The narrative around Solomon Renfro’s LFA debut was that he was one win away from the UFC, and Cage Fury let him claim the last win of his regional career in front of his home crowd. Unfortunately for Renfro, that’s not what happened. In less than a minute, Fugitt had Renfro on the canvas. It was an upset so huge it landed Fugitt in the UFC.
Submission of the Year: Makoto Takahashi – Ninja choke – CFFC 114
It wasn’t the most difficult submission and it didn’t land him a belt, but when Takahashi met the hype with a rolling ninja choke over a Demian Maia black belt, the FIGHT PASS audience all seemed to react the same. “A star is born.” Aesthetically pleasing, exciting and the perfect coming out party for Cage Fury’s newest star.
Knockout of the Year: Manny Akpan – Cage Warriors 136
Narrowly edging out Aerdake Apaer’s KO in the vote, Manny Akpan had to earn the honors this year. With more flashy knockouts this year than ever before, Akpan’s wheel kick stood out above the rest. Coming off a loss, the second-round highlight reel KO was exactly what he needed. At 29 years old there’s still time to see even more from Akpan in the Cage Warriors cage.