When people are asked to list the best moments in mixed martial arts in 2011 the vast majority of the responses will involve the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But whether they happened in a hexagon, ring, or circular cage, some of the best MMA moments of the year took place outside the Octagon.
Strikeforce’s evolution
In March, Zuffa — the parent company of the UFC — purchased Strikeforce. Yes, this is a UFC related story, but it lead to some major changes to the way Strikeforce was run. Many believe it worked out to the benefit of fighters and fans alike. Strikeforce was home to some of the best fights and fighters in 2011 and no Strikeforce athletes had bigger years than Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson.
Diaz started the year by defending his Strikeforce welterweight title against Evangelista Santos in January. It was a classic Diaz performance as he out boxed the Brazilian for the first round and showed off his ground skills by finishing Santos with a slick armbar in the second. Diaz defended his belt again in April when he beat former UFC bad boy Paul Daley at his own game, defeating the Brit by TKO in a thrilling one-round bout.
All his success in Strikeforce, coupled with the Zuffa purchase and fan outcry, lead to the UFC scheduling a bout between Diaz and UFC champion Georges St-Pierre. Injuries and other circumstances lead to that bout being cancelled and Diaz fought former UFC champion BJ Penn instead. Diaz defeated Penn in impressive fashion and earned an interim title shot against Carlos Condit in 2012.
Dan Henderson was another Strikeforce champion that used his success in the hexagon to raise his profile to MMA fans across the world.
Hendo won the Strikeforce light-heavyweight title when he knocked out Rafael Cavalcante in March. His time in Strikeforce, however, was highlighted by his first-round knockout of former PRIDE heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko in July. After that win, the 41-year-old returned to the UFC where he took part in the consensus fight of the year against Mauricio Rua at UFC 139.
Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and women’s featherweight champ Cristiane (Cyborg) Santos continued their dominance and solidified themselves as the new faces of Strikeforce. The duo each defended their titles in their respective divisions and made it look easy.
Also, the newest star in women’s MMA emerged in Strikeforce. Ronda Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, began her professional MMA career in March and went 4-0 in 2011. She won all of her fights by first-round submission, none of them lasting longer than 49 seconds. Her vicious armbar win over Canadian Julia Budd in November put her on the map as a future contender.
Fedor & Japanese MMA
Fedor’s time in Strikeforce did not go as planned — being dominated by Antonio Silva in February and knocked out by Henderson in July — but he ended the year with a bang. In November he fought in his home country of Russia, defeating Strikeforce veteran Jeff Monson by decision. He followed that up by knocking out Olympic gold medal-winning judoka Satoshi Ishii at DREAM’s New Year’s Eve event.
Japan’s MMA scene isn’t like it was years ago, but there are still a number of top stars — including Gegard Mousasi, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Bibiano Fernandes, and Shinya Aoki — that regularly compete in Japan. Aoki, who is arguably the best non-UFC Japanese fighter, went 4-0 in 2011. He began the year with a first-round submission of Lyle Beerbohm in April and also topped veterans Rich Clementi, Rob McCullough and Satoru Kitaoka.
Bellator emerges as a top tier promotion
Bellator Fighting Championships has emerged as the top MMA promotion not under the Zuffa umbrella. The organization even expanded internationally in 2011 hosting two shows in Canada. In the past several years Bellator has produced some of the most exciting fights and finishes and 2011 was no different.
For a brief period of time — extremely brief — the Bellator 58 lightweight title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler was the fight of the year in 2011.
However not many people watched, as it was overshadowed by the Hendo-Shogun fight at UFC 139 that took place just several hours after Chandler defeated the heavily favoured Alvarez to become the new champ. Bellator was so proud of the fight they posted it online so fans could appreciate the battle between Chandler and Alvarez.
Pat Curran emerged as one of the best featherweights in the world after winning the promotion’s featherweight tournament.
At Bellator 46 Curran submitted Luis Palomino (who is Peruvian) with a Peruvian necktie.
Another KO of the year candidate came courtesy of Curran when he knocked out Marlon Sandro at Bellator 48 to win the tournament.
Bantamweight Alexis Vila had one of the most overlooked knockouts of the year as he stiffened up Bellator’s featherweight champion Joe Warren at Bellator 51.
Also, Bellator’s middleweight champion Hector Lombard continued to dominate his competition and proved he is one of the top talents outside of the UFC.
Crazy kick KOs
Whether it was the Steven Seagal-inspired front kicks from Anderson Silva at UFC 126 and Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, or Canadian John Makdessi’s spinning backfist KO of Kyle Watson, the UFC was home to some of the best knockouts in 2011. However, perhaps the two wildest knockouts happened overseas.
Marius Zaromskis is known for his wild strikes and calm demeanor, but watch him flip out on his opponent. Literally.
No this is not a movie. This actually happened during an MMA contest in Russia. Eat your heart out Jean Claude Van Damme.
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