BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca
On New Year’s Eve, I presented my year-end awards, but it’s too bad the year wasn’t one day longer, because I could have probably filled in all 10 categories with Saturday’s event alone.
So I figured I’d present a new list of “year-beginning” awards (all from fights on Jan. 1, and who knows, perhaps I’ll revisit them again in another 364 days).
This will also be the first in a series of features in 2011 aimed at highlighting fight stats provided by FightMetric. In this unique edition, each of the 10 categories will attempt to point out different elements of the fight breakdowns (complete with glossary definitions).
And voila:
1. UPSET OF THE (NEW) YEAR: Dustin Poirier defeats Josh Grispi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Josh Grispi was the No. 1 contender to the featherweight title and was originally supposed to get that shot at UFC 125. But when the champ Jose Aldo had to pull out with injury, Grispi instead accepted an offer to fight the young and unknown Dustin Poirier, who went a modest 1-1 in the WEC.
That proved to be a mistake. Not only did Poirier beat him, he dominated with a 77-16 edge in "significant strikes" (Sig Str). Poirier actually had 106 total strikes (Tot Str), but jabs from the clinch or on the ground are excluded from the significant strike count. This is done to avoid inflating a fighter's striking numbers, focusing instead on the strikes that research has shown most helps a fighter win the fight.
2. RABBIT OUT OF A HAT AWARD: Jeremy Stephens defeats Marcus Davis by knockout at 2:33 of the third round
Stephens was likely losing on the scorecards, heading into the final round of his bout with Davis and took a few shots early in the third, before landing a quick right flush to the head that put Davis out cold. The stats show that Davis threw more strikes in each of the three rounds (significantly so in the second), had the only two takedowns (TD) and passed Stephens' guard both times (Pass). But it was Stephens who found the finishing blow.
3. SLICK SUB AWARD: Clay Guida defeats Takanori Gomi by guillotine choke at 4:27 of the second round
Submission of the Night fairly went to Guida, who took Gomi down and locked in a guillotine from on top. He then rolled over to half guard to apply more pressure from the bottom and eventually forced Gomi to tapon his second submission attempt (Sub). The execution of the submission was almost as click as his hair.
4. QUICK KO AWARD: Brad Tavares defeats Phil Baroni by TKO at 4:20 of the first round
In the first fight of the first-ever trio of televised prelims, Phil Baroni nearly earned an extremely swift finish of his own before Tavares rallied and pulled out the victory. Tavares required a mere 25total strikes to accomplish the knockout, finishing with a flurry of punches to the head in the clinch (Details).
5. MOST CONTROVERSIAL RESULT: Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard fight to a split draw (48-46, 46-48, 47-47)
I wouldn’t call this the “worst decision” but there’s no doubt it was controversial, as many fans, fighters and media saw it differently. Each judge scored it differently too, with Marcos Rosales scoring it 48-46 for Edgar, Glenn Trowbridge giving the same tally to Maynard, while Patricia Morse-Jarman saw it an even 47-47 for the extremely rare split draw.
6. MOST IMPRESSIVELY DOMINANT PERFORMANCE: Brian Stann defeats Chris Leben by TKO at 3:37 of the first round
Not only Stann destroy Leben from the sheer volume of punches -- he had double the amount of significant strike attempts -- he also did it so efficiently, landing 70 per cent of his total attempts (Str %), compared to 47 per cent for Leben.
It was especially impressive because it was against the veteran Leben with the amazing chin. But that’s what happens when you connect on so many.
7. BEST SURVIVAL AWARD: Frank Edgar rallies to earn split draw with Gray Maynard
This one easily goes to Edgar, and I would be shocked if this doesn’t stand up for the next 12 months. Maynard had a huge edge in striking in the first round (47-of-81 vs. 10-of-24) to justify a 10-8 round, yet Edgar survived and by the end of the bout actually ended up landing more strikes overall (97-of-228 vs. 93-of-236).
8. JAW-DROPPING MOMENT OF THE (NEW) YEAR: Sight of Brandon Vera’s nose broken by Thiago Silva
When I first saw the shot of Vera’s "rearranged" nose at the end of his bout with Silva, my jaw would have hit the table had it not been for my head turning away in squeamishness. Sorry, the stats don’t reflect injuries, but the whopping 54-4 edge in strikes landed give us a hint as to how it happened.
9. THREE-ROUND DECISION OF THE (NEW) YEAR: Dong Hyun Kim defeats Nate Diaz by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
A great, close fight saw Nate Diaz have the edge in striking (36 vs. 19 in Sig Str) but Kim had more takedowns (3 vs. 1). Kim also attempted more (7 vs. 1) and he was able to pass the guard three times, while Diaz only did once. Each had one sweep (Swp) while Diaz had the only submission attempt. And of course, Diaz walked away unhappy at the announcement of the judges’ decision.
10. CHAMPIONSHIP DECISION OF THE (NEW) YEAR: Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II
Well, there was only one choice, but it was very much worthy, and again was easily a strong candidate for fight of the year. In addition to the fantastic display of striking by both fighters at different points of the bout, each had three takedowns (including a highlight-reel slam by Edgar), each had at least one submission attempt (two for Edgar) and Maynard had the two knockdown shots (KD) in the first round, on which he was ultimately unable to capitalize.
