Jan 01 The Very Best Submissions of 2010

If you missed it, make sure to check out Part 1 from Jordan Small

The Very Best Submissions of 2010

1. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
UFC 117 – August 7th – Triangle Choke

A jaw-dropping climax to UFC 117 was the Triangle Choke Anderson Silva pulled off. It was all but over for Silva, he was down 4-0 on the scorecards and his supremacy was a few minutes from ending. But still, showing why he’s labeled the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, Silva never folded and went forward until the bitter end. 2010′s finest.

2. Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Strikeforce Fedor vs. Werdum – June 26th – Triangle Choke

The Fedor aura is gone. Well, sort of. Emelianenko was got caught in Werdum’s triangle, which resulted in the Internet to blow up. You gotta give it up to Werdum, he’s the first man to really defeat the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

3. Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Dream 15 – July 10th – Achilles Lock

Aoki grabbed a leg early and didn’t let go, showing he’s still one of the elite submission experts on the planet.

4. Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira
UFC 124 – December 11th – Knee bar

Jim Miller shows young, Jiu-Jitsu ace, Charles Oliveira, how it’s done with a quick knee bar in Montreal.

5. Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon
UFC 108 – January 2nd – Kimura

A very crafty submission by Cole Miller.

6. Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida
UFC 117 – August 7th – Anaconda Choke

Usually it’s Almeida doing the submitting but after getting rocked it was elementary for Hughes.

7. Marloes Coenen vs. Sarah Kaufman
Strikeforce San Jose – October 9th – Armbar

Coenen did her best Nogueira impression and let Kaufman get over aggressive while setting up the arm bar.

8. Paulo Thiago vs. Mike Swick
UFC 109 – February 6th – D’Arce Choke

Thiago continues to be a throne in AKA’s side going 2-1 against their best.

9. Ben Henderson vs. Jamie Varner
WEC 46 – January 10th – Guillotine Choke

Varner came to fight and got grappled.

10. Mark Bocek vs. Dustin Hazelett
UFC 124 – December 11th – Triangle Choke

The transition from full mount to the triangle was brilliant. Just a thing of beauty to watch.

The Breakout Fighters of 2010

1. Ryan Bader (2-0 1K0)

Significant wins: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Keith Jardine

Bader’s win over one of the best at 205 pounds in Antonio Rogerio Nogueira instantly threw him into title contention in the UFC.

2. Chael Sonnen (1-1)

Significant wins: Nate Marquardt

Chael backed up his talk and came so very close to winning the UFC middleweight title from Anderson Silva. Despite the loss, Chael firmly placed himself on the map this year.

3. Marlon Sandro (2-1 2KO)

Significant wins: Masanori Kanehara (Won WVR Sengoku featherweight title)

Sandro made his presence felt in the featherweight division with two KO’s in under a minute to take the Sengoku featherweight championship.

Poor, Kanehara.

4. Gokhan Saki (7-1 4KO)

Significant wins: Daniel Ghita, Freddy Kemayo, Melvin Manhoef, Singh Jaideep

Saki had an astonishing year in K-1, displaying an array offensive moves and Mortal Kombat-esque combo’s with lightning speed.

That was a four hit combo, ladies and gentlemen. Just unreal.

5. Sergio Martinez (2-0 1KO)

Significant wins: Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams (Won the WBO and WBC middleweight titles)

A big year for Martinez as he exceeded his expectations and then some.

6. Jim Miller (4-0 2SUB)

Significant wins: Mark Bocek, Charles Oliveira, Duane Ludwig

A great year for Miller, who is now in title contention at 155 pounds. With the merging of WEC/UFC there should be plenty of interesting match ups for him in 2011.

7. Hector Lombard (5-0 3KO)

Significant wins: Alexander Schlemenko, Jay Silva

Lombard just steamrolled his competition this year and superfights with Strikeforce middleweights may be on the horizon for one of Bellator’s finest. Lombard made Bellator history with the promotions quickest KO, six seconds, when he defeated UFC vet, Jay Silva.

8. Ben Askren (4-0 1SUB)

Significant wins: Dan Hornbuckle, Lyman Good (Won the Bellator welterweight title)

Undefeated wrestler, Ben Askren, got on the map this year by winning Bellator’s welterweight tournament.

9. Michihiro Omigawa (3-0 2SUB)

Significant wins: Cole Escovedo

Ever since his drop to the featherweight division Omigawa has been on an impressive roll and recently signed with the UFC.

10. Cole Konrad (7-0 2SUB 1KO)

Significant wins: Neil Grove (Won Bellator heavyweight title)

All of Konrad’s wins have come in the year 2010 as he became the first heavyweight champ in Bellator.

The Very Best Comebacks of 2010

1. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
UFC 117 – August 7th – Triangle Choke

The Trouble:

Silva was losing bad for four-and-a-half rounds and with the end near. We all thought we had witnessed the end of a dynasty. Until…

The Comeback:

Silva woke up.

2. Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
UFC 116 – July 3rd – Arm Triangle

The Trouble:

Lesnar was a human punching bag the first round and was very lucky the fight wasn’t called. He managed to survive the first and another savage beating looked to be in store for round two. Until…

The Comeback:

It became apparent that Carwin completely gassed himself. Throwing so many punches completely wore out Carwin and he became easy pickings for Lesnar in round two.

3. Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto
Bellator 27 – September 2nd – KO (Knee and Punches)

The Trouble:

Soto was destroying Warren in every aspect of MMA in the first round. Until…

The Comeback:

Soto got cocky and paid for it.

4. Marloes Coenen vs. Sarah Kaufman
Strikeforce Diaz vs. Noons 2 – October 9th – Armbar

The Trouble:

Kaufman became asserting herself in the bout and was inflicting some serious ground-and-pound on Coenen. Until…

The Comeback:

Kaufman became over aggressive and didn’t realize she was being set up for an armbar before it was too late.

5. Robbie Lawlor vs. Melvin Manhoef
Strikeforce Miami – January 30th – KO (Punches)

The Trouble:

Manhoef was terrorizing Lawlor’s legs and it looked like this was going to be an absolute one-sided beating. Until…

The Comeback:

Manhoef dropped his guard for one brief moment.

6. Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee
UFC 114 – May 29th – KO (Punch)

The Trouble:

Through three rounds, Russow didn’t have an answer for Todd Duffee and was eating his fists all night. Until…

The Comeback:

Like Manhoef, Duffee let his guard down for one moment and the fight was over.

Followed by the hammer fist of doom.

7. Sergio Martinez vs. Kelly Pavlik
HBO Championship Boxing – April 17th – Unanimous Decision

The Trouble:

Early in the fight, Pavlik dropped Martinez and it seemed more of it was to come. Until…

The Comeback:

Martinez actually became better and Pavlik had no answer, so much so that Martinez was awarded a unanimous decision despite the knock down.

8. Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell
UFC 115 – June 12th – KO (Punch)

The Trouble:

In the first minute, Liddell broke Franklin’s arm with this kick. Essentially, Franklin was handicapped almost from the beginning. Until…

The Comeback:

Liddell was well on his was to winning the round and possibly even the fight had they stopped it in between rounds. But he got careless. Liddell rushed in on Franklin in the final 10 seconds of the round and was knocked unconscious by a punch from Franklin’s unbroken arm.

9. Antonio Silva vs. Mike Kyle
Strikeforce Henderson vs. Babalu – December 4th – (KO) Punches

The Trouble:

In the first 30 seconds, last minute replacement, Mike Kyle, dropped Silva with a overhand and was glued to him for the remaining of the round. Kyle easily won the round and it seemed he could actually pull off the upset. Until…

The Comeback:

Silva stopped messing around.

10. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Pat Barry
UFC 115 – June 12th – Rear Naked Choke

The Trouble:

Cro Cop wasn’t only dropped once and allowed to get up in the first round, it happened twice. After the round it seemed Cro Cop was in for a beating. Until…

The Comeback:

Barry actually broke his hand and foot in the first and obviously it halted his offensive prowess enough for Cro Cop to regain himself and eventually submit Barry.

The Very Best Trash Talkers of 2010

1. Chael Sonnen

Nobody was safe from Sonnen in 2010.

2. Josh Koscheck

Although he’s horrible at predicting outcomes, he did a great job in messing with Montreal fans.

3. Brock Lesnar

His pro wrestling background serves him well.

4. Sean McCorkle

McCorkle is a self proclaimed Internet troll on the UG forums and most of what he says is gold.

5. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

As always, Jackson is a great trash talker.

6. Dan Hardy

Whether it was GSP, Koscheck or Carlos Condit, Hardy never failed to deliver.

7. Wladimir Klitschko

Klitschko got legit trash talking credentials after this Youtube video surfaced in April.

8. Rashad Evans

Evans doesn’t like Rampage.

9. Stefan Struve

Not the biggest trash talker but he did create an epic Internet thread, which received hundreds of thousands of views. Yeah, I know. In the historic thread, hundreds of people entered a photo shop contest where they put up off-the-wall pictures with Sean McCorkle’s face attached to them. The creator of the best photo shop picture received an autographed prize from Struve. The winning picture is down the page.

10. Paul Daley

Daley also had a similar contest with Josh Koscheck and whoever could photo shop the best won a prize.

The Very Best Rivalries of 2010

1. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans

2. Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva

3. Nick Diaz vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller

Their beef started during the night of April 17th when the notorious Strikeforce Brawl happened and Miller was jumped by the Caesar Gracie team, which included Diaz. Since then, both men have been going back at each other over the Internet and in some cases verbally backstage at events.

4. Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck

5. Sean McCorkle vs. Stefan Struve

6. Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Viacheslav Datsik

The back story to this is after Datsik escaped a mental hospital, he was immediately called out by Aleksander on Russian national television. Aleks said he would make Datsik “feel pain” if they ever met on the street. Upon hearing of the call out, Datsik, still on the run, answered Aleks with a Youtube video of his own where he showed off a gun and machete. In the video Datsik responded to meeting Aleks in the street by taking it a step further and asking for his house address.

A few weeks later Datsik surrendered himself while hiding out in Norway. Oh yeah, he had a hand gun with him when he turned himself in.

7. David Haye vs. Wladimir Klitchsko

It’s been like this for two-years. Klitschko came out with his call out video and recently Haye said he wanted to fight the Klitchkos again.

8. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Lyoto Machida

It was the rematch everyone was waiting for.

9. James Toney vs. Randy Couture

10. Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck

The sucker punch.

Tags: boxing \ Kickboxing \ MMA \ top 10

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