2009 Bloody Elbow Reader Awards: Performance of the Year
by Mike Fagan on Jan 18, 2010 12:35 PM EST
in MMA News
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This was about as close as Diego Sanchez came to hitting B.J. Penn all weekend.
Few people gave Diego a shot to beat B.J. as he challenged Penn for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 107. On paper, Penn did everything Sanchez could do, but better. Much better. Even Diego's infamous John Nord-inspired explosions of "YUS!" as he made his way to the Octagon could be matched by Penn's stone cold I'm-going-to-open-you-up-and-taste-your-blood stare of death.
Marv Marinovich must know some real-life "iddqd" or Konami code because Penn didn't just exceed the expectations of fans and pundits. He emasculated the expectations. Penn dominated Sanchez like Jay Leno on a late night lineup.
The fight lasted 22 minutes and 37 seconds. Penn landed 150 of his 214 strikes. That's 70%. That's a lot. By FightMetric's count, Sanchez attempted 27 takedowns. Qualifying word is "attempted".
But the best part? In the four-plus rounds of fighting, and out of the 108 he threw, Diego Sanchez landed a total of 8 strikes in the bout. Eight. Penn landed more than eight jabs in each round. Referee Herb Dean made more contact with the Hawai'ian than Diego.
That may not be the most impressive part of Penn's performance. In January, welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre battered Penn up, poured him over a griddle, and emptied an entire bottle of maple syrup over the contents. Penn's ensuing Vaseline witch hunt drew the ire of the MMA community. It took eleven months and a calculated bitch slapping of a top 10 contender, but Penn found his redemption.
Full results after the break.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
| Penn vs. Sanchez | 11 | 15 | 6 | 106 |
| A. Silva vs. Griffin | 14 | 7 | 5 | 96 |
| Lesnar vs. Mir | 6 | 4 | 6 | 48 |
| St-Pierre vs. Penn | 6 | 5 | 1 | 46 |
| Zaromskis in WWGP | 5 | 3 | 5 | 39 |
| Aldo vs. Brown | 5 | 2 | 8 | 39 |
| Rua vs. Machida | 3 | 3 | 4 | 28 |
| St-Pierre vs. Alves | 2 | 3 | 4 | 23 |
| Machida vs. Evans | 3 | 3 | 18 | |
| Nogueira vs. Couture | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| Fernandes in FWGP | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Smith vs. Le | 1 | 3 | ||
| Henderson vs. Bisping | 1 | 1 | ||
| Bowles vs. Torres | 1 | 1 | ||
| Emelianenko vs. Arlovski | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sanchez vs. Guida | 1 | 1 |
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damn, Shogun is in 7th place? For someone who 90% of the community weren’t giving much of a chance in the fight and performing the way he did I’d think he would at least be among the top 3.
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
Those top four were impressssive victories. I’m more shocked Aldo didn’t get more votes.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
well it was good, but he still lost.
Lesnar/Mir, Silva/Forrest, and Penn/Sanchez were just reallyyyyyyyy dominating performances
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 18, 2010 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
I guess
me personally, I wouldn’t have voted for him because I already knew what he was capable of, just surprised to see him way down the list since he shocked most people.
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
It was more amazing that Shogun solved “the Machida puzzle.” The fact of the matter is that Shogun got hit a lot as well as Machida, and I did not get the impression that Shogun was trying to finish Machida at anytime. It was impressive that he solved the Machida puzzle, but he did not dominate the entire fight like the other fights on the list above his.
Grrr. I cannot stand Jay Leno.
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jan 18, 2010 12:46 PM EST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
I’m really surprised St Pierre didint get it for handing Penn that smash down. He completely dominated one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport.
The man know simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"
I was actually just looking at the fightmetric for both fights because I was thinking the same thing. Yes, the caliber of opponent was lower, but BJ’s domination of Diego outweighed GSP’s domination of BJ by a large margin. According to the stats, at least.
http://www.twitter.com/TB_Money
This. GSP dominated a fighter who was able to do that to Diego. (Sorry that that sentence is a little awkward)
The man know simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"
Yes and no.
It matters to the BJ nuthuggers, and not so much to the GSP nuthuggers. IMO, GSP could of ben whiped dry every 30 seconds and still would of beat BJ just as easly.
"Everyone has a game plan, untell they get hit." -Mike Tyson
I agree
but when its performance of the year you can’t have accusations and Its GSP/ his corners fault for the hint of suspicion.
Similar thing with Machida, who on paper clearly had the 2009 resume to run away with fighter of the year. Aldo had an awesome year and got my vote for fighter of the year, but going by outcomes, iit doesn’t compare to Machida beating one top 10 and two top 5 fighters.
It was also a guy coming up in weight who was fighting at a 15-20 pound disadvantage.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
This really shouldn’t matter, BJ begged for the fight, he knew the drill.
by ufc4 on Jan 18, 2010 3:53 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I don’t see why it shouldn’t be accounted for when we talk about dominating performances.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
Normally, it would.
But this case is a bit of an exception. They’ve fought before at 170 and it was very competitive. BJ is also a former champ at the weight they were fighting at, and is 1-1 with the most dominant WW champ in the history of any major organization, losing the second because of an injury.
The fight wasn’t made just to pit the 155 champ against the 170 champ. It was the former 170 champ against the current 170 champ, having a rematch of their closely contested number 1 contenders fight… at 170.
The weight differential absolutely came in to play, but BJ is a serious competitor at welterweight.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
Because it’s not “Most Dominating Performance (as long as both of the fighters are within ten pounds of each other)”.
by ufc4 on Jan 18, 2010 6:37 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
BJ knew the drill, but that doesn’t change the fact that GSP was significantly larger than BJ on fight night. The weight differential was probably about 15 pounds (170-173 to 185-188), but if you only look at functional weight (everything except fat) the weight differential was even larger, probably in the neighborhood of 20-25 pounds.
Combine this with the fact that GSP is an amazing fighter who employs a fighting style that will take full advantage of a size and strength advantage and it is honestly not surprising that GSP was able to dominate BJ.
That being said, GSP still did not dominate BJ, Alves, Fitch or Koscheck as impressively as BJ dominated Sanchez.
LOL at this. You don’t get to analyze every fighter’s body comp because of some agenda to try and make Penn look better. Penn’s physique is what it is, and gives him certain physical traits that make him a great fighter. GSP’s physique and natural gifts are better in some areas to Penn, whereas Penn has advantages in other areas. But you don’t get to assign GSP a greater weight advantage other than what’s on the scale.
And GSP dominated Fitch in a very similar fashion to how Penn dominated Sanchez. Neither could KO or submit their opponent, but BJ got the cut on Diego which caused the Dr. stoppage in Rd 5, otherwise the fights played out in similar fashion. And GSP’s opponents were all superior to a Sanchez.
Of course I get to analyze their physique and physical composition if I want to. When you are talking about someone who uses a physical wrestling style, comparative size and strength make a huge difference.
To say that “GSP dominated Fitch in a very similar fashion to how Penn dominated Sanchez” is simply incorrect from a statistical standpoint. Penn landed over 18 times as many strikes as Sanchez did. GSP on the other hand landed 2x as many strikes and Fitch did.
GSP dominated a fighter a a weight class below him. Something to take into consideration at least. I’m not saying GSP wasn’t dominant (as I said above, I initially thought GSP’s performance was more dominant than BJ’s over Diego). I was just stating that the fightmetric #‘s show a pretty clear advantage for BJ’s performance.
http://www.twitter.com/TB_Money
Well then by that criteria Anderson deserves it since the fight metric stats are ridiculous threre, he got an early stoppage, and the fighter was bigger. Bj’s performance was dominant, but I don’t see how you put it ahead of either of those two fights.
The man know simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"
Is that chart supposed
to say upset of the year or performance of the year?
this is crap guys
no way was this the best performance of the year. I only think it won because it was fresher in your minds.
by b2tharad on Jan 18, 2010 1:08 PM EST via mobile reply actions
IMO, the only other legit contender is Silva/Griffin, and the voting was real close between the two.
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
to me that was the best.
followed by gsp and then penn. gsp beat penn up so bad his corner threw in the towel and silva made griffin run away he was so embarrased.
by b2tharad on Jan 18, 2010 1:19 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
No love for what Aldo did to Brown? M.T. Brown was the #1 FW fighter at the time, and Aldo simply clowned him.
That said, I have no problem with either BJ or Anderson garnering more votes I just think that Jose’s performance is also noteworthy.
Aldo clowned MTB while Penn MURKED Sanchez
My list:
1. BJ Penn giving Sanchez the prison shower treatment
2. Marius Žaromskis’ headkick Symphony
3. Aldo outclassing MTB
4. Anderson Silva’s Muhammad Ali Tribute
5. Brock Lesnar clubbing Mir to death
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
I still love this pic, it really shows the crazyness of Diego and the maddness of BJ.
"Everyone has a game plan, untell they get hit." -Mike Tyson
Madness of BJ and sillyness of Diego.
by dancingChicken on Jan 18, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
Wow.
Penn vs. Sanchez wouldn’t even make my top three.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 18, 2010 1:27 PM EST reply actions
really?
A pretty clear #1 contender landing eight shots in a 5-round contest can’t even crack your top 3 of the year?
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 18, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
1. Not the #1 contender. Most marketable guy under contract to Zuffa. 155ers strewn across the WEC and Japan would stand better chances against Penn. Sanchez had two wins at 155. Few news orgs had him ranked #2.
2. GSP vs. Alves IS, however, what you describe. Alves was not only the #1 contender, he was probably top 7 p4p. Yet he was totally and utterly dominated in all aspects of the game over the course of 25 minutes. So that’s #1. Anderson Silva puts on a striking exhibition straight out of the Matrix against a guy who is not only a weight class above him but is also big for that weight class. That’s #2. I’ll also take Machida’s dominance of Rashad and Shogun’s subsequent unmasking of Machida over Penn/Sanchez.
Penn/Sanchez won because it was late in the year and fans have short memories. That is all.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 18, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
Throw in GSP’s torn abductor muscle and then think about how hard it is to control a guy on the ground that outweighs you by 20ish pounds. Alves got worked for, what, 15 minutes by a maybe 70% GSP. Should have been #1.
The performance by GSP was no doubt impressive, but let’s be realistic. Alves did not outweigh GSP by 20ish pounds, more like 10-12 pounds.
Agreed, Alves looks ginormous but at fight time he can’t have had more than ten pounds on GSP.
by ufc4 on Jan 18, 2010 3:56 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Are you high?
You think the WEC guys are/were better contenders than Diego? Somebody get that King Mo pic in here… Varner has no mental game. Njokuani has an improving but still very rudimentary ground game / TDD. Henderson is smaller than Diego with a similar wrestling style, not as good BJJ/submission grappling credentials, and worse striking fundamentals. Cerrone’s striking is nowhere near BJ’s level, he has no wrestling to threaten with, and isn’t strong enough to bully him.
Outside of the UFC, there is Alvarez and Aoki. Good fights to make for BJ based on credentials, but Aoki’s reliance on pulling guard will go over poorly against someone with a brutal top game like Penn. Alvarez has the power and technique to lay hands on BJ and maybe to some damage, but his chin and defense are a liability that will likely create problems. Plus, exclusive contract in the US. Melendez would be an interesting fight to watch as well, but is not likely to win. A healthy Thompson too. Also both under exclusive US contracts. Kawajiri is the only other worthwhile name, but I don’t think he’s big or skilled enough to pull the GSP. Which isn’t a knock, I don’t think any LW can other than a Sherk with healthy knees.
Within the UFC, the only other guys are Maynard, Edgar, and Florian. Florian’s comeback fight was the same night, he’s out. Maynard is 70-80% hype. If he doesn’t want to tangle with the BJJ of Nate Diaz and barely squeaks by his boxing, what can he offer Penn? Frankie Edgar brings basically the same things to the table as Diego except he’s a bit quicker, not as strong, has a reach disadvantage.
So the UFC put on a fight between their #1 and #2-3 LW at the time (if you still had Kenny ranked above him) and you complain that it’s not a relevant fight? If BJ vs. Diego happened in Strikeforce, we’d be shitting ourselves at how good of a matchup it was. Talk about spoiled MMA fans…
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
BJ would murder....
everyone at 155 and has save Aoki and Alvarez, neither of whom will fight in the UFC in the foreseeable future due to contract issues. And neither of whom have jack vs BJ – on paper at least. Aoki would get plowed in the stand-up and merked in the GnP dept. Alvarez is a decent 155 fighter, probably top 10 in the world, but he’s lost to Aoki so shrug. He’s also got a loss to a gatekeeper in Nick “Goat” Thompson, so more meh.
With those qualifiers, I’d say a guy who was 21-2 and had only lost to Koschek and Fitch was about as close as you will ever get to a #1 contender. Not to say Alves wasn’t because he was on a 7-fight win streak with some nice wins, but Sanchez was right up there.
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Jan 18, 2010 8:07 PM EST up reply actions
Yes.
Fitch too.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 19, 2010 10:20 AM EST up reply actions
What Kitta’s Kid said. Diego is a very good fighter, but was not a clear #1 contender. It made for a good prefight buildup, however.
It pains me to say it, but I think Diego would beat Aoki, Alvarez, Hansen or any of the outside teh UFC guys. I think he was and probably still is, the second best lightweight.
by BJJDenver on Jan 18, 2010 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I should have voted. Oh well. I would have picked Kimbo in the second round of the HA fight. I’m only 3/4 joking.
iddqd for teh WIN!
I srsly LOL’d at the mention of the God Mode code as I was just looking it up yesterday, while I was thinking about HeXen, Doom and the other old school 3D shooters.
That’s a rec!
:)
oh man ....
how is thoroughly dominating one of the best p4p fighter in the world not the performance of the year?
Making the world a better place, one dirtbag at a time.
See that was performance of the year because it was actually a performance. Silva forest was much more of an utter domination or maybe epic failure of the year for the MMA world. It went 5 rounds and just for that I’d say give it to BJ.
Whatever happened to NickHavok?
by II SMASH II on Jan 18, 2010 1:55 PM EST via mobile reply actions
It got hard to watch after the 3rd Round
He kept Sanchez alive on an IV drip of pain for 4 rounds before finally putting him out of his misery.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Yea that got painful reallllllllly fast. First round knockdown followed by non stop ass kicking for 4 rounds. Then a kick to the dome FTL. YUS diego had a rough night YUS
Whatever happened to NickHavok?
by II SMASH II on Jan 18, 2010 2:05 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
like what the mofo's do on undisputed 2009 online !
Making the world a better place, one dirtbag at a time.
LOL you mean lag and refuse to be anybody but BROCKLESNAR?
Whatever happened to NickHavok?
by II SMASH II on Jan 18, 2010 2:24 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I would say GSP’s dominance of Alves, someone who supposedly had the stand up and take down defense to beat him, was probably the best performance. Especially considering how he shut down the bigger Alves in every aspect of the fight, and dominated him despite getting injured during the fight. However, I am okay with Penn’s destruction of Sanchez taking top spot. He worked Sanchez despite Sanchez’s legendary “YUS!” power.
I love me some Sexyama!
How many times did you hit him?
8.
No, not how many in the first couple minutes of the fight, I mean for the entire fight.
8.
Geez, if you were doing such a poor job in the stand up, why didn’t you try and take him down?
I did. 27 times.
by mattio on Jan 18, 2010 6:37 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Make this green plz, this post is possibly the definitive argument for BJ’s mythic performance, less than 10 strikes land and almost 30 take-downs stuffed.
by The Blackula on Jan 18, 2010 7:02 PM EST up reply actions
If you want it to be green you might start by recing it yourself.
by ufc4 on Jan 18, 2010 7:26 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Where the hell is the love for Bowles?
Every top 5 list for bantamweight had
1. Torres
2. Torres
3. Torres
4. Torres
5. Torres
And he got KTFO first round. Huge performance in his 7th fight! Definately deserves to be alot higher than some here…
'He built his whole reputation as a waffle house chef. They’ve been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes' - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko
by Well Read Idiot on Jan 19, 2010 8:57 AM EST reply actions
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