Asian MMA continues to expand at a remarkable rate with small promotions popping up all over the place while ONE FC has been to eight different countries in 2014 and the UFC has put on an unprecedented five events there this year.
On top of that there have been numerous shows from promotions old and new with Pancrase, Shooto and Deep continuing to keep the flame alive in Japan where IGF has also emerged as a serious force to be reckoned with while Road FC has been a massive success in Korea and Malaysia's MIMMA is the most impressive amateur league anywhere in the world.
The UFC might be switching focus away from Asia in 2015 but there are enough promotions in the region to ensure that the scene continues to grow regardless, with ONE FC's expansion into mainland China set to be potentially the major talking point of next year.
This is a breakdown of the fighters, fights, promotions and camps which had the most success in 2014:
Fighter of the Year
Kyoji Horiguchi, the drop down to 125 pounds has paid dividends for the Japanese fighter who has won two fights out of two in 2014 to move up to No. 11 in the UFC rankings with a decision win over Darrel Montague and a one round demolition of Dustin Pague.
There was no one outstanding candidate this year as Kiichi Kunimoto went 3-0 in the Octagon but was assisted by a controversial DQ and a highly debatable split decision, Jadambaa Naruntungalag and Koji Ando both went 2-0 for ONE FC with the former claiming the 145-pound title while Hiromasa Ogikubo beat three opponents out of three to win the VTJ 125-pound Grand Prix and 39 year old Caol Uno also registered three wins over solid opponents in Japan.
Fight of the Year
Michinori Tanaka vs Kyung Ho Kang at UFC Fight Night 52 provided three rounds of nonstop action as the two fighters traded kicks, punches and takedowns with the Korean ultimately prevailing courtesy of a split decision win which put the first blemish on the Japanese fighter's perfect professional record. Both men should have deservedly pocketed a $50,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus but the Japanese bantamweight missed out due to a failed drug test.
Other candidates include Eric Kelly's second round submission win over Rob Lisita at ONE FC: "War of Dragons" and Tarec Saffiedine's five round decision win over Hyung Gyu Lim at UFC Fight Night 34 when the Korean nearly mounted a dramatic comeback in the dying moments of the fight.
Event of the Year
UFC Fight Night 52 at the Saitama Super Arena delivered six stoppages in 10fights, which is well above average for a UFC card, and featured the memorable war between Kyung Ho Kang and Michinori Tanaka, Kyoji Horiguchi blowing away Jon Delos Reyes, Johnny Case putting Kazuki Tokudume to sleep and, of course, Mark Hunt faceplanting Roy Nelson with an uppercut in the main event.
Other contenders include ONE FC: "Reign of Champions" in Dubai when Shinya Aoki choked out Kamal Shalorus and Ben Askren destroyed Nobutatsu Suzuki and ONE FC: "Roar of Tigers" which provided 10 finishes in 10 fights, seven of them inside the opening round.
Promotion of the Year
ONE FC looks set to win this award every year for the forseeable future. It's partly because the promotions which could potentially have provided competition, like Legend FC and the SFL, have long since fallen by the wayside but Victor Cui's organization is an unstoppable juggernaut veering from the Middle East to China while maintaining a powerbase in South East Asia and continuing to cement its status as the dominant force in Asian MMA.
No other promotion comes close in term of pan-Asian appeal but Road FC is doing very well in Korea, putting on 10 events this year.
Camp of the Year
The year got off to a good start for Evolve MMA with Tarec Saffiedine scoring a unanimous decision win on his UFC debut in January after conducting his training camp in Singapore for the first time and 2014 also saw Ben Askren win the ONE FC 170-pound title, Shinya Aoki mount a successful defense of his 155-pound belt and both Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Herbert Burns have breakout years while Leandro Issa is coming off back to back UFC submission wins.
Other contenders include Korean Top Team where Doo Hwan Kim, Kwan Ho Kwak and PXC 145-pound champion Jang Yong Kim all had undefeated years while Hyun Gyu Lim and Tae Hyun Bang pocketed performance bonuses with the UFC and it was also a good year for Tiger Muay Thai who had Mairbek Taisumov and Zubaira Tukhugov make winning starts to their UFC careers and Roger Huerta bounce back with a big win for ONE FC.
Submission of the Year
Leandro Issa's third round armbar win over Jumabieke Tuerxun at the The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 19 Finale because, even though the fight took place in the US, both are Asian MMA veterans who are based in Singapore and China respectively. The way the Brazilian executed the submission was straight out of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) textbook but it was particularly dramatic because an earlier point deduction meant that he needed a stoppage to win and he deservedly took home $100,000 worth of bonuses.
Other contenders include Ariel Sexton's reverse triangle keylock of Anvar Alizhanov at ONE FC: "Dynasty of Champions," Bibiano Fernandes' slick rear naked choke against Dae Hwan Kim at ONE FC: "Warrior's Way" and Russell Doane's rear naked choke win against, ironically, Leandro Issa at UFC Fight Night 34.
KO of the Year
Timofey Nastyukhin's flying knee and soccer kick(s) KO of Eduard Folayang at ONE FC: "Warrior's Way" is a clear winner. To see a fighter score a knockout with a flying knee is always special but the Russian was somehow able to do it with his front knee, an incredibly difficult technique to execute.
Other contenders include Doo Ho Choi's 18-second demolition of Juan Manuel Puig at UFC Fight Night 57, Mark Hunt's one punch walk off KO of Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 52, Ev Ting's head kick KO against Edward Kelly at ONE FC:"Roar of Tigers" and Tae Hyung Bang's overhand right which accounted for Kajan Johnson at UFC 174.