2019 Combat Sports Awards: Combat Athlete of the Year

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We cover many combat sports, so it’s only fair that each team (and other interested staff) put together awards for each sport! It would be exhausting and difficult to come up with categories across sports, but there was one award we just had to settle on.

Combat Sports Athlete of the Year

With consideration for MMA, boxing, striking arts, wrestling, and grappling, our team voted on the combat sports athlete whose 2019 stood out above all others.

Let’s take a look at the votes and candidates:

Sangmanee Sor Tienpo (Defeated Muay Thai’s P4P #1)
Alexander Volkanovski (UFC featherweight champion)
Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Freestyle wrestling World champion)
Yoshiki Takei (K-1 Super Bantamweight GP champion)
Zaurbek Sidakov (Freestyle wrestling World champion)

Ed Gallo: Gadzhimurad Rashidov
Kevin (Yodsanan): Yoshiki Takei
Danny Martin: Sangmanee
Lucas Bourdon: Sangmanee
Philippe Marchetti: Alexander Volkanovski
Kyle McLachlan: Sangmanee
Sriram Muralidaran: Alexander Volkanovski
Taylor Higgins: Alexander Volkanovski
Ryan Wagner: Sangmanee
Hamady (Baba) Diagne: Sangmanee
Seth Petarra: Zaurbek Sidakov

Sangmanee Sor Tienpo - Combat Sports Athlete of the Year

Ryan Wagner: Sangmanee's year was nothing short of exceptional. He had a rough start in March, where he was routed and knocked out by the #1 pound-for-pound Nak Muay in the world, Tawanchai. After that lone defeat, he went 6-0 on the year, with 5 of those victories coming against world-class opposition.

Sangamnee upset Tawanchai in a rematch, putting his kicks and punches together to stifle the master technician en-route to a clear decision victory.

He not only beat plenty of incredible competition, but he dismantled a wide variety of styles. Aggressive clinchers like Yodpanomrung and Chujaroen, a pressure-fighting tank in Yodlekpet, a master outside technician in Tawanchai, and the all-round generalist Rafi Bohic - all fell to the great Sangmanee. What makes Sangmanee's run all the more impressive is that it constitutes an unlikely return to form.

Sangmanee dropped fights to Yodlekpet and Yodpanomrung in 2018, and has not found consistent success in stadium fights since 2016. It's hard to envision a fighter more deserving of our combat sports athlete of the year award than one who ran through his division, picking up five world-class victories along the way.