MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

In Part 1 of our MMA HQ awards, we looked at the worst judging decision, best fight card, biggest MMA story, and most disappointing fighter of 2007. Today we’ll wrap up our awards for 2007 with some of the hardest categories to pick.

Best Submission

1. Nick Diaz vs Takanori Gomi - Entering 2007, Takanori Gomi was viewed as the hands-down #1 lightweight in the world; even to this day many still view him as the best 155 lb fighter. For one night in February, Nick Diaz made Gomi look far from the best. The first half of round one saw Gomi work some powerful ground-and-pound from the guard; the last half of the first round saw Diaz pick Gomi apart on the feet with the “Fireball Kid” so tired he was unable to even lift them in any sort of defense. It was an amazing give-and-take round that gave way to an even better second round ending in an excellent gogoplata by the underdog Diaz.
2. Dan Miller vs Dave Phillips - If you missed this fight from the IFL semi-finals in August, do yourself a favor and go watch the ending. If you think you’ve seen deep guilotine chokes in the past, you’ve never seen anything like this. To be honest, I’m not sure how Dave Phillips head didn’t snap off his neck. Just plain disgusting… I loved it.
3. Brad Imes vs Zak Jensen and Bo Cantrell - Sure, you remember Brad Imes. The “Hillbilly Heartthrob” made the finals of season 2 of the ultimate fighter. Well, the 6′ 7″ standup fighter will virtually no known ground game, managed to submit Zak Jensen via gogoplata in the first round. Just over a month later, Imes once again pulled off another improbable gogoplata, this time against Bo Cantrell. I don’t care if you are Royce Gracie, pulling off a gogoplata in competition is impressive; pulling it off twice back-to-back is next to impossible.

Best Knockout

1. Gabriel Gonzaga vs Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic - A known jiu-jitsu specialist, Gabriel Gonzaga wasn’t expected to do much against Mirko Cro Cop. Gonzaga brought the Croatian to the mat, and introduced the PrideFC veteran to what elbows to the head can do to change a fight. Gonzaga worked Cro Cop against the cage and was landing blow after blow then referee Herb Dean inexplicably stood the two fighters up. The restart on the feet would seem to have favored Cro Cop, but instead Gonzaga continued his onslaught and brutally KO’d Cro Cop with a right head kick that crumpled Mirko in a twisted mess.
2. Rashad Evans vs Sean Salmon - Rashad Evans was quietly working his way up the UFC light heavyweight when he faced Sean Salmon, who was making his UFC debut. To say Salmon was outclassed coming into the match is an understatement. From the moment Salmon decided to do a kung fu style front snap kick, we all knew where the fight was headed. When Evans landed a kick to the face of Salmon, ala Chuck Liddell vs Renato Sobral, you could tell things didn’t look good for Salmon. As Sean lay on the mat motionless against the cage, the UFC cut to commercial break. When they returned and interviewed Rashad, the viewing audience had no idea that Salmon was still unconscious laying on the mat being put onto a stretcher. Devastating KO to say the least.
3. Robbie Lawler vs Frank Trigg - My guess is that most fight fans didn’t get a chance to see this fight between Trigg and Lawler at ICON Sport 50 back in March. Both guys went headhunting from the start as there was no love lost between the two fighters; to say they disliked each other would be an understatement. The first round say Trigg trying to work some heavy ground-and-pound with Lawler able to bring the fight back to the feet. Round two saw bombs thrown from both fighters with Lawler staggering Trigg but unable to finish him off. Round three saw both fighters visibly fatigued but determined to knock the other fighter out. The fourth and final round ended with Lawler backing Trigg into the corner and landing huge right and left hand shots to Trigg’s face that crumpled “Twinkle-toes” to the mat. Lawler managed to land one final brutal uppercut for good measure after it was apparently Trigg was finished.
4. Honorable Mention - KO of the year is such a tough category that I have to give credit to a few other knockouts that easily could have been in the top 3. Houston Alexander’s brutal KO of Keith Jardine is one that I will remember for a long time - it’s not very often you see a fighter get completely lifted off his feet from a punch to the body. Dan Henderson’s KO off Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 was a moment that will be replayed for years to come in MMA highlight reels. Anderson Silva’s complete domination over Rich Franklin was unnerving to say the least - Franklin and his nose have yet to recover. Scott Smith’s heroic last minute KO over Pete Sell was straight out of a feature film - already reeling from a blow to the body, Smith summoned all he had left and clipped Sell on the chin to win the fight.

Breakout Fighter of the Year

1. Roger Huerta - No other fighter’s year paralleled the success and rise the UFC had as closely as Roger Huerta. In late 2006, Huerta made his UFC debut and then proceeded to fight and win 5 fights over the course of 2007. Huerta was in two brutal scraps against Leonard Garcia and Clay Guida and came out ahead both times. Grabbing the cover of Sports Illustrated after his victory at UFC 69 didn’t hurt either, as Huerta became a new sensation to the Latin community as well. Criticized early on for only having fought fighters making their UFC debuts, Huerta silenced those critics with his submission victory over Guida. Huerta most definitely will slow down in 2008 and may even suffer his first UFC loss, but there is no denying that after his run through 2007, every MMA fan knows who Roger Huerta is.
2. Jon Fitch - Jon Fitch had spent his UFC career quietly winning his fights and taking care of business. Fitch was content to stay in the shadows and continue to build his record and skillset. 2007 brought Jon Fitch the respect and recognition that he deserved as. With three victories including a strong performance against Diego Sanchez, Fitch is poised for a title shot sometime in 2008 and will no longer be relegated to Fight Night cards of PPV undercards.
3. Clay Guida - Prior to 2007, Clay Guida was known to only the devoted MMA fans as he had spent his time struggling through the “lower leagues” of the MMA landscape. A victory over Josh Thompson and a five round war with Gilbert Melendez in Strikeforce caught the attention of Joe Silva and Dana White, and they extended a contract to the scrappy lightweight. Guida took part in two fight of the year nominees in bouts against Tyson Griffin and Roger Huerta. While Guida’s UFC record only stands at 2-3, his energy and talents will keep him in the UFC for a long time to come and his stock only gets stronger and stronger.

Fight of the Year

1. Nick Diaz vs Takanori Gomi - Don’t believe this was the best fight of the year? Go back and watch it again like I did. Going into the fight, most fans assumed they would get treated to a good fight between the scrappy Diaz and the “Fireball Kid”. Diaz looked in trouble early on as Gomi seemed to be controlling him from the guard with some hard shots and ground-and-pound. When they stood back up halfway into the round, Diaz started using his reach advantage to land solid shots to Gomi’s face that snapped his head back with each blow. Gomi then unleashed a shot that staggered Diaz and dropped him back to the canvas. The round ended with Gomi looking as if he could pass out at any minute from exhaustion, and Diaz raising his hands in confidence after landing blow after blow to Gomi’s face. The second round included more of the same until Gomi took Diaz down, which led to his demise. Diaz grabbed his left leg and slapped on a nice gogoplata and held on for a little extra after Gomi tapped to end the fight.
2. Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva - For a fight we all waited so long to see, we were treated to a battle that almost completely lived up to the hype and build-up; the only downfall being that no one was knocked out. Chuck and Wandi stood and traded blows with each other for a full three rounds just waiting to put the other to sleep. The Iceman rocked the Axe Murderer and the Axe Murderer returned the favor to the Iceman. For the full 15 minutes of the fight, there was the distinct feeling that the fight was bound to end at any moment in spectacular fasion. But that moment never came, and yet the fight seemed satisfying nonetheless.
3. Randy Couture vs Tim Sylvia - For five rounds, I sat on my couch in disbelief as I watched Randy Couture win the heavyweight title at the age of 44. From the opening moments when Randy dropped Sylvia to the mat with a quick right hand to the final horn, Couture completely dominated the fight. Tim Sylvia was so out of his element that before the start of the final round he didn’t even know what the current round was. The only thing Tim was able to do all night was let out several huge belches in between rounds. Captain America strikes again.
4. Honorable Mention - Fight of the Year is another category where there are several fights that didn’t make the top 3 that still deserve recognition. Tyson Griffin vs Frank Edgar was one of several fight of the year candidates that Griffin fought in - Frank Edgar entered the UFC on a mission and has since dispatched Griffin, Mark Bocek and Spencer Fisher. Roger Huerta vs Leonard Garcia was an extremely exciting fight from start to finish - what the fight lacked in technical merit it made up for in pace and aggression. Jason Black vs Matt Grice was a fight that virtually no one saw yet everyone should watch if at all possible. Shad Lierly vs Chris Horodecki. was one of those fights that the IFL needs if they are going to be able to continue on as a valid MMA promotion.

Fighter of the Year

1. Quinton Jackson - Looking around the online MMA community, it seems that Quinton Jackson has been the unanimous choice for fighter of the year, and I’m going to join that consensus. “Rampage” made his UFC debut in 2007 with a somewhat shaky victory over Marvin Eastman. Jumping right into the mix, light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell was next up for Jackson, a fighter he had previously defeated in PrideFC. With Liddell looking to avenge the loss, Jackson KO’d the champ less than two minutes into the first round and grabbed the belt from the UFC poster-boy. Next up was current PrideFC champion Dan Henderson who had previously KO’d Wanderlei Silva to grab the middleweight belt in addition to his welterweight belt. Quinton showed he can go the distance in a battle and defeated Henderson and legitimately unifying the Pride and UFC belts for the first time in history.
2. Anderson Silva - Anderson Silva was a very close second for fighter of the year and almost deserves co-number one honors. Not so much for the names of the fighters he defeated but the manner in which his victories occurred. During 2007, Silva defended his UFC middleweight title three times and none of the fights made it halfway thru the second round. Silva easily rolled through Travis Lutter and made Nathan Marquardt look like an up-and-comer instead of the MMA veteran he is. In his rematch with Rich Franklin, the Spider showed that a good gameplan can work more than once as he proceeded to rearrange Franklin’s face one more time. In 2008, Silva can look to do what Fighter of the Year Quinton Jackson did and unify the UFC and PrideFC 185lb titles as he will face Dan Henderson, but looking back on 2007, Silva became one of the most feared fighters in the game today.
3. Randy Couture - For a 44 year-old fighter to still compete at the highest level of mixed martial arts is amazing. For that same fighter to come out of retirement, move up a weight class and proceed to win and defend the title is remarkable. Randy Couture is both: amazing and remarkable. When Randy announced he was coming back from retirement, not many gave him a chance to win the heavyweight belt back from Tim Sylvia, myself included. Even after dominating Syliva, not many people gave Randy a shot against Gabriel Gonzaga. I’m sure if and when Randy fights Fedor, not many people will give him a shot as well. But Randy just keeps proving the doubters and nay-sayers wrong and that is what makes him so special.

Looking back on 2007, we had a bunch of great moments and stories to talk about and I’m sure 2008 will only bring more of the same.