Well, it’s 2012 and if you’re a conspiracy theorist then you probably think we’ll be nothing more than smoke and ashes by this time next year but let’s enjoy this year of fights for what it’s worth.
This year we wasted no time getting into the thick of things with a Zuffa, LLC event each week as well as MFC, It’s Showtime, Jungle Fights, Pro Elite & Shooto all bringing it big giving a fight fan a smorgasbord of high-level athletes punching one another in the face.
Here is something that will be running each month on MMASucka.com, when all is said and done I will take a look back and pick the best knockout, submission and fight that each 29-31 day period provided.
Knockout of the month:
What else did you expect? Edson Barboza’s spinning wheel kick is not only the best knockout for January but I would be flabbergasted if it weren’t knockout of the year.
Barboza has long been considered one of the hottest prospects at 155-pounds and he made a real statement in his second fight on home soil against a tough customer in Terry Etim – Etim has been in the UFC since 2007 and shown off a fantastic submission game along with a long, lanky figure that can give the average opponent fits.
Barboza took control early in the bout doing extreme amounts of damage with his leg kicks, absolutely chopping wood on the poor Brit and making this guy cringe as he watched on.
After clearly winning the first two frames right when you thought the Brazilian bomber was going to keep things up, throw a few leg kicks, move forward a bit and take home a victory on the score cards he threw a spinning wheel kick that has been dubbed the “Lekobuster” since it was the same kick that Badr Hari damn near decapitated Stefan Leko with in 2005.
Submission of the month:
Much like the knockout of the month, this horrifying submission has set the bar for submission of the year incredibly high – Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira’s calf-slicer on Eric Wisely this past weekend.
Oliveira was making his much anticipated debut at 145-pounds following a string of disappointments losing to top of the range fighters like Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller as well as his victory over Nik Lentz being overturned to a no-contest due to an illegal knee.
He looked to make a splash early and wasted no time doing so – The 22-year-old showed a great ability to get the fight to the floor quickly, from side-mount he transitioned quickly as it looked like he was going for his best Rousimar Palhares impression seeking a heel hook.
Wisely escaped and moved into the calf-slicer in the blink of an eye, watching the replay tells the entire story if you look at the complete pain and agony outpouring from Wisely – Brutal, brutal stuff.
Fight of the month:
The first category for the month that required some form of thought on my behalf so this is where I’ll probably bomb – I gave it to Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz from UFC on FOX 2.
Who saw that Lentz being the sort of fighter that throws caution to the wind in a back-and-forth battle? When he smothered Andre Winner for 15 minutes at UFC 118 people wished physical harm against the “one-dimensional” wrestler.
Now he’s completely changed up his style and despite coming off back-to-back defeats has probably saved his job with this barnburner of a fight – Lentz threw his hands around more than we’ve ever seen in his octagon career pressuring the former top-ranked prospect but Dunham really found his stride in the second frame.
Dunham turned up the heat on “The Carny” stringing together a 12-punch sequence while showing off flashy wrestling and threatening with submission holds but the biggest factor was an elbow thrown by the Xtreme Couture product that opened up a massive cut below the eye of Lentz.
I won’t describe this cut by comparing it to a part of a woman’s anatomy but I assure you it wasn’t a pretty sight.
This guy knows absolutely nothing right? Must be a heroin addict, tell him so @justinfauxmma
