Sherdog.com’s 2015 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

5. Frankie Saenz

Frankie Saenz was just another face in the crowd in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division -- until he met Iuri Alcantara at a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 22 in Brazil.

A former King of the Cage champion, Saenz utilized takedowns, ground-and-pound and a pedal-to-the-metal pace in capturing a unanimous verdict from the heavily favored Alcantara at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Brazil. All three cageside judges scored it for Saenz: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

Alcantara, who was listed as high as a -1200 favorite, never established a rhythm. Saenz walked through the Brazilian’s strikes on the feet and eluded his submission attempts on the mat. In between, the Arizonan racked up points with multiple takedowns and subsequent ground-and-pound, tipping his spear with vicious knees to the body and a steady stream of punches to the head.

Saenz extended his winning streak to seven in his next outing with a split decision over Sirwan Kikai at UFC Fight Night “Teixeira vs. St. Preux” in August. Though he was buried on the undercard, he got the job done, and he parlayed his success into a matchup with MMA royalty.

The 35-year-old Saenz came up short in his UFC 194 battle with Urijah Faber on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas. He held his own in the scrambles, popped the former World Extreme Cagefighting champion with leg kicks and connected with a few nasty uppercuts. However, his situation took a turn for the worse in the second round, where Faber landed a knee to the temple in the center of the cage, leaving him visibly compromised. The Team Alpha Male patriarch pushed Saenz to the fence, ripped away with elbows and pursued the stoppage to the point of exhaustion. Saenz somehow survived but never could turn the corner against the fatigued Faber, who stayed out in front with two takedowns in the waning moments of round three.

Despite the loss, the late bloomer Saenz remains one of the world’s top 10-15 bantamweights.