Random MMA-Boxing news

[Guest Frank Botch]

Because I can't be bothered trying to find the other thread. To start from Sherdog:

 

Randy Couture and Mark Coleman have verbally agreed to a light heavyweight headlining bout at UFC 109 on Feb. 6 in Las Vegas, Sherdog.com has learned through sources close to the bout.

 

If signed, the bout will mark the first time UFC hall of famers have met in the Octagon. Both former heavyweight champions, Couture was originally slated to face Coleman at UFC 17 in May 1998 in Mobile, Ala., before the four-time Olympic alternate hurt his ribs prepping for that year’s Greco-Roman wrestling Nationals.

 

Instead, Coleman fought Pete Williams, a then unknown Lion’s Den protégé, and was knocked out with a head kick just past the 12-minute mark. The accomplished wrestlers’ paths did not cross again.

 

Couture, 46, out-clinched muay Thai striker Brandon Vera to a unanimous decision last Saturday at UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Couture is the only fighter to have held titles in both the UFC’s light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006. He is also a two-time Div. I National Championships team member and a two-time NCAA Div. I runner-up for Oklahoma State University.

 

Coleman, 44, breathed new life into his 13-year career with a unanimous decision victory over 32-year-old “The Ultimate Fighter” finalist Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 last July in Las Vegas. He was slated to face former 205-pound champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, but withdrew with a slightly torn MCL in early October.

 

Coleman, who was inducted by the UFC in 2008, was Pride Fighting Championships’ first grand prix tournament champion in 2000 and placed seventh in freestyle wrestling at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Coleman was an NCAA Div. I champion his senior year at Ohio State University.

 

The legendary pair wrestled one another in a freestyle match at the 1989 Olympic Festival at Oklahoma State. Coleman won the match by one point

Horrible.

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

pretty much. I just can't get into Coleman at all at this point, no matter who he's fighting, I just don't care and I kinda feel for the guys he's facing as they're in a no win situation. IF they win, most people moan that they didn't win easily enough, and if they lose then that's just diabolical.

 

I had a lot of love for Coleman back in the day but the sport's outgrown him and he's not exactly Randy Couture at 44. That said, at this point in time neither's Randy Couture.

 

I guess on the positive side I'd rather see them fighting each other than somebody else, there's something to be said for just shoving these legends in there with each other rather than with the new stars. The biggest problem I have with it though is that often with guys who aren't at hte very top of the game in terms of ability you can still get an entertaining fight as there's a lot of holes there to exploit. looking at the styles of these two I don't see that at all and just see a real borefest and it's not an exciting prospect for a show main event.

 

I don't really understand how Coleman even gets a main event at this point whether it's against Randy or not. I guess they just wanna keep putting Randy in there with guys he can beat and hope to milk some more out of him as quickly as they possibly can before a better, younger, fighter finishes him for good

[Guest Dusty Finish]

Seconded, thirded, ninehunderedandtwelth on the lack of love for this one. No-one loves "The Natural" more than I, but this is potentially the most tedious fight since Cheick Kongo - Carmello Marrero.

 

They clearly want to do Randy vs Machida or Shogun next year.

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

I'd have been much more interested in Randy/Tito II than this, and with Tito/Forrest this weekend it would have been right there for them to make. I thnik it'd do bigger numbers too, whether Tito wins or loses.

 

if he wins, great, both won their last fight in big show main events, hook it up but even if tito gets beat at the weekend i still think that fight's right there.

 

tito and randy right now are the kinda guys i'd rather see fight each other than anyone else really. i just don't see their relevance (unless tito's healing up has turned him into an even better fighter than he was back in the day) in terms of runs at the title anymore so why not just have them fight each other.

 

i know the same could apply to coleman/randy, but, the history's different with randy/tito and it's a better fight too.

[Guest JC]

Yeah..about the only thing exciting left with Coleman is..himself. Or rather his knack for making a tit out of himself.

[Guest Frank Botch]

Wanderlei Silva’s next fight will be with Michael Bisping, a well-placed Las Vegas source has told Fighters Only. The fight may headline the UFC’s first event in Australia, which takes place in February 2010.

 

Verbal agreements for the clash have been given, although Fighters Only understands that bout agreements are not yet drawn up. The fight will not be official until these are signed and returned by both men.

 

Bisping is coming off a win over Denis Kang at UFC 105 while Silva is coming off a decision loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 99. That fight took place at a catch weight of 195lbs and while Bisping operates at middleweight now, he too is a former light-heavyweight, making a catch weight meeting a possibility.

 

Silva and Bisping were due to fight at UFC 105 but the Brazilian legend had surgery on his face to remove scar tissue that had built up around his eyes. He was unable to make the November 14th date with Bisping and Denis Kang was drafted in instead.

 

But once UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has decided he wants to see a fight, it usually takes place, even if it has to be postponed due to injury or suspension. A future meeting between Bisping and Silva was thus always on the cards once Silva became unavailable for UFC 105.

 

Silva had been rumoured to be facing Yoshihiro Akiyama at the UFC Australia event, but UFC president Dana White commented offhand after UFC 106 that the fight was most likely off. Today’s news explains that remark.

 

Interesting fight.

[Fidel Cashflow 130]

Bisping will be knocked out in the third round.

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

I doubt it.

 

I think Wanderlei either finishes him in the first round after coming out swinging like a maniac. Or Bisping grinds it out from there.

 

Wanderlei's a comedy attraction these days and just seems to want to throw with wreckless abandon in the hope he catches his opponent before they catch him. it's not just that he's not the same fighter physically as he used to be, he just seems to have tried to compensate by getting more wild and forgetting abotu technique.

 

fight doesn't really interest me that much. neither did akiyama/silva either though and i'm probably more interested in seeing bisping in the fight after his performance against kang.

Edited November 25, 2009 by ShaneMcCutcheon

[Guest JC]

Seen this on Sherdog..

 

[YOUTUBE]250WJbz3LJs[/YOUTUBE]

 

The Dana White exaggeration of the week is that Brock Lesnar has been only 60% for the past year :lol

 

What you didn't hear in the interview is that technically TEN Fedors couldn't beat Brock Lesnar.

Edited November 25, 2009 by JC

[The Fury 65]

these guys predictions on ultimate fighter finale.

 

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name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="

type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

[Paul 584]

Credit: http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Cristiane...r-Playboy-21602

 

Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Could Pose for Playboy

 

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

by Marcelo Alonso (malonso@sherdog.com)

 

Since stopping Gina Carano in August, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos has been moving to the forefront of women’s MMA. In addition to winning a title belt and plenty of praise, she has received coverage in various MMA and fitness magazines. One offer from outside the industry caught her by surprise, though: an invitation to pose for Playboy.

 

“Actually we are still talking, and I’m thinking about that possibility,” she said. “After all, only one man saw me naked in my entire life and I have to think deeply about that.”

 

Cyborg returns to MMA on Jan. 30 in Sunrise, Fla., where she’ll defend her Strikeforce women’s title against Marloes Coenen.

 

“I’m pretty much focused on the training,” she said. “I’ve trained so hard to get this belt, I’ll do anything to keep it with me.”

 

Cyborg would not compare Coenen to Gina Carano, whom she defeated to win the title.

 

“I don’t like to compare fights,” she said. “I believe that each fight is a different story. I’m training really hard and getting prepared to give another show to my fans and represent the Chute Boxe name well, always keeping my main focus on the knockout.”

 

Oh dear God! Still, shes better than Chyna.

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

saw this the other day. I've never really seen an issue of playboy and don't see the attraction when porn's so freely and widely available anyway. I think she's a pretty repulsive looking woman to be honest and I've got no interest in seeing her naked. her body's fine but her face is ugly. wouldn't surprise me if she did it, she won't be earning huge money from MMA and will need to give serious thought to any extra sources of income

[The Fury 65]

im sorry but this is just f*****g lethal!

 

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avCsi0uzJW8&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avCsi0uzJW8&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

[Guest Stevengee]

I love Randy, and Coleman was great...but these guys need to give up now...last few Randy fights ive seen I have just spent the entire time praying to god he didnt get injured...

 

Playboy....?? Nice!

Edited January 7, 2010 by Paul

[Guest Frank Botch]

Edgar's next up to be destroyed by BJ.

 

The contest for who gets the next shot at B.J. Penn became crystal clear on Tuesday. Frankie "The Answer" Edgar, not Gray Maynard, will get the next shot at the UFC lightweight belt, presumably at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi on April 10.

 

UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com today. Independent sources have indicated to MMAWeekly.com that Edgar has been offered the shot at the lightweight strap, and both he and Penn have agreed to the bout.

 

Rumors circulated as early as last week that regardless of the outcome of the fight between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz that it would be Edgar getting the shot.

 

Edgar is currently riding a three-fight win streak, including victories over former champion Sean Sherk and top contender Hermes Franca. The New Jersey native is 11-1 overall with his only loss coming at the hands of Gray Maynard in April 2008.

 

In his most recent fight, Edgar dispatched of Matt Hughes' student, Matt Veach, with a rear naked choke in the second round of their fight at “The Ultimate Fighter" season 10 finale show. That seemed enough for the UFC to give the title shot to Edgar, who has steadily made his way up the Top 10 in the last year.

 

After his win, Edgar spoke to MMAWeekly Radio about the possibility of getting a title shot in his next fight. He said he was okay letting it be known that he wanted to fight Penn, and that was his ultimate goal.

 

"Would I rather fight for the title next? Yeah, the title's the most important thing to me," Edgar said. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil, so you've got to move your mouth a little to get what you want, just to let them know you're hungry for it."

 

Penn announced his possible involvement with the show in Abu Dhabi last week, which brought about the questions if it would be Edgar or Maynard who would get the fight. At this point, no bout agreements have been issued, but at least everyone now knows "The Answer."

 

Frankie Edgar is getting the title shot.

 

MMAweekly

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

Sherdog's fight of the year, Cerrone Vs Henderson from WEC 43

It was 30 seconds into the bout, and the choke looked tight.

 

Donald Cerrone squeezed the power guillotine, a modified technique resembling an upside-down rear-naked choke. In his first title fight, Benson Henderson had rushed in a bit prematurely. He appeared to be struggling to escape. There was gargling. But the fight wasn’t over.

 

“I was like, ‘Oh crap, that’s kind of tight. I have to defend now and get out of this,’” Henderson said of Cerrone’s first-round submission attempt. “The key is to turn your head in the right direction. You want to turn your chin where his arms are locking, are crossing. Turn your head, your chin towards the lock.”

 

As Henderson’s resilience developed into the theme of the fight, he broke free from a similar choke in the fourth round that had commentator Frank Mir convinced the end was near. Then in the fifth, Cerrone wrenched Henderson in a vicious omaplata/kimura hybrid, bending Henderson’s shoulder at such an angle it was almost difficult for the eye to accept.

 

“I wanted to have the fight like Rocky where I’m getting beat up and I come back,” Henderson said of the Oct. 10 tilt. “You have to be careful what you ask for. I got all that I asked for and a little more.”

 

The five-round interim lightweight title fight, the main event of WEC 43 in San Antonio, Texas, was an exemplary blend of technical subtlety, dramatic recovery and spirited pace. For those reasons and more, the fight is Sherdog’s Fight of the Year for 2009.

 

Despite being on the receiving end of offense in the fight’s most dramatic moments, Henderson won a unanimous judges’ nod, 48-47 across the board. That contrasted with Sherdog judges who gave rounds one, four and five to Cerrone. The verdict touched off hearty debate about the nature of mixed martial arts judging and what type of offense and position sways scorers, a maddeningly recurrent theme in 2009.

 

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

 

Sherdog.com's fight of the

year was an exciting affair.

If he too was surprised by the decision, Henderson did not get a chance to show it. “Smooth” had been so drained by a badly executed weight cut that he simply stopped perspiring halfway through the fight, glistening with sweat in the early rounds but dry as a bone by the final bell.

 

“As soon as the cameras got cut off and I left the cage, I collapsed,” Henderson recalled. “They had to carry me backstage. I literally couldn’t walk anymore.”

 

As Henderson received six bags of intravenous fluids, Cerrone took stock of the scrap in his hotel room with his girlfriend. He was due at an after-party, but wasn’t up for making the trek. He wasn’t down in the dumps -- a low-spirited Donald Cerrone is a comatose Donald Cerrone -- but had a feeling he’d, once again, not turned it up when the opportunity to win a fight presented itself.

 

Cerrone said his biggest fear in a fight is expending too much energy early, and then, exhausted, being a sitting duck for thorough punishment. He knew he had plenty of conditioning. But he had to remind himself of that instead of subconsciously trusting in it, which disrupted his in-ring flow.

 

Cerrone said the issue was illustrated in moments during the fight where Henderson stood crouched in his guard, out of submission range, and dropped punches at will, shots that looked to be a deciding factor for judges.

 

“I thought he was going to try to pass my guard and control position. … I didn’t think he was going to stand there,” Cerrone said of Henderson. “He was content with just staying there and, I guess you could say, just punching me in the mouth, you know? Just laying there, man, I just didn’t have it together.”

 

The fight sparked an evolution for Cerrone. Afterward, he sought out sports psychologist Brian Cain, who worked with Georges St. Pierre in helping him bounce back from his loss to Matt Serra in 2007.

 

“It’s something I’ve been meaning to do. … I hate this, these feelings and emotions you go through,” Cerrone said. “I come out all ‘blah,’ and at about the third round I start kicking it up. I’m trying to focus that energy on the beginning of the round, not so much at the end of the fight. Starting the fight like I end the fight.”

 

Cerrone bounced back against Ed Ratcliff at WEC 45, scoring a third-round submission win in a fight where he was anything but tentative. Trainer Greg Jackson said Cerrone had turned a corner when he came charging at Ratcliff right at the opening bell.

 

“In (the Henderson) fight he would start out OK, and then he would stop in a position and just kind of hangout and watch Ben throw punches at him,” Jackson said. “I was a little concerned, if you will, that we needed to get up and get going. I gave him some tough love in between each round. You could see him have moments of greatness, and then he would stop and I would have to get him going again.”

 

To be clear, the Henderson fight was not characterized by Cerrone’s shortcomings. As Frank Mir put it, Henderson put forth a textbook example of how to fight the wily and lanky lightweight, meshing even-headed perseverance with technical know-how to stay far away enough to dodge danger but still land shots.

“

I wanted to have the

fight like Rocky where

I’m getting beat up

and I come back.

 

”

-- Henderson on the fight of the year.

 

 

“I thought I won the first, second and third round, and I thought Donald kicked the crap out of me in the fourth and fifth,” Henderson said. “I hate going to a judges’ decision. I am so upset about that. … I rely too much on my athleticism and my flexibility. I need to get to the point where I don’t allow opponents to put me in a bad position so I don’t have to rely on athleticism.”

 

Both fighters had breakthrough years in 2009, each putting on several exciting fights that went a long way toward fortifying the WEC’s lightweight division as one worth paying mind. Among the fans both fighters gained: each other.

 

Cerrone said that as Henderson escaped his chokes and locks, he almost felt like he was watching from the stands.

 

 

“Every time (Henderson escaped), I was like, ‘Hell yeah! Cool,’” Cerrone said. “I was rooting for him, if that makes any sense. I was like, ‘Hell yeah, you bad motherf----r.’ That’s what’s going through my head. Hell yeah. It was just cool. Like inspiring, man.”

 

Sherdog's submission of the Year, Toby Imada's submission of Jorge Masvidal in the Semi Finals of Bellator's Lightweight Tournament

 

This was academic. We could've had the crystal etched eight months ago.

 

May 1 was a night of tectonic importance. Upstart Bellator Fighting Championships became must-see MMA programming and a factory for viral video moments. The original script for their lightweight tournament was rewritten. Most principally, the previously little-known Toby Imada became synonymous with "inverted triangle choke" and not "journeyman."

 

Bellator's lightweight tournament was the focal point of the promotion’s debut effort in 2009. It featured their biggest star -- eventual champ Eddie Alvarez -- and the brackets foretold of a thrilling slugfest for a finale, between Alvarez and noted boatyard brawler-turned-serious prospect Jorge Masvidal. In fact, when the preliminary brackets were posted on Bellator's official Web site weeks out from their April 3 premiere, fans immediately scoffed and spewed about the fact Alvarez and Masvidal were penciled in on the same side of the bracket, potentially fighting in the semifinals.

 

"But that should be the final!" cried the discontented hardcores (this writer included). Whether by popular demand, common sense or a clairvoyant inkling that an improbable highlight reel may lie ahead, the seeding was shifted to set up an Alvarez-Masvidal finale should they win their first two tournament bouts. Toby Imada was just another name on the bracket.

 

Though Imada did handle Alonzo Martinez easily, choking him out in the first round of their lightweight quarterfinal in April, he figured to be just a tune-up for "Gamebred" when they met on the first evening in May in Dayton, Ohio. And, for about 13 minutes, he was. The swaggering Masvidal hit him with right hands and lunging knees for the vast majority of the bout and thwarted any attempts by Imada to get the fight on the floor. Imada was game but a step behind the whole bout. When he finally did put Masvidal on the floor early in round three, the Miami native scrambled back up without incident.

 

With exactly two minutes to spare until he lost a unanimous verdict, Imada initiated the sequence that would culminate in his shocking come-from-behind victory and unanimous Submission of the Year honors. However, understanding what made Imada's MMA magnum opus so gripping goes beyond the technique and mechanics behind his inverted triangle choke.

 

The Journeyman Comes 'Round

 

"I wasn't seeing any light, any future in MMA," Imada reveals of his early career outlook.

 

The 31-year-old Imada got into MMA strictly to stay active. While in college, friends brought him to see some low-rent MMA bouts in backyards and warehouses in Southern California. With a judo background and a desire to continue competing, he thought it seemed like a worthwhile hobby to stay in shape, but little more than that.

 

The weekend warrior mentality was evident in his record. When he was free to take fights, Imada took as many as possible, in rapid succession. Other times, his "real" life -- employment, and his daughter -- were more important, and he went months, and in one case, three years, without fighting. He was a textbook journeyman, with just enough skill and toughness to be a worthwhile opponent for the likes of Joe Stevenson, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Antonio McKee, Jake Shields and Hermes Franca.

 

"I just liked the competition," says Imada. “Honestly, I can't even say I was a big fan of the sport. When I fought Jake Shields, I didn't even know who Jake Shields was. I just knew people were acting afraid of him, and I thought, 'Why?'"

 

The passage of MMA regulations in California in late 2005 changed that outlook for Imada.

 

"When it got legalized in California, I thought maybe something can happen out of this. Since then, I started putting a little more attention into my training, who I was fighting and where. It started coming together since then."

 

Photo Courtesy: Bellator

 

This award was academic.

In the past, Imada worked two jobs in addition to school and was lucky to slip in three or four two-hour training sessions during the week. The jobs offered little pay and less consistency, as he bounced from retail to waiting tables to kitchen staff and back again. Now, Imada is able to train like most high-level pro fighters, with two sessions a day every day, with real training partners.

 

However, his career turnaround wasn't immediate. In early 2006, he lasted a combined 66 seconds in his role as "the opponent" for Tetsuji Kato and Hermes Franca. Seven months later, he was tapped by Joao Cunha, a BJJ competitor sporadically moonlighting as an MMA fighter. Imada's belief that he could carve out a bigger niche for himself in the MMA world was strengthened in the gym.

 

"People I knew started getting recognition, big fights. I had to bite the bullet and give it one last shot," explains Imada. "I was dominating UFC and WEC guys in the gym. People training with me knew, but I just never had a way to show it."

 

With a record just slightly over .500, big shows balked at Imada. He felt slighted, but it may have made all the difference. After the Cunha loss, Imada turned in six straight dominant stoppages and was able to earn a look from Bellator.

 

"I was dealing with a lot of frustration going into the tournament," says Imada. "I saw new guys in this sport who weren't as good as me getting shots in the UFC, WEC. With Bellator, they were interested in me. That was what mattered. I just needed a shot."

 

The Anatomy of a Highlight Reel

 

With two minutes left until defeat, Imada finished a desperate single-leg takedown on Masvidal. Masvidal was able to scramble to his knees and look for a single of his own to take the position away from Imada. This wrestling exchange set submission greatness in motion.

 

Masvidal attempted to pick Imada up to slam him but couldn't keep control of his legs. Instead, he ended up standing with Imada holding an upside-down rear waistlock on him. As Masvidal drove forward to pick Imada up, he launched his posting arm, and his head, into Imada's thighs. Though he couldn't see behind him, Imada felt the movement from Masvidal and cinched up the figure four with his legs to complete the triangle.

 

For three seconds, Masvidal seemed fine. Then, in an instant, he was hunched over, struggling to stay conscious while his pallor changed before our eyes. Imada locked over Masvidal's hip with his hands, arched and squeezed. "Gamebred" didn't tap, but he toppled over unconscious. The final image of the hold crystallized its place in the grappling annals: Masvidal's upside down body bent back like a bow-and-arrow ready to fire, his starkly purple face not even remotely matching the color of his body.

 

"That move was taught to me when I was 15, when I was still training in judo," Imada says. "It just happened that I was able to lock Jorge up with it while I was still on the feet. I've been able to finish bigger, better guys with that in the room. It wasn't anything that I thought about; it was all instinct. It's like riding a bike."

 

Despite Imada's familiarity with the technique, to say it caught Masvidal off guard would be an understatement.

 

"S--t, man … I had a grin on my face," Masvidal remembers. "I thought I was gonna get the highlight reel. I was gonna slam him.

 

"When I stood up completely, I thought, 'Man, my back's hurting.' That's when I leaned forward, but it was too late."

 

The Resonance of an Inverted Triangle

 

In a vacuum, divorced from context and ramifications, Imada's inverted triangle likely would have won Submission of the Year honors anyhow. But it is the compounding factors in the story -- the coming-out party for a journeyman, a submission upset and comeback of the year all in one -- that make it even more special.

 

“

I had to bite the bullet

and give it one last shot.

 

”

-- Imada reflecting on 2009.

 

It is better still that the submission perfectly captures 2009 as a year itself. In a year marked by the ever-growing dominance of viral content, Imada's inverted triangle choke was MMA's viral video sensation of the year. The official upload from Bellator's YouTube channel has over 600,000 views to date, but that overlooks the fact that the video spread all over the internet in .gif form and was reuploaded to a whole slate of viral video sites and portals. Though Imada went on to lose to Eddie Alvarez in the June tournament final, the tournament conclusion was a complete afterthought following his submission victory six weeks earlier.

 

Imada is thankful his handiwork is so celebrated, but he eschews the superlatives cast upon it.

 

"I didn't see it as anything flashy. It just happens that not too many others had seen it," he says. "I'm flattered and blown away. The fact that everyone is so crazy about it, that's something to feel good about it, but I have to put it behind me. I don't want that to be my only claim to fame."

 

Imada's nonchalance belies the even greater significance of the highlight.

 

"This spectacular moment in our sport was instrumental in building the Bellator brand and creating an MMA viral tsunami," says Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Toby's submission speaks directly to the power of the tournament format and how it results in world-class fighters doing whatever is necessary in every fight to just win."

 

It sounds like Rebney is pontificating in promoter-speak, but he's correct. In Bellator's early existence, even interested diehards were alienated from the product due to the fact that the events could only be seen the day after, and only on ESPN Deportes, which relegated the promotion to the periphery of MMA consciousness. Imada's moment transformed Bellator. The promotion saw the chance to put more content free on YouTube, reinforced by a subsequent rash of electrifying finishes including Yahir Reyes's spinning back fist on Estevan Payan, Nick Pace's flying knee on Collin Tebo and others.

 

Instantly, Bellator was no longer treated as an obscure fly-by-night but instead as must-see MMA content replete with top prospects and highlight-reel finishes. That shift allowed Bellator to ink deals with Fox Sports Net, Telemundo and NBC, a network of alliances that will allow them to produce live weekly fight cards for their forthcoming cycle beginning in April, which already has hardcore fans salivating.

 

Perfectly enough, come April, the second Bellator lightweight tournament will open up with a rematch between Imada and Masvidal in the quarterfinals.

 

"Man, I wanted a rematch right away," says Masvidal. "Bjorn told me, 'We'll see what happens after the finals.' Now, I wanted him right in the first round. No diss to Toby, but he could lose, you know? I want to do it right off the bat and kick his ass."

 

"It's just business," Imada says laconically. "I might be mad too if everyone saw me getting choked out, squinting, turning purple."

 

Even if Imada can't replicate his May upset, more people will be watching this time around. His highlight-reel heroics deserve all the credit for that.

 

Sherdog's KO of the Year, Fedor's KO of Arlovski in Affliction

 

Knockouts are what make combat sports a little different.

 

Whether it’s football, baseball, basketball or hockey, a team hopelessly behind is nonetheless tied to its fate, forced to finish out the game. But in fighting sports, the possibility of a knockout is what keeps things interesting. No matter how far behind you are, one well-placed strike can turn everything on its ear.

 

They come in all shapes and sizes, especially in MMA, where the tools of the trade vary considerably. Placed in the context of a meaningful event with high stakes, a knockout can do wonders to your reputation, for better or for worse.

 

That’s why Fedor Emelianenko’s stoppage of Andrei Arlovski at the Jan. 24 Affliction show is Sherdog’s 2009 KO of the Year. Going into the match, Emelianenko was regarded as the world’s best heavyweight and maybe its best fighter pound-for-pound. Against the talented Arlovski, though, he figured to run up against the kind of challenge he hadn’t seen in the nearly three years since outpointing Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.

 

In the six bouts following that epic performance in Pride, Emelianenko’s sole rough spot consisted of a few scary moments against slugger Mark Hunt wrapped around one-sided blowouts of overmatched competition.

 

It figured Arlovski would bring more to the dance, given his 6-foot-4 frame, striking and athletic ability. While his physical game was unquestioned, Arlovski had suffered from hot and cold performances since losing his UFC title to Tim Sylvia in 2006. At times overwhelming and at other times seemingly disinterested, the ex-champ knew his work was cut out for him against Emelianenko.

 

Arlovski looked confident that he could use his four-inch height advantage, snapping a hard low kick home in the opening seconds. He then slipped a Fedor right and landed home a crisp cross counter. While Fedor’s standup will never be featured in a striking textbook, the champ’s sense of timing and the ability to explode into small openings make his blows effective and opponents wary of opening up.

 

But Arlovski wasn’t fazed, using his sharp boxing and reach to slip in and out of range, landing a punch here, a kick there, setting the seeds for what seemed an upset. As the round progressed, Andrei’s confidence seemed to grow as Fedor’s aura appeared to chip away, bit-by-bit. At 4:05 in the round, Arlovski landed a glancing right, a couple of slapping low kicks. Then 15 seconds later, another nice counter cross as Fedor missed after wading in for a finisher that seemed to evaporate as Andrei smartly moved back.

 

Frustrated from range, Emelianenko did what the great ones always do: He took it elsewhere.

 

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

 

Fedor's knockout was impressive.

Tying up Arlovski on the ropes, he roughed him up with a quick knee to the midsection, only to find himself on the defensive, falling back and bouncing off the ropes to avoid a pair of upper-body toss takedowns. After more inconclusive clinch work, the pair were separated at 2:30 and resumed standup action. With each Arlovski attack, Fedor seemed to be registering the proper angles for a counter, but Andrei kept switching up. He connected with a nice right lead at 2:11 that clearly got Fedor’s attention and mixed in a stiff body jab moments later, backing Fedor into a corner.

 

If you hadn’t believed it by now, it was clear -- Arlovski was beating Emelianenko to the punch, and, it seemed, setting the stage for something spectacular. Arlovski landed another right hand, driving Fedor again into the corner, another perfect strike that scored points while denying Fedor the range to fire back.

 

Then everything changed.

 

Driving Fedor into the corner with a quick left push kick, Arlovski, feeling his oats, stepped into what was to be a flying left knee. But Emelianenko countered with a booming right hand that landed flush on the chin with Arlovski sailing toward him. The stunning turnaround only cemented Emelianenko’s reputation as a great fighter, one able to exploit the smallest openings and make the most of them, regardless of what the other guy has done to him.

 

Interestingly, both men would fight Brett Rogers in their next bouts, with results mimicking the outcome of their KO of the Year match. In the June Strikeforce show, Arlovski was taken out in 22 seconds by Rogers in an upset that sent shockwaves through the sport and earned Rogers a shot against Emelianenko. In their Nov. 7 showdown, which headlined Strikeforce’s debut on CBS, Emelianenko survived a damaged nose and some scary moments before landing a thundering right hand that turned the momentum of the bout on its head for a KO finish.

 

That’s what makes Fedor and the rest of us fortunate enough to merely live in his world.

 

Honorable Mention

 

Dan Henderson KO 2 Michael Bisping With trash talk aplenty, perhaps the objective lesson here -- at least for Bisping and other young up and comers facing veterans like Henderson -- is to let sleeping dogs lie. With bad blood and middleweight mojo on the line, Henderson took a round to gauge the striking of Bisping, who flitted in and out without really planting his feet or landing anything effective.

 

In the second round, Henderson delivered the bomb, his trademark overhand right, sending Bisping toppling to the canvas. With what is perhaps one of the more delicious finishes in recent years, Henderson pounced on a hapless Bisping as he lay on the canvas, connecting on a doozy of a right hand before being pulled off.

 

Lyoto Machida KO 2 Rashad Evans As the defending UFC light heavyweight boss with a 14-0-1 record to boot, Evans was probably one of a handful of undisputed, unbeaten champs in any combat sport to enter his first defense as an underdog. Given the 2-1 favorite line the sportsbooks were giving him, challenger Lyoto Machida had been impressive dusting off a string of 205-pounders en route to his title shot.

 

After a largely uneventful first round, where Machida and Evans circled and elicited some boos from the crowd, the Brazilian karate stylist let loose in the second. Known for his unorthodox blending of karate, foot sweeps and precision counters, Machida stunned Evans with a nifty left hand and then finished the job with a pinpoint onslaught that seemed otherworldly. It was the proper way to win a title and a nice beginning to a reign that got controversial, and competitive, with his close decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua months later.

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

Sherdog's fighter of the Year - Jose Aldo

 

He entered 2009 as somewhat of an unknown commodity, a talented but unproven blue-chip prospect with a seemingly limitless ceiling. Jose Aldo left it as the world’s premier featherweight. A lot can change in 12 months.

 

Aldo, Sherdog’s Fighter of the Year for 2009, won all four of his fights and punctuated his light-speed run to the top by trouncing Mike Thomas Brown to become World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion at WEC 44 in November. A winner of nine consecutive bouts, he now finds himself firmly entrenched as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.

 

“The last year was about the achievement of all my dreams; actually, the achievement of any fighter’s dreams,” Aldo told Sherdog.com. “I trained hard for this since the beginning of my career, and winning the belt and fighting a tough guy like Mike Brown was something very special.”

 

The Brazilian’s march began with a one-sided knockout of Rolando Perez and continued two months later with an even more lopsided thrashing of journeyman Chris Mickle. And up the 145-pound ladder he went. Aldo ultimately ran into the respected Cub Swanson at WEC 41 in June in the match that launched him into full-fledged stardom. It took him only eight seconds to lay waste to Swanson, as he finished him with a flying knee and follow-up punches in a performance that left many a mouth ajar.

 

Brown, the rugged American Top Team veteran and reigning WEC featherweight champion, came next. He carried a 10-fight winning streak into their scheduled five-round tilt, but soon after the two men engaged, it became clear Aldo was on another level.

 

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

 

Aldo became a star in 2009.

Aldo controlled distance and utilized stinging leg kicks and surgical punches to keep Brown guessing from the start. The Nova Uniao standout executed at will, and though Brown tried a few early takedowns, Aldo’s sprawl was impeccable. When the two featherweights drew close, Aldo slammed Brown’s legs with vicious kicks and ripped his midsection with crushing knees. Near the end of the first round, a knee to the stomach left Brown breathless, as he dropped to his knees and clinched the challenger’s legs until the horn sounded. He escaped, but he remained in harm’s way, and Aldo’s firepower fried the defending champion early in round two.

 

 

The Brazilian stuffed a takedown attempt and moved into a dominant position during a scramble. His hopes fading, Brown tried to return to his feet, but the relentless Aldo seized his back, flattened him and unloaded punches to the sides of Brown’s head. Dozens of blows, some of the clean, some of them blocked, were unleashed, leading to a stoppage 1:20 into the second round.

 

With that, the featherweight crown changed hands. Though the win put Aldo on the mainstream map, it did little to alter his plans.

 

“Actually, the only thing that changed is the fact that the press looks for me more,” he said. “I have the same friends. My attitude is the same. Basically, life is the same. I’m just more motivated to train and keep the belt that I always dreamed about winning.”

 

With 16 wins in his first 17 professional fights, Aldo beams with potential greatness. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he has not even put his ground prowess on display, choosing instead to let his lethal strikes do the damage. Based out of the revered Nova Uniao camp, Aldo will not turn 24 until September -- shocking when one considers all he has already accomplished. Still, he remains humble in the face of increasing praise.

 

“I think I just need to train hard,” Aldo said. “The base of any great champion is to keep training hard. I have a lot to improve. I don’t think I’m the best.”

 

Aldo has not forgotten the difficult road he took to the top.

 

“It was really hard,” he said. “When I came to Rio [de Janeiro], I was a blue belt and lived in the academy for a long time. Later, I went to live in a small place, and I had to work hard for a long time, washing dishes at a restaurant in order to pay for a place to live.”

 

Nova Uniao co-founder Pederneiras thinks Aldo will only sharpen with time. The gifted 23-year-old will face former champion and promotional poster boy Urijah Faber in his first title defense, perhaps on the WEC’s first-ever pay-per-view, sometime in 2010.

 

“

The last year was about the

achievement of all my dreams.

 

”

-- Jose Aldo on 2009

 

“Besides being very focused and training hard, just like most of my students, Aldo has an amazing ability to learn stand-up skills,” Pederneiras told Sherdog.com. “The biggest proof of that is the way he has beaten top strikers, even with jiu-jitsu as his background.”

 

Aldo credits Pederneiras for much of his success. Without his guidance, he might never have escaped the plight of his hometown.

 

“If it were not for him, I would be in Manaus,” Aldo said. “When I returned to Manaus as a purple belt, he believed in me so much that he sent me a ticket to return and gave me a job in his academy cleaning the dojo. Thanks to him, I could train and improve. I’m champion today, and I have to thank Pederneiras for believing in me.”

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

Sherdog's photos of the year...

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20100115081748_hacran2020santo20amaro20slum.JPG

 

These morros, once ruled in violence by the Comando Vermelho, now belong to gangs of a different ambition. From the Brazilian slums of Santo Amaro, the road to the Las Vegas strip is difficult, but not as long as you might think. -- Jordan Breen

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20090803100650_200908023524.JPG

 

This is a violent image -- the smeared blood, the swollen eye -- yet it also contains a certain serenity. In this juxtaposition, which is the result of a flying knee and a guillotine choke, the complexity of mixed martial arts is captured. -- Joe Hall, Editor

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20091214121628_IMG_6256.JPG

 

His tattered face bore proof of the abuse he sustained at the hands of lightweight king B.J. Penn in the UFC 107 main event, but the gruesome gash above the left eye of Diego Sanchez was evidence of yet another weapon in the Hawaiian’s vast arsenal. After beating on Sanchez for nearly five full rounds, Penn ended their one-sided encounter with the only head kick he threw the entire fight. Bone met flesh, and the result was not pretty. Sanchez might as well have been struck by a meat cleaver. -- Brian Knapp, associate editor

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20100115085506_heliocoffin.JPG

 

"The success comes from the art that is good. Anytime you do something that is good and perfect, you will easily attract followers." -- Helio Gracie (1913-2009) Loretta Hunt, news editor

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20090126022813_IMG_8366.JPG

 

The cold, unaffected gait of one of the world’s best fighters belies the emotion that thickened the air in the building that night. After picking Andrei Arlovski out of the air with a faculty-robbing right hand, Fedor Emelianenko strides away with as vacuous a look on his face as his fallen foe. This image may as well be a snap shot of the champion’s public persona. -- Greg Savage

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20100115084609_dm192.JPG

 

This striking image of Dominick Cruz shows us all that photography is more than just a platform for reporting and documenting our chosen sport. It is a true art in the purest sense. -- Mike Fridley, managing editor

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20091027125818_2009102502052.JPG

 

Despite the many beatings that have marked Kazushi Sakuraba's career of late, it's moments like these that not only remind us of his brilliance, but that no amount of time, punishment, or physical degradation can extinguish the magic of “The Gracie Hunter.” -- Tony Loiseleur

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20091123061843_sf332.JPG

 

They are the prehensile pro tools of the prizefighter. They are power weapons and precision instruments, working both literally and figuratively hand in glove. -- Jordan Breen

 

there's then about another 80 more photos labelled "the best of the rest" here.... http://www.sherdog.com/pictures/event/Photos-of-the-Year-Best-of-the-Rest-22108

[Guest JC]

 

 

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/thumbnail_crop/600/_images/pictures/20090126022813_IMG_8366.JPG

 

The cold, unaffected gait of one of the world’s best fighters belies the emotion that thickened the air in the building that night. After picking Andrei Arlovski out of the air with a faculty-robbing right hand, Fedor Emelianenko strides away with as vacuous a look on his face as his fallen foe. This image may as well be a snap shot of the champion’s public persona. -- Greg Savage

 

 

 

 

I have loved looking at this photo all year! :lol

 

The Russians - Last motherf*ckers on the planet!

[Guest ShaneMcCutcheon]

c

Sherdog’s Event of the Year

By Greg Savage (greg@sherdog.com)

 

UFC 100 was a near consensus choice for the 2009 Sherdog Event of the Year.

 

It was a watershed moment for the sport that once faced a bevy of detractors and innumerable obstacles to broader acceptance. Though it still has a way to go before it is held in the same regard as other major sports, mixed martial arts was on display like never before the week of the July 11, 2009.

 

Mega-star UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar headlined the blockbuster show against interim champion Frank Mir. The centennial card also featured a highly anticipated matchup between welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre and top contender Thiago Alves as well as a blood feud pitting “The Ultimate Fighter” coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping.

 

Lesnar unified the heavyweight title in vicious fashion, pounding Mir’s face into a swollen, bloody mess before sailing off into a pro wrestling-style invective directed at Mir, the fans who were booing him and the UFC’s top sponsor, Bud Light. The outburst earned him an earful from UFC President Dana White, who elicited an act of contrition from the former WWE star at the post-fight news conference. Lesnar apologized and blamed his tirade on adrenaline and promised he would do his best to control his emotions in the future.

 

In a co-main event, St. Pierre thoroughly dominated an extremely hot Alves, who was riding a seven-fight winning streak and coming off consecutive wins over Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan. The Canadian superstar outwrestled and outstruck Alves before tearing an abductor muscle in the fourth round.

 

The injury did little to slow down St. Pierre. He finished the shutout in the final frame, but it did give MMA another memorable quote. Between rounds the champion’s trainer, Greg Jackson, answered his charge’s concern that he had pulled his groin: “I don’t care! Hit him with your groin.”

 

Photo by Sherdog.com

 

UFC 100 was action packed.

If there were a punctuation mark on UFC 100, it came when Henderson ended his rival coach’s night with a savage right hand that tucked Bisping in and the flying right hand that followed, making sure he slipped into complete unconsciousness.

 

In a strange coincidence, the three feature-bout winners have not been back to the Octagon since UFC 100. Lesnar underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow before being stricken by an intestinal illness that UFC boss Dana White has said could potentially end his career. St. Pierre needed some time to heal up from the injured groin and will return to action March 27 when he defends his belt against Dan Hardy at UFC 111.

 

Henderson seemed set to cash in after his highlight reel knockout, but he could not come to terms with White and the UFC. After a lengthy negotiation, the former Pride FC champ inked a deal with Strikeforce, where he anticipates making his promotional debut in April.

 

White also caused a stir when he said he would base jump off of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the home of UFC 100, if the show pulled in more than 1.5 million pay-per-view buys. When estimated purchases reached the 1.7 million mark, White said he would indeed follow through with his end of the bargain. He has been training for the jump and assures Sherdog.com it will be happening soon.

 

The mainstream media coverage of UFC 100 was also an impressive sight to behold. Everywhere you looked, there were promos running for the company’s first triple digit event. From the overwhelming ESPN presence to the unprecedented print coverage the show received, UFC 100 was easily the most covered mixed martial arts show in the short history of the sport.

 

The UFC also held a fan expo that coincided with the historic fight card. The convention was an additional bonus for the thousands of fans who poured into Las Vegas for the fights and was such a success, the organization has planned another go around for the week of UFC 114 this May, also in Vegas.

 

The momentous nature of UFC 100 alone would have made it hard to top. When one also considers the quality of the main event fights and the indelible mark they left on the landscape of the 2009 MMA campaign, UFC 100 was clearly the event of the year.

 

Sherdog’s Comeback Fighter of the Year

By Brian Knapp (bknapp@sherdog.com)

 

No one could have foreseen the fall, especially Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

 

Sherdog’s Comeback Fighter of the Year for 2009, he arrived in the UFC hyped as the world’s premiere light heavyweight, a real-life Brazilian destroyer who had left fighters like Quinton Jackson, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in his dust. Rua walked into his promotional debut against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner Forrest Griffin as a prohibitive favorite in 2007.

 

Someone forgot to inform Griffin, who submitted the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner with a third-round rear-naked choke at UFC 76. Rua would not fight again for 16 months.

 

Two reconstructive knee surgeries kept him on the shelf and out of a proposed big-ticket bout with UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddell, and by the time Rua re-entered the Octagon against Mark Coleman in January 2009, there were more questions about him than there were answers. The doubts only multiplied. Though he dominated Coleman, a former UFC heavyweight champion and Pride open weight grand prix winner, Rua looked sloppy in doing so and faded as the fight deepened. Coleman, equally exhausted, finally succumbed to strikes in the last half minute of the UFC 93 co-main event.

 

A few months later, Rua was back in the cage to face Liddell and looked like his old self. Behind controlled aggression, he battered the fading but still dangerous former champion, putting him away with a ringing left hand and follow-up hammerfists late in the first round at the Bell Center in Montreal. The UFC 97 victory forced the “Iceman” into semi-retirement and put a renewed Rua in position to challenge for UFC gold for the first time.

 

Shogun, a heavy underdog, met undefeated light heavyweight king Lyoto Machida in the UFC 104 main event on Oct. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The result of their tactical five-round encounter stirred debate for months.

 

Photo by Sherdog.com

 

Shogun had a brilliant year.

Early on, Rua made it clear he had indeed returned to a championship level. He punished Machida’s legs and body, as he closed the distance and negated a majority of his attacks. Shogun appeared to take over in the final two rounds, as the champion slowed noticeably. The toll of the challenger’s relentless body attack paid late dividends and had Machida uncharacteristically out of synch. By honing in on Machida’s midsection, Shogun targeted the most vulnerable area on one of the most elusive fighters in MMA history. Despite the defeat, he easily eclipsed the success of any previous Machida opponent and may have left a permanent crack in the facade of invincibility surrounding the karateka.

 

 

When the final horn sounded, Rua raised his hands skyward and celebrated with his team. Machida half-heartedly answered, but in a telling sign, as he waited for scorecards to be read, the champion stood with his head down as if preparing for bad news. It never came. All three judges scored it 48-47 in Machida’s favor, as he notched his eighth consecutive win inside the Octagon.

 

Though he left the arena empty-handed, Rua had re-established himself as one of the elite fighters in the 205-pound division.

 

“I think it was a good year,” Rua told Sherdog.com. “I achieved my goals. Unfortunately, I didn’t win the belt, but I was happy with my performance, and besides, I have a new chance for the title in 2010. So I’m tranquil and I’m done with the goals that I outlined in 2009.”

 

A hand injury to Machida required surgery and postponed the rematch, but the two will meet again when they headline UFC 113 on May 1 in Montreal. The challenges will not end there, as, win or lose, Rua figures to remain a fixture in the division for the foreseeable future.

 

“I believe that this category is the most competitive in the world. It always was,” he said. “I know you will never have a breeze, and as I fight in the UFC, which is the biggest event in the world, I know I’ll always face tough guys and can’t expect to have easy bouts. I know that, and I will always expect to face the top fighters of the division.”

 

Sherdog’s Beatdown(s) of the Year

By Jason Probst (jprobst@sherdog.com)

 

What exactly defines a beatdown?

 

While the answer probably depends on whom one asks, the process of answering the question reveals what the person asked considers damaging, and that, in itself, can vary.

 

While your garden variety Beatdown 101 can be something as unambiguous as Phil Baroni blasting out Dave Menne with a torrent of spot-on bombs or Wanderlei Silva finishing Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with textbook knees from the plum clinch, the aftermath of the beatdown often raises bigger questions than the fight itself. In effect, competitors who issue a statement that resonates along with the performance distinguish themselves.

 

In the case of Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva and their stoppages of Frank Mir and Forrest Griffin, respectively, those statements were indeed issued -- in big, bold print, to boot.

 

After extensive balloting, re-voting and enough back and forth debate to wear down the hardiest of C-SPAN junkies, Sherdog decided to go with co-winners for Beatdown of the Year for 2009. Perhaps it was because the savage degree of punishment Lesnar and Silva delivered was so effective, yet so different in its delivery.

 

Either way, being on the receiving end those two nights was an object lesson, something that should be shown to every would-be fighter as a cautionary tale of getting what you wish for. Sometimes, one gets hit with the kitchen sink, and the world will be there to see it.

 

Coming into his July 11 rematch with Mir at UFC 100, Lesnar had made admirable progress rebuilding his career momentum after tapping out to a kneebar from the submission ace 17 months earlier in his UFC debut. Rebounding with a dominant decision win over Heath Herring and an impressive stoppage over champion Randy Couture, the powerhouse wrestler faced an improving Mir, who had registered the first-ever stoppage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Using surprisingly sharp striking, Mir’s stand-up game was impressive and figured to be another weapon he would need against Lesnar.

 

While their first bout resembled a 90-second train wreck -- with Lesnar roughing up Mir before getting caught in a slick leg submission -- the common wisdom held that Lesnar would have to avoid Mir’s clever holds and find a way to be effective without offering the opening he did in their first scrap.

 

That he did, in such dominating fashion that it made one wonder if the massive wrestlers in the heavyweight division might completely take over the sport.

 

After circling and throwing a couple leg kicks, Lesnar immediately closed on and secured a takedown just 38 seconds in, settling into half-guard -- a position that set up virtually every punishing blow that followed. After nearly a full minute of punch-less action, Lesnar, his crushing base established, started hammering with his right hand, using his left to tie up Mir’s head and left arm. While Mir occasionally looked to his cornermen to reassure them he was OK, it became apparent that there was nothing he could do to dislodge the powerful monster on top of him who had clearly realized the value in short, punishing strikes from this stifling position. In the opening five minutes, Lesnar landed roughly 20 strikes to the head, with a series of body whacks, as well.

 

At round’s end, Mir’s face showed welts and marks indicative of a hard fight, and he seemed to know he had to change plans. Thirty-five seconds into the second round, Mir had his best sequence of the fight, as he landed an elbow and followed with two knees to the head. However, it only seemed to ignite Lesnar, as he took down his man, slid into half guard again and pushed Mir against the cage.

 

From there, the monstrous Minnesotan exploited the situation. After landing five short, smashing rights, Lesnar pinned his foe’s left arm behind his back and unloaded, hammering 16 rights as Mir’s head bobbled against cage, floor and fist before referee Herb Dean intervened.

Photo by Sherdog.com

 

Will Brock Lesnar return to MMA?

 

Since the bout, Lesnar’s battle with diverticulitis postponed his November defense against Shane Carwin, and the champion’s health remains a sobering question mark. Whatever Lesnar does from here on out, his display of positioning, control and pure power was a chilling reminder of what today’s athletes can do given the smallest of openings. In a way, Lesnar smashing Mir was every bit the tactical paradigm shift as Mark Coleman’s salad days at UFC 10 and UFC 11, where his overwhelming wrestling and ground-and-pound forever changed assumptions of what was possible in the sport.

 

 

Facing Griffin at UFC 101, middleweight champion Silva was feeling the sting of back-to-back lackluster performances. Challengers Patrick Cote and Thales Leites did little to try and take his belts, and as a result, whispers were that “The Spider” was losing the aura of the feared assassin who burst on the UFC scene with seven straight stoppage wins en route to becoming champion.

 

Griffin figured to make a good fight. Known for his dogged style and overachieving approach, the former light heavyweight titleholder had an up-and-down 2008, as he decisioned the favored Rampage for the belt in an inspiring performance before he was knocked out by Rashad Evans in his first defense. A motivated Griffin figured to be exciting and, paired with a hungry Silva moving up a weight class, presented a solid matchup.

 

The conventional wisdom was correct, but in all the right ways for Silva, who demonstrated a shocking disparity in skills rarely seen at the world-class level.

 

The two opened the match circling and probing, with Griffin leading and throwing kicks that hit air, designed to test the range for a more committed strike. Silva, moving easefully, noted these with nary a flinch, as has become his custom. A minute in, Griffin offered up his first ante, a hard right kick to the thigh; Silva promptly trapped it and fired back a right hand-left sweep kick combination that sent Griffin to the canvas. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner smartly rolled away and popped back up.

 

Silva resumed his ballet on the canvas, looking like a man practicing his footwork alone. Griffin kept pushing, tentative but increasingly persistent.

 

With 3:05 left in the round, Silva struck again, slipping a jab to land a pinpoint hook that spilled Griffin on the canvas. Griffin sprang to his feet quickly, only to eat another hook. At this point, Silva became visibly energized and nodded at Griffin, throwing in some shake-and-bake head movement. Clearly enthused at the prospect of an exciting fight with a willing partner, Silva landed a fast straight left. Then, with 2:18 left, he masterfully slipped a three-punch combination and uncorked another left that dropped Griffin hard.

 

Silva landed a few glancing blows standing in Griffin’s guard but soon after decided his masterpiece would be best served from standing position. In a bit of noblesse oblige, he gestured for Griffin to rise, even touching hands with the Georgian as he returned to his feet. By then, Griffin had been down three times, but he soldiered on. Silva then slipped a one-two combination as Griffin lunged forward and closed the show with a fall-away right jab. As Griffin toppled to the canvas, Silva’s statement was complete.

 

In closing, Lesnar and Silva offered up distinctly different pictures of what defines a beatdown. In each case, however, the artist paints his picture with an impressive end product.

 

Sherdog’s Upset of the Year

By Jordan Breen (jbreen@sherdog.com)

 

After being rescheduling and relocated, October's WEC 43 in San Antonio wound up being one of the year's best cards. True to form for such a notoriously wild sport, what was supposed to be a simple, perfunctory tune-up bout turned into 2009's "Upset of the Year."

 

Heading into the latter stages of '09, a year dominated by featherweight action, Wagnney Fabiano was positioned as a challenger-in-waiting for the WEC featherweight crown. A consensus top-five fighter in the division, Fabiano's fate was thought to rest on the outcome of November's Mike Thomas Brown-Jose Aldo bout. If his Nova Uniao teammate Aldo won, Fabiano was likely bound for 135 pounds. However, should then-incumbent Brown have won, Fabiano was ready to play the role of challenger.

 

But first, the standout grappler had a routine showcase bout scheduled against unbeaten and unknown Midwesterner Erik Koch. When Koch was injured, he was replaced by the equally anonymous Mackens Semerzier, an unbeaten former Marine from Virginia and a training partner of Miguel Torres. To casual and hardcore onlookers alike, the opponent switch appeared to make absolutely no difference.

 

Early, the bout looked the way it was anticipated to look. Forty seconds in, Fabiano shot a double-leg takedown and pushed Semerzier to the fence. Semerzier got double underhooks, but Fabiano switched to a single and finished the takedown. The Nova Uniao product quickly got to half guard. It was all as expected.

 

Suddenly, it wasn't quite so easy. Fabiano was stuck in Semerzier's half guard and couldn't seem to free his right foot. Semerzier then used a single butterfly hook to push Fabiano to his feet. As Fabiano dove back into Semerzier's guard, the little-known Virginian upkicked and flailed his legs while controlling Fabiano's right leg with his left hand. Fabiano fought to stack and pass under Semerzier's crazy-legged volleys, but couldn't.

 

Desperate, the Brazilian drove into Semerzier's guard and tried to pin his left leg down behind the knee. As Fabiano continued to underhook his far right leg, Semerzier quickly threw it across the back of the Brazilian's neck. Fabiano stood up quick to defend, but Semerzier tightened up the triangle. From there, it was textbook jiu-jitsu: arm across the face, pull the head down, hook the leg. Fabiano fell to the seat of his pants, helpless. The former IFL champion was forced to tap out. It took just two minutes and 14 seconds.

 

Tactics and strategy are still young arts in MMA. The sport is still replete with high-level competitors who admit, and in some cases brag, about their lack of fight-specific preparedness. "I know nothing about him" and "I'm going to fight my fight" are common braindead maxims of the sport. The 29-year-old Semerzier is more studious than your average prospect. Perhaps it's a byproduct of his day job, where he teaches combative tactics training for law enforcement and special operations units at the Linxx Academy in Virginia Beach. Maybe it's owing to his wrestling days, where he would draw stick figures and diagram the techniques he learned that day.

D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

 

Semerzier's upset was shocking.

 

"I think I'm a student of the game. I'm always thinking about fighting. Every night I watch two or three fights every night before I go to bed," says Semerzier. "As a combatives instructor, people are always asking me questions, so I'm always thinking to make sure I have an answer."

 

Some answers require less thought. Two weeks out from WEC 43, Semerzier was at home watching, of all things, “America's Dumbest Criminals,” when his phone rang. On the other end, his compatriot Miguel Torres asked him if he was interested in stepping in for the injured Koch to take on Fabiano.

 

"I felt like I could win. I really believe in my training and what I bring to the table, what I can do. I didn't think I'd win the way that I won, but I knew it was a possibility," says Semerzier, who had been hoping to fight locally on Oct. 3 despite a rash of opponents dropping out.

 

 

However, being opportunistic is not enough. Plenty of unknown fighters play the role of showcase opponent "properly" and are succinctly smashed. Fearlessness alone is not enough to produce an upset, especially one born out of attacking an opponent at their strength.

 

"Good technique is good technique," Semerzier tells. "If a white belt has a black belt in the right position, it doesn't matter. An armbar isn't just an armbar, a triangle isn't just a triangle; there's a correct way to do it. If you train to do it right every time, you'll get the submission every time."

 

It's hard to afford Semerzier's handiwork a place in the pantheon of great MMA upsets. The year's upset contenders were far from "perfect": Semerzier-Fabiano, Thiago-Koscheck, Warren-Yamamoto and others are predicated on the fact that the winners in question were unknown quantities, as opposed to mediocre-or-worse fighters who defied the odds. In this respect, it may come down to an objective measure: Fabiano was as big as a -850 favorite heading into the bout, making him the biggest betting favorite to go down in 2009.

 

However, what makes Semerzier-Fabiano the "Upset of the Year" is that it symbolizes 2009, a year marked by an extraordinary amount of action in the featherweight division on both sides of the Pacific. While Sengoku and Dream centered their '09 output on featherweight tournaments to crown champions, WEC continued to be the hardcore fan's heaven, prominently featuring the 145-pounders. It is just now that the world's best featherweights are getting the opportunity to fight one another on an international level and be at least relatively well compensated. A whole slate of the division's notables -- Jose Aldo, Michihiro Omigawa, Masanori Kanehara, Bibiano Fernandes -- were among the year's best fighters. 2009 belonged to the featherweights.

 

"What I like is that it makes my name immortal," says Semerzier. "Fifty years from now, people are going to remember the featherweights of today, laying the groundwork when this division really got started."

 

The featherweight division is still brilliance-in-chrysalis. It is just now that the best athletes capable of fighting at 145 are doing so, thus there is a state of flux. We're amidst a learning process about who the top featherweights in the world truly are, as we finally see the best fight the best. As that happens, we're bound for more shocks and more upsets from the Mackens Semerziers of the world.

 

"It's an upset, but that's because no one knew who I was at the time," says Semerzier. "It'd be different if I was going into the fight now."

 

And he's right. Three months after his upset, Semerzier returned to the cage at WEC 46. This time he had a role reversal, as tough Lithuanian ex-pat Deividas Taurosevicius took home a unanimous decision over "Mack da Menace," authoring a mild upset of his own.

 

"He came out with a better game plan. With his experience, he knew how to control the position and time of the fight," Semerzier says, reflecting on his first career loss. "That was the fastest 15 minutes of my life. When I was on the bottom, I heard the 'clap clap clap' with 10 seconds left, and thought, 'Where'd the hell did the time go?' So, I'm still learning."

 

So are we.

 

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

By Jack Encarnacao (jencarnacao@sherdog.com)

 

Whether he was delivering graceful spinning elbows or untamed carnage from the mount, Jon Jones left his mark in the sport, and on his opponents’ faces, in 2009.

 

Little known in the mixed martial arts world before his bout against Stephan Bonnar in January, the 22-year-old light heavyweight is set to start 2010 as a headliner for the second consecutive time on cable television against Brandon Vera in March.

 

The groundswell of buzz started in his fight against Bonnar at UFC 94, as the Endicott, N.Y., product threw Bonnar with an eclectic array of suplexes and also landed unorthodox elbows and knees. While he fatigued considerably toward the end of the three-round fight, it was his fits of dynamic offense and timing that proved most memorable.

 

Greg Jackson, who ended up bringing Jones into his lauded New Mexico camp toward the end of the year, remembers the atmosphere after Jones’ Octagon unveiling.

 

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

 

Sky's the limit for Jon "Bones" Jones.

“There’s this kid who nobody knew who was fighting Stephan, and all of a sudden he was throwing him all over the place,” Jackson said. “We were like, ‘Who is this kid?’”

 

That big-stage debut, followed by a submission win over Jake O’Brien and a dominant handling of Matt Hamill, locked in Jones as Sherdog’s Breakthrough Fighter of the Year for 2009.

 

In 12 months, Jones defined “putting yourself on the map,” so much so that he’s now on the short list of young fighters that fans, officials and observers quickly recite when asked who the sport’s future superstar and standard-bearers could be.

 

Jones had a hiccup against Matt Hamill on Dec. 5, a fight that got top billing on Spike TV and was looking like a signature performance. A national junior college wrestling champion, Jones hit a trip takedown that separated Hamill’s shoulder and left him prone for a violent ground-and-pound assault from the mount.

 

In his haste to finish, however, Jones switched from punches to illegal “12-to-6” downward-trajectory elbows that resulted in his being disqualified. Jones’ camp unsuccessfully appealed the call to Nevada’s athletic commission.

 

Even though his fight record for 2009 reads 2-1, the circumstances of the loss spoke to Jones as a blossoming fighter. The challenge for his coaches in 2010 will be to harness Jones’ natural athletic gifts into airtight MMA technique. The Hamill fight could just as easily prove a formative moment in his maturity as it could a sign of weakness that could hold him back.

 

“He learned that he has to be a little more controlled and be careful about executing techniques,” said Jackson, whose first training camp with Jones was for the Hamill fight. “Hamill was definitely a good step up in competition, and in my opinion (Jones) never looked so good. It was pretty much one-sided domination. I thought he improved a lot, and that, if anything, what he learned is that he can be confident in his style and go for it.”

 

Sherdog’s Round of the Year

By Tomas Rios (trios@sherdog.com)

 

Watching the first round of the bout between Thierry Quenneville and Douglas Evans at XMMA 7 “Inferno” on Feb. 27 made one think something huge had to be on the line -- a UFC contract, a night with Jessica Biel, a custom-made “Iron Man” power suit. Something, anything to justify the insanity that defined the first five minutes of a featherweight fight held in front of no more than a couple thousand people at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

 

The winner’s purse and some post-fight cheers were up for grabs, nothing more. Apparently, it was more than enough for Evans to come out fighting like Mecha-Godzilla on performance-enhancing drugs, as he immediate laid into Quenneville with strikes, slams and ground-and-pound that seemed destined to force a stoppage.

 

In that moment, referee Yves Lavigne did what so many struggle to do; he stepped back and let the fighters figure it out.

 

Evans tried his best to compel Lavigne to intervene, as he alternated between pounding Quenneville’s face and trying to cut off his oxygen supply with chokes. Impressive as the Alaskan’s offensive onslaught seemed, Quenneville was putting on a master class in intelligent defense, as he somehow managed to keep his wits about him and his brain cells relatively intact. Yet for every brilliant escape the Canadian grappling guru managed, Evans was there to deliver more punishment.

 

However, after nearly three full minutes of unquestioned dominance, Evans suddenly found himself in trouble, as Quenneville jumped into a standing kimura and dragged him to the mat. With his left arm on the verge of being turned inside out, Evans rolled forward and sprang free but not before realizing Quenneville would not go off into that good night without leaving every last bit of himself in the cage.

 

The sequence was a turning point in the fight, as Quenneville, rejuvenated by his near submission, promptly reversed an attempted takedown by Evans and secured top control for the first time in the fight. Unfortunately, there was barely more than a minute left in the round and Evans seemed no more willing to call it a night than Quenneville. Normally, the average fighter takes the opportunity to recover, but Quenneville spent what little time he had left trying to give Evans a taste of his own bitter medicine.

 

The mere sight of the proud Firas Zahabi protégé pouring his heart into every punch was enough to send an already adrenaline-drunk crowd’s cheers into the far end of the decibel range. When the bell rang to signal the end of an unforgettable first five minutes, the two fighters simply rose to their feet, dusted themselves off and walked over to their corners like they had just finished a brisk morning jog.

 

A. Quintero/Sherdog.com

 

Quenneville vs. Evans was a war.

Evans seemed fine, but as the second round started, it became obvious he would pay the price for his jailhouse blitz strategy. Still, he asked for no quarter, as he valiantly struggled to catch his breath and keep himself from getting knocked out by Quenneville, who was fighting as if he had been strengthened by the stomping he survived minutes earlier. It was then that Quenneville fired what would come to be known as the “Hellbow” -- a flawlessly executed in-line elbow that landed flush on Evans’ chin. While the stout Alaskan once again showed his Clint Eastwood-level manliness by weathering the blow, Quenneville quickly pounced on him with a brabo choke, transitioned to a triangle choke and finished with an armbar.

 

Not even 90 seconds into the second round, Lavigne moved in and called an end to the match, this after being handed dozens of opportunities to do so earlier. To his credit, he only stepped in after Evans raised the white flag with a tapout. The abrupt manner in which the fight closed made for a perfect chaser to the five minutes of incredible combat that preceded it. The first round between Quenneville and Evans, more than any other in 2009, showed exactly what makes mixed martial arts great.

 

It goes without saying that their round was not the only one to hit all the right notes.

 

The first stanza of the World Extreme Cagefighting interim lightweight title bout between Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson at WEC 43 felt like something that had been spawned by John Woo’s imagination. Cerrone caught Henderson in one attempted submission after another, and Henderson not only found impossible escapes but fought back every step of the way.

 

No one in the sport has grown as accustomed to winning as Fedor Emelianenko, and the opening round of his main event showdown with Brett Rogers at Strikeforce “Evolution” gave the world a glimpse into what has made the Russian such a mythic figure. Bleeding from the nose within moments of the opening bell, Emelianenko went on to absorb a brief but hair-raising ground-and-pound assault from Rogers. He then showcased his incomparable skills, as he set the table beautifully for a one-punch, second-round knockout.

 

Another first-round favorite starred heavyweight legends Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture at UFC 102. Couture’s brutally accurate dirty boxing gave him control of the round early, but Nogueira’s reach and power turned the fight on its head when he dropped the ageless UFC hall of famer on his rear. With that, the pace was set for a classic duel between two of the greatest heavyweights to ever lace up the gloves.

 

Sherdog’s Robbery of the Year

By Luke Thomas (alldaymma@gmail.com)

 

There’s incompetency, and then there’s incompetency so appalling it wins awards.

 

Mixed martial arts pundits, fans and even UFC President Dana White himself often complain of the ineptitude pervasive in the various roles played in athletic commission officiating. White’s favorite target is veteran referee Steve Mazzagatti, but no dedicated observer of MMA will tell you the problems are isolated or the solutions simple to implement.

 

Every so often, however, an incident of amateurishness takes your breath away. Sherdog’s Robbery of the Year for 2009 is so painfully obvious that even other egregious examples of poor scoring this past year pale by comparison. Were we to somehow combine the horrendousness of Michihiro Omigawa’s “wins” over Marlon Sandro and Hatsu Hioki, we still could not touch what happened at an Ultimate Warrior Challenge event in Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 3.

 

The scene was UWC 7 at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University. Local bantamweight standout and Lloyd Irvin jiu-jitsu black belt Mike Easton was set to defend his 135-pound UWC strap against former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion Chase Beebe in that card’s main event. At the time of the event, this was the most significant and high-profile professional MMA contest ever in the Washington, D.C. area.

 

But first, there’s a back-story. Easton and Beebe were set to clash eight months earlier, but Beebe -- at the time part of Matt Hughes’ H.I.T. Squad -- never showed up to the airport, weigh-ins or the fight. Teammate Justin Robbins eventually filled in, only to get guillotined by Easton in the third round of their title fight at UWC 5.

 

By the time UWC 7 rolled around, local fan antipathy toward Beebe had crystallized heavy support for Easton. MMA fans across the area were dying to see Easton crush an opponent that would launch him into international relevance, especially one whom they believed had previously flaked on him to be a part of the first Dream featherweight grand prix; Beebe insists there was miscommunication.

 

The D.C. media got in on the hype, too. Easton had been making the rounds in print, radio and television outlets across town for what seemed like weeks -- a gigantic step for an athlete in a sport yet to be fully embraced by the local sports media.

 

The UWC 7 card not only featured Easton vs. Beebe but also arguably the most important North American flyweight fight in MMA history between Pat Runez and John Dodson. In other words, this was a serious event with a lot riding on the line.

 

But heading into the event, something was not right. Virginia’s athletic commission had set an ominous tone before the fights even started. Among a variety of other troubling infractions, the weigh-ins for the event were held with a scale that sat on a carpet, a completely inaccurate measurement of weight in a moment where precision is non-negotiable. Brazilian Felipe Arantes was even allowed to fight fellow countryman Freddy Assuncao with Shinya Aoki-esque shootboxing pants on despite such attire being completely banned by the Unified Rules of MMA.

 

Fred Haas/Sherdog.com

 

The worst MMA decision ever?

Despite these worrisome oversights, the UWC had no choice but to continue on. Fast forward to the main event. Easton entered the arena to local Washington, D.C., go-go music and raucous applause; Beebe to jeers and boos.

 

The fight began.

 

The first round was fairly uneventful early, with Easton showing off incredible head movement and crisp boxing while Beebe seemingly bided his time. Halfway into the round, however, Beebe got Easton down and took his back with both hooks in. He tried to pepper Easton with busy shots and rear-naked chokes but to no avail. Beebe spent half of the round on Easton’s back and, prior to that, had taken very little damage.

 

Round two was a different story. Easton deftly used his far superior striking, takedown defense and cage generalship to easily take the round. Now, the fighters were tied one round apiece.

 

Round three, though, was the clear moment of departure for Beebe. What appeared to be Easton’s momentum in the second round turned into frustration and what Sports Illustrated’s Josh Gross called “suffocating” control. In rounds three, four and five, Beebe was able to take Easton’s back, maintain control and hold it for a minimum of three minutes; in the fifth, it was more than four minutes. While Easton was clearly the superior striker and did land strikes for the portions of the fight that occurred on the feet, it was clear they were not particularly damaging. Easton had discussed pre-fight how his goal was to slow down the fight -- a strategy that seemed to play against him, as his pace never had the urgency that was necessary given how much riding time Beebe had accrued on Easton’s back.

 

In fact, at no point in the fight was Beebe ever rocked, knocked down or stunned. He did not offer a great deal of resistance striking, but he did not really have to, either. By spending so much time on Easton’s back, the complexion of the fight was obvious to anyone with even moderate knowledge of MMA scoring. And while Beebe was never able to submit Easton nor offer stiff ground-and-pound, he consistently placed Easton in a deeply compromising position and maintained the position for huge portions of four of the five rounds. It was a grappling control clinic that made scoring the fight a matter of basic arithmetic. Cageside, I scored it 49-46 Beebe, four rounds to one.

 

The fight ended, and before the decision was even announced, members of the crowd began to leave the venue. Others awaited an official decision, but as I walked to the cage, I could tell by the looks on the faces of those in attendance that there was no mystery about what was coming.

 

The scores were announced and right away something was amiss. It was announced to be a split decision. How could that be? Now the crowd was paying attention. One judge scored it 48-47 Beebe, a defensible score. The other two, on the other hand, turned in a score that caused the hometown crowd to hurl deafening boos: 49-46, Easton. Four rounds to one for the champion.

 

MMA journalists in attendance were gobsmacked.

 

MMA writer Kelly Crigger, who was cageside at the event, believes Beebe’s refusal to fight Easton at UWC 5 played a role in the judges’ minds: “I’d like to think that the judges scoring the bout were uninfluenced by Beebe’s past indiscretions, but how else can the outcome be explained? I clearly remember my jaw hitting the floor when the decision was announced because I haven’t seen a robbery of that magnitude since Ricco Rodriguez lost to [Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira] in Pride years ago.”

 

“In my mind, it was a robbery because Beebe spent most of the fight on Easton's back,” said USA Today’s Sergio Non, also in attendance that evening. “Beebe thoroughly controlled the action on the mat for the bulk of the fight; Easton defended well and landed flurries near the end of each round, but he didn't cause that much damage -- the most significant injury Beebe suffered was self-inflicted, with swelling on left hand from a punch he threw early in the fight.”

 

AOL Fanhouse’s Michael David Smith, not in attendance, chalks up the result to the familiar problem of boxing judges evaluating a contest they do not understand.

 

“I think the cause of this and some other terrible decisions in MMA is that judges who don’t really understand MMA are brought in from boxing,” Smith said. “In the Olympics, they don’t bring in a diving judge and tell him to judge gymnastics just because both sports involve acrobatics. But in MMA a lot of boxing judges come in and don’t really take the time to learn the sport.”

 

As MMA grows and becomes legalized in new territories, athletic commissions can often be ill-equipped to handle professional MMA fights of significance. Their inability to properly do their job only causes harm to the fighters they mistreat, a perverse reversal of their actual responsibilities of safeguarding and protecting the combatants, as well as the sport.

 

According to Gross, the essence of this robbery and what truly sets it apart is the human cost paid by Beebe. “You can blame the judges, but it only affects one person -- the fighter who loses,” Gross said. “The loss impacted his bottom line and didn’t put a halt to the negative momentum.”

 

Beebe, a former champion, came into the Easton fight having lost three in a row. Three weeks later, Beebe lost to Yoshiro Maeda in Dream, making it five straight losses. He later appeared despondent at that event’s post-fight press conference, barely able to contain tears and seemingly unsure of what he was going to do with his life. As of now, Beebe continues to train and plans to fight again, although there are no formal plans.

 

The MMA community rarely takes inventory of the damage robberies have on a fighter’s career. Getting more competent athletic commission officials or producing better scoring criteria are important, no one would disagree. The very livelihood and self-identification of fighters hang in the balance. But getting it right is less about making sure we do not blemish a fighter’s polished record; it’s about making sure we do not damage careers and even lives. Fighters in this grueling sport of human combustion deserve nothing less.