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
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!
Sorry UFC, when it comes to heavyweights, you just can’t touch Affliction. On January 24, 2009, arguably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, Fedor Emelianenko will take on former UFC champion Andre Arlovski. After Fedor’s impressive destruction of other UFC champ Tim Sylvia, the smart money is obviously on Fedor. My question to you is, in what round and by how will he win?
Well this week has been a big week for the UFC, beginning with the announcement of the EliteXC bankruptcy, the fight of this season’s TUF dysfunctional fighter Junie, and UFC 90 in Chicago, IL at the Allstate Arena. Dana White is looking like the Godfather of MMA as he sits back and watches the competition implode upon their poor financial decisions and their inability to match the mega-marketing of the UFC.
UFC 90 is showcasing the best Pound-4-Pound fighter in the world with their Middleweight title bout of Anderson “The Spider” Silva (22-4)against contender Patrick “The Predator” Cote (13-4). This match up is a prime example of why the UFC should coerce the “The Spider” to move up to the Light-Heavy Weight division. He has virtually cleared out the entire division and now has a match up with Cote who is only 4 - 4 in the octagon. In the Light-Heavyweight Division there are countless mega-fights that can happen maximizing Silva’s remaining stay in the fight game. I very much enjoy watching Silva fight, but against an opponent who is clearly a few steps down from him, is not much motivation to pay $44.95 to see the event. There are other notable fights on the card, so here we go…
Fight #1 - Silva vs. Cote
The Predator is in deep trouble if he decides to stand and trade with Silva. Unless he gets on his bike and gives his best Lance Armstrong impression, this fight will be very short and painful. Silva by KO in the 1st.
Fight #2 - Koshcheck (11-2) vs. Alves (15-3)
I think that Tiago Alves has the formula to beat the hybrid wrestling profiles (via Matt Hughes) by “Brawl-n-Sprawl” tactics and though Josh is a better strike than Hughes, there is too much of an advantage on their feet for Alves.
UFC 89 is coming up this weekend for FREE on Spike TV featuring two events with Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Chris Leben (18-4), and Keith Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Brandon Vera (9-2). These fights are especially intriguing with two match ups highlighting personalities they have a garage load of knockout reels amongst the four fighters. So let’s get it on!
Bisping (17-1) vs. Leben (18-4)
Michael “The Count” Bisping was never a serious contender as a Light-Heavyweight and after a loss to Rashad Evans (which was clearly his best performance at that weight) decided to put down the doughnuts to become a middleweight. His two performances against CPT Miserable and Mr. Doomsday we’re much more impressive demonstrating good hand speed, foot work, and increased power.
With these improvements, he’s going to need all of these skills to dispatch of the hard headed and big bombing UFC veteran Chris Leben. Leben is clearly a brawler and wants to entice “The Count” in trading punches in the center of the Octagon, but I think Bisping will stick to a discipline game plan of scoring points through “in-n-out” jabbing and possible take downs. My forecast will be Bisping in a workman like decision, because Leben is FAR too tough to knockout.
Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Vera (9-2)
This fight is going to be very fun! Both guys are looking for a win and more importantly, to win BIG! This has all the makings of both fighters standing right in front of each other and letting it all hang out. Both have demonstrated knockout power and have the attitudes to back it up. I believe the technical standup of Vera will be edge to this fight. Vera will pick apart the unorthodox Jardine and finish the fight in the 2nd round by TKO.
This Saturday night will be CBS’ third free showing of Elite XC. This organization is $55 million in the red after only two years of existence leaving the UFC to eventually wait the opposing organization to finally implode. Dana White will patiently await Elite XC’s down fall and scoop up the cream of the crop, ultimately absorbing them into this sport’s future mega-empire. Nonetheless, we get to see a free night of fights, so here we go…
Fight #1 - Ninja Rua vs. Benji Radach
Ninja Rua is coming off of a brutal KO of Robbie Lawler and is trying to move back into a title shot against the former IFL star Benji Radach. In this situation, Radach will dominate with the “Brawl and Sprawl” technique that has become so popular with wrestlers that have developed good hands. Rua has improved his stand up, but it clearly is not his main offensive weapon. His main goal is to take the fight to ground and apply his Jiu-Jitsu. Radach will grind out a win by keeping the fight on their feet and out scoring Rua. Radach by decision.
Fight #2 - Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley
Shields has been on a tear as of late and in my opinion is one of the top 5 welterweights in the world. Daley is out gunned on his feet and on the ground. Shields will take the fight to the ground and will quickly mount and submit the out classed Daley. Shields in the 1st by submission.
Fight #3 - Gina Carano vs. Kobald-Gavin
This will be a fun fight. Carano is obviously the attraction here, but Kobald is 16-2 with a laundry list of submission and KOs. Kobald will test Carano on the ground and will test her Xtreme Couture influence. Carano is a tough, explosive, and gritty fighter that will eventually weather the ground attack of Kobald and will overwhelm Kobald in the later rounds. Carano by TKO late in the 2nd.
Fight #4 - Andre Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
Andre Arlovski is used to seeing much more athletic heavyweights in the UFC and although Nelson is a tough and durable fighter, Arlovski’s hands and feet are too fast and too quick for Nelson to close the space. This will leave Nelson exposed to Arlovski’s standup game and this one won’t make it out of the 1st round. Arlovski by TKO late in the 1st.
Fight #5 - Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice
This is a fight that I wish wouldn’t happen. As a nostalgic MMA fan , I have great memories of our sport’s pioneers and want to see them as trail blazers of a growing super-sport. I hate the fact that Elite XC is using Shamrock’s star power to boost ratings of their free-falling company and at the same time using him as a sacrificial lamb to Kimbo Slice in order to boost his KO record. This fight has the possibility of not only knocking out the MMA legend, but has a good risk of hurting Shamrock in a devastating fashion. If Ken can close the space quickly and take the fight to the ground, then he greatly increases his chances to close the fight with a submission. He needs to end this fight FAST! Don’t dick around with any “ground-n-pound” or feeling him out on their feet, because Kimbo hits far too hard to leave at risk. I see Shamrock tying up with Slice and being unsuccessful in his takedown attempts leaving him with no alternative to stay in the pocket attempting to trade punches. This will result in a very ugly KO leaving images of Ken battered and beaten. This scenario will parallel the Ali vs Holmes fight, leaving the MMA community asking why Shamrock hasn’t moved on with his professional career. We as fans and as critics only wish that he would branch out into other faucets of the MMA business instead of becoming the Roberto Duran of MMA. My money is on Kimbo, but I’ll be cheering for Shamrock and will happily eat crow if Shamrock pulls the upset off and I hope he does it with a beautiful leg lock (via heel hook, ankle lock, knee bar, etc.).
2008 marked the return of the “Ruthless” one, Robbie Lawler who has landed himself our most improved mixed martial artist 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.
Well this week has been a big week for the UFC, beginning with the announcement of the 
UFC 89 is coming up this weekend for FREE on Spike TV featuring two events with 
