2009 Bloody Elbow Reader Awards: Fight of the Year
by Mike Fagan on Feb 3, 2010 11:11 AM EST
in MMA News
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Take one Tasmanian devil and one Tony Robbins convert. Add in a helping of Chicago punk, a nostalgic love for John Nord, a pinch of Geico cavemen, and freshly picked stevia. Mix ingredients in one Octagon. Bake fifteen minutes. Serve warm. Deliver fight of the year.
Simply watching the fight wouldn't do it justice. You have to track down the weigh-ins, the pre-fight hype, the walkouts, the introductions, and the staredown. Guida's bouncing around like a restless five year old. Diego's double fisting stevia leaves and utilizing the power of the posi-YUS.
Then the fight happened. And it was awesome. A technical Frye-Takayama opening. A head kick knockdown. Guida's relentless top game. Sanchez's sub attempts and Elbows of Doom from the bottom. A Crimson King appearance. After fifteen minutes, both guys looked like they could go fifteen more.
In the end, Sanchez took home a controversial (but correct!) split decision. Guida left with an extra $25k in his pocket. The world became a better place.
Full results after the break.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
| Sanchez vs. Guida | 14 | 8 | 7 | 101 |
| Nogueira vs. Couture | 13 | 8 | 7 | 96 |
| Henderson vs. Cerrone | 11 | 5 | 5 | 75 |
| Melendez vs. Thomson II | 3 | 7 | 3 | 39 |
| Torres vs. Mizugaki | 3 | 3 | 4 | 28 |
| Emelianenko vs. Rogers | 3 | 2 | 6 | 27 |
| Brown vs. Faber II | 2 | 4 | 2 | 24 |
| Cullum vs. Tokoro | 2 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Kampmann vs. Condit | 4 | 4 | 16 | |
| Franklin vs. Silva | 1 | 6 | 9 | |
| Machida vs. Rua | 2 | 6 | ||
| Jackson vs. Jardine | 1 | 5 | ||
| Hansen vs. Aoki | 1 | 5 | ||
| Penn vs. Sanchez | 1 | 5 | ||
| St-Pierre vs. Penn | 1 | 5 | ||
| Le vs. Smith | 1 | 3 |
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I gotta disagree with the people here, Nog vs. Couture, Henderson vs. Cerrone, Torres vs. Mizugaki were all better.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
Nog vs. Couture wasn't that great.
Nog kinda owned that fight, and it was only so good because we had heard so many bad rumors about him going in to this. Cerrone vs. Henderson was good but Bendo’s sloppiness just didn’t sit right with me. Torres vs. Mizugaki was pretty epic without Mir’s commentary, with Miguel adjusting and making a comeback in the later rounds. Melendez vs. Thomspon II was sick too.
Guida vs. Sanchez was so high paced and brutal. Guida’s refusal to quit and total lack of fear of his own blood, waking up when he hit the ground from that head kick, and still making the fight competitive while getting the shit beaten out of him? Awesome.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
I agree
I can’t complain this fight got FOTY, and I’m sorry Randy was Nog was in no way a better fight.
by Myke25 on Feb 3, 2010 11:51 AM EST up reply actions
Melendez-Thomson was it for me
but its hard to go against Guida-Sanchez, mostly as was articulated here all the craziness these two bring. But Punk-Gil was the same fight but five rounds instead of three.
I would've went with Henderson-Cerrone...
but this was awesome also.
Also Nog/Couture 2nd? Wow.
I mean, it was a pretty good fight but I think it gets most of the love it has because it turned out 10X better than anyone ever thought going in.
If Derek Jeter clubbed a baby seal on earth day while wearing a mink coat and crocodile skin boots while burning tires on an iceberg, the reaction would be "Its OK Derek, you’re a Yankee." -First mammal to wear pants
People can pretend like who the fighters are doesn't matter, but it does
We had to sit through that entire build up where we heard Nog was done. Even Mur kicked his ass. We heard that Couture was a legend, but never really elite. Just a great underdog, who was also past his best. Then the fight started. From the first tones of “Gimme Shelter” all of that went out the window. Both of those men walked out, and there was no doubt in my mind that they were the two most badassed men to ever live. Then the fight started, and they just went at it. Nog was back! He was never really gone. And despite being outclassed Randy refused to go quietly. He refused to go down. We were truly cheated those two champion rounds. This wasn’t just the fight of the year, this was my favorite MMA experience in a long time. So no, it didn’t deserve second. It deserved first by a lot. Way better than two guys swinging wild for a round.
The man know simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"
ugh
This fight made me finally cross over and not be able to stand Guida. He’s all sizzle. And by sizzle, I mean hugging.
But looking at the rest of the list, I must say it wasn’t the best year. I enjoyed Fedor/Rogers so much more than many of these fights. The stakes were so high, you couldn’t blink for fear of missing a KO, Rogers looking solid on the ground, Fedor bleeding all over the place, and then the huge KO. Loved it.
Use all ten points.
Sure it was, Frank.
The Seattle Times linked to my website in June 2009. I wasn't aware of this until January 2010.
Great fight, bullshit decision but hey what else is new when it comes to Clay’s UFC career judges hate the guy but the fans love him.
Judges hate Guida?
Nate Diaz disagrees.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
"A nostalgic love for Jim Nord"
Even though it’s JOHN Nord, any reference to former WWE pseudo-superstar “The Berzerker / The Viking” and his constant calls of YES! is awesome.
by E. Spencer Kyte on Feb 3, 2010 12:10 PM EST reply actions
Nogueira vs Couture
It is Guida/Sanchez then multiplied by legend status.
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
by vivero on Feb 3, 2010 12:12 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I also preferred Nogueira-Couture
There was more frantic action in Guida-Sanchez, but the level of skill shown in Nogueira-Couture just blows away anything Clay Guida or Diego Sanchez can do.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
I can’t believe Henderson vs. Cerrone didn’t win. Houdini Henderson had, what, nine miraculous sub escapes? That was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen.
that was my pick
but frankly, Sanchez-Guida was awesome, too. there are no losers on that list.
I think Torres vs. Mizugaki was forgotten because it happened in April. I have to put that a notch above the rest.
Not really
He’s exciting but he hasn’t grown much as a fighter, and he’s coming off of two losses and a split dec. win. Being exciting only gets you so far in the LW Division nowadays.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
I blog about stuff too.
Hard to grow much when you’re the size of a boy compared to half the rest of your division. He’s said before that he’d drop a weight class but that he doesn’t want to leave the UFC. The UFC absorbing the WEC’s lower weight classes would really help guys like Guida.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Feb 4, 2010 5:57 AM EST up reply actions
He's fighting Shannon Gugerty. That's why he's on the prelim.
Sherk vs. Guida was going to be a main card fight.
The Seattle Times linked to my website in June 2009. I wasn't aware of this until January 2010.
Mike Nickels vs David Heath was my FOTY, not even close, but I understand the fighters or promotion having a big influence.
yeah
Bobby Voelker vs Erik Apple was a pretty badass fight too but got no love
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
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