2009 Keyboard Kimura Awards

So I couldn't find an actual kimura trophy, so this standing guillotine is going to have to do as we hand out the Keyboard Kimura Awards for 2009.

In addition to distributing hardware for all the usual suspects - Fight of the Year, Submission of the Year, etc. - we'll also mix in some awards for the best of the worst of 2009.

Let's get started...

Fighter of the Year: Jose Aldo

Four fights. Four wins. Four opponents utterly dominated.

Beginning with his January destruction of Rolando Perez at WEC 38 and culminating with his capturing the WEC Featherweight title at WEC 44 in November, Jose Aldo cut through the competition in the 145-pound division in 2009.

In addition to claiming the belt and becoming a part of the pound-for-pound discussion, Aldo earned three Knockout of the Night bonuses, including one for his Knockout of the Year candidate against Cub Swanson.

The scary things about Jose Aldo is that he's only getting better and as good as 2009 was, 2010 could be even better.

Honorable Mentions: Lyoto Machida, Marius Zaromskis, Gegard Mousasi

Worst Fighter of the Year: Jose Canseco

The former steroid slugger also takes home the prize for "Worst Promotional Idea" as part of the DREAM Super Hulk Tournament, as the presence of Canseco could have easily set the sport back several thousands of years.

Now, of course the expectations were pretty low for Canseco heading into his bout with Hong Man Choi, yet Canseco managed to come in below them, starting with his entrance where he was accompanied by... his girlfriend. No coaches, no corner man; just the missus.

From there, the spectacle that this was supposed to be ensued and thankfully only lasted 77 seconds before Canseco feigned injury and submitted to strikes.

Event of the Year: UFC 100

This one is not up for debate.

In addition to being a pretty loaded card featuring some highly-entertaining fights, the historical implications of this event make it a unanimous winner as Event of the Year.

While it wasn't actually the 100th event in UFC history, the fact that a company and sport that was once banned from pay-per-view and forced underground reached their centennial show is outstanding.

When we look back in a few years to determine where and when Mixed Martial Arts finally cracked the barrier into the mainstream, UFC 100 will go down as one of the defining moments and key events.

Honorable Mentions: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers, WEC 41, DREAM 11

Worst Event of the Year: UFC 97

Here me out on this one.

First off, we had the province of Quebec coming in and trying to change the rules at the last minute. While a major crisis was averted, small concessions (no foot stomps) had to be made and the province certainly didn't come out looking very good.

Secondly, the main event was horrible.

It's not Anderson Silva's fault that Thales Leites didn't want to engage; very few people want to engage "The Spider," but that doesn't mean it wasn't painful to watch.

Finally, the remaining fights on the card were just okay.

We saw Chuck Liddell get knocked out again and sent to dance with pseudo-stars, a handful of not-overly-exciting decisions, and a 4-3 night for the Canadians on the card, including the final UFC appearances (for now) of Jason MacDonald and David Loiseau.

Submission of the Year: Toby Imada, Reverse Inverted Triangle on Jorge Masvidal, Bellator 5

The description alone should be enough to earn this move a unanimous decision as Submission of the Year. Then you see it, and it's even better.

Imada was being dominated by Jorge Masvidal, but was given a small opening when Masvidal tried to lift him up for a slam. While on "Gamebred's" back, Imada locked in a super-tight triangle and the rest is history.

Masvidal wilts, Imada scores the win and Bellator had another YouTube highlight sensation.

Honorable Mention: Jake Shields' Standing Guillotine on Robbie Lawler, Brad Pickett's Peruvian Necktie on Kyle Dietz, Sakuraba's Kneebar on Zelg Galesic.

Knockout of the Year: Dan Henderson on Michael Bisping, UFC 100

Was there anything better? I think not.

Not only because Bisping talks all kinds of smack and ends up laid to waste, but because, as Jon Anik said on MMA Live's recap of the event (and I'm paraphrasing here) everyone and their mother knows not to circle into Dan Henderson's right hand.

Except Michael Bisping.

Honorable Mentions: Fedor Emelianenko on Andrei Arlovski, Fedor Emelianenko on Brett Rogers, Nate Marquardt on Demian Maia, Lyoto Machida on Rashad Evans, Jose Aldo on Cub Swanson... honestly, there are a ton!

Most Improved Fighter: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

If you look at Rua's three fights over 2009, he looks like a different fighter.

First up was his "my cardio is worse than your cardio" contest with Mark Coleman in Dublin, Ireland at UFC 93. Bah-rutal!

Then came his UFC 97 knockout of Chuck Liddell, where we saw the power of the "Shogun" of old, but didn't really get a long enough fight to determine whether or not he was 100% back.

Finally, UFC 104 and the most controversial fight of the year. While the results are still debatable to this day (though I'm personally tired of talking about it), there is no question that we saw the best Mauricio Rua we've seen in some time.

The guy who went the distance with Lyoto Machida looked nothing like the guy who fought Mark Coleman.

Maybe I'm cheating here, but whatever - they're my awards!

Honorable Mention: Dan Hornbuckle, Nate Marquardt, Jon Jones

Worst Fight of the Year: Kimbo Slice defeats Houston Alexander, TUF 10 Finale

This should also be a unanimous decision for anyone who hands out awards this year.

Honestly, I don't even think I need to explain this one.

Fight of the Year: Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki, WEC 40

If there could be a blueprint for what an entertaining title fight should look like, this would be it.

Mizugaki took the fight on short notice when Brian Bowles got hurt, and proceeded to take two rounds from the heavily-favored champion, becoming the first fighter to ever go the full five with Torres.

To his credit, Torres showed why he was the champion at the time, battling back from losing two rounds early to claim the fight in the championship rounds.

It's fights like this that have made me such a huge fan of the WEC and make me wonder how some people still have no interest in the organization.

Honorable Mentions: Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida, Hideo Tokoro vs. Abel Cullem, Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone, Martin Kampmann vs. Carlos Condit









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Does a WEC-UFC Merger Make Sense?

At the Press Conference following UFC 101, Dana White said that the idea of combining the two Zuffa-owned organizations was being discussed.

According to reports, Versus, the main outlet for the WEC, and DirecTV aren't quite seeing eye-to-eye, which could lead to the network, and therefore the WEC, being dropped altogether when their contract expires on August 31.

With the real possibility existing that the end of the month could mean the end of the line in terms of television exposure for the WEC, a possible merger with the UFC makes sense now more than ever.

While there would certainly be a great number of logistical questions that would need to be answered (staffing, operations, etc.), bringing the ultra-entertaining lighter weights into the UFC fold would certainly present some interesting options.

Zuffa's outstanding relationship with Spike TV could serve as a strong starting point.

Instead of hours of Unleashed featuring fights even casual fans have seen a time or two, some of that airtime could be dedicated to creating exposure for WEC standouts like Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres and Brian Bowles.

Last weekend illustrated the loyalty of UFC fans, as a rebroadcast of UFC 100 drew much larger numbers than Strikeforce's live event on Showtime. Though both were clearly successful for their respective brands, it's clear that if you put "UFC" in front of it, a large number of viewers are going to tune in.

Additionally, why wouldn't you want to add a new level of excitement and energy to your organization?

WEC events are routinely more entertaining and full of action than their UFC counterparts, as was the case when the two organizations went live on back-to-back nights at the start of the month.

Though UFC 101 featured the bigger names and certainly drew a bigger audience, as a whole, WEC 42 was a much more complete card with more entertaining fights, including Brian Bowles' upset of Miguel Torres in the main event.

Certainly fight fans would be more interested in seeing three rounds of excitement like that delivered by Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez than the boredom that was Kendall Grove versus Ricardo Almeida?

Opponents to such a merger often cite the inevitable release of various fighters to accommodate such a move, as the UFC would undoubtedly have to make some roster deletions should this take place.

That being said, the UFC routinely trims their rosters to make room for newly acquired talent, so how would this potential merger and influx of talent be any different?

In fact, it would be an even more reasonable move as the UFC would be bringing in some of the top fighters in the world in the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions, as well as some talented lightweights at the expense of fighters currently residing at the bottom of their respective divisional totem poles.

Honestly, who would you rather see fight: WEC lightweights Jamie Varner, Donald Cerrone and Ben "Smooth" Henderson or guys like Rolando Delgado, Alex Karalexis and Dennis Siver, fighters who reside in the bottom quarter of the UFC depth chart?

Just in the last two weeks, the UFC has cut ties with fighters like Thales Leites and Tamdan McCrory at the expense of veteran acquisitions Vladimir Matyushenko and Phil Baroni, to name two.

Doesn't Urijah Faber have more appeal and drawing power than those two returning warriors combined?

With the market for Mixed Martial Arts and the exposure of the UFC growing with each passing day, an influx of championship-caliber competitors to what is already the deepest and most talented roster of fighters in the business would only further strengthen the standing of the UFC as the premier organization in the world.

Not only that, but adding the two new divisions would provide two new titles for the organization, giving them even more championship fights to serve as headliner for pay-per-view cards.

Though it would certainly take some time to introduce the incoming fighters and champions to those who currently reside in the UFC vacuum, it wouldn't take long for the talents of some of the top WEC fighters to shine through, transforming them from unknown quantities to fan favorites and headlining acts.

Of course, all of this remains speculative at this point.

Some will be strongly opposed to such action, while others will see the merits of this potential move.

Either way, we'll keep you posted on any progress.

In the meantime, tell us what you think...
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Brian Bowles: Shouldn't We Wait for the Encore?

When Matt Serra dropped Georges St-Pierre to capture the UFC Welterweight title, very few people in the MMA community would have thrown the veteran fighter into their Pound-for-Pound discussions or considered him the best welterweight in the world.

So what makes Brian Bowles any different at this very moment?

Not to diminish his victory or take away from the accomplishment of handing Miguel Torres just his second career defeat, but since when does one win make you the best fighter in a division and an instant addition to the Top 10 Pound-for-Pound fighters in the world?

I ask this question based on the Bantamweight and Pound-for-Pound rankings of Fanhouse's Michael David Smith, both of which have come out following Bowles' shocking upset of Torres.

One knock against Serra that certainly doesn't apply to Bowles is a journeyman career and a record checkered by losses. While Bowles is unblemished and earned his shot at the belt by working his way up the ranks, Serra got there by winning TUF 4, a season designed at giving falling fighters a second chance.

But both made the most of their opportunity, regardless of how they got there, so why the drastically different views?

We've seen time and again that almost anyone can be beaten with a well-time, well-placed punch, champion or challenger, contender or pretender.

Bowles caught Torres like Serra caught GSP, and both had their hand raised and a title belt wrapped around their waist.

While Serra was immediately viewed as a very weak champion, Bowles is being elevated to illustrious status by Smith when just 48 hours ago I would wager he wasn't in the Pound-for-Pound Top 20.

For me, being the best in a division and one of the Pound-for-Pound best in the world is a cumulative thing, not something that changes in one fight.

Is Bowles now part of the Pound-for-Pounbd discussion? Absolutely, but regardless of his win, he still doesn't rank above Torres in my books, nor is he remotely close to the level of those universally accepted as being on such a list like Anderson Silva, Fedor and Lyoto Machida.

The UFC Light Heavyweight champion is actually another strong comparison to the new WEC Bantamweight champ.

As soon as Machida defeated Rashad Evans to become champion, people were proclaiming the dawn of The Machida Era, as if no one would ever be able to defeat the Brazilian Samurai.

While his unblemished record and march to the top without losing a round in the UFC are extremely impressive, should a champion not string together some title defenses before we build statues in his honor?

How's about one defense?

The same goes for Brian Bowles.

Sunday night's result showed us many things.

It reminded us that "Anything Can Happen" is a fitting motto for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

We learned that Miguel Torres is human after all and can be knocked out like everyone else.

And we learned that Brian Bowles is the complete package, a serious talent at 135 and the new Bantamweight champion.

But 18 months ago we learned very similar things from the Matt Serra - Georges St-Pierre fight.

Instead of immediately christening Bowles the best in the division and one of the best in the world, why can't we just let him be an outstanding story, the WEC Bantamweight champion and wait and see what he does for an encore?

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WEC 42: Overdue and Under the Radar

With all the speculation and discussions of contract negotiations between Fedor Emelianenko and the UFC, not to mention a top-heavy fight card at UFC 101 the night before, a fight that could very easily turn out to be the best the month has to offer is receiving very little time in the spotlight.

Headlining WEC 42 is a battle for the Bantamweight title between champion and Pound-for-Pound mainstay Miguel Torres (37-1) and Brian Bowles (7-0) that was originally supposed to happen back at WEC 40 in April.

What turned out to be a small setback for Bowles became a massive win for fight fans, as the injured member of Athens, Georgia's Hardcore Gym was replaced by Japanese veteran Takeya Mizugaki, who combined with Torres for what is an early front runner for Fight of the Year.

Stop and think about that for a minute: the fall-back option to this fight was a five round war that earned a 4.61 out of 5 from voters at MMA Ratings.

It's not like it was a GSP-type domination either; Mizugaki took two rounds on my scorecard while the judges ended up seeing it of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 all in favor of Torres. Believe me, those numbers don't do justice to what a great fight this was.

Now we get the originally scheduled fight and I for one can't wait.

Everything about this fight feels eerily similar to the first bout between Urijah Faber and Mike Thomas Brown.

Faber was reigning supreme as the King of the Featherweights, earning praise across the board as a Pound-for-Pound fixture and becoming more of a household name with each notch in the win column.

Brown was the less experienced, far less flashy opponent who was supposed to be another victim of "The California Kid" and his vast arsenal of weapons.

We all know what happened next.

Now Torres is in that Faber position and Bowles will be looking to do his best Mike Brown impersonation.

While some, including Torres, are quick to point to Bowles' relative lack of experience inside the cage as a stumbling block, part of me can't help but think that his inexperience will serve him well in what is easily the biggest fight of his life.

Some certainly get stage fright and crack under the pressure of the spotlight, but others aren't affected at all. They walk onto the biggest stage available and put on the performance of a lifetime.

Who am I to say that just because Brian Bowles has only seven fights to his name that he's going to be unable to hang with Miguel Torres?

Remember, no one thought Brown could hang with Faber the first time and now he's done so twice.

That being said, Torres is the clear favorite in this tilt and with good reason.

He hasn't lost a fight since 2003, decision to Ryan Ackerman that he later avenged. In the nearly six years since that defeat, Torres has taken on all comers and shown a sublime mix of skills inside the WEC Octagon.

Some fighters are knockout artists, readying a big right or left that can end your night in a hurry. Others are submission specialists, able to make you tap in any number of ways, while others still are grinders, guys that are ready and willing to go the distance and pull out a victory.

Miguel Torres is all three and that is what makes him so uniquely dangerous.

In five fights with the WEC, the Hammond, Indiana native has two wins by TKO, two submission victories and one win that went to the scorecards.

Add all this up, not to mention the fact that the fight is available live and free on Versus, and you have the makings of one outstanding fight.

And yet somehow this title clash is still off the radar for many fight fans who are engulfed in a storm of Fedor, the UFC and the wake of Affliction's sudden collapse.

Consider yourself notified: Torres vs. Bowles has the potential to be a monster of a fight and one you don't want to miss.

Feel free to return to Fedor Watch now.


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