoming the Bantamweight champion via Disqualification in 2021, many fans did not consider Sterling the real champion.

However, in 2022, he showed the world that he is the legitimate UFC bantamweight champion, by first scoring a dominant win against former champion Petr Yan, and defending the title against former two-time UFC Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.

5. Khamzat Chimaev

Division: Welterweight

Khamzat Chimaev has had a lot of hype around him, and this year, he had two incredible performances against tough competition.

In April of 2022, he defeated Gilbert Burns, which was followed by an impressive first-round submission win against Kevin Holland in September.

4. Leon Edwards

Division: Welterweight

2022 Title: UFC Welterweight Champion

Leon Edwards pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year in 2022. Despite being a massive underdog, and losing most of the fight, he knocked out Kumaru Usman and became the UFC welterweight champion. Edwards also won the performance of the night bonus.

3. Islam Makhachev

Division: Lightweight

2022 Title: UFC Lightweight Champion

2022 marked the year Islam Makhachev became the UFC lightweight champion. He fought twice in 2022, first defeating Bobby Green in February, and then beating Charles Olivera to become the UFC lightweight champion. Islam also won the performance of the night bonus in his title-fight win.

2. Alexander Volkanovski

Division: Featherweight

2022 Title: UFC Featherweight Champion

Alexander Volkanovski has been on a tear at the top of the featherweight division, and in 2022, he defended the UFC featherweight title twice, against some of the division has to offer.

He defeated “The Korean Zombie” in April and then defeated former featherweight champion Max Holloway in July.

1. Alex Pereira

Division: Middleweight

2022 Title: UFC Middleweight Champion

Alex Pereira has had an excellent year. He fought 3 times in 2022 and won all of his fights, also becoming the UFC middleweight champion after knocking out Israel Adesanya.

He also defeated Bruno Silva, and Sean Strickland in 2022, and won two performance of the night bonuses.