2013 MMA Year-End Awards

2013 MMA Year-End Awards

January 7, 2014

By Ryan Porzl

It's that time of year again. It's the 2013 MMA Year-End Awards. I shall award both the best of the year as well as the worst of the year in the world of mixed martial arts. To quote film critic Gene Siskel said about the academy, the same is true for the MMA media. These are choices that they would give if they are as smart as I am (just kidding). My worst awards will be the same rules that Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert made years ago which is I won't pick on obscure fighters, fights, or promotions no matter how bad they are. I'll pick on the big visible ones since they're more likely to be seen by more people and therefore, cause more suffering (ok I used the same intro as I did for my wrestling awards but I like it).

Fighter of the Year: Vitor Belfort (UFC)- 2013 featured many great fighters make good impressions but none as good as Belfort. Despite being 36 years old and a 16 year veteran, the Phenom never showed any wear and tear someone in his position would normally have. In fact, Belfort had the most successful period he's had in years. This year, Belfort went 3-0 and derailed many hype trains and accomplished a first. He began the year by scoring an impressive knockout over Michael Bisping which derailed the former Ultimate Fighter winners aspirations of a middleweight title shot. He followed with another impressive knockout, this time over the last Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold which also derailed Rockhold's momentum after a highly successful run in Strikeforce. Belfort ended the year on a high note by being the first fighter to knock out the legendary Dan Henderson and allowed Belfort to avenge a loss from 2006. Belfort will now enter 2014 as the #1 contender for the UFC Middleweight Title.

Fight of the Year: Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alverez II (Bellator MMA)- Chandler/Alverez II is an easy pick for fight of the year. The big reason being it was an incredible fight that saw both men give it there all and were such equals that the fight ended on a split decision. But the thing that separates this fight from other candidates is the fact this was the rematch of another incredible fight. Because the first was so good, the expectations were so high for this and it's usually hard for the sequel to be better or as good as the original. Yet in spite of that, the fight was still excellent and reached expectations. That says a lot and both fighters should be given credit.

Knockout of the Year: Kevin Belingon over David Aranda Santacara (ONE FC)- This was a brutal knockout. Nothing fancy about it. Belingon has been considered a prospect for a long time and after having a roller coaster run in ONE FC, he showed what he was capable of in December. It only took Belingon less than three minutes to land two hard punches on Sanatcara's ear which resulted in Santacara falling face first. The knockout is also pretty impressive when you take into consideration that Belingon is a bantamweight who is a natural flyweight.

Submission of the Year: Josh Burkman over Jon Fitch (WSOF)- This one is the most obvious by far. Heading into this fight, Fitch hadn't been submitted in 11 years and that was his debut fight. Along with that, Fitch was still considered by many to be a top 10 fighter with great submission defense and a huge favorite that already held a win over Burkman. None of this mattered to Burkman who rocked Fitch and quickly slapped on a guillotine that choked Fitch out and resulted in his first submission loss in 30 fights. As if all of this wasn't impressive enough, Burkman was able to do it in 41 seconds and Fitch was also coming off a fight against Damian Maia who is considered one of the best brazilian jiu-jitsu grapplers in MMA and Maia couldn't submitted Fitch in 15 minutes.

Story of the Year: Bellator MMA's stock rising- Bellator MMA taking that next level was the story of the year. This year Bellator finally made their debut on Spike TV where they enjoyed the highest ratings in the company's history. By the end of the year, Bellator consistently gets at least 500,000 viewers an episode and occasionally peaks at 1 million viewers. They also signed a major deal to extend their programming in Latin America and already draw high ratings in Russia. The promotion also strengthen their roster. They added many “name” fighters as well as adding many promising prospects. After years of building from the ground up, Bellator has now become one of the biggest promotions in the world.

Beatdown of the Year: Cain Velasquez on Junior Dos Santos (UFC)- This fight was the rubber fight and Velasquez not only won the trilogy but he put an exclamation point. This fight was as brutal as it got with Velasquez pinning Dos Santos to the fence for over 4 ½ rounds as he dismantled JDS. While the fight ended in the fifth round, it was brutal enough to the point where most fans believed that the fight should've ended in the third. To make matters worse, reports came out that said that JDS was so beat up that he forgot the fight went to the fifth and thought it ended in the third. It's safe to say that JDS not only lost the fight, not only lost the trilogy, but he probably lost some years in his career.

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Emanuel Newton (Bellator MMA)- Newton broke out big time in 2013. He was truly the fighter who was given the opportunity and ran with it. After coming very close in his first Bellator tournament back in 2012, Newton made the most of his second attempt. Not only did he win but looked impressive each time out and got his name on the map when he knocked out the tournament favorite King Mo in the semi finals. Proving it wasn't a fluke, Newton would not only defeat Mo again but won the Bellator Interim Light Heavyweight Championship. Having won an interim championship, a tournament, going 4-0, and beating a name fighter twice, Newton has accomplished more this year than any up and comer.

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Robbie Lawler (UFC)- At this time last year, Lawler was considered by many to be a washed up fighter coming into the UFC from Strikeforce. The thought among many is that he would wash out of the UFC in no time. Instead, Lawler saw a career rebirth and even scored some big upsets. Lawler went 3-0 this year as he defeated former title contender Josh Koscheck, put on a clinic against former Strikeforce fighter Bobby Voelker, and scored the biggest upset of the year against Rory McDonald. After being left for dead, Lawler has now seen his career rise from the ashes and now enters 2014 as a challenger for the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Robbery of the Year: Diego Sanchez defeats Takanori Gomi (UFC)- I'll be honest, I don't know if this fight is a “robbery” but I can't think of another. While Sanchez was successful in takedowns, Gomi did block a few, landed the better shots, and had better octagon control. It seemed like Gomi was more successful with more of the judging criteria and he still came up short.

Commentator of the Year: Jason Chambers (ONE FC)- Once again, Jason Chambers is the commentator of the year for the same reasons. Chambers is a former fighter and offer good commentary especially mentioning stuff fighter can do when they in certain positions. He also knows when to pick his spots in regards to being funny or telling jokes. He also doesn't come off as bias or obnoxious and seems professional. Basically the kind of person you would want as a commentator.

Gym of the Year: American Top Team- There is no doubt in my mind that ATT was the gym of the year. Outside of winning an UFC title, the gym was on fire. They entered the year with two belts as Kenny Garner was the M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion and Nathan Coy was the MFC Welterweight Championship. They won three title belts this year with Attila Vegh winning the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship, Daniel Straus winning the Bellator Featherweight Championship, and Dan Hornbuckle winning the DEEP Welterweight Championship. They also won two Bellator tournaments with Douglas Lima winning the Bellator Season Eight Welterweight Tournament and Will Brooks won the Bellator Season Nine Lightweight Tournament. Along with these accomplishments, the gym was home to many fighters who experienced career revivals including Mark Hunt, Jason High, and Robbie Lawler. Their fighters were also involved in some of the biggest upsets in 2013 with Antonio Silva knocking out Alistair Overeem and Robbie Lawler defeating Rory McDonald. The gym is also home to many up and coming prospects including Glover Teixeira, Will Brooks, Shawn Jordan, Bubba Jenkins, and Tyron Woodley with a few of them taking that next step.

Upset of the Year: Robbie Lawler defeating Rory McDonald (UFC)- This wasn't supposed to happen. This fight was supposed to showcase McDonald as a future title contender and the successor to Georges St-Pierre. It was supposed to see the great prospect beating the washed up has-been and send him back down to Earth. Instead, Lawler would shock the MMA world by not only giving McDonald a hard time but actually scoring the big upset. Forget knocking over the apple cart, Lawler threw it in the air and kicked it as far as he could like some kickball.

Event of the Year: UFC 166 (UFC)- 166 was one of those events that hit on all cylinders. The event featured the debut of a prospect (Kyoji Horiguchi), a brutal knockout finish (Hector Lombard vs. Nate Marquardt), a former UFC Heavyweight Title contender returning to many Top 10 rankings with an impressive knockout (Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shawn Jordan), a Fight of the Year candidate (Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez), and Cain Velasquez putting an exclamation point on his trilogy with Junor Dos Santos.

Promotion of the Year: Bellator MMA- Bellator saw so much growth and success in 2013 that earns them this award. This year saw Bellator move to Spike TV where they enjoyed the highest ratings in their history with some shows peaking at 1 million viewers during certain episodes. They featured many classic fights this year including Chandler/Alvarez II and Shlemenko/Cooper II. The promotion also enjoyed high ratings in Russia and extended their product to Latin America. They also beefed up their roster with many “name” fighters and/or UFC alumni including Rampage Jackson, Diego Nunes, Vladimir Matyushenko, Cheick Kongo, Lavar Johnson, Kendall Grove, and Tito Ortiz. However, contrary to popular belief, Bellator wasn't just for former UFC fighters and saw plenty of new blood rise this year. Great talent like Vitaly Minakov, Ryan Martinez, Emanuel Newton, Mikhail Zayats, Brennan Ward, Mikkel Parlo, Will Brooks, David Rickels, Frodo Khasbulaev, and Rafael Silva made names for themselves by scoring wins over name fighters, winning tournaments, and even championships. The promotion has also laid the groundwork for plenty more great prospects who can get on the map in 2014 and beyond. Prospects include guys like Raphael Butler, Augusto Sakai, Liam McGeary, Eugene Fadiora, Brent Primus, Bubba Jenkins, Julio Cesar Neves, Goiti Yamauchi.

Worst Fighter of the Year: Alistair Overeem (UFC)- There wasn't another fighter whose stock plunged as bad as the Reem in 2013. Entering the year, Overeem was considered to be the #1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and was unbeaten in five years. His first fight this year was against Bigfoot Silva in a fight most thought would be a tune-up for Overeem. For the first two rounds, everything seemed normal was Overeem dominated Silva but his arrogance was starting to show as the fight wore on. Finally, Overeem's arrogance was his downfall as he failed to take Silva seriously which allowed Silva to eventually mount a big comeback and knock Overeem unconscious. The hype train was derailed and Overeem's stock was damaged. In an attempt to bounce back, Overeem was paired with Travis Browne. Not having learned his lesson, the outcome was the same with Overeem dominating early but, once again, failed to take his opponent seriously and was knocked out again. If Silva derailed the Overeem hype train, Browne bursted it into flames. As he ended 2013, Overeem went from #1 contender to hanging on by a thread as he'll be fighting for his job against Frank Mir at UFC 169.

Worst Gym of the Year: Blackzilians- The first half of 2013 was brutal for the Blackzilians. The lack of success was shocking given the talent and the trainers involved. Rashad Evans suffered the first losing streak of his career after a lackluster performance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and barely got by Dan Henderson. Alistair Overeem went from the #1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship to a guy fighting for his job as he suffered two big losses against Bigfoot Silva and Travis Browne. Jorge Santiago returned to the UFC for a fourth time only to be cut again after one loss and then suffered a loss in his debut fight in WSOF. Siyar Bahadurada went 0-2 in the UFC this year and is on shaky grounds. Danillo Villefort came up short in the WSOF Middleweight Tournament. Yuri Villefort was released from the UFC. While things picked up very well towards the second half of the year it's still not enough. 2014 can potentially be a great year for the Blackzilians but the gym seemed lost and unfocused in the beginning of the year and suffered many painful losses.

Worst Fight of the Year: David Branch vs. Paulo Filho (WSOF)- There was a lot of bad fights this year. Soa Palelei vs. Nikita Krylov from UFC 164 was bad but at least it was laughable entertaining. Christian M'Pumbu vs. Attila Vegh from Bellator 91 was bad but it was forgettable and boring. This fight was not only bad but it was depressing. This fight was Paulo Filho at rock bottom. Gone are the days where Filho was an incredible up and comer who would give Anderson Silva his biggest test. Instead we saw Filho be content on being Branch's personal punching bag for 15 minutes as he would taken down at will and seemed fine laying on his back taking punches. This match was not only boring but just sad to watch Filho after all these years continue to destroy his career.

Worst Event of the Year: UFC 159 (UFC)- While UFC 166 hit a home run, 159 was the opposite and was a mess. Three fights ended in bizarre fashion with Ovince St-Preux defeating Gian Villante and Michael Bisping defeating Alan Belcher by technical decision after both fights ended by accidental eyepokes. Rustam Khabilov defeated Yancy Medeiros due to injury after Medeiros broke his thumb. Phil Davis defeated Vinny Magalhaes after outstriking the one dimensional Magalhaes for 15 minutes. The main event was extremely weak fight with former middleweight Chael Sonnen talking his way into a Light Heavyweight Title shot against Jon Jones. The fight was the joke most thought it would be with Jones dominating and eventually getting a TKO win in the first round. To make matters worse, the UFC dodged a bullet as Jones suffered a bad toe injury which likely would have had the doctor stopping the fight between rounds and giving Sonnen the title. Had Sonnen won the title that way, the UFC would've had the biggest lame duck champion in their 20 year history.

Worst Promotion of the Year: WSOF- I like WSOF and I know the first full year can be tough. However, the company still made mistakes that sometimes were downright amateurish. Their second show nearly got cancelled when the athletic commission didn't approve of their original cage and Andrei Arlovski fought in the main event with UFC gloves on. Their scheduling has also been a problem with their September 14^th show being on the same day as the Mayweather/Canelo boxing fight while the October 26^th show was hours after a UFC show. The company has seen their ratings decline towards the end of the year with their December 7^th show only drawing 94,000 viewers. The WSOF can be a good promotion but they have a lot of work to do.