2013 MMA Mid-Year Awards

We’ve reached the halfway point of 2013 and with several milestones taking place since UFC on Fox 6 kicked off back in January, it has already been a more thrilling year than the injury-riddled 2012.

Now I realize the historic events of UFC 162 were technically held in the second half of the year, but for fight fans, it not only marked the turning point in the year but also in the entire sport, so I think it deserves some mention.

Event of the Year: UFC 157

This was an event that, in my opinion, transcended the sport of mixed martial arts. Similarly to how UFC 100, headlined by Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir II, became one of the first MMA events to have garnered real crossover appeal amongst not only the sporting community but society as a whole. This event had everyone from TMZ to HBO to Time Magazine knocking on the UFC’s door looking for one person: Ronda Rousey. With all eyes on her historic octagon debut against her opponent Liz Carmouche, who also happened to be the first openly gay fighter in UFC history, Rousey handled the attention like a seasoned professional as more than a dozen cameras followed her every move leading up to the fight. She was not only becoming a pioneer in women’s athletics but a pop icon in the process. But come fight night, she was all business as she slapped on her signature first round armbar in front of a sold-out crowd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, claiming the first ever UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Combine this with Kenny Robertson’s spectacular submission of Brock Jardine (more on that later), a Fight of the Year candidate in Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice and a clash between two future Hall of Famers in Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida, and Feb. 23, 2013 will go down as one of the most memorable nights in MMA history.

Honorable Mentions: UFC 160, UFC 162, UFC on Fox 7, Invicta 5.

Fight of the Year: Brian Stann vs. Wanderlei Silva

When the fight between MMA pioneer and icon Wanderlei Silva and former U.S. Marine Brian Stann was first announced as the main event for UFC on Fuel 8, fans of the early days of the UFC began to salivate as it was the classic match-up between two explosive strikers who are known for standing their ground and never backing down. It was the fight that drove UFC Hall-of-Famer Forrest Griffin into retirement as he revealed he just couldn’t see himself competing if he couldn’t put on the same performance as these two octagon warriors. As soon as the bell rang, the classic fighting style of Silva exploded into the face of Stann — sending him tumbling to the floor. It was shades of Silva’s days in Pride FC as the company’s middleweight champion, circa 2003. Smelling blood, Silva did everything in his power to finish the fight as he rained blows onto his opponent — until Stann threw a haymaker of his own, knocking Silva down. It had only been 60 seconds into the fight and there were already two vicious knockdowns. As the round continued, Stann landed two more thunderous knockdowns and was seconds from finishing the bout until the bell signaled for the end of the round. It was one of the greatest rounds in MMA history, and the second round picked up right where round one left off. With one vicious hook from Silva followed by a violent right-left combination, Stann’s equilibrium was knocked completely off the tracks as his consciousness began to fade to black. Silva had silenced the doubters who had been calling for his retirement and put on the performance of his life for the crowd as he proved he has more than enough in the gas tank to compete with the UFC’s best.

Honorable Mentions: Johny Hendricks vs. Carlos Condit, Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice, Cat Zingano vs. Miesha Tate, Jessica Penne vs. Michelle Waterson.

Submission of the Year: Kenny Robertson’s “Ham Ripper” aka ‘Suloev Stretch’

Appearing on the Facebook card of UFC 157, not many fight fans were rushing home to see the welterweight bout between Kenny Robertson and Brock Jardine. I was sitting in the Honda Center that night and I could easily count the number of fans in their seats as most ticket holders were off getting souvenirs or taking a bathroom break before the televised prelims started. The fight itself started off slow as Robertson took Jardine’s back halfway through round one. But in a position where most fighters would be looking to sink the rear naked choke, Robertson stealthily took hold of Jardine’s leg and began to pull. I don’t blame Jardine for not defending the submission, as no one had ever seen anything like it before in the octagon. But before he knew it his leg was fully extended and being pulled even further. With his hamstring stretched to the point of tearing and his knee on the verge of hyperextending, Jardine was forced to verbally submit giving Robertson the first-ever “Ham Ripper” in UFC history.

Honorable Mentions: Ronda Rousey armbar over Liz Carmouche, Josh Burkman guillotine over Jon Fitch, Rose Namajunas flying arm bar over Kathina Catron, Adrian Cruz scarf hold over Nick Gonzalez.

Knockout of the Year (tie): Vitor Belfort’s and Junior dos Santos’ spinning heel kicks

Before Edson Barboza’s spectacular knockout of Terry Etim back at UFC 142 last year, UFC fight fans had never seen a spinning heel kick successfully performed in the octagon. Fast forward to present day and fans have already seen three knockouts of the same fashion at the halfway point of 2013 (Uriah Hall’s knockout of Adam Cella is considered an exhibition bout, so I did not include it). UFC President Dana White has long said spectacular finishes will put a fighter on the fast track to a title shot so with both Vitor Belfort and Junior dos Santos landing spinning heel kicks of their own, the world noticed. Belfort’s may have been more exciting, as he caught his opponent, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, completely by surprise in the main event of UFC on FX 8. Dos Santos’ was much more violent, as he turned a bloodied Mark Hunt’s lights out late in round three of UFC 160’s co-main event.

Honorable Mentions: Mark Hunt over Stefan Struve, Antonio Silva over Alistair Overeem, T.J. Grant over Gray Maynard, Emanuel Newton over ‘King Mo’.

Upset of the Year: Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva over Alistair Overeem

“I see Overeem having his hand raised and securing the Knockout of the Night against the man who is most famous for being the second man to defeat a washed-up Fedor Emelianenko.” These were my own words back when I previewed UFC 156.

I — along with most of the world — didn’t give Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva much of a chance against former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. After all, Overeem hadn’t lost since 2007 and was coming off a thunderous first round knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Many considered this the lock of the night, as a win over Bigfoot would give Overeem his long-awaited title shot against Cain Velasquez. It wasn’t a matter of if he would win, but how he would win. Too bad Bigfoot didn’t get the memo, as he unloaded a barrage of blows on the Dutch kickboxer’s skull early in the third round — sending him crumpling to the ground. Bigfoot pulled off the improbable and earned what was supposed to be Overeem’s title shot leaving this writer stunned and embarrassed at his original analysis.

Honorable mentions: Josh Burkman over Jon Fitch, Kelvin Gastelum over Uriah Hall, Stipe Miocic over Roy Nelson, Chris Weidman over Anderson Silva, Emanuel Newton over ‘King Mo’.

Fighter of the Year: Chris Weidman

There shouldn’t be any question as to which fighter has had the best year so far. While Chris Weidman has only stepped into the octagon once at the halfway point of the year, it was who he defeated that has earned him the top spot on this list. Ending Anderson Silva’s seven-year reign as UFC middleweight champion is one thing, but to do it in devastating fashion puts Weidman’s performance at UFC 162 amongst the greatest of all-time. With one perfectly placed left hook, Weidman sent shockwaves through the MMA community as he pulled off what no one thought was possible: He knocked out the greatest fighter to ever set foot inside the octagon. Even if Weidman loses the rematch that was just announced for UFC 168 on December 28, he will forever be remembered as the one to successfully squash ‘The Spider’ and for that reason alone he is my pick for Fighter of the Year.

Honorable mentions: Vitor Belfort, T.J. Grant, Urijah Faber, Pat Curran, Glover Teixeira, Cub Swanson, Josh Burkman, Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones.

Follow @AZSports