2007 Year In Review

2007 marked the first year that Mixed Martial Arts was recognized on a somewhat level playing field with the rest of the sports world. Even though a lot of time and effort was put into the general expansion of the sport, the fighters and promoters still had enough left in the tank to make this the most compelling year the sport has ever seen. Some storylines were good for the sport while others hurt its reputation, but each provided publicity, the one thing this sport will never turn down. Originally written for MMA Madness

Story of the year: The Purchase of PRIDE. This deal, years in the making, brought just about every major fighter (with the exception of Fedor Emelianenko) under the UFC’s tent. It paved the way for dream match ups we thought we’d never see. And it added freshness to two divisions which had recently run stale. No more just Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell – suddenly, Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, and Wanderlei Silva were all possibilities! And with Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia closing the chapter on their trilogy, it was nearly too good to be true that the UFC was locking down both Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Okay, so it was too good to be true, but it was exciting at the time.

It wasn’t just the fighters that made this purchase so special, although they certainly added to the excitement. It was the promise that Dana White would create the Super Bowl of MMA and do his best to bring all the best fighters together under one set of rules. Finally, it meant that one organization had set itself apart from the pack and would be around for quite some time. The underlying fear of every MMA fan is that the sport will be dubbed a fad among mainstream media and end up losing the attention and money which has recently been pumped into its expansion. Hardcore fans will always love the sport, but the addition of PRIDE under the Zuffa umbrella ensured that others would be able to enjoy it too.

Honorable mentions:

1. Fight analysts were stymied all year long by what came to be known as the year of the upset. After picking Sylvia, Georges St. Pierre, Filipovic, and Liddell in straight sets (UFC 68-71), I was just about ready to throw in my keyboard and call it quits. This year, and the upsets which defined it, forced all fight fans to reconsider what they thought they knew about the sport.

2. Even though it was only of interest after July 7, 2007, steroids made up a large portion of discussion among writers, fans and fighters. Some, such as St. Pierre chose to stay silent on the subject while others, like Melvin Guillard, flat out called Sean Sherk “a coward.” Steroids divided the MMA world and were a never-ending source of debate this year.

3. Even more recent than the steroids storyline is the saga of Dana White versus Randy Couture. While the story is still in its infancy, it has provided fans with a unique look into the world of signing bonuses, contracts, and the business end of the UFC. It has also reinforced what we thought we knew about The Natural – he’ll do what he thinks is right, regardless of the impact on his wallet or his celebrity status.

4. The MMA community was shocked and saddened by the death of Sam Vasquez, the first fighter to die from combat-related injuries in a sanctioned bout. It forced us to reevaluate the dangers of the sport we love.

Fighter of the year: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rampage won three times this year, all in convincing fashion. His first bout was a revenge fight against Marvin Eastman, the man who had handed Rampage his first career loss. Rampage outgunned Eastman to a second round TKO victory. His second fight, just four months later, was against the then-unbeatable Chuck Liddell. Rampage transitioned beautifully to this opportunity, knocking out Liddell in the first round. The path didn’t get any easier for the new champion as he then met the newly-signed Dan Henderson at UFC 75. Rampage rolled along, winning a unanimous decision and proving to all that he was the real deal. In the final success of Rampage’s tour de force year, he was named as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter season 7.

Honorable mention: Anderson Silva. The Spider won three fights as well, beating Travis Lutter, Nathan Marquardt, and Rich Franklin, finishing them all within the first two rounds. As if that wasn’t enough, Silva passed Fedor on most pound-for-pound rankings by year’s end.

Fight of the year: A late entry, but no less worthy, the UFC 79 bout between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva garners fight of the year honors. This decision isn’t based on pre-fight excitement alone, however. It was a combination of the hype and the outcome that made it such an entertaining 15 minutes. In the first round, Liddell and Silva met numerous times for sets of short, brutal exchanges. Liddell seemed to take a page out of Keith Jardine’s playbook, peppering The Axe Murderer with leg kicks. In the second round, Silva dropped Liddell twice, but Liddell shot back up both times, eventually cutting Silva badly. Liddell ended the round with a surprising take down of the BJJ black belt. The third round was slightly slower than the first two, each fighter taking a calculated approach to striking. Liddell once again got the best of the exchanges, nearly knocking out Silva with a spinning back fist. Silva recovered quickly, as he had done all night, and stalked Liddell to a decision loss. What had long been called the most anticipated fight in MMA history certainly did not disappoint.

Honorable mention: Another great late fight, the TUF 6 finale main event between Clay Guida and Roger Huerta, was just as action-packed as any 155-pound bout we had seen all year. Guida dominated most of the fight, striking and taking down Huerta at will. Huerta, however, was patient and ending up locking in a rear naked choke in the final round of action.

Knockout of the year: I hate to give one man a sweep of fighter of the year and KO of the year, but there wasn’t a knockout more meaningful and definitive than Jackson’s KO of champion Chuck Liddell. Jackson, now working with boxing instructor Juanito Ibarra, rolled under a Liddell haymaker and landed his own right hook on Liddell’s chin. Jackson followed up on the ground for good measure, forcing Big John McCarthy to jump in.

Honorable mention: It didn’t take long into the Gabriel Gonzaga-Mirko Filipovic fight to recognize that Cro Cop wasn’t himself. Gonzaga seemed to be controlling the pace of fight, connecting with more shots, and looked like the more experienced fighter. This belief was confirmed when Gonzaga swung his leg high in the air, blasting Cro Cop in the head, and knocking him out cold. The method (Cro Cop’s signature move) and the aftermath (the image of a mangled Cro Cop) made this KO one for the ages.

Submission of the year: Nick Diaz’s gogoplata over Japanese legend Takanori Gomi was just the second time the rare submission had been used in PRIDE fighting competition. The choke, usually done from the rubber guard (see Eddie Bravo’s excellent book on this guard), involves pushing the shin against the trachea of the opponent. The fight didn’t have much meaning, and the outcome was eventually overturned on drug charges, but none of this mattered to MMA purists, who delighted in the “gogo” win.

Honorable mention: When St. Pierre locked in an arm bar with just four seconds remaining in the second round of his Interim title fight against Matt Hughes, it wasn’t just St. Pierre winning another fight or even winning another title. It was St. Pierre avenging his first UFC loss in the exact same manner in which he had been beaten. Poetic justice, not grandiosity, is what made this submission so special.

2007 was spectacular but with the prospect of more talented fighters entering the ranks, younger fighters maturing to a greater degree, and stronger competition across the board, 2008 should prove to be no less enjoyable.