Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 70 put the wrap on the first half of MMA’s 2015 schedule. And while Fourth of July weekend is a rare breather, things pick up later that month, with Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 189 leading the pack in a crowded field.

Since we have a moment or two to catch up, let’s take a look at the year’s best in the sport through six months:

Fighter of the Half-Year: Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Due to injuries and just the way the schedule has panned out, only two of the UFC’s current 10 champions have competed twice thus far in 2015. One, Daniel Cormier, lost to Jon Jones on Jan. 3, then came back to defeat Anthony Johnson to win the vacant light heavyweight title on Memorial Day weekend at UFC 187.

Jedrzejczyk, meanwhile, is the only champ with a 2-0 record in 2015. The native of Poland destroyed Carla Esparza to win the strawweight title at UFC 185 on March 14 via second-round TKO. On June 20, she became the first fighter to successfully defend the 115-pound crown with an equally one-sided win over Jessica Penne -- this time, a third-round finish.

Jedrzejczyk (10-0) has said she’d like to become strawweight’s Ronda Rousey. While she’s not likely to reach Rousey’s level of fame, the fighter known as Joanna Champion is well on her way to a similar level of divisional dominance.

View photos Donald Cerrone gestures after defeating John Makdessi at UFC 187. (AP) More

Runner up: Donald Cerrone. The popular Cerrone is 3-0 in 2015. He scored a one-sided win against Myles Jury at UFC 182; stepped in as a replacement 15 days later and decisioned friendly nemesis Benson Henderson in their trilogy fight; then broke John Makdessi’s jaw in a second-round TKO at UFC 187.

On an eight-fight win streak, “Cowboy” is expected to meet lightweight champ Raphael dos Anjos when the latter returns from knee surgery.

Fight of the Half-Year (tie): LC Davis def. Hideo Tokoro, split decision, Bellator 135, March 27, Thackerville, Okla.; Justin Gaethje def. Luis Palomino, round three TKO, WSOF 19, Phoenix, March 28.

On paper, the last weekend of March looked to be a ho-hum affair, with no UFC event and a pair of what seemed to be filler cards from the sport’s Nos. 2 and 3 companies. Instead, it turned into a reminder that great fights can happen at any event. Davis and Tokoro, a pair of veteran bantamweights, put on a wild Bellator battle full of twists and turns before Davis, who had his jaw broken by a Tokoro upkick, gutted his way to a decision. The next night, Gaethje, the WSOF lightweight champ, and challenger Palomino put on the most memorable fight in WSOF history. The opening round was a pier-six brawl with both men delivering big blows. Gaethje, fighting in his hometown, began to pull away, and finally finished off Palomino, who went down swinging, late in the third.

Runner up: Andrei Arlovski def. Travis Browne, round one KO, UFC 187, May 23, Las Vegas: Can a one-round brawl earn FOTY consideration? It can when it’s the heavyweight throwdown like the one engaged between these two friends and former training partners. Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champ, capped off his memorable comeback run by shaking off a near knockout and delivering his own a few moments later to finish four of the wildest minutes you’ll ever see in the cage.

Finish of the Half-Year: Thiago Santos’ head-kick knockout of Steve Bosse, UFC Fight Night 70, Hollywood, Fla., June 27. Bosse was a minor-league hockey enforcer of some repute, but skilled jersey-grabbing techniques won’t defend you from a head kick. Santos noticed Bosse’s tendency to drop his hands from the outset, and wasted little time capitalizing. Santos drilled Bosse with a shin flush to the jaw. Bosse hit the mat, out cold, head twisted in an odd angle, in a manner reminiscent of Mirko Cro Cop’s head-kick loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70. And just like that, Santos had both a win in 29 seconds and stole Finish of the Half-Year just under the wire.

Story continues