Match-ups are now official for Pride Fighting Championships end of year event.

Fight Card

Emelianenko Fedor vs Mark Hunt
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Gilbert Melendez
Shinya Aoki vs Joachim Hansen
Mauricio Shogun vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Takanori Gomi vs Mitsuhiro Ishida
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Ikuhisa Minowa
Josh Barnett vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Akihiro Gono vs Yuki Kondo

Jonny T rolled out his top 6 through 10 mixed martial arts fighters of 2006. Now it is time for the top 5. Again, these are not the best fighters per se, but for the best fighters for the year of 2006.

5. Fedor (1-0)
The baddest man in all of MMA. The Pride organization had a terrible time trying to find opponents to sign a match with this guy and was able to scrounge up a descending Coleman. After Fedor commenced the vicious beating of the future Hall of Famer, you can see why this guy doesn’t fight more. Who in their right mind would fight this man…for any amount of money? When you can’t get a fight because your are so extremely bad-ass that fighters avoid you in fear of public humiliation, that tells me you have had a VERY successful year. Your stock is as high as ever, you are well rested, your contracts are substantial due to high demand, and self promotion is not needed through trash talk or other Ali-esque type of antics. He gets the 5th spot, due to inactivity, but there is no better fighter pound-for-pound in the entire sport.

4. Liddell (2-0)
The UFC champ should be ranked higher, but doesn’t fight quite enough in a division which seemed stacked three years ago only to find but a few challengers standing when the dust has settled. Chuck has decimated the very poorly formulated fight plan of “Babalu” Sobral and has retired the best MMA fighter in UFC history with a convincing knockout of Randy “The Natural” Couture. He has one more fight this year with Tito Ortiz, but I see the outcome very similar to that of their first match three years ago. With the UFC’s acquisition of Rampage Jackson, a much anticipated rematch will be very exciting to watch. With low activity and nobody to really fight, The Iceman has missed an opportunity to stand on top of the mixed martial arts podium.

3. T. Sylvia (4-0)
The “Mainiac” has done what everyone thought would be impossible…win back the Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight belt. He has beaten Ausserio Silva, Arlovski (twice), and Monson to go undefeated this year. Unfortunately, he has earned only one KO and the other three have been very lack luster performances. Still, a win is a win and to fight the best the UFC has to offer has got to say something. With the UFC’s acquisition of PrideFC’s Cro-Cop, there possbile meeting to determine who is the best banger in the business may be in our future. With a 4-0 record for 2006 and a true challenger now in the ranks, this guy gets the Bronze medal.

2. St. Pierre (2-0)
GSP has beaten two of the toughest fighters in all of MMA. For starters, he has decisioned the “Prodigy” to a very tough fight and demonstrated great durability and poise to survive a very fast start from BJ Penn. St. Pierre kept his cool and adjusted his game plan to squeaked out the victory. George then comes back and beats the most celebrated welterweight in UFC and MMA history by picking apart Matt Hughes with a knockout, making a statement that he is the future of the sport. It’s only two wins for the year, but you could have not picked a tougher pair of fights to schedule in any weight class. These fights will earn him a Silver medal, but only by a hair.

Drum roll please….

1. Cro-Cop (4-0)
Mirko won the Pride Absolute Tournament with Ws over Jost Barnett, Wanderlei Silva, Yoshida, and Minowa. His lethal striking coupled with his take-down defense makes him the one of the most exciting fighters to warch. After a difficult 2005, he has rebounded to clear out all challengers in Pride Fighting Championsihp and has now been picked up by the UFC for possibly the largest financial contract in MMA history. In my eyes, the clear leader on my top ten and the winner of the Gold medal.

Thank you Jonny T. Til next time…

Well, its been one hell of a year in mixed marital arts and we’ve seen a lot happen during the past 12 months. As the sport of MMA grows and continues to push the media boundaries to a much more recognizable sport, we need to reflect on the fighters who have helped mold this year into a great one.

Our special guest writer Jonny T is here with his thoughts on the subject:

My top ten list is NOT the best all-around fighters, but the athletes that have had the most successful year. My list will goes as follows:

10. Minowa (5-1)
“The Punk” only suffered one loss this year at it was at the hands of fellow “top 10er” Mirco Cro-Cop. Minowa did score victories over Legeno, Cesar Silva, Hyunkab, Esch, and Plothle. He has proven he will fight you anywhere, any place, anytime, and has over 80 fights to prove it. He was far too small to be fighting in an Pride’s absolute division but he accepted the challenge anyway.

9. Matt. Hughes (2-1)
Matt’s sole loss this year was to George St. Pierre, the new UFC welterweight champion and also a top 10er. Hughes did beat the legend Royce Gracie in one of the biggest UFCs ever. He also had a win ofer A-level fighter BJ Pen. To his credit this year, he defeated the living legend and redeemed his last loss. His only blemish is that he clearly outclassed by the new champ.

8. Wanderlei Silva (2-1)
Loss to Cro-Cop, W’s over Arona and Fujita. Knocked out the hardest chin in MMA and redeemed his last loss. Took a beaten from Cro-Cop…tough one to watch.

7. Josh Barnett (5-1)
Yet another top fighter who lost to Mirko Cro-Cop. That fight is his only blemish over 2006. He racked up five wins over five solid fighters. Nakamura, Aleksander E., Mark Hunt, Nogeira, and Nastula.

6. Andersen Silva (3-1)
He would have been higher in the rankings this year, but he did have a loss to Okami and Rumble on the Rocks. On the flip side, he took out Tony Frykland and destroyed “The Crippler” Chris Leben and Rich “Ace” Franklin (who was considered to be one of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters) to become the new UFC Middleweight Champ.

Up next, and in more detail, are the cream of the crop, my top Five picks. Stay tuned…

Another Ultimate Fight Night is in the record books. In case you were not able to catch the show live from Miramar on Spike TV, here are the results from last night’s event.

Diego Sanchez def. Joe Riggs - 1st round knockout

Josh Koscheck def. Joff Joslin - Unanimous Decision

Karo Parisyan def. Drew Fickett - Unanimous Dicision

Marcus Davis def. Shonie Carter - Split Decision

David Health def. Victor Valimaki - Split Decision

Alan Belcher def. Jorge Santiago - By Strikes

Luigi Fioravanti def. Dave Menne - 1st round TKO

Brock Larson def. Keita Nakamura - Unanimous Decision

Logan Clark def. Steve Byrnes - Unanimous Decision

Wow, it is offical, The Ultimate Fighting Championship has “made it.”

Today “Ultimate Fighting” is featured in the main module on the homepage of Yahoo!. As a former employee at Yahoo!, I know that the amount of traffic that homepage receives is obscene. In one day, that homepage will be seen approximately 12,000,000 times! Talk about mass exposure for the sport. In the Internet world, it doesn’t get any bigger than this.

Funny note, there isn’t even a mixed martial arts category in Yahoo! Sport. Irony, sweet irony.

The leader on the Yahoo! homepage is “With few rules, “Ultimate Fighting” is growing fast….60 Minutes video report. ”

“A New Kind of Fight
It’s been likened to a street corner brawl: two men fighting, very few rules, and the last one standing is the winner. It may be brutal but “Mixed Martial Arts” is also one of the fastest growing sports in America. Scott Pelley talks with the man behind the “Ultimate Fighting Championship” and goes toe-to-toe with some of the top fighters in the sport today.”

Definitely check out 60 Minutes’ coverage (includes interviews with Dana White, Renzo Gracie, and Matt Hughes) . . .Here

Quick note, on that page there is a poll. Further proof that MMA has become mainstream:

Poll
Do you find Mixed Martial Arts fighting too violent?
Yes 18%
No 82%

I took a look back at some of the mixed martial arts fight predictions I have made over the year and I must say I really should have been in Vegas throwing down some big cash. I think my predictions track record speaks for itself.