MMA/Boxing

Welcome fans of MMA and Boxing

Fans of Mixed Martial Arts, boxing, and combat sports in general , this column is for you. Each Tuesday, I’ll be discussing the big fights from the worlds of MMA and boxing, as well as offering book reviews, and reliving old fights. We’ll also covering other combat events of interest, including this year’s Summer Olympics, which offers combat in the form of boxing, wrestling, Judo, and Tae Known Do.

To give you  brief history of where my enthusiasm for these sports were derived, I watched my first boxing match with my dad in 1983, as then-heavyweight champion Larry Holmes disposed of Scott Frank in five rounds.  The fight that really grabbed my attention, though, had to be Marvelous Marvin Hagler brilliant TKO of Thomas “Hitman” Hearns in 1985 in the most memorable fight of the decade. My introduction into MMA came in 1994 when I ordered UFC II on PPV, where 179lb Royce Gracie dominated every one of his opponents.  What fights got you hooked on MMA and/or boxing? Email me at nobradovich@enterto.com.

We bring in 2008 with my awards from 2007, which was a brilliant year for both MMA and boxing.

MMA Fight of the Year: Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi (Pride 33)

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this classic, I hope FSN shows the rerun because this was a CRAZY fight. Gomi came out with a surprising takedown and unleashed some solid ground and pound. When the fight returned to its feet, Gomi nailed Diaz with some bombs, almost finishing the California native.  With about two minutes left in the round, Diaz weathered the storm and started finding his range. He unloaded on Gomi. The two slugged it out when Gomi inexplicably decided to drop his hands and encourage Diaz to hit him in the face. Diaz obliged and Gomi was clearly hurt as the exciting round ended. Round two started with more slugging. Diaz was getting the better of the Japanese superstar. Gomi weakly took Diaz down. Nick responded immediately by synching a gogoplata, forcing Gomi to tap out. That has to be considered the submission of the decade so far.

Other outstanding fights: From Frank Shamrock’s dramatic victory over Phil Baroni, to Chuck Liddell’s recent win over Wanderlei Silva—not to mention all of Tyson Griffin’s UFC fights this year, 2007 produced many memorable contests. It’s hard to pick a definitive runner-up fight, but I’d go with Shamrock/Baroni.

MMA Fighter of the Year: Anderson Silva

Silva was the most dominant UFC fighter in 2007, winning three times, including successfully defending his middleweight belt twice. (His first title defense against Travis Lutter was switched to a non-title bout when Lutter didn’t make weight).  Silva fought stiff competition in ’07, yet none of his opponent s made it past the second round. Remember in his two 2006 fights for the UFC against Chris Leban and Rich Franklin, he finishing both fights in the first round.  Silva’s 2007 reminded me of Liddell in 2006. Both fighters were totally locked in and no one had an answer to their powerful striking. Silva is slated to defend his title in March against Dan Henderson.   

(Wins: Travis Lutter at UFC 67; Nathan Marquardt at UFC 73; Rich Franklin at UFC 77)

Other outstanding performers:  Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Randy Couture, Urijah Faber

Jackson arguably was the best fighter in ’07, beating Marvin Eastman in his Octagon debut at UFC 67, before dethroning light-heavy weight king Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 with a vicious knockout. At UFC 75, Jackson showed tremendous focus and conditioning by winning a five-round unanimous decision against Dan Henderson. Henderson controlled the first two rounds, but Jackson turned the fight around, winning the last three rounds.

What an odd year for Randy Couture.  After retiring in 2006 after losing to Liddell in their rubber match, Couture un-retired for a shot at Tim Silvia’s heavyweight title in March 2007 at UFC 68. Couture defied all expectations, dominating Big Tim for 5 rounds to claim yet another UFC world title. The Natural pulled off even a bigger upset by stopping Gabriel Gonzaga in the third round at UFC 74, showing that rare ability of a Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard to come out of a retirement with no ring rust and continue to win.  The year ended on a sour note, as Couture walked away from the UFC over a money dispute.  As with Ali and Leonard’s short-lived retirements, I find it difficult to believe that Couture won’t fight again. He loves the competition, and he fought too well in ’07 to just give it up now.       

If you haven’t been watching all the free WEC cards on Versus featuring featherweight champ Urijah Faber, you’re missing one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. Faber won four times, displaying aggressive striking and wicked wrestling and submission skills. His next expected opponent is Jens Pulver—that might be the best live MMA match ever on free television since Diego Sanchez/Karo Parisian from 2006.

On to the sweet science:

Boxing Fight of the Year: Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez I and II (tie)

You don’t have to be a hard-core boxing fan to appreciate the 13 brilliant rounds that these fighters put on last year. Marquez got off the canvas on their March fight and inflicted a brutal beating on Vazquez, who quit after the seventh round due to a nose injury. In their July rematch, Vazquez extracted his revenge, TKOing Marquez in the sixth round in another brutal slugfest.  The rubber match is set for March 1.   

Other outstanding fights:  My favorites include Miguel Cotto’s wins over Zab Judah and Shane Mosley and Kelly Pavlik’s crunching TKOs of Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor. Both Cotto and Pavlik had to walk through some vicious assaults to claim victories. They both have my respect.  Pavlik’s win over Taylor gets the nod as runner-up.

Boxing Fighter of the Year: Kelly Pavlik

As already mentioned, Pavlik took some hard shots, but walked down the hard-punching Miranda, stopping him in the seventh round, earning a shot at Taylor’s WBC and WBO middleweight tiles.  Taylor knocked Pavlik silly in the second round. Pavlik admitted after the fight that he thought he was in for a long night at the end of that second round, but the Youngstown native slowly got things going before exploding on the champ in the seventh round with a barrage of punches that sent Taylor slumping in the corner unable to continue. The rematch in February is at a catch-weight of 166lbs.  

(Wins:  Eight-round KO of Jose Luis Zertuche in January; Seventh-round TKO of Edison Miranda in May; Seventh-round TKO of Jermain Taylor in September.

Other outstanding performances: Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto

Mayweather has been considered the best pound-for-pound fighter for years, but 2007 made Pretty Boy into a superstar. Featured on HBO’s 24/7 leading up to his superfights with Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, the brash Mayweather became a legitimate boxing celebrity (pretty rare these days), not to mention beating de la Hoya and stopping the previously undefeated Hatton.  As of now, it looks like Mayweather will give da la Haya a rematch instead of fighting Cotto. That's a shame since they are the two best welterweights in the world right now, and Cotto should at least able to give Mayweather a challenge.

Notes: BJ Penn sounded defeated Joe Stevenson to win the UFC lightweight title last Saturday at UFC 80. Penn is set to defend the belt againt Sean Sherk on May 24 in Las Vegas.

Set your DVR for tomorrow at Spike TV presents UFC Fight Night 12. Mike Swick makes is welterweight debut against Josh Burkman. I'm picking Swick via decision. Email me your picks at nobradovich@enterto.com.