By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist Throughout this week, we'll present a number of articles from MMATorch writers detailing their top ten stories of 2010. Check back during the week for a different perspective on the year that was MMA in 2010. #10 - The Return of Brock Lesnar The announcement of Brock Lesnar's return from a potentially life threatening illness last year was a major headline, not just in mixed martial arts, but in all of sports. The former UFC heavyweight champion's bout with diverticulitis threatened not only his athletic career, but his quality of life. The announcement of his return sent shockwaves throughout the world of mixed martial arts, and his come from behind title defense against Shane Carwin created as much of a "feel good moment" as a man with Lesnar's disposition can deliver.
#9 - Zuffa Sells 10% Stake to Flash Entertainment Zuffa selling a 10% minority stake in their company to the United Arab Emirates based Flash Entertainment was a monumental step forward in globalizing the UFC brand. The relationship with Flash Entertainment allows the UFC to gain steam in parts of the world that otherwise would have been off limits to an American company looking to make brutality profitable.
#8 - The Rise of Alistair Overeem Say what you will of the quality of his competition in MMA since moving up to heavyweight, but the accomplishments of the Alistair Overeem simply cannot be ignored. Between December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010, Alistair Overeem has done nothing but damage to Kazuyuki Fujita Dzevad Poturak, Brett Rogers, Ben Edwards, Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, Peter Aerts, and Todd Duffe. Overeem went unblemished in both K-1 and MMA, stopped seven of eight fights in the first round, and is now in possession of the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Championship, Dream Interim Heavyweight Championship, and Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. Overeem was perhaps the most dominant fighter in all of combat sports in 2010.
#7 - The Fall of Fedor Emelianenko An argument can, and likely will, be made about where Fedor's first legitimate loss in over 30 fights ranks on this list. Someone who fights as infrequently as Emelianenko does, and against such questionable competition, really does himself no favors in that regard. However, the end of the streak was still a huge moment in 2010, and still was the first legitimate loss for a man who has already proven himself to be one the greatest fighters to ever live. Fabricio Werdum's triangle choke victory over Fedor Emelianenko will remain one of the highlights of not only 2010, but in the history of the sport.
#6 - Strikeforce Brawl in Nashville "Strikeforce: Nashville" was the second foray onto CBS for Strikeforce, and it failed miserably on a number of levels. Apparently, putting on three championship fights in succession can be an incredible recipe for disaster. Strikeforce had to hang its head in shame after three title fights went the distance, and delivered a poor rating for CBS. To top off a lackluster night, a post-fight brawl erupted and strained an already shaky relationship between mixed martial arts and network television. Luckily, we had Gus Johnson to remind us that "sometimes these things happen in MMA."
#5 - Fans Take Notice of Poor Judging Judging is always going to be a problem in combat sports. Whenever a fight doesn't have a conclusive finish, there is bound to be dissension regarding the judge's outcome. What was noteworthy in 2010 was fans finally taking note of what to look for, who to look for, and why the judging is bad. People are finally coming to the stark realization that simply changing the system and the judging criteria isn't going to solve much when the judges themselves award rounds to the wrong person.
#4 - Chuck Liddell Officially Retires Chuck Liddell probably should have retired after Rashad Evans cleaned his clock in 2008, but he didn't. Liddell's first round TKO loss to Mauricio Rua in 2009 probably should have been the end of his career, but it wasn't. Rich Franklin, someone who isn't really known for possessing brutal knockout power (ignore the Nate Quarry highlight reel) put him out cold in 2010, and that is what finally forced Liddell to consider retirement and end a legendary run as the biggest name and face in MMA.
Liddell's retirement being such a foregone conclusion hurts its standing as a major story in 2010, but the fact that it isn't news is partially testament to Liddell's greatest contribution to the sport. He was the big star when the UFC needed him most. Liddell brought eyes to a dying sport which made it possible for fans to be exposed to today's fighter, and for that Liddell's legacy will forever be as the probable savior of mixed martial arts.
#3 - The Rise and Fall of Chael Sonnen Prior to UFC 109, Chael Sonnen was just another fighter. The world simply viewed him as the man who lied about submitting to Paulo Filho, and a man that was absolutely manhandled by Demian Maia at UFC 95. It wasn't until Sonnen saw a UFC middleweight title opportunity within his grasp that he decided to up his status by trash talking Anderson Silva, and pretty much everyone else he could think of.
Heading into 2010, Sonnen had already established himself in the UFC's middleweight division with wins over Dan Miller and perennial contender Yushin Okami. But it wasn't until Sonnen was able to dominate Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 that the world really took notice of his abilities as a ground and pound specialist of the very highest order. Sonnen's performance against Marquardt was much more dominant than he'd ever been, and against the best opponent he'd faced up to that point.
Already having built up a fight with Anderson Silva prior to the Marquardt fight, Sonnen increased the scope of his campaign by attacking the Nogueira brothers and Lance Armstrong. His comments about Armstrong giving himself cancer through steroid use got him in particular hot water with Jim Rome, who up to that point was Sonnen's biggest supporter. When faced with what he said about Armstrong, Sonnen claimed that a man with a "Hispanic accent" made those comments, and not himself.
Sonnen would eventually go on to lose to Anderson Silva at UFC 117 despite a dominant performance up until the fifth round. The performance took a lot of attention off of Sonnen's dubious pre-fight comments and questionable character. However, after UFC 117 it was announced that Sonnen had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Sonnen would go dark for months leading up to his hearing with the California State Athletic Commission, where Sonnen told a series of wild stories and bold faced lies to fool the obviously incompetent governing body into reducing his sentence.
Spilling into early 2011, Sonnen's reputation took yet another run through the mud, as he was forced to plead guilty to money laundering charges levied against him by the federal government. By far one of the biggest stories of 2010 was the rise of a middleweight that went under most people's radar for most of his career, who eventually blew his big chance for fame both inside and outside the Octagon.
#2 - New Champions Defeat the Un-defeatable By the latter portion of 2009, most were positive that we were in for a number of long title reigns. Zuffa champions like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, B.J. Penn, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, and perennial "sort of champion" were thought to be champions for the long haul. By the end of 2010, only St. Pierre, Silva, and Aldo remained at the top of their divisions.
B.J. Penn was thought to be absolutely unbeatable in his own weight class, as his most crushing defeats were always outside of the lightweight class. However in 2010, he met his match against reigning UFC lightweight champion, and the consensus #1 lightweight in the world, Frank "The Answer" Edgar. Edgar just barely edged out a decision at UFC 112 in April, but absolutely dominated Penn when the two fought again in August.
Brock Lesnar's return to action saw him narrowly escape a first round stoppage against Shane Carwin, but ultimately succumb to the dynamism of Cain Valasquez. The two bouts exposed the biggest flaw in Lesnar's game, and really, the worst flaw a professional fighter can have; an outright fear of being struck in the face. In the span of one year, Lesnar went from looking like the "baddest man on the planet" to having a cool scar from a savage first round drubbing at the hands of Cain Valasquez.
In the minds of most, Lyoto Machida should have lost in 2009, but the judges at UFC 104 decided otherwise. Most believed Machida to still have the answer for every fighter, even after probable defeat against Mauricio Rua in 2009. Machida would go on to lose against Rua by vicious first round knockout against "Shogun" and then suffer a decision loss against Quinton Jackson in November.
#1 - The UFC-WEC Merger The biggest story coming out of 2010 is the UFC's absorption of the WEC. No other story even comes close. Not only is the UFC a much larger organization at the end of 2010, but we witnessed the end of one of the most exciting and entertaining fight promotions of all time.
The news of the UFC including the bantamweight and featherweight divisions is almost a story within a story. Not only does it mean more championships, more money for lighter weight fighters and more exposure for two of MMA's most entertaining divisions, but it also means the UFC will become much more cutthroat about who stays and who goes.
Since the announcement of the merger, we've already seen fighters like Brandon Vera, Marcus Davis, Gerald Harris, and Antonio McKee get the axe, with many more cuts to come. At this point, one almost has to look at every fight card and try to figure who's probably on the chopping block and who isn't. For fans, this could mean much better action on the whole. With the UFC now cutting more weight than Anthony Johnson, we'll likely see fighters of higher quality on a much more regular basis. Even if fighters are so afraid of the possibility of being cut that they perform conservatively, they themselves run the risk of not performing to the standards of the UFC and being eventually cut for that reason when they lose.
Good and bad, the merger is the biggest thing to happen in MMA in a number of years. The UFC will now being looking more towards Japan and Brazil for lighter weight prospects, and smaller organizations that are starving for fresh talent can feast upon the UFC's scraps. What's good for the UFC is generally good for MMA, and with the UFC overflowing, in 2011 we could see a slow trickling down of talent to other organizations to bolster thin rosters that orbit around the so-called "eight-hundred-pound gorilla."
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/amadis_take/article_8074.shtml
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