MMA of the year awards
Date: 2008-12-19 19:00:00
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3778558...
Submitted By: MMA Fight Dump
Years from now, MMA fans should look back on 2008 as the second-most important year in the sport's history. The first season of The Ultimate Fighter made 2005 the year that will always be remembered as the launching point for MMA. We had the network TV debut of MMA (which, of course, involved the phenomenon of Kimbo Slice), the implosion of the UFC's most serious competition (the IFL) and, of course, the most lucrative year yet for the UFC. In honor of a big year, we are handing out ESPN The Magazine/MMA Submission Blog's first batch of annual awards—call them the MMaggies. FIGHTER OF THE YEAR There are cases to be made for Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre and a few other fighters. But really, let's think about impact. Who had the biggest impact on the sport? Who drives pay-per-view sales mainstream fans and die-hards on the messageboards? Well, then hands-down, the winner is Brock Lesnar. Like him or not, think he's overrated or not, he had the biggest year. MOST IMPORTANT FIGHT OF THE YEAR This is another choice that will spark serious debate. I am picking Anderson Silva/Dan Henderson. It wasn't the greatest back-and-forth, all-out war that fans will never forget. But, impact-wise: Silva has emerged as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and his biggest test yet has been Dan Henderson, who I thought won the first round against Silva before being stopped in the second round by the most offensively-gifted fighter I've ever seen. And remember the impact of a fight featuring a PRIDE champion—Henderson had both the 185-pound and 205-pound belts at the time—against the UFC's dominant 185-pounder. INJURY OF THE YEAR Easy: Ken Shamrock's inexcusable preflight cut. That fight crippled CBS' final 2008 primetime show, and forced Elite XC to scramble to find Seth Petruzelli as Shamrock's last-minute replacement. Then Petruzelli tore up the network's cash cow, Kimbo Slice, in a debacle of a main event, while forcing an investigation with his post-fight comments that he had been paid extra to keep the fight standing. This led to the collapse of Elite XC and put Kimbo's career in limbo. PROSPECT OF THE YEAR We'll go with Jake Rosholt. Rosholt, a three-time NCAA wrestling champion, is the real deal. Years from now, don't be surprised if we look back on 2008 as the year that launched Rosholt. He's fighting in the reworked WEC right now. But it won't be long til we see Rosholt fighting in big UFC events. He has that kind of ability. PUNCH OF THE YEAR Gotta go with the Rashad Evans right hand that rocked Chuck Liddell, and the entire MMA world, for that matter. Evans' stunning knockout has forced MMA's most well-known star into career re-think mode. And now Evans will fight Forrest Griffin for the 205-pound title in the first TUF-on-TUF alumni title fight. WORST YEAR Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz definitely merit consideration. But our nod goes to Fedor Emelianenko. Yes, he's still great. Yes, he pummeled former UFC champ Tim Sylvia. But really, how did Fedor's handlers not end up putting their guy in the UFC? Years from now, I think we'll look back on 2008 as a seriously wasted opportunity. Fedor against Randy Couture to determine the world's top heavyweight fighter? That HAD to happen, and didn't. I think Fedor would have won, setting up a monster bout, eventually, against Brock Lesnar, or Minotauro Nogueira, or, who knows? We may never find out. Fedor is managed by the same hard-nosed people, who most MMA insiders have deemed impossible to deal with. MOST UNDERRATED YEAR Give this one to Michael Bisping. He racked up three wins, and he'll now coach the next season of TUF. His name may get drowned out a little by the bigger stars of MMA. But Bisping is a huge star in the UK, and known enough here to get big fights. Expect that Bisping, regardless of what you think of his actual fighting ability, emerges as a featured act this year. THE DANA WHITE AWARD (PROMOTER OF THE YEAR) Uh, Dana White. Again. Enough said. THE JON FITCH AWARD (BEST YEAR WITH LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT) This one is easy—Lyoto Machida. Some trainers think he's as talented and impossible to plan for as the biggest names in the sport. He's just not a star. But Machida has six straight wins in the UFC and is 13-0 overall. If he beats Thiago Silva on Jan. 31, he has to fight for a title, and soon.
