Philadelphia’s Chris Daukaus entered the Octagon as a fairly unknown prospect whose main claims to fame was that he was a Philly cop as well as the brother of UFC fighter Kyle Daukaus. Two first-round knockouts of Parker Porter and Rodrigo Nascimento later, Daukaus is poised for a big 2021 campaign, and with his fast hands and accurate striking, he’s going to be a tough puzzle for his opponents to figure out.

Speaking of tough puzzles to figure out in the heavyweight division, Liverpool’s Tom Aspinall fits that bill as perfectly as Daukaus does. A former sparring partner of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, Aspinall has the hands to do damage in the Octagon, as evidenced by a pair of first-round finishes of Jake Collier and Alan Baudot that took a little over two minutes combined. But he also has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, adding another layer to an intriguing tool set that we’re likely to see more of in 2021.

Want to know how competitive the race for 2020 Newcomer of the Year was? Jamahal Hill is at number six after a year in which he made three impressive showings in the Octagon following his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. Kicking off his UFC career with a decision win over Darko Stosic, “Sweet Dreams” delivered an impressive first-round finish of Klidson Abreu, only to see that overturned to a no contest due to a positive test for marijuana. Undeterred, the unbeaten Hill ended the year with an impressive second-round stoppage of Ovince Saint Preux that landed him in the light heavyweight top 15.

After a pair of highlight reel knockouts over Alex Morono and Abdul Razak Alhassan that took a combined 57 seconds, Khaos Williams might have taken the number one spot here had he beaten Michel Pereira on the last show of the year on December 19. He didn’t, losing a competitive decision to the Brazilian, but that doesn’t take away from the year the proud Detroit product had or his upside next year and in the years to come. “The OxFighter” is for real.

Even though a loss to Kevin Holland kicked off Joaquin Buckley’s UFC career, anyone who saw that fight knew that Buckley was going to be one to watch, as he may be the hardest throwing striker on the entire roster. Well, two months later, Buckley got his second Octagon bout against Impa Kasanganay, and if you’re reading this, you know what happened next, as Buckley’s knockout win went viral. There was a lot of pressure to repeat in his third walk, but he did, adding another Performance of the Night KO to his resume as he halted Jordan Wright in the second round.

It was the Summer of Khamzat Chimaev in 2020, as the unbeaten prospect came out of nowhere to win three bouts in spectacular fashion before the leaves started turning colors for the fall. Clearly the star of Fight Island, the 26-year-old won two fights in ten days, submitting John Phillips and stopping Rhys McKee. In September, “Borz” traveled to Las Vegas and was expected to get a stiff test from Gerald Meerschaert, but he won that fight, too, knocking the veteran out in just 17 seconds. Next up for the 2020 UFC Newcomer of the Year? Welterweight contender Leon Edwards.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES – Herbert Burns, Kay Hansen, Phil Hawes, Ludovit Klein, Jordan Leavitt, Nate Maness, Cory McKenna, Kanako Murata, Kyler Phillips, Daniel Rodriguez, Alexander Romanov, Adrian Yanez