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| Copyright: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors |
The domestic scene, as it has been in years gone by, threw up several good candidates for fighter of the year.
As usual, it was a tough task for the staff here at Kingdom MMA in picking our domestic fighter of the year.
Several talented fighers had stand out years and can perhaps feel aggrieved not to have won this category that they could easily have won in any other year.
The man we have chosen as our Kingdom MMA Domestic Fighter of the Year 2014 only fought twice. However, his two fights were both main events, against high level opposition with plenty on the line and he came out on top to retain his title.
We have selected Scotland's Steven Ray as our domestic fighter of the year.
In what proved to be a difficult year for Ray he still managed to pull off two sensational victories against tough Curt Warburton to finish the year still the Cage Warriors lightweight champion.
Ray ended 2013 with a disapointing loss to Ivan Buchinger but he kicked through the gears in 2014 to win back the CW 155-pound title and potentially put himself in the frame for a crack at the UFC.
Ray edged a hard fought war with Warburton back in June, as he took a split decision victory to even a defeat he had to Warburton back in March 2013.
Keen to settle the score both men agreed to a rubber match in November and Ray left little doubt over the winner here. He looked good in a back and forth first round and finally put Warburton away with a beautiful rear naked choke in the second round to solidify his spot as the best domestic lightweight.
Of course, it wasn't an easy decision for us to select Ray as our fighter of the year.
After receiving our nominations from the team here at Kingdom MMA, Ray beat off stiff competition from Cage Warriors featherweight champion, Alex Enlund.
Enlund had a hugely successful year, beating Artem Lobov in March before capturing the FW title in a hard fought victory over Nad Narimani in November to cap off an excellent year.
Ireland's Joe Duffy made a sensational return to MMA in 2014, pushing him close to the award. Duffy's first fight since 2011 saw him rack up a superb submission win over Damien Lapilu. He followed that up with the highlight reel 30 second KO of Julien Boussuge at CWFC 74.
Paul Daley was also in the running after his sensation body shot KO of Marinho Moreira da Rocha at BAMMA 16.
But it was the impressive Ray who scooped this years gong after two fight performances to end the year as the Cage Warriors lightweight champ.
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