Over the next few days, Bloody Elbow is going to ask for your opinion on some of the best things that have happened in the MMA world in 2012. There will be a total of eight different categories you’ll be asked to vote on. For simplicity’s sake we’re going to stick with high-level and relevant MMA stuff in these posts. I’m sure there was a crazy three-toed neck crank in M-1’s Kazakh rookie series or something, but we’ll just go with stuff that most people have actually seen here. Cool?
It’s pretty simple. I’ll post 10 (5 in this case) options in a category, you vote for what you think was the best. If you think I left something really important off my list, post it in the comments and we can add it to the poll if it’s deemed worthy. I can almost guarantee you won’t like all my suggestions, but narrowing down these lists to 10 5 is tough.
Before we get to this one, you can vote on Best Submission, Best Celebration, and Best Feud at the applicable links.
Okay now that we’re done with that, here we go. In no particular order:
Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami, UFC 144 – Okami largely shut Boetsch down over the first two rounds, and The Barbarian’s corner told him he had to come out in the third and go for it. He did exactly that, blasting Okami with a ton of shots right away and earning the improbable TKO victory.
Martin Kampmann vs. Thiago Alves, UFC on FX 2 – Alves was battering Kampmann around the cage for most of the fight, Pitball then went for a takedown where it wasn’t necessary and paid dearly for it. Kampmann latched on a guillotine immediately and Alves tapped with just 48 seconds left in the final round.
Ben Rothwell vs. Brendan Schaub, UFC 145 – Schaub has Rothwell hurt against the fence early with some big shots, but one monsterous punch from Rothwell floored Schaub, and some followup work on the ground led to one of the funnier moments of the year.
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 2, UFC 148 – We all remember the huge comeback in the first bout, but Sonnen dominated the first round on the second bout as well. Silva came out looking like a different man in the second round though, stuffing Sonnen’s shots and finishing him with strikes.
Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard – UFC 150 – It’s rare to see a 76-second bout have this much drama. Guillard hurt Cerrone badly with a body shot early, but Cowboy shook it off and ended up knocking Guillard out a few seconds later.
Vote now, you should.
About the author
