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Right now, nearly every MMA blog and nearly every MMA fan with an opinion who has the means to share it, are handing out their own “biggest and best” awards in various categories based on last year’s MMA action.

Seeing as I am an MMA fan who happens to post on an MMA blog, why should I not hand out some of my own? 

So without any further waffle, I present, Sam Cupitt’s “Biggest and Best” of 2007.

Biggest Upset Of The Year - I’d like to go against the grain here and please the odd reader on this site who hate it when we 5 Oz. writer’s agree but there is just one upset that stands out above all others of 2007. That of course being, Matt Serra defeating Georges St. Pierre. 

I clearly remember when I first saw this fight. I was watching it with my brother and during the walk-ins we were betting on how many minutes it would take “Rush” to dismantle the TUF 4 winner. A few minutes later, we were just staring open mouthed at the screen as Serra did his victory cartwheel.

After having seen what St. Pierre had done to long time champion Hughes at UFC 65 it just seemed impossible that a former lightweight in the form of Serra could even lay a hand on the Canadian. For that very reason this fight far outranks other fights such as Diaz vs. Gomi and Griffin vs. Rua.

Biggest “WTF” Moment Of The Year - This award is for that moment in the year that you look back on and you are just dumbfounded as to why it happened. The clear winner in this category is the Nick Diaz 9 month suspension for marijuana. After submitting Takanori Gomi in one of the best fights of the year at Pride 33, Diaz tested positive for pot and was banned from competition for 9 months and the bout was ruled a no contest.

This ruling takes out this category because, firstly, how Diaz’s marijuana usage was seen as an advantage is beyond me. If he was that doped up as to not feel pain I’m pretty sure he would have floated off after the pre-show Pride effects instead of fighting. Secondly, Diaz was convicted for and banned for 9 months for taking pot, while Sean Sherk and Phil Baroni were effectively found guilty and banned for 6 months for taking steroids.

It was just a completely mental overreaction and thus worthy of this years award.

(more…)

ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) has learned that the long-awaited heavyweight clash between Internet street fighting legend Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and former UFC staple Tank Abbott is scheduled to be the main event of EliteXC’s next show on Saturday, February 16.

The show, scheduled to air on Showtime at 10:00 p.m. ET, is slated to emanate from Miami, Florida. A venue has not been officially announced but the University of Miami has been rumored as a location.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

Dana White was very excited when speaking about the Chuck Liddell - Wanderlei Silva match. After hearing White’s comments, I would not be surprised at all if Liddell and Silva met again.

“Chuck and Wanderlei was a great fight. If Chuck and Wanderlei makes sense again, and the fans want it, we’ll do it,” White said.

With the UFC spending so much time and effort putting the first fight together, I can clearly see the company’s motivation in signing a rematch. A lot of that will depend on the buy-rates for UFC 79. Nevertheless, Liddell and Silva was a classic. The fight easily met expectations if not exceed them.

Any fight Liddell is in instantly becomes a match in the main event or the semi main-event. Looking down the roster of light heavyweights right now, the name that really pops out as a viable opponent for Liddell is Lyoto Machida. While that would be an interesting fight for true MMA fans. I don’t know that it would be the draw that Liddell-Silva II would be.

With Silva being new to the UFC, there are a lot more potential options available - a Tito Ortiz rematch? maybe Houston Alexander if he gets an impressive win under his belt? Even Stephan Bonnar has talked about fighting Silva.

Of all those names though, Liddell appears to be the one that jumps out the most. With everyone already seeing the great match-up the first fight was, the rematch may be inevitable.

This is the best fight of the night from the Yarennoka! New Year’s Eve event. Misaki makes a huge comeback after being dropped with a right hand. Excellent fight. Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama - Yarennoka!Uploaded by moltisanti87 - [Read more]

Yahoo! Sports columnist Kevin Iole was able to land a rare one-on-one interview with UFC co-owner Lorenzo Feritta. It’s a great interview that has generated a lot of discussion around the Internet thus far. Most fans are none too pleased with a comment in which Fertitta praises the UFC 78 card that took place in November [...] - [Read more]

FiveOuncesOfPain.com is looking for new writers who can contribute on a regular basis! Please read the application requirements below. You will be expected to follow all the requirements. Failure to do so could result in your application not receiving full consideration. I realize these requirements are rigid, but we must insist on them to ensure the [...] - [Read more]

Right now there’s a comment thread with a major debate going on in regard to the Fedor vs. Hong-man Choi fight at Yarennoka! from New Year’s Eve. In case you haven’t seen the fight yet, below is the video for you to check out: - [Read more]

As usual, there’s a TON of great UFC audio available on “Mr. Sunshine” Steve Cofield’s blog, including a ten-minute post-UFC 79 interview with UFC president Dana White. You can access the interview by clicking here. In the interview, White touches on the following: - The greatness that was the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva fight was brought up. [...] - [Read more]

Again, more UFC.com branded video that has been made available on ESPN.com with embed code. In this video, both Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre comment after their fight at UFC 79. St. Pierre talks about how he was training for the Canadian Olympic wrestling team at the time of Matt Serra’s injury and how he abandoned [...] - [Read more]

The video is branded UFC.com, but it appears on ESPN.com with embed code so I’m thinking this video is fair game. In this video, Chuck Liddell talks about his strategy and whether the decision to shoot for takedowns vs. Wanderlei Silva was made before or during the fight. - [Read more]

Fedor Emelianenko cuts easy.  WATCH this FIGHT Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fedor beat Hong Man-Choi. Whoopty doo. I know this isn’t new information but the real story behind Fedor is that the dude’s face is made of Kleenex. He’s been cut in the first round in his last two fights. Choi cut him and made his face [...] - [Read more]

Ryan Schultz’s upset victory over Chris Horodecki during the finals of the IFL World Grand Prix on Saturday has shaken the IFL lightweight division on its heels heading into 2008. With Schultz’s win, suddenly it’s not the Chris Horodecki division and the stage is now set for some very intriguing potential title matchups next year. People [...] - [Read more]

While at UFC 79, I received an e-mail on my mobile device listing the results from the IFL World Grand Prix held earlier that night across the country in Uncasville, Conn. I was surprised to see many upsets listed, but was especially shocked to see that Chris Horodecki had lost the lightweight championship fight to [...] - [Read more]