2008: The Year the MMA World Turned Upside Down

Here are my random thoughts for 2008.

1. All we hold dear and sacred should be thrown out the window. Iron chin is now glass chin. Undefeated is now defeated. K-1 caliber striker is now MMA caliber. The two most iron-chinned fighters in MMA, Mark Hunt and Nogueira were both knocked out for the first time in their lives. All three K-1 fighters were beaten at their own game by MMA fighters. Who would have thunk it?

2. It's a sport so don't force things. One, you don't force stars on the public. Two, you don't make matches that you're not sure you have contingency plans for. Exhibit A: Kimbo Slice. Exhibit B: K-1 and EliteXC. If you're going to put your fighters on display and prove how good they are, you better be sure they win. If not, make sure the other fighters are (1) locked up contractually and (2) marketable. Otherwise, you just make your organization look stupid and amateurish, or worse, bankrupt. As for K-1, they just hurt their credibility to have their own fighters beaten at their own game. When one fighter loses, it's a fluke. When both lose, it's a trend. K-1 level striking isn't what it used to be.

3. Freakshow. Bob Sapp VS Cartoon character? What? The Japanese have not evolved much past the good old days of Pride. At this rate, don't be surprised if Zuffa invades Japan in 2009.

4. My fighter of the year? No, it's not Anderson Silva nor is it Brock Lesnar. The fighter of the year has been undefeated in 2008, won the Strikeforce heavyweight belt, demolished Mirko CroCop in a no-contest match that he otherwise would have won anyway, and then destroyed Badr Hari, a K-1 heavyweight champion in a K-1 rules match. He's none other than Alistair Overeem. Overeem has always had the physical talent but has never dedicated himself before, gassing out early and has shown no heart in tough fights. The new demolition man is living up to his namesake by demolishing everyone in his wake. Zuffa, sign this man!

5. This last one is a rant. Why is it that reputable MMA sites pride themselves on objectivity on news reporting but when it comes to ranking, they throw that objectivity right out the window? Ranking should be as objective as possible even if it's highly subjective. Fighters who beat ranked fighters should be moved up. Fighters who beat unranked fighters should not be moved up. Fighters who lose to ranked fighters should not have their stock hurt unless the fighter they lost to is below them. Josh Barnett is a guy who moved up in ranking because the guy above him lost to another ranked fighter. This is a guy who hasn't fought a ranked fighter in two years. The last fighter he lost to (Nogueira) is now ranked below him because that fighter has fought consistently top competition. Does this make sense? This type of ranking encourage fighters to duck top competition. This is just Sherdog's ranking which I think is very respectible and objective. I hestitate to even discuss MMAWeekly's ranking because it is so fanboyish that it shouldn't even be mentioned. CroCop is still ranked #9, above Brock Lesnar of all people, while Randy Couture is ranked 4 slots above him. Overeem is no where to be found on the list while Barnett is ranked #2. I rest my case.