There has been many great fights so far this is year. 2011 is going to be a great year for mma. My personal favorite part of 2011 is all the great fighters coming to the UFC, do to the merger of the WEC. The the lighter weight classes have always been some of my favorite fights. This brings a lot more events and fights to be expected throughout the months to come. Some of my favorite and unexpected knockouts have already been revealed this year. These are some of the knockouts I have found the exciting and mind blowing so far.
In the main event of Titan Fighting Championships 16, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia took on Abe Wagner. Sylvia took the fight on just a few weeks notice and came in a heavy 311 pounds. Sylvia came forward early and landed a right hand, yet Wagner answered with a hard right that smashed into the side of Sylvia's head, sending him stumbling backwards. Sylvia backpedaled, trying to stay in the fight, yet Wagner pressed forward landing one punch after another, finally dropping Sylvia. Referee Jason Herzog jumped in to call the fight, with Tim Sylvia protesting the stoppage, yet clearly having been unable to defend himself, face down on the mat.
Commenting to Frank Trigg in the post-fight interview, Wagner stated, "I thought I'd have a big speed advantage... I knew if I got inside his jab I was money... I knew I caught him with one." Wow that reminded me of when Sylvia fought Randy Couture. That was an exciting fight to see.
Former TUF contestant and NFL football player Matt "Meat" Mitrione once again made his case as not only a serious mixed martial artist, but a potential divisional contender, with a knockout win over the sturdy Tim Hague at UFC's Fight for the Troops event on Spike TV.
Mitrione's first round KO was the second of three such conclusions to end the night, and came courtesy of a powerful left straight down the pipe that dropped Hague just under the three minute mark. Some perfunctory shots to the downed Hague finished things off as referee Dan Miragliotta separated the two fighters and waved matters off. Joe Rogan's in-fight commentary once again focused on the unusually dexterous footwork shown by the 260 lb. Mitrione, who showed himself able to stay light on his feet despite being one of the UFC's biggest fighters. He proved more maneuverable than Hague, who had found himself invited back inside the Octagon for his third stint in the promotion after some impressive performances outside it.
The pre-fight talk centered on Mitrione's tendency, irritating to some opponents, to smile his way through his Octagon encounters. Mitrione swore he would smile again throughout, and do so afterwards as well, and the prediction came true. He beamed through the post-fight interview, in which he paid homage to 135 pound champion Dominick Cruz. “I wanted to be a 265 pound Dominick Cruz,” said Mitrione. The win moved him upwards in the heavyweight divisional ladder as Hague once again found himself clinging to his job in the world's biggest promotion.
Class act and relatively unheralded former WEC product Brian Stann blasted out Chris Leben in the first round of their UFC 125 Co-Main Event to launch his MMA career to the next level. Previously best known for a trilogy of fights against another WEC contender turned UFC stablemate, Steve Cantwell, Stann lobbied for and received the Leben fight by promising, albeit impliedly, to stand and bang with one of the UFC's best brawlers. The Zuffa brass welcomed the standup war and granted Stann the shot.
Stann not only made good on his promise but made the most of the opportunity. While he did stand in front of Leben, he did so smartly, using superior footwork and angles to deliver shots with power while never taking Leben's best. At roughly the three minute mark, after a healthy dose of standup action, Stann caught Leben wading in, hurt him and then polished off one of the toughest chins in his or any other division with a swarming barrage of punches. Referee Josh Rosenthal rightly called the fight off at the 3:37 mark.
For Leben, who was later reported to be ill heading into the bout, the loss proved costly. He had as much momentum heading in as any UFC fighter after back-to-back wins inside the distance against Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro Akiyama. A win at 125 against Stann held the promise of a high profile and lucrative showdown against "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva in mid-2011. Instead, it was the newly marketable Stann who was granted the shot at Wand, where the UFC management clearly expected the same style of fight and a similar outcome via KO.
Stann handled his win over Leben humbly and gracefully in the post fight comments. He explained to UFC commentator Joe Rogan that he called out Leben because Leben was the toughest guy in the division and Stann wanted to test himself against the toughest. The combination of self-promotion and a great athletic performance the night of the fight paid off handsomely for the "All American."
Mark Hominick polished off George Roop in under 90 seconds at UFC's Fight for the Troops fundraising event on January 22, 2011 with the latest in a series of impressive performances for the streaking featherweight. Hominick's dominant striking display was the first of three fights in a row to end by first round knockout on the night. But Hominick's was the fastest, and also carried extra weight, as he earned a title shot with the win against vaunted Brazilian 145 lb. champion Jose Aldo.
Roop, the taller of the two fighters, started out game in the opening seconds with good kicking at range as well as punching combinations. But Hominickood kicking at range as well as punching combinations. But Hominick quickly found his rhythm and began tagging Roop with precision shots to the head. By the one minute mark Hominick was stalking Roop down, who clearly had no answer for Hominick's standup skill. The end came at 1:28 with a left hook to the jaw that dropped the stunned Roop. Referee Don Turnage quickly stepped in to call an end to the bout as Roop slumped against the fencing.
“You have to make statements with your performances, and I think I did that tonight,” said Hominick, who improved to 20-8 with the win. Roop momentarily challenged the stoppage, but quickly accepted it as he stumbled around the Octagon upon standing back up.
Jeremy Stephens scored one of the best knockouts of the new year when he turned off Marcus Davis's lights halfway through the third round of a lightweight fight he was almost certainly losing at UFC 125 on New Year's Day.
Davis was seeking to revive his foundering UFC career when he dropped to lightweight for the first time to face Stephens. The bout was hailed as a contest of skilled boxer (Davis) versus heavy banger (Stephens). The tilt was expected to remain largely on the feet, with Davis looking to outpoint "Lil' Heathen" while Stephens looked to clobber Davis with a big overhand. For two and a half rounds Davis executed just that gameplan. With the exception of a brief takedown by Davis in the first round, the contest remained standing, and Davis, a veteran of dozens of boxing matches, used superior angles and feints to elude Stephens and drop meaningful shots on him.
When the third round began, however, a charged up Stephens immediately pressed the action knowing he was down 2-0 and would need to finish. He closed the distance on Davis repeatedly and swung wildly, just missing his mark with what looked to be finishing power shots. Finally, at the 2:30 mark, Stephens connected on a giant right, sending Davis crashing to the canvas unconscious. Stephens followed up with one more big shot to the defenseless Davis a la Henderson on Bisping at UFC 100. Davis lay prone and the fight was over.
For Stephens it was a rousing comeback win from near certain defeat at the hands of the judges, and he charged around the ring with a wild-eyed jubilation. Stephens won Knockout of the Night honors for the thunderous finish. For Davis, it unfortunately spelled the end of a notable run in the UFC that began with great promise in 2005. The loss was his fourth in five fights, three of which by stoppages that left him unconscious on the canvas. The UFC cut Davis from its roster the following week, all flowing from a single punch that ended a fight he was otherwise winning, showing once again how fickle and how cruel the sport can be.
Melvin Guillard brought a swift end to his highly anticipated divisional showdown against fellow young lion Evan Dunham in UFC's Fight for the Troops Main Event, using superior hand and foot speed to connect repeatedly on Dunham's jaw for the barely three minute affair, which he won by knockout for his third victory in a row.
Dunham was tagged hard immediately out of the gate and looked to be on wobbly legs within seconds. The gritty up-and-coming contender rallied, however, securing an early takedown on Guillard where the two spent upwards of a minute working against the cage. Guillard eventually returned the fight to the feet, where his blinding array of power punches quickly spelled doom for Dunham. The end came at 2:58 following a powerful sequence of punches and knees from Guillard to the head of the slumping Dunham. As Dunham crumpled to the mat one more knee to the head - arguably illegal, but mere icing on the cake at that point - finished the job.
Guillard was succinct in his point fight comments, proclaiming himself the best 155er in the UFC and ready to earn a title shot in 2011 or 2012 at the latest. “I want my title shot,” said Guillard. “Keep lining them up and I’ll keep knocking them down. I will go undefeated in 2011.”
The great Anderson "The Spider" Silva brought a jaw-dropping end to UFC 126's Main Event, knocking out Vitor Belfort with a perfectly placed front head kick in the first round to retain his Middleweight Championship in front of a shocked Las Vegas crowd. Silva demonstrated once again that despite his occasional petulant antics and personal unpredictability, he remains one of the most scintillating athletes ever to set foot inside the Octagon, and a lock for the UFC's Hall of Fame.
The fight began in typical fashion for both men, as Silva and Belfort warily circled each other just outside the distance. The exchanges began with a Belfort leg kick and were only just opening up past the 3:00 mark when Silva uncorked another highlight reel for the ages. In the dead center of the Octagon he planted, looked into Belfort's chest and drove a leg kick forward. BelfortBelfort fell to the ground stunned, where Silva calmly moved his legs aside and dropped two more precision strikes to the jaw, one with each fist. Referee Mario Yamasaki called a halt at the 3:25 mark as Silva celebrated atop the Octagon fence. The KO of the Night earned the Brazilian an extra $75,000 and extended his already record run of UFC wins to 13, including 8 consecutive title defenses.
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| Anderson Silva KO's Vitor Belfort |
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