Dec 28 Top 10 of 2010 – MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing – Part One

The Very Best Knockouts of 2010

1. Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams
Williams vs Martinez 2 – November 20th

It’s the ones you don’t see that hurt the most. Martinez only needed two rounds to dispose of the man that beat him a year earlier in this rematch. Through both rounds, it was toe-to-toe until Martinez delivered the best boxing one-punch knockout in a long time. Hands down the KO of the year for 2010.

2. Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith
Strikeforce Henderson vs. Babalu – December 4th

2010 was an up-and-down year for British striker, Paul Daley. In January, he tore through Dustin Hazelett at UFC 108 with a brutal KO. In May, he was one fight away from a shot at welterweight champ, Georges St-Pierre, but he lost a unanimous decision to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113. There was no shame in the loss, however, it was Daley’s action moments after the fight that was unacceptable. Daley sucker-punched Koscheck, which gave his walking papers from the UFC.

After a few successful fights in small organizatons, Daley landed in Strikeforce where he would fight heavy handed Scott Smith in his debut. In the opening few minutes, Daley landed a skull-cracking left hook that spelled good night for Smith and awed everyone who witnessed this pretty KO.

3. George Roop vs. Chan Sung Jung “The Korean Zombie”
WEC 51 – September 30th

There was a lot of hype for “The Korean Zombie” going into this fight. People were on the Zombie bandwagon, bought the shirts and even brought severed head props to his fights. Well, didn’t they feel silly after Chan Sung Jung actually almost had his head severed by George Roop with the best head-kick knockout of 2010!

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Lyoto Machida
UFC 113 – May 8th

The Machida Era is over. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua made sure of that in their rematch. Rua wasn’t about to let the judges decide his fate and possibly overlook another winning performance. In the first round, Rua dropped Machida with a right and finished it on the ground.

5. Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modaferri
Strikeforce Challengers 9 – July 23rd

There were a few slam KO’s this year but Sarah Kaufman’s was the nastiest. And in reality, who ever expected this fight to end the way it did? Not to sound sexist but slam KO’s like this are usually reserved for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

6. Daniel Ghita vs. Errol Zimmerman
K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 – October 2nd

Flying knee’s are officially the worst idea in kickboxing and MMA.

7. Renan St-Juste vs. Sebastian Demers
Fast & Furious – December 3rd

This was a very pretty KO as Renan St-Juste shows how it’s done!

8. Alistair Overeem vs. Dzevad Poturak
K-1 World Grand Prix – April 3rd

There’s not much to say about this except the “Uberknee” might be the most devastating thing. Ever.

9. Robbie Lawlor vs. Matt Lindland
Strikeforce Henderson vs Babalu – December 4th

I cringed when Belfort did it to Matt Lindland and I cringed when Robbie Lawlor did it, too. It’s hard to watched a guy down and out like that for a few minutes but nonetheless it was still one of the best KO’s on an overall great Strikeforce card.

10. Carlos Condit vs. Dan Hardy
UFC 120 – October 16th

They both went for it and Condit landed first. Nobody saw this coming, especially after Condit’s previous performance against 20-year-old Rory MacDonald.

The Very Best Fights of 2010

1. Anthony Pettis vs. Ben Henderson
WEC 53 – December 16th

A fantastic back-and-fourth war between the two best lightweights in the WEC, which was capped off by a “OMFG” moment that dropped everyone’s jaw watching as Pettis landed a Matrix-esque head-kick on Henderson in the fifth round. MMA message boards and my phone exploded with “OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!” This is right up there with the “Randleplex” or “Cro Cop getting Cro Cop’d” moments in MMA. But don’t take my word for it, watch for yourself:

After already an amazing fight, this happened with one minute left in the fifth round. Pettis would win a unanimous decision and become the last WEC lightweight champion. Hands down this takes the pumpkin pie for fight of the year.

2. Mike Zambidis vs. Chahid Oulad El Hadj
K-1 World MAX Final 16 – October 3rd

Four epic rounds of toe-to-toe technical kickboxing. Beautiful. If you’re a fan of stand up fighting, you’ll need to watch this beauty.

It was absolutely brilliant that left you on the edge of your seat craving more.

3. Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki
Sengoku 14 – August 22nd

A masterful performance by both competitors as it ended in the fifth round as Santiago won due to TKO (towel by corner). Both men put on a hall of fame show for the ages. Santiago successfully defended his Sengoku middleweight title.

4. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
UFC 117 – August 7th

The end of a UFC record breaking 11 fight, four-year domination streak was all but a few minutes away as Chael Sonnen could taste victory. Sonnen came in, sold the fight on his own, took the pound-for-pound best guy in MMA and made him look bad — really bad, for four and a half rounds. In the fifth round, finally realizing he was about to lose, Silva locked in a triangle choke and submitted Sonnen in one of the most astonishing moments in 2010.

Silva’s 12-fight win streak is the longest in UFC history.

5. Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner
WEC 51 – September 30th

A bad blood match up between Cerrone and Varner did not disapoint. It was a give-an-inch, take-an-inch war, which saw Cerrone taking the unanimous decision.

6. Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis
HBO Championship Boxing – November 27th

The best boxing match of 2010, goes to the head-to-head collision of Marquez and Katsidis, which saw Marquez winning via TKO in round nine.

7. Gokhan Saki vs. Daniel Ghita
K-1 World Grand Prix Final 8 – December 11th

A lot of people were excited for this one and it delivered as the brutal back-and-fourth fight it was. Gokhan Saki would eventually win a decision in the extension round as Ghita faded but not before landing some rib-crunching body kicks.

8. Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung “The Korean Zombie”
WEC 48 – April 24th

It was a barn burner, folks. The WEC couldn’t have asked for a better free fight to showcase before their first ever pay-per-view. Garcia would eventually end up winning a controversial decision, his first of two on the year.

9. Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito
Pacquiao vs. Margarito – November 13th

For the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, Pac Man showed that even if you way 15 more pounds than him, you’ll still get your ass handed to you.

10. Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams
Williams vs. Martinez 2 – November 20th

Once again, toe-to-toe with the most dramatic finish of 2010.

The Very Best Fighters of 2010

1. Alistair Overeem (6-0 5KO)

2010 was definitely the year of “The Reem”. There has never been an MMA champion and a K-1 World Grand Prix champion at the same time ever until Alistair Overeem. A successful Strikeforce title defense against Brett Rogers, who was completely outclassed and Overeem’s K-1 hit list of Dzevad Poturak, Ben Edwards, Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki and Peter Aerts crowned him the K-1 WGP champion of 2010.

2. Frankie Edgar (2-0)

B.J. Penn was considered untouchable at 155. Edgar not only proved that theory incorrect, he proved its flaws twice in 2010. There’s nothing sweeter than silencing the naysayers twice in one year.

3. Sergio Martinez (2-0 1KO)

Martinez made a big push for himself in 2010. He took out Paul Williams in totally awesome fashion and dethroned Kelly Pavlik for his WBC and WBO middleweight titles. Martinez was the stand out boxer this year.

4. Jose Aldo (2-0 1KO)

Aldo gets better each time he’s in the cage and in 2010, he headlined WEC’s first and only pay-per-view against Urijah Faber and left him in a wheelchair after 25 minutes of leg kick brutality. In his last bout, Aldo pounded Manny Gamburyan’s head into oblivion in the second round of their championship bout. Aldo was also crowned the new UFC featherweight champion following the WEC/UFC merger.

5. Manny Pacquiao (2-0)

Pac Man showing why he’s the best with dominating performances over Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey. Get that man in the ring with Pretty Boy.

6. Dominick Cruz (3-0 1KO)

2010 was a big year for the WEC’s last and the UFC’s first bantamweight champ. Cruz had impressive performances against Scott Jorgensen, Joesph Benavidez and Brian Bowles and asserted himself as one of the pound-for-pound best in the sport.

7. Georges St-Pierre (2-0)

GSP was up against two sharp-tongue mixed martial artists this year, however, using Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck’s trash talk as fuel against them, GSP cruised to victory in each bout.

8. Cain Velasquez (2-0 2KO)

The standout heavyweight in the UFC this year was Cain Velasquez. Crowned the UFC heavyweight champ by manhandling Brock Lesnar in a one-sided outing and KO’ing legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; he’s ascended to the top of the heavyweight rankings.

9. Giorgio Petrosyan (6-0 1KO)

Petrosyan is the best pound-for-pound kick boxer on the planet and recently won his second consecutive K-1 World MAX Grand Prix title.

10. Chael Sonnen (1-1)

Love him or hate him, Sonnen made the biggest splash this year in MMA with his mouth and backed it up in the Octagon. No one was safe from his verbal abuse, whether you’re in his division or even the same sport! Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Brock Lesnar, Georges St-Pierre and Lance Armstrong, yes, Lance Armstrong, are just a taste of who were called out by Sonnen at one point in 2010.

The Very Best Upsets of 2010

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

It was hard to watch such rookie mistakes by the greatest ever. Not only did Fedor blindly jump into Werdum’s guard once and escape the first Triangle/ Arm bar, but he did it again and got caught. Regardless, even the best lose and this definitely tops the upsets of 2010.

2. Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson
Strikeforce Nashville – April 17th – Unanimous Decision

Everyone had a pretty good idea that Shields would be leaving for the UFC after his bout with Dan Henderson whether he won or not. Henderson was basically given the immediate title fight because he was expected to send Shields to the UFC limping. However, things didn’t go according to plan. Henderson busted out of the gates on fire and it looked like a first round stoppage was coming. But Shields survived the tornado and dominated the remaining four rounds, leaving Strikeforce as the middleweight champion.

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

After an early knock down in the fight, Martinez battled back on Pavlik and took the fight to him. Pavlik was never able to go back to his early fight success and lost a unanimous decision. Martinez was coming off a loss going into this bout to Paul Williams and shocked everyone by taking out Pavlik.

4. Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn 1 & 2
UFC 112, UFC 118 – Both by Unanimous Decision

Beating Penn once seemed surreal. Beating Penn again was even more surreal. Frankie Edgar showed why you shouldn’t bet against him when he fights B.J. Penn.

5. Joesph Benavidez vs. Miguel Torres
WEC 47 – March 6th – Guillotine Choke

This was suppose to be a tune up fight for Torres but Benavidez had other plans. After opening up a huge gash on Torres’ head via elbows, Benavidez locked in a tight guillotine and subbed the former top ranked bantamweight with seemingly ease.

6. Jean Pascal vs. Chad Dawson
August 14th – Technical Decision

“Bad” Chad was a huge favourite going into this bout but was stunned by Quebec native, Jean Pascal. After an unintentional headbutt in the 11th which ended the fight to a technical decision, Pascal was way ahead on every judges scorecard. Their rematch is set for mid 2011.

7. Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
UFC 116 – July 3rd – Triangle Choke

Chris Leben had just fought and beat Aaron Simpson when he got the call to face Akiyama in two weeks. Wanderlei Silva had dropped out of the bout and the UFC needed a replacement. No one really expected Leben to beat the previously undefeated Japanese superstar but in the final minute of the third round Leben sunk in a triangle and tapped the man known as ‘Sexyama”.

8. Peter Aerts vs. Semmy Schilt
K-1 World Grand Prix Final 8 – December 11th – Unanimous Decision

Nobody beats the four-time K-1 champ, Semmy Schilt, in the World Grand Prix tournament, no one! Well, for the first time ever someone did. Peter Aerts took the fight to the towering Schilt and completely threw him off his game. It was a great moment for 40-year-old Aerts and K-1 fans.

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

Your power is always the last thing to go. After all the hype surrounding the “new breed” of MMA heavyweights, after the dust settled, only two are still standing. Todd Duffee was not one of them. Following the complete tooling of Mike Russow for two and a half rounds, the 265 pound Duffee got caught with a right and was completely laid out in the third round.

Followed by the Hammer fist of doom.

10. Manny Gamburyan vs. Mike Brown
WEC 48 – April 24th – KO (Punches)

Once considered one of the best pound-for-pound, Brown was looking for a rebound win after his title loss to Jose Aldo. Gamburyan wasn’t about to let himself be a tune up fight and KO’d Brown fast, instead.

Part Two of the Top 10 of 2010 features the very best Submissions, Trash Talkers, Breakout Fighters and Comeback Fights.

Tags: boxing \ fighters \ fights \ knockouts \ MMA \ TKO \ top 10 \ upsets

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