After two successful title defences in 2020, beating the scary Yoel Romero via unanimous decision in Las Vegas in March, before stopping hard-hitting Brazilian, Paulo Costa, in the second round of their highly publicised bout in the United Arab Emirates, Nigerian Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has been ranked the 10th best fighter in the Mixed Martial Arts franchise for the outgoing year.

The 31-year-old’s ranking got a beating due to his uneventful win over Romero earlier in the year.

Other fighters in the Top 10 UFC fighters of the year include – lightweight fighter, Charles Oliveira; light heavyweight campaigner, Glover Teixeira; flyweight star, Brandon Moreno and women’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko.

Others are – Khamzat Chimaev, Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, Jan Blachowicz and knockout specialist cum flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.

The Punch reports that despite retaining his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal in 2020, Nigerian fighter, Kamaru Usman, was not listed amongst the Top 10 fighters in the division for the outgoing year.

The Auchi-born MMA star had just one fight in 2020, which affected his positioning on the log.

The votes were cast by MMA and boxing reporters.