We are doing an end of the year award post for this amazing year of MMA
in 2012. We cover a variety of subjects and give you our take on what was the best
of the best. Let us know your choices in the comments section below!
Sam’s Awards
Fighter of the Year – Ronda Rousey: MMA had a rocky 2012, this is
something that the UFC will try to change in in the year 2013. But when men’s
MMA had a rocky year, women’s MMA had the best year in its history and it’s all
due to one women: Ronda Rousey. Being a former Olympic bronze medalist, she
smoothly made her transition into MMA with seven first round armbar finishes
heading into 2012. After snapping Miesha Tate’s arm in half and doing much of
the same to Sarah Kaufman in her first title defense, Rousey became a star. Her
natural sex appeal, aggressive personality, and dominant fighting style put women’s
MMA in the mainstream light. With what Rousey has done in only 365 days
is what makes her the Fighter of the Year.
Fight of the Year – Chan Sung Jung def. Dustin Poirier via D’Arce choke
at 1:07 of round 4: The equation for a fight of the year candidate consists of a
back and forth brawl, people being dropped, submission attempts, and an exhilarating
finish. This fight had that and a little more. They slugged it on the feet, Jung went for multiple
submissions in the second with almost getting a few, and ended up finishing
Poirier with Poirier’s favorite technique. There was only one other fight that
could be considered better and Dave picked it.
Round of the Year – Dustin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins via D’Arce
choke at 4:15 of round 1: Apparently Poirier loves to be in amazing fights.
After he lost in his Fight of the Year bout against Jung, he was looking for a
rebound fight against TUF winner, Jonathan Brookins. Brookins came out strong
and aggressive, pushing Poirier against the fence and swinging for the fences.
Poirier returned and eventually caught Brookins, dropping him into a sloppy
takedown attempt. Poirier countered with a D’Arce choke and finished him off.
Submission of the Year – Ronda Rousey def. Miesha Tate via armbar at
4:27 of round 1: When picking a submission or knockout of the year, it will
typically be a comeback win, the first of its kind, or a win with huge implications.
This is the third, but we didn’t know it at the time. Rousey won the fight, but
the huge explosion for women’s MMA is what causes this win to be my submission
of the year. Also the arm snapping didn't hurt, well, except Miesha Tate.
KO of the Year – Edson Barboza def. Terry Etim via KO (Spinning wheel
kick) at 2:02 of round 3: Did you really expect anything else? This knockout
was insane. I couldn’t stop watching it for weeks. Remember the three different
things a “Finish Of the Year” would need? This was the first of its kind. No one has
ever knocked anyone out with a spinning wheel kick in the UFC. And Etim just happened
to be frozen in time while falling unconscious.
Upset of the Year – Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO (punches)
at 3:23 of round 1: Varner’s return was a very unexpected surprise but he was
supposed to be absolutely blasted by Edson Barboza, who was coming off his win
over Terry Etim. Varner was about a 5-1 underdog in the betting lines heading
in, but an even bigger one in people’s opinions. Varner bum rushed him and
easily finished him in the first round.
Event of the Year – UFC 144: With a card filled with brutal knockouts,
awesome submissions, stunning upsets, insane comebacks, and all out wars, this card was
absolutely nuts. Sure there were one or two fights that weren’t that great but
seriously this card was one of the best in UFC history.
Comeback of the Year – Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO (punches)
at 0:54 of round 3: Heading into this fight, Boetsch was meant to be a rebound
win for Okami, who was coming off of his failed title shot. Okami was well on
his way to a possible 30-26 or 29-27 decision win but Boetsch came out into the
third round a different man. He completely demolished Okami in seconds into the
third round, pulling off one of the best comebacks of all time and best upsets
of the year.
Prospect of the Year – Max Holloway: At only 21 years old, Max Holloway
has already amassed a 2-1 record in the UFC. He possesses some of the most
technical striking in the UFC’s featherweight division. His last two wins over
Justin Lawrence and Pat Schilling are just the beginning of what this young prospect
can do.
Most Improved Fighter – Matt Brown: Heading into 2012, Matt Brown was
on the brink of being released from the UFC. He was 1-4 with all his losses
being submissions in the second round. His New Year resolution was apparently to become a
better fighter, and boy did he succeed at that. He ended up going 4-0 in 2012
with two big upsets and three T/KO finishes. That is the definition of
improved.
Moment of the Year – Jose Aldo Celebrating with Brazilian Crowd: At UFC
142 in Brazil, the featherweight champion Jose Aldo capped off the night with a
first round KO win over Chad Mendes. After his win, he ran into the wild crowd.
At first, I was worried because it seemed as though he was being mauled. But
then he was put upon the shoulders of a fan and was carried while swinging the
Brazilian flag. It was a very emotional and amazing scene.
Story of the Year – UFC 149 Injury Bug: Not only is this the story of
the year because it’s insane, but because it’s extremely comical. The amount of
injuries that this card sustained is absolutely mindboggling. I will give you a
quick rundown of what happened: Bisping was replaced by Lombard against
Boetsch. Yoshihiro Akiyama was supposed to fight Thiago Alves but pulled out,
Siyar Bahadurzada filled in. Alves pulled out and Chris Clements filled in.
Bahadurzada pulled out and Matt Riddle filled in. Thiago Silva was supposed to
fight Shogun but pulled out and Shogun left the card to fight Brandon Vera
later on. Jose Aldo, originally headlining against Erik Koch, pulled out and
Urijah Faber and Renan Barao ended up headlining after Dominick Cruz pulled out of his fight with Faber. George Roop was supposed to
fight Antonio Carvalho but pulled out and Daniel Pineda filled in. Big Nog,
originally fighting Cheick Kongo, was still healing from his broken arm he got
from Frank Mir. And last but not least, Claude Patrick was going to fight James
Head but pulled out and Brian Ebersole filled in. It not only was terrible but
led to one of the worst cards in MMA history.
Dave’s Awards
Fighter of the Year – Matt Brown: Yes, Matt “The Immortal” Brown. Brown
went 4-0 with 3 of those being finished by (T)KO. He destroyed one of the most
highly touted prospects in MMA in Stephen Thompson. And put a screeching halt
to Mike Swick’s comeback ride. Brown not only did all of this in a dominating
fashion but also made each fight incredibly fun to watch. Matt Brown is why I
watch MMA. He is talented and fun to watch. And in 2012 Matt Brown was the best.
Fight of the Year – Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via triangle choke at
2:44 of Round 3: This fight was freaking insane! Everyone watching this around
me lost their minds on at least 5 different times. It was a back-and-forth affair
that ended with a fantastic scramble that summed up the fight as a whole and got
Lauzon back in the win column.
Round of the Year – Ivan Menjivar def. John Albert via RNC at 3:45 of Round
1: This round was my favorite because I was certain it was over 2 times and
each time the other guy pulled it out somehow. Albert came at Menjivar like a wild animal. Albert was destroying him but Menjivar, the wily
vet, kept his cool and somehow came back and won in one of the most fun fights you’ll
ever see.
Submission of the Year – Wolfgang Janssen def. Aaron Armstrong via
Flying Reverse Triangle at 1:57 of Round 2: This fight didn’t mean much and it
was in a small promotion but it is one of the most amazing technical grappling maneuvers
I have ever seen. He didn’t get lucky in a scramble and run with it. Janssen
was looking for it and got it. Please go watch it on YouTube NOW!
KO of the Year – Johny Hendricks def. Martin Kampmann via KO at :46 of
Round 1: Both of these guys had a ton of steam coming into this fight and it
lived up to the hype. Most people thought Hendricks would outwrestle Kampmann
but he instantly put a big left hand on Kampmann and Kampmann went flying back like a punch
from Superman in a comic book. 46 seconds in and we found the scariest man at
170. Watch out GSP!
Upset of the Year – Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO at :54 of
Round 3: This fight was supposed to be a one sided beating, and for 2 rounds, it
was. Most people thought Okami would just throw Boetsch around and blanket him,
and for 2 rounds, he did. But then Boetsch decided to take Okami’s head off and
he did. Incredible.
Event – UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort: I’m a little biased because I was
there close to the action but the action was nonstop during this one. The night
started out with 3 straight 1st round finishes. Then there was Grant
vs. Dunham which could have been Fight of the Year. Then Vinny Magalhaes’
submission over Igor Pokrajac was a thing of beauty. A few fun fights later and
you get two amazing title fights! The first ever Flyweight Title fight which
was a back-and-forth technical battle and then Jon Jones defended his light
heavyweight title against legend Vitor Belfort. That fight alone was amazing.
All in all it was the best time I had watching MMA this year.
Comeback of the Year- Martin Kampmann def. Jake Ellenberger via TKO at
1:40 of Round 2: I thought Jake was going to destroy Martin. And he was well on his
way to doing so until Martin somehow landed a knee out of nowhere that sent
Jake to the ground in a heap. I was speechless at the time. I truly felt that Ellenberger would easily win that fight, but you can't ever count out Kampmann.
Prospect of the Year – Erik Perez: Perez is only 23 years old, is 2-0
in the UFC and both of those wins came against quality opponents. Not only that, but both of those
wins ended in the first round. On top of all of this, he trains at Jackson’s
camp. This kid has a huge chance to do something amazing at 135 pounds.
Most Improved Fighter – Cub Swanson: Cub has always been good but if
you were to tell me a year ago he would go 3-0 against great competition and
all of those wins coming by way of KO, I would think you’re nuts. He got
manhandled by Chad Mendes, barely won against Mackens Semerzier and then got
destroyed by Ricardo Lamas. But Cub went on a rampage in 2012 and most recently
destroyed fellow rising star, Charles Oliveira in just under 3 minutes. The sky
is the limit for Cub.
Moment of the Year – Vitor Belfort’s armbar attempt on Jon Jones at UFC
152: This fight was a joke to begin with. You had the scariest man alive, Jon
Jones, taking on aging and undersized Belfort squaring off on short notice. It was
ridiculous and you could tell from the ring of the bell that Jones was going to
destroy Belfort. Jones took Belfort down immediately and started to land
vicious elbows. But then out of nowhere, Belfort locks on an armbar that made
Jones wince in pain and the Air Canada Centre arena erupted in a noise like no
other. I’m a huge Jones fan and even I wanted to see Belfort pull it off. It
was incredible and even though Jones defended it off, it was an amazing moment
in MMA history.
Story of the Year – Women’s MMA makes it to the UFC: This was a huge
moment for MMA history as women will now be able to fight under the UFC banner.
It was a long time coming and I am so glad it has happened. I just hope that
they sign a ton of fighters and handle the women’s divisions better than they
have handled the 145, 135 and 125 divisions for men. Dana needs to keep them off of
Facebook and feature them often. I can’t wait
for this chapter in UFC’s history to begin.
