It’s no news that Fedor Emilianko is the favorite to win the fight against Andre Alrovski tomorrow night at the Affliction M-1 event. However, this begs the question, how big of a favorite? If you look at the comments from the Fedor vs. Arlovski Trailer posted a couple of months ago you’ll see that most people have pretty strong opinions one way or another, all or nothing.

My question to you is not who will win, but what will be/or should be the odds breakout be for this fight? If you say 100% Fedor and 0% Arlovski, then you’ll only be displaying your lack of mixed martial arts knowledge. I’ll start it off with my vote of 75% for Fedor and 25% chance for the former UFC Champion Andre Arlovski. And what will be the final odds as determined by the fans by fight time? 58% Fedor, 42% Andre. Chime in and leave a comment. Thanks.

Who’s hot and who’s not in mixed martial arts? Well, we’ve all heard of Gina Carano and know she’s one of (if not the) most attractive female MMA fighters, but who else would be in the running? MMA Brawl put together an interesting list that highlights some lovely, but not so well known, MMA fighters for your preview. Spoiler: Carano isn’t number one. Agree or disagree with their picks (I happen to firmly disagree with their selection of Shayna Baszler), give it to them for spotlighting the sport’s hottest. Top Ten List Here.

And if you are interested in taking a peak at some of the least attractive female fighters in the sport, MMA Brawl has also put together a top ten list on that. Bottom Ten List Here.

Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel (UFC 86)
This submission was not the most spectacular we’ve ever seen, but this was applied at the end of the 3rd round against an excellent Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Both guys are slicker than oiled pigs and Miller was on the verge of losing his 2nd straight fight in the Octagon. Miller was being dominated for the entire three rounds and was on his way to losing again after a previous knockout loss to Jeremy Stephens.
He was able to use his length over the shorter and smaller Gurgel with :12 seconds remaining in the fight to slap on the Triangle Choke for the victory and to keep his contract alive in the UFC. Cole Miller is not a high profile fighter, but he came up big when his career needed it the most against a very unlikely opponent. Great submission under tough circumstances and at the right time…he gets our Sub of the Year.

2008 marked the return of the “Ruthless” one, Robbie Lawler who has landed himself our most improved mixed martial artist of the year.

One of the very few shining stars for the EliteXC was the improvement and break out year of Robbie Lawler. I remember a testosterone fueled kid that just wanted to let his hands fly and lacked the discipline to apply an effective game plan to beat several top name opponents. I watched him lose to Pete Spratt, Evan Tanner, Jason Miller, and lose an UGLY knockout to Nick Diaz. In the past two years, he’s shown a lot of maturity and poise to beat some of the industries top names in a very convincing fashion.

He’s KO’d Ninja Rua, Frank Trigg, and Scott Smith with good foot work, constant movement, and great patience. He’s defeated two grapplers and a slugger. These opponents are not Hall-Of-Fame fighters, but they are very accomplished, well decorated, and all very different in their disciplines. He’s been able to apply his strengths without exposing his shortcomings in a very methodical fashion and has vastly improved his sprawl-n-brawl tactics. His patience has allowed him to pick a part his opponents without absorbing unnecessary punishment and ultimately imposes his will to overwhelm the opposition with good power and solid accuracy. Hats off to Robbie Lawler for having a good year and a solid run since his stumble in 2006 to Jason Miller

Opinions by MMA Punch contributor Jon Terrazas

Throughout December we are going to highlight the year of mixed martial arts with a selection of “Best Of” articles. These will include subjects such as Most Improved MMA Fighter of the Year, Biggest Disappointment in MMA, etc. For now MMA Punch contributor Jon Terrazas will revel his selection for Fighter of the Year.

This may come as a surprise to some, especially those who limit their MMA consumption to the UFC. However for those those more in touch with the larger mixed martial arts community won’t find Eddie Alvarez too surprising of a pick.

The facts: After losing his Welterweight Bodog title to Josh “The Goat” Thompson in ‘07, he dropped down to Lightweight and has won four straight victories in ‘08. The W’s are good, but in the process, he’s KO’d Ross Ebanez (2nd Rd - Bodog), Andre Amade (1st Rd - Dream 1), and Tatsuya Kawajiri (1st Rd - Dream 5) and then won a decision in an all out war and Fight of the Year Runner-Up with Joachim Hansen (Dream 3) to eventually become the Dream Lightweight Tournament Champion. He was scheduled to fight Nick Diaz with EliteXC’s Novemeber show before going bankrupt demonstrating that Eddie will fight anybody, any place, at any time. It’s unfortunate that the Dream organization receives very little coverage in the states and little is really known of this guy and his opponents. Eddie has earned MMA Punch’s 2008 Fighter of the Year.

A demo of his brutal KO abilities

Disagree with the selection? Leave a comment and make sure to back up your selection!

Last night 20/20 had a segment dedicated to kids and their involvement in mixed martial arts. It’s a fairly balanced and typical MMA story with plenty of UFC clips of fighters getting KO’d and the token politician speaking out against the sport. What’s great is to see the next generation of fighter. Imagine the quality of fighters we’ll see in the next decade when we have 20 year old mixed martial artist s with years with 15 years of training under their belt.

Let’s be honest, young children have been taking karate lessons for decades and mixed martial arts is just another form of self defense. For those who have a problem with kids participating in MMA, as 20/20’s John Stossel would say, “give me a break.”