Writing elsewhere

Since no one really reads this anyway and I couldn’t be bothered trying to drum up interest I don’t know why I’m even bothering putting this up, but this site won’t be used anymore and I’ll be writing over at www.theroar.com.au now. Any followers from here can read my stuff there.

UFC 129 Predictions

I’ve had some computer issues hence the lack of posts in the last week but there’s no better card to come back to then this one. Without a doubt this is the most stacked card of the year so far with two title fights as well as two fights with a lot of divisional significance behind them and a fun undercard (except for Matyushenko-Brilz) and it’s being held in front of 55,000 Canadian fans. In the main event Georges St Pierre takes on EliteXC Welterweight champion and Strikeforce Middleweight champion Jake Shields for the UFC Welterweight championship. St Pierre makes his sixth defence of the title he took from Matt Serra and looks to break a drought of decision wins which has gone back to January 2009! Shields was on a tear in the smaller shows, defeating Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Mayhem Miller and then upsetting Dan Henderson before signing with the UFC. He edged Martin Kampmann out at UFC 121 in October to earn the shot but has also defeated the likes of Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami in what is now a 15 fight win streak.

Co featuring see’s the first UFC Featherweight championship fight with reigning champion Jose Aldo defending against Canadian Mark Hominick. Aldo was the reigning WEC champion, technically making his third defence of the title having previously defended against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan. Hominick is a former UFC fighter, competing at lightweight where he went 2-0 (beating Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel) before dropping to featherweight and the WEC. Hominick is riding a five fight win streak that saw him somehow get a split decision over Leonard Garcia and knock out George Roop at UFC Fight for the Troops in January. Also on the card UFC hall of famer Randy Couture will fight former Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and former WEC Lightweight champion Ben Henderson makes his UFC debut against up and comer Mark Bocek.

Georges St Pierre vs Jake Shields
(UFC Welterweight Championship)
Prediction- St Pierre by third round stoppage
I really don’t like Shields at welterweight. I think the weight cut hurts him too much and his cardio is shit at this weight. He looks so much better at 185 where he can grind on an opponent for five rounds like he did to Henderson and Miller. I thought Shields looked ordinary against Martin Kampmann (to the point where I scored the fight to Kampmann) and had the Dane fought a smarter fight (ie not trying to guillotine someone with those sort of grappling credentials every chance he had and giving up takedowns to do it instead of just sprawling and using his superior striking) he would have won easily. I don’t think Shields will get St Pierre down and if he does I don’t think he’ll be able to keep him there long enough to set up a submission. He’ll be forced to fight GSP in a stand-up battle and his stand-up quite frankly is poo and his chin is suspect. St Pierre will outwork him, Shields will gas and GSP will get his first stoppage win since BJ Penn.

Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick
(UFC Featherweight Championship)
Prediction- Aldo on points
Hominick is one of the few guys who will offer Aldo a test on the feet. He’s a world class kickboxer and while his power isn’t overly devastating it’s solid and he’s technically sound. I just think that Aldo will be too quick and explosive. He’ll control the pace, keep the fight on the outside where he can land his jab and his leg kicks and I don’t see him leaving his comfort zone to try and take Hominick to the ground to get the finish. Hominick will last because he’s tough, and he might even make a round or two close but Aldo will be too quick, too confident and too good and will win by a wide margin.

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida
Prediction- Machida by second round knockout
(knockout of the night pick)
I’d be more confident in Couture if I’d seen him fight at a decent level in the last 12-18 months. He hasn’t had a proper test since Brandon Vera in November 2009 and he struggled in that fight with Vera’s takedown defence and muay thai skills. Machida’s movement and unorthodox striking I think will work well against Couture’s attempts to tie him up and his takedown defence is very strong. The thing that worries me for Randy is I think his resistance to punishment has dropped significantly. Coleman rocked him with a right hand briefly in their fight, Vera dropped him with a body kick and was hurting him with knees to the body and Nogueira dropped him twice and I don’t think any of those guys have the power that Machida does (even Nogueira who is 30-40lb heavier). Machida’s style works well against guys who can’t beat him standing. Couture might get him to the fence where he can use his inside game and punish Machida from the single collar tie with elbows and uppercuts, but I think he’ll take too much coming in and Machida will eventually knock him out.

Jason Brilz vs Vladimir Matyushenko
Prediction- Brilz on points
Why this fight is on the main card is beyond me. It’ll be a clinch fest with very little striking and I think Brilz has the more well rounded game and will win a snoozer.

Mark Bocek vs Ben Henderson
Prediction- Henderson on points
(fight of the night pick)
Henderson’s wrestling and striking will get him the decision but I see him having to get out of multiple submission attempts from Bocek who has one of the nastiest submission games at 155lbs. This fight should be high tempo with good scrambles on the ground and while they probably won’t be the most technical punch exchanges on the feet, they should be fun. I think Henderson’s hips and ability to stay on top will get him the edge in most rounds. It should be close and it should be very entertaining.

Preliminaries
Nate Diaz vs Rory MacDonald
Prediction- Diaz by third round submission
(submission of the night pick)
I won’t rule MacDonald out completely in this fight but I don’t think he has the strength to dominate Diaz on the floor or the experience to get out of submissions. He’ll do well early but Diaz’s technical advantages will take over and he’ll pick MacDonald apart on the feet and punish him there before catching him in something late.

Jake Ellenberger vs Sean Pierson
Prediction- Ellenberger on points
I admittedly have only seen Pierson once, but Ellenberger seems to have the advantage here being the better credentialled wrestler. Plus I feel he’ll have something to prove after an average showing against Rocha in his last fight.

Claude Patrick vs Daniel Roberts
Prediction- Patrick by first round submission
Another fight I’m very much looking forward to. Both guys have sneaky submission games and a good deal of smaller show experience behind them. I like Patrick and have been a fan for a while and I think he’ll deliver in front of his hometown fans and he’ll catch Roberts early with a submission. The longer the fight goes the better Roberts will do but I think he gets caught dry by the more experienced fighter.

Ivan Menjivar vs Charles Valencia
Prediction- Valencia on points
Menjivar’s game is a little out of date in my opinion. He’s a tough guy and he’s given some good fighters hard fights over the years but Valencia has been more consistent lately, even if his game isn’t top shelf. Loser goes home I think, and the winner gets fed to an up and comer.

Ryan Jensen vs Jason MacDonald
Prediction- MacDonald by second round submission
Jensen is always entertaining. His fights never go the distance and I don’t think this one will either. MacDonald gets another crack at keeping his UFC career alive and I think he drew a good matchup. Jensen has a habbit of getting himself caught in armbars and chokes in fights his winning and I think this one goes the same way.

John Makdessi vs Kyle Watson
Prediction- Watson by first round submission
Makdessi is an interesting prospect ith a background in taekwondo and karate. He’s gone 8-0 and while I’ve only seen his last fight, I think Kyle Watson is a step up for him. Watson has good takedowns and solid top control and submissions. He’s patient and makes few mistakes and I think he’ll get Makdessi down and show up the Canadian as having a lack of ground game. It’s a good test for a striking prospect, but it’ll have to be put don to a learning curve I think.

Pablo Garza vs Yves Jabouin
Prediction- Garza by first round submission
For those of you who don’t know Garza, he was one of the better guys on the TUF GSP vs Koscheck show. The trouble was he drew eventual runner-up Michael Johnson in the first round of fights by hard fought decision and didn’t end up on the show. He won by brutal knockout on the finale and Jabouin won’t be able to handle him. His submissions are nasty and his stand-up is explosive. He’ll struggle with the wrestlers but a fight like this is made for him.

Couture ends Coleman’s UFC career

Randy Couture easily defeated Mark Coleman at UFC 109 in the hall of famers match in the main event by rear naked choke. Couture couldn’t miss with his strikes as he battered Coleman from the outside early in the fight. Coutures pace briefly slowed after he was seemingly rocked by a Coleman right hand, but after shaking off the blow Couture turned his attention to the clinch where he punished ‘The Hammer’ with his dirty boxing to finish out the first round. After more of the same early in the 2nd round, Couture scored a takedown and ended up in mount. Coleman gave up his back after taking some punches and Couture scored an easy rear naked choke which put the 2000 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix winner to sleep.

The win was probably Couture’s easiest since his first appearance in the UFC. Coleman had absolutely no answers for any of Couture’s game. He didn’t shoot in once, his boxing was as terrible as it’s ever been and while he took a beating, Couture has never really had knockout power in his punches. The only thing that really stood out for me in this fight was the fact that Couture was rocked by the one punch Coleman did land. This for me further emphasises the fact that Couture’s punch resistance and durability has worn thin over the years. As a major Couture fan, I don’t look forward to him fighting one of the younger, more dangerous opponents at 205lbs.

As for Coleman, he has since been cut from the UFC and hopefully he has made some decent money in his last few fights. I’m also glad that Tito Ortiz’s attempts to salvage the Coleman fight were shut down quick as I believe that Ortiz was looking for an easy win and seeing how Ken Shamrock no longer fights in the UFC, he went for the next best thing, another mid forties UFC hall of famer who’s time was in another era. Fighting Ortiz would have been pointless as the man is an absolute legend of the sport having twice been considered the best fighter in the world at different periods in the game and also being one of the men who changed the approach to the sport. Before Coleman most of the real top level wrestlers got takedowns and either held position or in rare circumstances went for submissions. None of them dished out the sort of punishment that Coleman did from top position. Coleman also paved the way for many other top wrestlers to get involved with MMA with the likes of Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman and Kevin Jackson soon joining Colemans training camp and then going on to win titles in the UFC.

On the undercard, Chael Sonnen earned the number one contenders slot with a gruelling unanimous decision win over Nate Marquadt. Marquadt looked good for the first minute, scoring with some solid punches before Sonnen got the first of many takedowns in the fight. From on top, Marquadt had few answers for Sonnen’s relentless top game and was controlled and punished for the first two rounds. Sonnen survived some scary moments in the third round, including a guillotine choke that only seemed to fail because Marquadts hands slipped apart, but he earned the unanimous decision and the right to face Anderson Silva (should he get by Vitor Belfort Demian Maia in April).

Sonnen-Silva should be interesting and probably the first interesting Middleweight title fight since Silva unified the belts by beating PRIDE champion Dan Henderson. Sonnen has already trash talked Silva and with a victory over Paulo Filho, Silva wil be motivated to avenge his friends loss. I think you can expect to see Silva bring out his A-game on Sonnen when they fight but then again I wouldn’t count Vitor Belfort out of the UFC 112 bout. Belfort has serious knockout power, the likes of which Silva probably hasn’t dealt with in his career. Out of anyone I give Vitor the best crack at beating Silva.

(Since writing this I learnt that Belfort is in fact out of UFC 112 and Demian Maia has taken his place on the card).

In other results, Matt Serra scored a big first round knockout over Frank Trigg. Seriously, if you didn’t think Serra was a top ten welterweight for some stupid fucking reason before this, I think this settles it. Serra is a dangerous fight for anyone at 170lbs. Demian Maia grinded out a unanimous decision win over Dan Miller. Paulo Thiago made it 2-1 v AKA fighters, choking Mike Swick out with a Darce choke which was executed after a knockdown. Thiago is going to be an extremely dangerous fighter in a year or so once he irons out some of the roughness to his game.

(Sorry for the week off, I’ve been busy again and seeing how there were no fights on this weekend I thought I’d catch up then.)

Legends Collide at UFC 109

Some fights just aren’t meant to happen.

The history behind tomorrow’s UFC 109 main event between Hall of Famer’s Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture and Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman suggested that this was one of those fights. Originally scheduled to meet at UFC 17 in Coleman’s return fight from his shock loss to Maurice Smith (he would have challenged Couture for the heavyweight title Couture won from Smith at ‘Ultimate Japan’), Couture was forced off the show with an injury paving the way for youngster Pete Williams to fight Coleman and shockingly KO Coleman with a highlight reel head kick. Couture left the UFC not long after, heading to Japan’s RINGS organisation where he’d lose three fights between 1998 and 2001 while Coleman lost a decision to Pedro Rizzo before heading towards the PRIDE.

With both fighters careers looking to be closing down, they both turned it around in 2000. Coleman outlasted a field of eight top competitors to win the PRIDE 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix, a tournament billed to crown the best fighter on the planet (with the exception of two or three UFC fighters at the time, it pretty much did) while Couture returned to the UFC and defeated their heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman before defending it twice against Pedro Rizzo in explosive battles. Again Couture and Coleman were at the top of the sport and were the subjects of the first PRIDE vs UFC champions debate, but their meeting wouldn’t happen. Coleman lost his title to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and his career went on a slide from there while Couture did his thing in the UFC (do I really need to go into detail on what everyone already knows on Couture?) and the fight hasn’t really been talked about since.

Tomorrow the two MMA legends meet at Light Heavyweight in the main event of the UFC’s annual super bowl weekend card (for anyone who gives a shit I’m picking the Colts). The fight is of little significance right now. Although it does push Couture very close to another title shot should he win, should Coleman win he’ll likely be fed to an up and comer and brutalised. Still, probably the most anticipated fight in MMA history (apart from the one where somehow or another Fedor fights the reigning UFC Heavyweight champion) was when Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva were ruling their respective organisations’ 205lb divisions, and when they eventually fought it was off the back of consecutive losses and their fight was an absolute war. The Couture-Coleman fight is definately one to check out.

While both men come from wrestling backgrounds (Coleman was a 92 Olympian, Couture was two time Olympic alternate) their styles are much different now. Coleman has often been criticised for not evolving and his style very much relies on his ability to get the fight to the ground and get on top. Couture on the other hand as learnt how to box and has learnt submissions and learnt them to the levels where he has used them to win fights. Couture’s weaknesses have been against much bigger guys or guys who could hurt him standing and stuff his takedowns. Coleman definately has the wrestling pedigree to stuff Couture’s takedowns, but his stand-up has always been primitive in terms of technique. The other big factor besides the overall game of both men is conditioning. Couture is always in top shape while Coleman has lost many fights due to his lack of gas. Even though Couture’s durability has looked suspect in recent fights and while Coleman probably looked the best he’s ever looked in his last fight, I doubt he can outstrike or outlast The Natural.

I think this fight will see a clinch battle for the first round with both men trying to get the other on their back. The big difference will be that Couture will likely score with punches that lead to the clinch and then will likely have the upper hand in the ‘dirty boxing’ game which he is a master of. Couture’s clinch game will wear on Coleman’s conditioning which will make Coleman’s takedown shots become desperate and open him up to punches as well as takedowns from Couture himself. I think if Couture gets on top at anytime in this fight he’ll end it, while if Coleman gets on top Couture will probably escape. I really don’t see anyway in which Coleman wins this fight unless he somehow outworks Couture. I can see the fight ending in one of three ways; ground and pound, rear naked choke or some sort of choke off the sprawl with Coleman too gassed to fight it. Either way I think Randy Couture wins this fight in the 2nd round.

The undercard is fairly appetising with the co-main event to decide the next Middleweight title challenger. With Nate Marquadt’s defeat of Damian Maia and Chael Sonnen being the man to finally defeat Yushin Okami as well as Dan Henderson’s depature from the UFC, the winner of this fight is the most logical challenger for the title since Henderson himself. This fight is interesting in terms of style, similar to the Couture-Coleman fight, as Sonnen has a strong wrestling base while Marquadt is the more well-rounded fighter. Marquadt is definately the more dangerous fighter in terms of striking and submissions, but Sonnen’s wrestling is that good that he could overwhelm Marquadt and take a decision. Sonnen has been submitted in the past, but I’d hardly but Marquadt in the submission league of Damian Maia, Jeremy Horn or Paulo Filho. Still, I think Marquadt’s well rounded game will give him the edge, and I think he’ll win a close decision in a competitive fight (I’d like to see Sonnen win just to see him cop a bashing at the hands of Anderson Silva because he’s an A-grade douche bag).

Also on the main card, Mike Swick attempts to further avenge the knockout Paulo Thiago inflicted on fellow AKA fighter Josh Koscheck (Fitch already beat him last year). I don’t see Thiago handling Swick. His striking, despite scoring the knockout over Koscheck, is full of holes and Swick is the best striker from AKA and I think he’ll tear Thiago a new one inside a few minute. Former Welterweight champion Matt Serra takes on Frank Trigg in a semi-old school battle as both men have been around sinde the 90s. I think Trigg will finally do the job and send Serra back down to 155lbs where he should be, although Serra is going to be dangerous for the entire fight with his knockout power and submissions. Trigg’s size advantage and wrestling base should see him through to a decision win. Damian Maia also returns, taking on Dan Miller. Miller has the tools to make this fight hard for the submission ace, but I think this fight hits the ground at some point and Maia submits him when it does.

On the undercard, Mac Danzig should break his losing streak against Justin Bucholz, I’m picking Ronny Torres to submit Melvin Guillard because he’s a BJJ fighter and Guillard has no submission defence, Nover to destroy Rob Emerson, Rolles Gracie and Phil Davis to win their UFC debuts and YAMMA Pit Fighting veteran Chris Tuschererererererer to defeat Tim Hague.

Ten Greatest Fights in UFC History

10-  Maurice Smith unanimous decision Mark Coleman (UFC 14)
The UFC 14 main event between undefeated Heavyweight champion Mark Coleman and stand-out kickboxer Maurice Smith was the first time in UFC history you saw an elite level kickboxer who had evolved. Maurice Smith had spent time with Japanese star Tsuyoshi Kohsaka learning how to fight off his back and when Coleman took him to the ground he was prepared for it. After a brief stand-off, Coleman shot in and took Smith to the ground with ease. From there Coleman unleashed with right hands and headbutts as he had done in his previous six UFC contests. Smith though established his guard and began stifling Colemans attacks and making Coleman work to keep him on the ground. Coleman at one stage moved to mount, but Smiths knowledge of grappling allowed him to get back to guard and continue defending. Maurice briefly escaped after about seven minutes but Coleman took him down again. Coleman though was gassing and his efforts from on top became less and less and Smith escaped again just before the 15 minutes was up and landed some solid punches and leg kicks. The following two-three minute over times were all Smith as Coleman was gassed and could barely walk from the leg kicks he was taking. Smith picked his shots and landed at will while stuffing Colemans takedowns. Coleman somehow survived the onslaught, but Smith took the decision and the title in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

9- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira submission (3rd) Tim Sylvia (UFC 81)
A battle a long time coming with Nogueira and Sylvia at one point holding the PRIDE and UFC Heavyweight titles at the same time. They eventually fought at UFC 81 for the interim Heavyweight championship after Randy Couture ‘retired’ and wouldn’t face Nogueira. Nogueira was out of form having split two fights with Josh Barnett by close decision and barely surviving against Heath Herring while Sylvia was looking to gain back some respect after losing his title to Couture almost a year ago. Sylvia came out with bad intentions, firing his jab and trying to follow it up. Nogueira pulled guard, but Sylvia wisely stood up and showed he had no interest in fighting on the ground with the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu stylist. Midway through the first Sylvia dropped Nogueira heavily with a right hand and move in to finish. Nogueira regained his senses and Sylvia invited him back up. Nogueira scored a takedown in the final seconds, but Sylvia was saved by the bell. Sylvia continued to batter Nogueira during the 2nd round while stuffing his takedowns and standing up whenever he pulled guard. In the third round Nogueira pulled half guard and quickly swept Sylvia. Now on top, he passed Sylvia’s guard with ease and began looking for a submission. Sylvia turned into Nogueira and was immediately caught in a guillotine choke and forced to tap out. It was an incredible comeback from Nogueira who has made a career out of coming back from the brink of defeat.

8- Don Frye submission (11:19) Gary Goodridge (Ultimate Ultimate 1996)
Probably not the fight most people would have put in their top ten, but in my opinion (obviously) one of the greatest fights in UFC history. These two engaged in a gruelling battle of attrition that ended in the first round of the champions tournament of 1996. Goodridge, wearing a gi for some strange reason, and Frye immediately locked horns and started trading shots from the clinch. Frye was using Goodridges gi for leverage and pinned Goodridge against the cage while delivering knees and elbows on the inside. Goodridge repeatedly made room and landed his heavy right hand but Frye simply ate it. This went on for a few minutes before they seperated and started trading bombs from the outside. Frye seemed to be taking control when Goodridge took him down and began to land heavy shots of his own. With both men tiring it was Goodridge who was now able to use his weight advantage and he was landing heavy shots from on top. Frye then showed the newest trick in his game, an ability to fight off his back as he survived Goodridges onslaught and then swept the much larger man. With Goodridge exhausted and now on his back, he conceded the fight and tapped out due to exhaustion. Frye would go on to win two more fights that night, one of them against Tank Abbott which was #23 on this list, to win the tournament.

7- Oleg Taktarov submission (17:47) Tank Abbott (UFC 6)
Speaking of gruelling fights, they don’t get more gruelling then the Final of UFC 6 between newcomer Tank Abbott and UFC 5 veteran Oleg Taktarov. Abbott had walked through John Matua (20 seconds) and Paul Varelans (two minutes) earlier in the evening while Taktarov had a tougher then it sounds 57 second victory over UFC 5 runner-up Dave Beneteau and a 10 second submission win over Anthony Macias. Abbott immediately went on the offensive, rocking Taktarov with vicious bombs before ending up on top in a scramble. Abbott tried to finish, but Taktarov played his guard well and managed to wear Abbott down. Tank would open up from time to time and everytime they stood up he’d rock and bloody ‘The Russian Bear’ but could do little offensively against the Sambo master on the ground. Taktarov though was showing signs of fatigue by 10 minutes into the fight as Abbotts bombs were taking their toll on him. Somehow late in the fight, Taktarov found the energy to move to Abbotts back in a scramble and had just enough strength left to secure a rear naked choke and force Abbott to submit. After the fight both men lay exhausted and Taktarov needed oxygen as he was completely spent.

6- Frank Shamrock submission (4th) Tito Ortiz (UFC 22)
The tactical brilliance of Frank Shamrock was never more on display then when he defeated future  Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in their title matchup at UFC 22. Ortiz was the hungry young contender who had just blown through Jerry Bohlander and Guy Mezger and was gunning for Shamrock and his belt. Tito had a big size advantage as he cut down to the weight limit while Shamrock walked around 5-10lbs below it. The fight started off with them briefly striking before Ortiz took Shamrock down. Comfortable off his back, Shamrock was the one who opened up and began trading with Tito from his back while making Tito work to hold him down. Tito was happy to engage from on top and was throwing heavy shots and Frank was just as happy as his plan was to wear Ortiz out. Shamrock would escape back to his feet only too happy to let Tito take him back down and expend some more energy. By the 4th round Ortiz was gassed but continued to score takedowns. Shamrock knew though that Tito was struggling to hold him down and as he escaped from the bottom at the end of the 4th round, he landed an elbow that hurt Tito and followed it up with a barrage of punches that forced Ortiz to tap out to. It would be Shamrock’s last fight in the UFC having gone 5-0 with all five fights being for the title.

5- Randy Couture unanimous decision Pedro Rizzo (UFC 31)
At the time fighters like Mark Coleman were calling it the greatest fight in MMA history and it probably was. The opening rounds of this fight saw both fighters take punishment that would have stopped most men, but they took it and continued and went the full five rounds. Couture was the champion again after returning to the organisation and defeating Kevin Randleman for the belt. Rizzo was on an impressive run following his loss to Randleman for the belt and was coming off a huge knockout over Josh Barnett. Couture opened fast, taking Rizzo down and relentlessly scoring with hard shots from on top. Rizzo was closed to being stopped in the first round as Couture pushed him up against the fence and unleashed with bombs. Rizzo survived and in round two it was his turn to be the aggressor. ‘The Rock’ scored with numerous hard leg kicks that had Couture limping as well as scoring with hard punches to the face. Rizzo punished Couture for the entire five minutes with mainly his damaging leg kicks. After two rounds of action, I had the fight scored 18-18 with Couture winning the first 10-8 and Rizzo the 2nd 10-8. The last three rounds were all heart as both men were exhausted and battered. Couture’s wrestling game him the edge on my card as he was able to get Rizzo down, but Rizzo did more damage to Couture’s legs which made the decision a 50-50 one. The judges cards read the same as mine and Couture retained his belt by unanimous decision.

4- Matt Hughes submission (1st) Frank Trigg (UFC 52)
This is UFC president Dana White’s favourite fight of all-time and it was an incredible turnaround in an incredible fight. Hughes and Trigg hated each other and there had been a lot of trash talk after their first battle at UFC 45. Hughes had since lost his title to BJ Penn before regaining it with a submission win over Georges St Pierre after Penn had left the organisation while Trigg had scored wins over Dennis Hallman and Renato Verissimo by knockout. During the final instructions Trigg bumped heads with Hughes prompting Hughes to shove him and Trigg to blow him a kiss. They clinched up and Trigg scored an unintentional knee to Hughes’ groin. The referee missed the illegal blow and Trigg pounced, nearly knocking Hughes out before mounting him, then taking his back and sinking in the same rear naked choke that Hughes had submitted Trigg with in their first fight. Hughes somehow muscled his way out of the choke, picked Trigg up on his shoulder, ran the entire way across the Octagon and slammed him hard into the mat. From there Hughes rained down punches and elbows that bloodied Trigg up. Hughes continued to punish Trigg from on top before Trigg gave up his back. Hughes again looked for the rear naked choke and after a brief struggle forced Trigg to submit.

3- Chuck Liddell unanimous decision Wanderlei Silva (UFC 79)
While this is my all-time favourite MMA fight, I do believe there are two better fights in the UFC, but this is the one I enjoyed watching the most. It was a battle between long time PRIDE 205lb champion Wanderlei Silva and long time UFC 205lb champion Chuck Liddell but it wasn’t for the belts, it ended up coming at a time when both men were on the back of two fight losing streaks. Accurately described by Joe Rogan as ‘two dogs who have been looking through the cage at each other for a long time’ these two let loose with some of the hardest strikes ever traded inside a cage. Both men circled for much of the opening round letting everyone elses anticipations of the slugfest that was about to be delivered boil over. Then just at the time when people might have thought the fight wasn’t going to live up to expectations, they began exchanging. The shots were wild and they were hard nd they were trading almost evenly, but Liddell was landing the harder blows. Wanderlei continued to stand in the pocket though and Liddell even started walking him down but everytime he landed his home run strike, Wanderlei returned fire and they traded bombs. Liddell won the first round and Wanderlei won the 2nd and the fight was up for grabs in the third round. Liddell surprisingly opened with a takedown but Wanderlei quickly escaped to his feet. Midway through the round (which was full of further exchanges) Liddell rocked Wanderlei with a spinning backfist and looked to finish. With Wanderlei pinned up against the cage, Liddell unleashed a barrage that had dropped men like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, but Wanderlei wouldn’t go down. Wanderlei lasted the third round and even landed some good shots later in the round, but the decision was Liddell’s. The only thing that could have made this fight better would be had they fought over five rounds for the UFC and PRIDE belts. It was almost a shame that they had to stop as both of them looked like they would fight like that all night.

2- Roger Huerta submission (3rd) Clay Guida (TUF6 Finale)
This was the crazy super fast lightweight battle. Clay Guida took on UFC poster boy Roger Huerta who was looking for a win to legitimise the hype around him. Guida had the advantage with his wrestling, but Huerta was the better striker and probably had the better submission game. Guida dominated early with his wrestling and was outworking Huerta on the mat in typical Guida fashion. In the 2nd round Guida rocked Huerta with an uppercut after a scramble and looked to be taking over. After losing the first two rounds, Huerta came out with a psychotic look on his face and went straight to work on Guida, rocking him with a knee. Guida shot in, but Huerta stuffed it and continued to punish him. Guida again shot in and Huerta took his back in a scramble, and began looking for the finish that he needed to win this fight. After sinking in the choke, Guida eventually tapped out and gave Huerta the victory. It was a spectacular comeback and finish from Huerta, who will unfortunately probably have his last fight in the UFC against Gray Maynard in September.

1- Forrest Griffin unanimous decision Stephan Bonnar (TUF1 Finale)
Seriously, have you seen a better slugfest before? This fight made the UFC into what it was today with the mainstream appeal it gave the sport. On non PPV TV, these two waged an incredible war that saw them trade repeated blows for a breathtaking 15 minutes. Back then it was hard for MMA fighters to make a proper living off just fighting and both of these guys needed that six figure contract to be able to keep on fighting professionally and they fought like it. Griffin got the better of the first round, landing the cleaner shots and rocking Bonnar once or twice. The fight briefly hit the mat in the first with Griffin using his underrated Jiu Jitsu game to nearly submit Bonnar with an arm bar. In the 2nd round Griffin gassed and Bonnar began landing heavy shots, one of which broke Griffin’s nose. It looked like the fight could be stopped because of a cut on Griffin’s nose, but the doctor allowed the fight to continue and the final round and a half saw both men leave the little they had left plus a lot more in the cage. It was a bar room brawl inside a cage on National TV and the crowd and TV audience were eating it up. Griffin took a razor thin unanimous decision, but the fight was so entertaining that Dana White declared  there was ‘no loser’ and gave Bonnar the same contract Griffin got. Bonnar unfortunately was thrown into several hard fights against the likes of James Irvin, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans on Fight Night cards while Griffin was built up on a steady diet of fringe contenders before they were ready to gamble with him. It’s funny to think how such a close decision that could have gone either way could have changed the course of the careers of both men. It could have been interesting to see where both men would be now had Bonnar got the decision, just food for thought…..

See Also:

Part 4 (11-20)

Part 3 (21-30)

Part 2 (31-40)

Part 1 (41-50)

Fifty Greatest Fights in UFC History Part 2/5

40- Thiago Alves stoppage (2nd) Chris Lytle (UFC 78)
This fight had the potential to be higher had the doctor not come up with a bullshit stoppage. Alves and Lytle engaged in a stand-up war that saw a trade of knockdowns in the opening round with Lytle going down first before he knocked Alves down later in the round and began dominating with his hands. In the 2nd round Alves landed numerous heavy low kicks that were starting to slow Lytle, but “Lights Out” was still landing his punches and after a close 2nd round that could have gone either way may have just needed to survive. However, the doctor stopped the fight between rounds due to a cut over Lytle’s eye that put a damper on what was the only good fight of the ’Validation’ card.

39- Randy Couture knockout (8:17) Vitor Belfort (UFC 15)
The fight that made Randy Couture famous in the UFC. Taking on the seeminly invincible Vitor Belfort, Couture showed the tactical ability, heart and determination that would take him to three Heavyweight championships and two Light Heavyweight championships in years to come. After taking Belfort down early, Couture began to rough Vitor up with his now famous dirty boxing and land heavy shots from the single collar tie. After several minutes of fast paced action, Belfort slowed allowing Couture to pin him against the fence and finish him with strikes on the ground.

38- Matt Hughes knockout (2nd) Carlos Newton (UFC 34)
One of the most controversial endings in UFC history. Did Hughes slam Newton intentionally or did he fall because Newton choked him unconscious? For those of you who haven’t seen it, in the 2nd round Newton secured a triangle choke and Hughes’ defence was to stand. At some point Hughes, whether intentionally or not, slammed Newton on his head and knocked him out. The controversy came when Hughes was unaware of how the fight ended, making people wonder whether or not he consciously slammed Newton. Up until the ending the fight was great, with Hughes power against Newtons ground skills in what was a back and forth fight.

37- Kendall Grove unanimous decision Ed Herman (TUF 3 Finale)
One of the many great finishes to a season of TUF. The season three Middleweight final between Team Ortiz fighter Kendall Grove and Team Shamrock fighter Ed Herman was a war. Herman dominated the first from on top, landing hard shots to Grove who was game in looking for submissions. Herman again got on top in the 2nd, but spent much of the round fighting a deep, deep triangle attempt from the lanky 6’6 Hawaiian. He finally escaped, but was now on the bottom and at the end of the 2nd round it was all up for grabs. Herman scored a takedown to start the 3rd and despite being exhausted, took Groves back and began pounding away. Grove scrambled on top after an armbar attempt and took Hermans back sinking in a deep rear naked choke in the final seconds. The bell sounded with Herman nearly out and the choke was enough to swing the fight in Groves favour. Dana White awarded both men a six figure contract and I’ve been waiting to see a rematch of this fight ever since.

36- Josh Barnett knockout (2nd) Randy Couture (UFC 36)
Barnett ended Couture’s 7-0 run in the UFC with a shocking comeback win in the 2nd round of their Heavyweight title clash. After dishing out punishment upon punishment in the opening round that was surely a 10-8 for Couture, he again took ‘The Baby faced Assassin’ down and began to punish him in the 2nd round. Barnett though showed his toughness and managed to get on top and at this stage Couture was exhausted. Barnett proceeded to finish the job and become UFC heavyweight champion. The fight was controversial in that Barnett then tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the title.

35- Tim Sylvia knockout (1st) Andrei Arlovski (UFC 59)
As with the previous fight, this was another dramatic and sudden turnaround, but even more so. Arlovski appeared to be having his way with Sylvia after dropping him with a right hand, much like he did in their first fight at UFC 51 where he dropped him and then submitted him with an ankle lock. Sylvia this time rose quickly and although he was on shaky legs the fight was far from out of him. Arlovski rushed in to finish him only to eat a well timed uppercut that dropped him and Sylvia finished him off with solid ground and pound. The ending was truly breathtaking and probably as close a finish to the Corrales-Castillo fight you’re likely to see in MMA.

34- Roger Huerta unanimous decision Leonard Garcia (UFC 69)
Yeah it was a little one sided but Garcia was game as hell and made it exciting all the way. Huerta manhandled the smaller man for much of the fight, but Garcia repeatedly fought back and made for a very entertaining fight. it’s one of those fights that truly shows off the Lightweight divisions exciting battles as they kept up a pace that would drown a welterweight for the entire three rounds. The fight would have been higher had Huerta not dominated so much.

33- Randy Couture knockout (3rd) Pedro Rizzo (UFC 34)
After the razor thin decision went Coutures way in their first fight, both guys were out to make it clear cut in the rematch. Couture’s improved stand-up in the rematch was the difference and he stood up with Rizzo, landing leg kicks to the leg kick master. The two mostly kick boxed for the first two rounds and Couture appeared to get the better of it. In the third round sensing that Rizzo was tired, Couture took it to the mat and finished it quickly with a barrage of strikes.

32- Georges St Pierre split decision BJ Penn (UFC 58)
The first fight between these two pound for pound combatants wasn’t as controversial as the 2nd (well if you ask me it was because the rematch wasn’t controversial at all) but it was a better fight. Penn, the undefeated UFC Welterweight champion who left the organisation was making his comeback to the UFC and was pitted against the fast rising St Pierre who’s only loss was against Matt Hughes for the title. Penn lit GSP up in the opening round with his hands, landing repeatedly with sharp punches that cut GSP up and made his face look like a crimson mask. GSP showed his championship heart and came back, using his superior strength and conditioning to outwork Penn in a hard fought round two before dominating him on top in the 3rd round to take a split decision.

31- Evan Tanner knockout (1st) Phil Baroni (UFC 45)
This fight is again among the more controversial endings in UFC history. Well actually, Larry Landless just royally fucked up as a referee in this fight, but credit must go to Tanner for coming back from such adversity. Baroni rocked Tanner big time in the opening seconds, dropping him and landing a barrage of hard right hands that bloodied and dazed Tanner. Landless called time off and checked the cut on Tanner, and he had roughly a minute’s respite from the onslaught. When they resumed, Tanner got the clinch and landed repeated knees to Baroni’s body and Baroni was now the one who seemed to be fading. Tanner got a takedown, moved to mount and began to unleash repeated elbows to Baroni’s face. Baroni was sort of defending himself and with a minute remaining in the round it was hard to see how he would have survived, but Landless thought Baroni verbally submitted and stopped the fight. Baroni threw several strikes at Landless as a result and had to be restrained. The two had a rematch at UFC 48 with Tanner winning clearly on points.

See also:

Part 1 (41-50)

Couture vs Nogueira on Aug 29 at UFC 102

The UFC has officially announced it’s main card for the August UFC 102 card in Portland, Oregon and the main event will indeed feature the ‘losers’ bracket of the mini heavyweight tournament with former three time UFC Heavyweight champion Randy Couture set to face former PRIDE Heavyweight champion and former UFC interim Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The fight is one for MMA’s long time fans as both Nogueira and Couture held the PRIDE and UFC titles at the same time back in 2001/2002 before Couture was beaten by Barnett and Nogueira lost his title to Fedor. The fight could give us the next challenger for the division, but then again with contenders like Velasquez and Carwin emerging it may not. Also, with the chances of Lesnar beating Mir we could get the rubber match before we see anyone else challenge for the title.

The co main event is a shocker to me. I thought with the lack of names at 185lbs that the Demian Maia vs Nate Marquadt fight was a certain for co-main event but it was beaten out by Thiago Silva vs Keith Jardine. Really, what does that fight do for the 205lb division? Maia vs Marquadt gives us the next top contender in the division and if Maia wins it as easy as he’s won some of his other fights then all of a sudden there’s a serious threat to Anderson Silva but not a marketable one. If Maia is featured on a countdown show in length, then if he gets the chance to fight for the title his fight is that much easier to market. Regurgitating Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva when they should take their rightful place lower on the card makes little sense.

The Full main card:

Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva
Demian Maia vs Nate Marquadt
Matt Hamill vs Brandon Vera
Chris Leben vs Jake Rosholt

UFC Hall of Fame to increase by two at UFC 100

As part of the celebration of UFC 100, two more fighters will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during the lead-up week of the historic card. The two men joining Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman has started some debate among MMA fans. The two leading candidates in my opinion are:

Chuck Liddell
Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell was the poster boy for the UFC during the time the sport became mainstream. His trilogy with Randy Couture is the legendary trilogy in MMA history and his grudge fights with Tito Ortiz (well more so the lead up to those fights) gave the sport the exposure it needed at the time. Liddell won the championship with a 1st round knockout over Randy Couture before defending the belt four times against Couture, Ortiz, Renato Sobral and Jeremy Horn. Since losing the belt to Rampage Jackson at UFC 71, Liddell has lost three of his last four bouts with his only win coming in an exciting slugfest with Wanderlei Silva. Whether or not he makes the Hall of Fame now, he’ll definately make it at some stage. Liddell’s induction could rely on him announcing his retirement from the sport, although every member of the hall of fame has had a fight in the UFC following their induction (apart from Dan Severn) so who knows?

Matt Hughes
The longest reigning champion in UFC history, Matt Hughes had two monster runs as UFC Welterweight Champion. Originally avenging the loss of his trainer Pat Miletich with a controversial knockout of Carlos Newton at UFC 34, Hughes defended the belt five times against Newton, Hayato Sakurai, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg and Gil Castillo before losing his title to BJ Penn at UFC 45. Hughes won the belt back at UFC 50 with a 1st round submission over Georges St Pierre starting another domination of the division. This time defences against Frank Trigg, Joe Riggs (who didn’t make weight thus robbing Hughes of an official defence) and BJ Penn as well as a victory in a catchweight bout with Royce Gracie came before he dropped his title to Georges St Pierre. I think Hughes induction could be based on the result of his fight with Matt Serra, or more whether or not that is his last fight.

There are a few other possibilities, although I really think it’ll be the two mentioned above. I’d like to see John McCarthy in the hall of fame as he has been a huge part of the UFC until he retired from referreeing (although he came back this year). Evan Tanner could be inducted as could Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis as they have a huge sympathy vote with their tragic deaths in the last 12 months. An old school fighter like Don Frye could also end up taking up a spot although I think it’s doubtful. I really will be very surprised if it’s anyone but Liddell and Hughes.

UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir II announced

Over the last few days the UFC has officially announced the UFC 100 card that’s had everyone talking and it’s as good as people are expecting. While there’s one or two fights that are yet to be confirmed, every fight on the main card has major implications for the division that it’s in and some of the preliminaries would easily be main card fights on a different card. The main two fights on the card see probably the two most anticipated championship fights of the year in the UFC. The card, ‘UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir 2′ takes place July 11th in Las Vegas.

Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will make the first defence of the title he took from Randy Couture last November against UFC interim champion Frank Mir. The fight is a rematch of Lesnar’s UFC debut at UFC 81 last year in which Lesnar started fast and landed some hard shots to Mir’s face on the ground before being caught in a kneebar from the former UFC champion. Mir was then locked in to fight interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira while Randy Couture was fighting the UFC in court with the two coaching on the 8th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Then with Couture’s comeback and the two coaches already set to do battle, Lesnar off the back of his domination over Heath Herring got first crack at Couture and took the title. Mir then dramatically became the first man to finish Nogueira with a 2nd round knockout leading to the mega fight. (There is that man from Russia named Fedor Emelianenko who would probably beat both guys on the same night, but I won’t mention him as this is a UFC post and it wouldn’t be appropriate now would it?)

The co main event is arguably the most anticipated fight of the year now that St Pierre vs Penn is out of the way. Thiago Alves last year ran through Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck to make himself the clearest contender for St Pierre’s title that he won back from Matt Serra last April. St Pierre has defended the championship twice now with a decision win over Jon Fitch and a 4th round TKO of BJ Penn. It’s always interesting when you get a contender who has proven himself to be head and shoulders above the rest of the division up against an outstanding champion. You’ve had fights like Hughes-Trigg II, Hughes-St Pierre II, Couture vs Liddell (any fight) and if you want to talk PRIDE there’s Nogueira vs Fedor, Fedor vs Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva vs Rampage II. In all of those fights the contender for the belt had dominated all of the other contenders in the past to make themselves the clearest possible challenger for the title and all of those fights were memorable.

Also on the main card you have TUF 9 coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson doing battle for what will probably be a shot at UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Then there’s another Middleweight matchup between two of the top contenders in the division with new signing Yoshihiro Akiyama who has wins over the likes of Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef taking on Alan Belcher. The main card is likely to be filled out with the Paulo Thiago-Jon Fitch Welterweight scrap but there’s also UFC Hall of Famer Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman (I’m sorry, everytime I go to write his name I think of the way Mauro Rinallo used to always announce him as ‘Mark The Hammer Coleman’ and it just ends up typing itself) fighting Stephan Bonnar and Jim Miller vs Mac Danzig that could take the last spot on the main card. Check the MMA schedule link at the top of the page for the full card.

2008 Angry Fight Fan MMA Awards

These are also late, but even more then boxing these had to be left until the new year so all the events could be done and everything taken into consideration. As it turns out, a few of the last few events of the year won some awards.

Fight of the Year- Eddie Alvarez TKO 1 (7:35) Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM.5)
This fight took place in the semi finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix and a cut suffered by Alvarez in winning this fight left him unable to continue in the tournament marking the way for alternate Joachim Hansen, the man Alvarez beat in the Quarter Finals, to fight in and win the Final against Shinya Aoki. Both fighters traded heavy shots on their feet throughout the fight and both fighters were knocked down. Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with a left hook-right cross about three minutes in but he used good survival skills to get himself out of trouble. After the doctors ruled Alvarez’s cut was okay to continue, Kawajiri dropped him heavily with a right hand and then passed his guard and mounted him. Alvarez escaped the mount and got back to his feet where both guys traded heavy shots and hurt each other more then once. Alvarez then pinned Kawajiri against the ropes and dropped him again, took his back and finished him with heavy strikes to the head. I picked this fight over some of the other ones on the list because it was fast paced for the full distance of the fight unlike some of the other candidates this year and because the whole way through the fight you had no idea who was going to win. If you haven’t seen the fight, here it is:

Honourable Mentions- Miguel Torres TKO3 Yoshiro Maeda (WEC 34), Forrest Griffin UD5 Rampage Jackson (UFC 86), Eddie Alvarez UD (15 mins) Joachim Hansen (DREAM.3).

Fighter of the Year- Gegard Mousasi
This might come as a strange pick to some people, but the big factor in this pick was that he went 6-0 this year (plus his victory under K-1 rules against MUSASHI) and four of those wins were against decent opposition in winning the DREAM Middleweight Tournament. After winning two fights early in the year (one over PRIDE veteran Evangelista Cyborg), Mousasi entered the Grand Prix as one of the dark horses. Matched up against PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up Denis Kang in the first round of the tournament, Mousasi’s triangle choke victory came as a big upset to most people. A workman-like decision win over Dong Sik Yoon in the Quarter Finals earned him his spot in the Final Event where he had to face Melvin Manhoef in the Semi Finals, and then fight again on the same night to win the title. Most were expecting a Manhoef-Ronaldo Jacare final, but Mousasi had other ideas, scoring a victory again via triangle choke in 88 seconds over the feared striker. Facing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Jacare in the Final, Mousasi ended up on his back early, but at the 2:15 mark of the first round a dramatic upkick followed up by punches with Jacare in his guard left his Brazilian opponent unconscious and made Gegard Mousasi the new DREAM Middleweight Champion. Some of the other fighters (particularily in the UFC) scored bigger wins this year, but all of them fought only twice this year and you can question the level of some of their wins. While some of Mousasi’s opponents certainly wouldn’t make it in the UFC, going 6-0 against that sort of competition is very impressive stuff. I definately don’t think he’d beat Anderson Silva or anything like that so save your time from writing some idiotic comment saying Silva would crush him or whatever because that’s not what this is about. It’s about which fighter accomplished the most in the calendar year and it was in my opinion Gegard Mousasi.
Honourable Mentions- Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre.

Knockout of the Year- Rampage Jackson KO1 (left hook) Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92)
This knockout just edged out Rashad Evans knocking out Chuck Liddell. I almost made it a tie, but then I measured my closet and realised I wasn’t big enough to fit into it so I could come out of it after making it a tie and acted like a man and made the pick. I think the deciding factor was the importance of the knockout for Rampage in this fight after avenging two brutal KO losses to Silva from their PRIDE days with an equally if not more devastating KO win himself. I would put a clip of the KO up, but ZUFFA are pricks about this sort of thing and don’t allow any of their fights to be on youtube so I’ll have to describe it. Wanderlei attacked Rampage while he was near the fence and threw a left hook-right hook combo. Rampage countered the left hook with a tighter one of his own and caught Wanderlei square on the jaw with his own hook putting him out cold right away while he was in the middle of throwing his own shot. Rampage then followed it up with two or three shots while Wanderlei was out. Both Rampage and Rashad will likely fight for the belt later this year and hopefully we’ll see another KO of the year candidate (and hopefully it’s Rashad who is on the receiving end).
Honourable Mentions- Rashad Evans KO2 (overhand right) Chuck Liddell (UFC 88), Wanderlei Silva KO1 (rape choke + right hands from mount) Keith Jardine (UFC 84), Anthony Johnson KO3 (left high kick) Kevin Burns (TUF8 Finale).

Submission of the Year- Shinya Aoki Sub1 (5:12)(Aokiplata/Gogoplata from mount) Katsuhiko Nagata (DREAM.4)
I watched this about 50 times in a row after I saw it. It was so cool it has to be given it’s own name and I will from now on refer to this as the Aokiplata no matter how much my friend who has done Jiu Jitsu longer then me tells me that the gogoplata was originally done from the mount before the guard and that the one he did on Hansen should therefore be the Aokiplata because I think he’s wrong. Anyway, unlike KO of the year, I have a clip, so I’ll shut up and you can enjoy:

Honourable Mentions- Dustin Hazelett Sub2 (Flying Armbar from Whizzer) Josh Burkman (TUF7 Finale), Dustin Hazelett Sub1 (Cutting Armbar against his own leg) Tamdan McCrory, Demian Maia Sub2 (Triangle Choke from Mount + Punches) Ed Herman (UFC 83).

Event of the Year- UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 (December 27th)

The UFC stacked their last show and it proved to be the best event of the year. On the card we had two title fights between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir for the UFC interim Heavyweight title and Rashad Evans challenging Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in the main event. Also on the card was a fight featuring one of the best grudges in MMA between Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva; one that has been around for more then five years since before their first bout at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Thw two other fights that filled up the main card saw an excellent knockout by Cheick Kongo over Mustafa Al Turk as well as a great Middleweight battle between CB Dollaway and Mike Massenzio. The UFC put six of it’s top starts against each other in fights that had plenty of impact on their respective divisions as well as plenty of impact in future fights that can be made. This card had great matchups that turned into great fights, upsets plus some great finishes and you really can’t ask for anything more (other then the odd submission).
Honourable Mentions- Affliction: Banned, UFC 81: Breaking Point, UFC 84: Ill Will.

Performance of the Year- Fedor Emelianenko Sub1 (36 seconds) Tim Sylvia (Affliction: Banned)
There was a lot of hype around Fedor’s return to US soil and him fighting his (apparent) first ‘real’ opponent in former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Plenty of people thought that Fedor was all hype and no skill and the new promotion he represented, Affliction, depended on him to prove them wrong in order to succeed. That he did. After a brief feeling out process off about 10 seconds, Fedor dropped Sylvia with a series of big punches, battered him on the ground with even heavier punches, took his back and made him tap with a rear naked choke. It was easily the most you could dominate someone in just 36 seconds. Anyone who wasn’t impressed by Fedor in this fight is an idiot and I really don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Fact of the matter is he’s the best Heavyweight in the World until someone beats him. Guess what, I found a clip of it as well:

Honourable Mentions- Anderson Silva Sub2 Dan Henderson (UFC 81), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92), Georges St Pierre TKO2 Matt Serra (UFC 83).

Upset of the Year- Mike Brown TKO1 Urijah Faber (WEC 36)
Faber was easily the top Featherweight in the World and was considered miles ahead of anyone else. He was a top pound for pound fighter as well and no one expected him to lose anytime soon. Mike Brown was a former UFC competitor (he had one fight and got tapped out by Genki Sudo) who had only lost to top fighters and usually fought at Lightweight. While a respectable fighter no one really thought he standed much of a chance with Faber. Two minutes 23 seconds later he had caught Faber with a big right hand as Faber attempted a spinning elbow and rained down punches until the referee pulled him off. I didn’t even bother watching this fight until I saw the result (plus I would have had a hard time finding it online because they broadcast fuckall down under in terms of MMA) because I thought this would be business as usual for Faber. None of the other upsets this year come close to that one.

Honourable Mentions- Junior dos Santos KO1 Fabricio Werdum (UFC 90), Rashad Evans KO2 (UFC 88), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92).

Before I get onto some of the lesser more comical awards, I’m going to explain my lack of a round of the year award. I prefer the Japanese 1 10 min/1-2 5 min rounds because I think MMA is a sport that doesn’t need rounds. It’s a proper fight and while I don’t care about having rounds as much as I care about say stand-ups and while I understand that they allow more fights to get sanctioned and make some fights more exciting, I still prefer the fighters to go for as long as they can for a round or two then a couple of shorter rounds at the end so I will not include a round of the year. If I did have one I’d give it to Alvarez-Kawajiri because it ended in the first round even though that round was 10 minutes long.

Now, seeing how MMA isn’t as old as boxing, these are all going to be completely new and made up awards named after whoever wins them as I go remembering some of the funnier moments of the year.

Shonie Carter Award for Best Referee Stoppage/- Shonie Carter (Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker)
Bryan/Parker Award for Double KO of the Year- Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker
And here it is:

Just a prior warning, the next few awards go to EliteXC for their ‘Heat’ show, so make sure you have a bucket handy.

Shamrock/Kimbo Award for Most Entertaining Weigh-in of the Year- EliteXC: Heat
This weigh-in had two big feuds that almost flared up as well as some nudity from someone not quite as ugly as Kimbo Slice. Undercard attraction and probably the most well known female MMA fighter Gina Carano failed to make weight for like the 4th time in her MMA career but instead of letting it go like what has happened in the past, EliteXC officials made her strip all the way to see if the limited clothing she was wearing accounted for extra weight that she was over. Somehow it did. About four towels covered Carano (and from what I read on a few message boards the wet dreams of many fight fans) that were being held up by her handlers and a very embarrassed Carano made the contracted weight for her fight with Kelly Kobald. After the Arlovski-Nelson weigh in went off without any problems, EliteEX Welterweight Championship competitors Paul Daley and Jake Shields had to be seperated after Shields blew Daley a kiss during the staredown. The main event for this fight was between UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock and Youtube star Kimbo Slice (well at that stage it was) and going with his usual style, Shamrock decided to start some shit before the fight. While posing for the media in attention, Shamrock for absolutely no logical reason (Shamrock thinking he’s been disrespected isn’t a logical reason) pushed Slice in the back and caused the second near brawl of the weigh-in. This one took a lot longer to calm down though as both fighters had bigger entourages then Daley and Shields. Unfortunately, the actual card was no where near as entertaining as the weigh-in.

Jared Shaw Award for Worst Matchmaking of the Year- Kimbo Slice vs Seth Petruzelli (EliteXC: Heat)
Kimbo Slice Award for Most Pathetic Knockout of the Year- Seth Petruzelli KO1 (14 seconds) Kimbo Slice (EliteXC: Heat)
Ken Shamrock somehow got himself cut warming-up for the fight and EliteXC needed someone to step in and fight Kimbo Slice in their main event. After an offer from commentator Frank Shamrock was turned down because Shamrock, despite being 50lbs lighter then Kimbo, has some serious skills and would likely have beaten Kimbo anywhere the fight went and EliteXC couldn’t risk their main drawcard getting beaten by a Middleweight. Instead Jared Shaw came up with former TUF2 competitor Seth Petruzelli who was fighting in a Light Heavyweight bout on the preliminary card. Petruzelli was an unorthodox but fairly handy striker who also had some wrestling ability and Shaw tried to make sure it was his striking skills that he would be using against their apparent ‘top 10 Heavyweight boxer in the World’ by asking that Petruzelli stand with Kimbo. What Shaw didn’t know is that there is a difference in levels of striking between your good street fighters and your trained fighters. It took only 14 seconds for him to be wishing that he picked Frank Shamrock. Kimbo rushed across the cage in his usual fashion and backed Petruzelli against the fence. Petruzelli flicked out a jab while off balance and to his and everyone else’s surprised it dropped Kimbo onto all fours. Petruzelli pounced and landed several shots while on Kimbos back, then rolled him over and landed a barrage from, side control that forced the referee to stop the fight at just 0:14 of the first round.

Bob Sapp Award for Biggest Mismatch of the Year- Jan Nortje vs Bob Sapp (Strikeforce: At the Dome)
Some people might be surprised that I picked this fight over the Kinniku Mantaro fight against Sapp at the end of the year. Well the answer is obvious, that fight was competitive, this fight wasn’t. Jan Nortje was receiving a lot of hype for his 1-5 record that earned him a spot in the Strikeforce main event. They brought in monster of a man Bob Sapp to fight him because that wanted to see what happens when Nortje picks on someone his own size. The fight ended quickly after Nortje landed several hard blows that forced Sapp to run away, then chased him down and finished the job 55 seconds into the first round. It truly was a mismatch and the matchmakers at Strikeforce deserve an enquiry much more then EliteXC officials for bringing in someone as poor as Bob Sapp to fight a stud like Jan Nortje.

YAMMA Award for Worst MMA Show of the Year (maybe ever)- YAMMA Pit Fighting
Seriously this was just horrendous. The creators of the UFC tried to bring back eight man-one night tournaments and make MMA ‘more exciting.’ The tournaments were impossible to do like they used to be done, so they had to compromise. Because fighters could only fight five rounds a night, the first and second rounds of the tournament would be one round of fighting each with the Final fight being three rounds. YAMMA also had a ‘revolutionary’ new fighting surface in which the area of the mat around the edge of the fence would go up on an angle so that the wrestlers couldn’t just pin you up against the cage and drop elbows on your head. Basically YAMMA wanted their organisation to be striker friendly. Instead, the wrestlers backed their opponents onto the ‘ramp’ then took them down with ease because they were off balance and because the fights were only one five minute round, the fight was over right there and then. The tournament consisted of every match being won by lay and prey (including the three round final). The only slightly entertaining part of this event was the super fights between Butterbean and Patrick Smith (mainly because Butterbean got royally fucked up) and Oleg Taktarov vs the man who ate Mark Kerr (Taktarov won by kneebar about one minute in). The event was bad from the fights to the Ring Announcer, who was so bad I’ve named an Award after him.

Scott Ferrall Award for Worst Ring Announcer of the Year- Scott Ferrall (YAMMA Pit Fighting)
Scott Ferrall was funny but I wasn’t laughing with him. The guy was way too weird to be allowed to have his thoughts expressed on a microphone. He first announced referee Dan Miragliotta as “Big Dan Miragliotta STOMP YOU OUT!” and then “Big Dan the Man, How can I be the man if you’re the man, Dan Miragliotta (to which Dan shook his head in disgust).  Pulled off a terribly lame call in “Travis ‘The Diesel’ Gimme a room with a Wiuff.” One fighter he said “hadn’t eaten in a week because he’s going to the electric chair.” Referred to the YAMMA Championship belt as ‘the strap-on’ and probably the weirdest call he made was “Kevin Mulhall will be the referee for this beautiful matchup of warriors and freaks ready to pound and dance…”

Gone but not Forgotten
It’s sad that I have to do one of these for MMA. Boxing has been around for over 100 years and past champions are going to pass away each year and I feel it’s important to remember them. MMA on the other hand has been around for just 15 years and this year my favourite fighter, Evan Tanner, passed away way earlier then he should have.

Evan Tanner- Former UFC Middleweight Champion. Challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 30 but lost. Defeated Dave Terrell for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 51 and won with strikes in the first round. Lost the title to Rich Franklin on a doctors stoppage in his first defence at UFC 53. None of this was why I liked Evan Tanner. He kept a blog on his website which I read for over a year about everything that went on in his life, including all his adventures and even his battle with alcohol which he beat in order to return to the UFC this year. I admired not so much the way the man led his life but the way he was completely honest with himself about who he was and who he wasn’t. He died in September of this year from heat exposure after his motorbike broke down in the desert and he ran out of water. He was 37.

Evan Tanner (1971-2008)