Henry Cejudo justified his pick for the 2025 Male Fighter of the Year.

Islam Makhachev had a stellar year after defending his UFC lightweight title a division record four times with a quick submission of Renato Moicano in January, followed by a welterweight title win over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322.

Merab Dvalishvili (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) defended his UFC bantamweight title a record four times this year, with wins over Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen. He eventually lost his belt to Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in their rematch at UFC 323 earlier this month.

But it’s Yan’s impressive title win over the dominant Dvalishvili that caught Cejudo’s attention, and that’s why he’s his pick for Male Fighter of the Year.

“Call me crazy, and I know a lot of people have been giving it to Merab because he fought four times, but the reality is, you’re only as good as your last fight,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “I’ve got to give it to Petr Yan. Why? Because the story is there. What he was able to do, who he fought to get to the title, and then avenge the loss when he got 50-45’d against Merab the first time.

“To come back and actually beat him, to me, was impressive. … It is quality vs. quantity, and just the simple fact that he was able to beat Merab after being 50-45’d, to me, that’s grit. That’s Fighter of the Year. That’s someone who didn’t give up on his dream and still came back five years after he became champion.”

Prior to dethroning Dvalishvili, Yan snapped the winning streaking of rising bantamweight Marcus McGhee at UFC on ABC 9 in July. Dvalishvili won MMA Junkie’s Male Fighter of the Year.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Why UFC champ Petr Yan is Henry Cejudo’s Male Fighter of the Year