Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:02 pm

MMA has been the fastest growing sport in terms of popularity in the U.S. A lot of credit goes to Dana White who has worked hard to promote the sport but also runs the UFC like a nazi. They have a stranglehold on MMA in the United States and are quickly becoming the elite MMA league in the world.

Who was the best fighter this year?

BigCat8 · Post by **BigCat8** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:09 pm

I almost voted Aldo, but then remembered that GSP is just completely unfuckwitable.

Aldo has a stacked division to deal with and has displayed short-term dominance, but GSP has more or less cleaned out his division and is just toying with opponents at this point. Bored with completely outwrestling opponents? Work on the jab. He's challenging himself because nobody else can.

ADR · Post by **ADR** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:52 pm

Chael Sonnen willed his way over a perceivably super-human Nate Marquardt, who on a tear through the middle-weight division power-bombed Thales Leitas, blitzkrieged Martin Kampmann, and punched Damian Maia right out the sky.

Then he did enough shit-talking to make the media (and everyone else) care about a lukewarm title-shot with Anderson Silva in which he did exactly what he said he was going to do for the majority of the bout before falling victim to a submission in the final minutes of the 5th round.

I don't think he was the best fighter of 2010, but he definitely deserves recognition.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:58 pm

El Rey wrote:Chael Sonnen willed his way over a perceivably super-human Nate Marquardt, who on a tear through the middle-weight division power-bombed Thales Leitas, blitzkrieged Martin Kampmann, and punched Damian Maia right out the sky.

Then he did enough shit-talking to make the media (and everyone else) care about a lukewarm title-shot with Anderson Silva in which he did exactly what he said he was going to do for the majority of the bout before falling victim to a submission in the final minutes of the 5th round.

I don't think he was the best fighter of 2010, but he definitely deserves recognition.

He did steroids. Consider him not being considered.

ADR · Post by **ADR** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:59 pm

ALLEGEDLY!

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:59 pm

Fred davis is the future.

Kid That's Lifeless · Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:58 am

naturalborn103 wrote:Fred davis is the future.

Phil Davis, maybe?

GSP is the answer. I'm pretty much convinced he won't lose another fight.

kato · Post by **kato** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:09 pm

El Rey wrote:ALLEGEDLY!

I thought he admitted to taking roids...

SuperFeen · Post by **SuperFeen** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:40 pm

tempted to vote Frankie, beat BJ twice and despite a 10-8 first round he fought Maynard to a draw

but it's got to be GSP, no one dominates top ten competition like him.

the dead poet · Post by **the dead poet** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:41 pm

SuperFeen wrote:tempted to vote Frankie, beat BJ twice and despite a 10-8 first round he fought Maynard to a draw

but it's got to be GSP, no one dominates top ten competition like him.

voted Edgar for said reason.

Beastly Swagger · Post by **Beastly Swagger** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 2:12 am

Quotashun · Post by **Quotashun** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:00 am

the dead poet wrote:
SuperFeen wrote:tempted to vote Frankie, beat BJ twice and despite a 10-8 first round he fought Maynard to a draw

but it's got to be GSP, no one dominates top ten competition like him.
voted Edgar for said reason.

Positive A · Post by **Positive A** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 2:24 pm

vermillion · Post by **vermillion** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:05 pm

It has to be Cain Velasquez. Do people honestly have that short of memory? Nogueira was ranked in the top 5 (most places had him at 4) when they fought. Also, Brock was ranked anywhere between 1 and 3. Only fighter on the list besides Edgar who fought that big of competition. Maynard happened in January so I don't count that, and he probably should have lost the first BJ fight. GSP was dominate but he didn't really fight the best of competition. Koscheck beat Daley which was a solid top 10 win and an overrated Anthony Johnson. Hardy got the fight by default pretty much considering he only beat Swick, Davis and Rory Markham in his 3 fights before he fought GSP. Rua only beat Machida, although it was very impressive it was his only fight of last year. Aldo was the only fighter I really considered. He beat a top 3 Faber and Manny who got overrated because he knocked out Brown.

Anyways, it's definitely Velasquez or Aldo and I went with Cain.

Kid That's Lifeless · Post by **Kid That's Lifeless** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:28 pm

Who were the two people that voted for Anderson? I would love to hear the logic behind that.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:33 pm

I did.

I'm at work.

I'll give the logic behind it when I get home after watching the football games tonight.

Kid That's Lifeless · Post by **Kid That's Lifeless** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:34 pm

Sounds good.

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:10 pm

Kid That's Lifeless wrote:
naturalborn103 wrote:Fred davis is the future.
Phil Davis, maybe?

Yea, I just saw reports of fred davis throwing drinks at chicks at a club and got confused. I bet he has a belt by end if this year. Best wrestler I have seen in MMA outside of GSP.

Kid That's Lifeless · Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:58 pm

naturalborn103 wrote:
Kid That's Lifeless wrote:
naturalborn103 wrote:Fred davis is the future.
Phil Davis, maybe?
Yea, I just saw reports of fred davis throwing drinks at chicks at a club and got confused. I bet he has a belt by end if this year. Best wrestler I have seen in MMA outside of GSP.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that he will not have the belt.

Kid That's Lifeless · Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:06 am

And I say that because 205 is super crowded right now not because he is a bad fighter.

Prophecy · Post by **Prophecy** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:37 am

Kid That's Lifeless wrote:And I say that because 205 is super crowded right now not because he is a bad fighter.

205 remains being absolutely fucking stacked

SuperFeen · Post by **SuperFeen** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:09 pm

vermillion wrote:It has to be Cain Velasquez. Do people honestly have that short of memory? Nogueira was ranked in the top 5 (most places had him at 4) when they fought. Also, Brock was ranked anywhere between 1 and 3. Only fighter on the list besides Edgar who fought that big of competition. Maynard happened in January so I don't count that, and he probably should have lost the first BJ fight. GSP was dominate but he didn't really fight the best of competition. Koscheck beat Daley which was a solid top 10 win and an overrated Anthony Johnson. Hardy got the fight by default pretty much considering he only beat Swick, Davis and Rory Markham in his 3 fights before he fought GSP. Rua only beat Machida, although it was very impressive it was his only fight of last year. Aldo was the only fighter I really considered. He beat a top 3 Faber and Manny who got overrated because he knocked out Brown.

Anyways, it's definitely Velasquez or Aldo and I went with Cain.

ya I can see all this but I gave GSP the edge because each of these guys had a win over legit top 10(Brock, Faber, and Kos) and a win over a pretty soft top 10(Big Nog, Manny, and Hardy) of those I think Hardy is a better win than either Nog or Manny.

vermillion · Post by **vermillion** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:40 pm

SuperFeen wrote:
vermillion wrote:It has to be Cain Velasquez. Do people honestly have that short of memory? Nogueira was ranked in the top 5 (most places had him at 4) when they fought. Also, Brock was ranked anywhere between 1 and 3. Only fighter on the list besides Edgar who fought that big of competition. Maynard happened in January so I don't count that, and he probably should have lost the first BJ fight. GSP was dominate but he didn't really fight the best of competition. Koscheck beat Daley which was a solid top 10 win and an overrated Anthony Johnson. Hardy got the fight by default pretty much considering he only beat Swick, Davis and Rory Markham in his 3 fights before he fought GSP. Rua only beat Machida, although it was very impressive it was his only fight of last year. Aldo was the only fighter I really considered. He beat a top 3 Faber and Manny who got overrated because he knocked out Brown.

Anyways, it's definitely Velasquez or Aldo and I went with Cain.
ya I can see all this but I gave GSP the edge because each of these guys had a win over legit top 10(Brock, Faber, and Kos) and a win over a pretty soft top 10(Big Nog, Manny, and Hardy) of those I think Hardy is a better win than either Nog or Manny.

Maybe in 20/20 hindsight, but Nogueira was looked at as at least top 5. He was coming off a dominating performance of Couture and avenged all of his losses besides Fedor and he didn't have an opportunity against Mir. Hardy only beat Swick and Davis, both of which weren't top 10 in my books. Also, most people thought Nogueira was the favorite in the fight. Lesnar was also the only fighter that people may have thought was ranked number 1. Aldo and GSP were also champs before this year, so Cain sort of has more of a story. He went from a top prospect, who had a glass jaw and with no power, to an undefeated champion. I do think GSP and Aldo are probably better fighters, but this was Cain's year.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:19 pm

Kid That's Lifeless wrote:Who were the two people that voted for Anderson? I would love to hear the logic behind that.

Silva has made every fight he's fought in look effortless......really, because no one is on his level. His last fight vs. Chael Sonnen was arguably the fight of the year. That would probably be a black mark against Silva but he went into the fight with bruised ribs and Sonnen was roided out for the fight.

The man is too lethal when it comes to standup and is legitimately dangerous on the ground as well. He remains the best fighter in the world, imo, when it comes to using elbows and knees.

To me, voting for anyone else is akin to voting for Karl Malone, David Robinson, and Charles Barkley for those MVP awards in the 90's when Jordan should've won them. Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

Kid That's Lifeless · Post by **Kid That's Lifeless** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:05 pm

I don't disagree that he is top P4P and his comeback win verse Chael was great, but one of his two fights this year was a fucking joke. He acted like an asshole in the Maia fight and he didn't really do shit after the second round except clown Demian.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:14 pm

even though he did act like an asshole, all it did was further prove to me how much better he is then everyone else.

also let's not be completely anti-silva here, maia really didn't try to fight him after round 1. go back and watch the fight again.

Kid That's Lifeless · Post by **Kid That's Lifeless** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:22 pm

I see what you're saying, I just don't agree with all of it. Instead of looking to Maia to attack, Anderson should've gone in for the kill (because as you said, he is much better than Maia).

Also, Anderson is probably my favorite fighter, so I'm def not anti-Silva.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:44 pm

Kid That's Lifeless wrote:I see what you're saying, I just don't agree with all of it. Instead of looking to Maia to attack, Anderson should've gone in for the kill (because as you said, he is much better than Maia).

Even though Silva's style is somewhat predicated on counter striking the opponent, Maia fought the last few rounds like a complete pussy even when Silva tried to press the issue at a couple points. There was no way for Silva to go in for the kill.

I'm pretty convinced the fight would've finished the same way and we'd instead be upset at Maia if Silva didn't do any dance routines and taunt Maia during the fight. The reason Silva did all that shit was to try to goad Maia into an actual fight. Maia realized real quick that he wasn't going to win the fight and tried to prolong it as long as possible. You could tell from the change in expression that Maia has in round 1.

vermillion · Post by **vermillion** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:26 pm

The award is "Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year" not "Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter". Also, the basketball analogy doesn't really work, because if Jordan came in and seemed like he wasn't trying he would get flack, but Anderson gets props by some fans.

Gregg Popabitch · Post by **Gregg Popabitch** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:18 pm

vermillion wrote:The award is "Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year" not "Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter".

lol @ playing the "definition" card with the guy that made the poll.

seriously laughing hard here.

I really think making a distinction between "who is the best fighter" and "who is the best fighter of the year" is pretty retarded but I am not going to tell you how to vote. I mean, there are still sportswriters that pick Cy Young based on wins and that is just as bad.

as for the 2nd part of your argument, more people give silva hate then props for the past year. also, if jordan didn't try and still did his thing, that would be impressive as hell.

Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year

Who is the best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year?

Best Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year