I was going to make a poll but I decided to wait until after this weekends events. Here's the list I came up with, but I'm sure I'm missing some. I was surprised that I couldn't come up with any Sengoku fights because I know they had some good events this year. I also didn't add any one sided or blowout fights like GSP-BJ or Henderson-Bisping. Anything on here that has no business being on this list, and which ones did I miss? I'll make an official poll after this weekend based on feedback from this thread.
The fights:
Marcus Davis-Chris Lytle UFC 93
Rich Franklin-Wanderlei Silva UFC 99
Yoshiro Akiyama-Alan Belcher UFC 100
Ed Herman-Aaron Simpson UFC 102
Minotauro Nogueira-Randy Couture UFC 102
Michael Bisping-Denis Kang UFC 105
Paul Buentello-Stefan Struve UFC 107
Alan Belcher-Wilson Gouveia UFC 107
Jamie Varner-Donald Cerrone WEC 38
Miguel Torres-Takeya Mizugaki WEC 40
Mike Brown-Uriah Faber II WEC 41
Miguel Torres-Brian Bowles WEC 42
Donald Cerrone-Ben Henderson WEC 43
Diego Sanchez-Clay Guida TUF 8 Finale
Nate Quarry-Tim Creduer UFN 19
Tyson Griffin-Rafael Dos Anos UFN 18
Carlos Condit-Martin Kampmann UFN 18
Scott Smith-Benji Radach(Strikeforce)
Fedor-Brett Rodgers Strikeforce
Eddie Alvarez-Katsunori Kikuno Dream 12
Shinya Aoki-Joachim Hansen 3 Dream 11
Mike Nickels-David Heath MFC 22
Toby Imada-Jorge Masvidal Bellator 4
Fedor-Andrei Arlovski Affliction 2
From that list I guess I would say Minotauro Nogueira-Randy Couture UFC 102. Just because when I watched it I was jumping up out of my chair ever 3 seconds.
Those were probably my 2 favorites as well, along with Sanchez-Guida. Nog-Randy would have to be my pick.
list looks good right now only fights missing are
Tokoro-Cullum - DREAM.9
Condit-Ellenberger - UFN 19
Quenneville-Evans - XMMA7
Henderson-Cerrone is my choice.
No Shogun-Machida? I thought was match was a privilege to watch.
Tokoro had 3 of the top 5 FOTY's
fedor vs rogers was an awesome fight, and at several points it could have went either way... and i know most people wont agree but i thought the machida/shogun fight was the closest thing to a perfectly stratagized fight that i didnt mind the lack of intense action.
Jimmy Football - No Shogun-Machida? I thought was match was a privilege to watch.
I liked that fight as well, but it seemed like the vast majority did not. I think it was a very interesting fight, and certainly an important one, but I still wouldn't have called it a fight of the year candidate. If enough people think it should be on the list, I'll definitely include it.
caposa - list looks good right now only fights missing are
Tokoro-Cullum - DREAM.9
Condit-Ellenberger - UFN 19
Quenneville-Evans - XMMA7
I completely forgot about Tokoro-Cullum, that was a great fight. Condit-Ellenberger was also a good one. I didn't see Quenneville-Evans, how did that one go?
also missing
Takaya-Fernandes - DREAM.11
Masvidal-Imada - Bellator 4
caposa - also missing
Takaya-Fernandes - DREAM.11
Masvidal-Imada - Bellator 4
Masvidal-Imada is on there, next to last one. I knew I didn't give Dream enough love.
"Ed Herman-Aaron Simpson UFC 102 "?????
take that out and put in cullum/tokoro; which wins fight of the year.
Nothing has really stood out to me besides Fedor vs. Rogers, so that is my pick. Huge build-up, big payoff, and it was the most accessible fight of the year for casual and hardcore fans alike
BJJkilla - "Ed Herman-Aaron Simpson UFC 102 "?????
take that out and put in cullum/tokoro; which wins fight of the year.
The Herman-Simpson fight really stuck with me based on how impressive Simpson was and how resiliant Herman was. But you're right, it was probably a bit one-sided to be on this list.
Cullum-Tokoro was a total brain freeze. It definitely should've been on the list. I'll include it in the actual poll.
I'm with Wonder.. Henderson-Cerrone, honorable mention to Heath-Nickels. These two fights stand out for me, I was rooting for both guys in both fights at times. And wasn't expecting much of anything before the fights started.
Really has been a great year for MMA
The WEC had a great year, they've only put on 7 events so far and they've got at least 5 FOTY candidates, and I probably left out a few.