MMAjunkie's top 5 fights of 2015: Lawler-MacDonald or Gaethje-Palomino on top?

Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best fights from 2015. Here are the top five, including the winner of MMAjunkie’s “Fight of the Year.”

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Fight of the Year.”

* * * *

Honorable mentions: Justin Gaethje def. Luis Palomino via punches at WSOF 23; Brian Ortega def. Thiago Tavares via punches at UFC Fight Night 68; Andrei Arlovski def. Travis Browne via punches at UFC 187; Jon Jones def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision at UFC 182

5. Tony Ferguson def. Edson Barboza at TUF 22 Finale

After about 60 seconds at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale in December, lightweight contender Tony Ferguson (20-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) figured out it was painful to stand with Edson Barboza (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC). So he did it again and again. When Ferguson couldn’t surprise Barboza with a wild roll into a leglock, he resorted to chasing down the Brazilian and slugging it out.

Ferguson eventually pressured the Brazilian to shoot for a takedown out of exhaustion, and in a scramble, exposed his neck for Ferguson’s favored D’Arce choke in the second round. That was all Ferguson needed to finish the fight.

4. Daniel Cormier def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192

Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is clearly a battle-tested champion following his first successful defense of the UFC light-heavyweight belt, which came against Alexander Gustafsson (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) at UFC 192 in October.

Cormier and Gustafsson turned in five rounds of back-and-forth action that left both men battered and bloodied. The champion showed his resolve through every bit of adversity, though, and continued to push forward with his relentless offensive pressure until the 25-minute time limit expired and he earned a split-decision win.

3. Daniel Straus def. Patricio Freire at Bellator 145

Patricio Freire and Daniel Straus

The third time was the charm for Daniel Straus (25-6 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) when he defeated Patricio Freire (24-3 MMA, 12-3 BMMA) to win the Bellator featherweight title at Bellator 145 in November.

Straus had suffered two previous losses to “Pitbull” and was presented with a rare third chance to make it right. He was successful after implementing a near-perfect game plan over the course of five rounds, and he took an entertaining unanimous decision over Freire in one of the more memorable Bellator title fights in recent history.

2. Justin Gaethje def. Luis Palomino at WSOF 19

Luis Palomino and Justin Gaethje

The self-proclaimed “best lightweight in the world,” Justin Gaethje (15-0) put another notch on his undefeated record with a third-round knockout of Luis Palomino (23-11) to defend his WSOF title in thrilling fashion at WSOF 19 in March.

Gaethje threw caution to the wind at the opening bell with wild punches, knees and kicks while inviting his opponent to reciprocate. Palomino did his best to oblige, but he was unable to keep up with the young, fresher champion by the latter portion of the third frame and eventually crumpled to a barrage of strikes.

1. Robbie Lawler def. Rory MacDonald at UFC 189

Robbie Lawler (26-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) became the first UFC welterweight champion in the post-Georges St-Pierre era to earn a title defense when he stopped Rory MacDonald (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in the fifth round of one of the most remarkable fights in company history. UFC President Dana White called July’s UFC 189 headliner not just his “Fight of the Night” or year, but perhaps his “Fight of the Ever.”

Lawler defeated MacDonald by split decision at UFC 167 in November 2013 and didn’t want to leave the fight in the judges’ hands again. The bout came down to the wire, and MacDonald held a 3-1 edge on all three scorecards going into the fifth round.

“Ruthless” then showed why he’s the king of the rematch. Lawler improved to 4-0 when facing an opponent for the second time when he crushed MacDonald’s already-broken nose with a final shot that sent the Canadian crashing to the canvas in agony.

Sporting a severely split lip and covered in both his own blood and MacDonald’s, Lawler finished the job to keep the title and move to 7-1 since he returned to the UFC a little more than two years ago.

Lawler’s incredible resurgence from mid-tier fighter to UFC champion has been well documented. If anyone thought that fairytale would come to an end at UFC 189, Lawler once again proved his naysayers wrong and continued to rewrite the story of his career in arguably his greatest contest to date.

While 2015 was a year filled with solid action, the UFC 189 title fight was arguably one of the most significant contests of the year – and most spectacular of them all.