Year in review: The UFC in 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, we here at sportsnet.ca present a week-long look-back at the year in our five major sports, each with five unique categories.

With Monday being Boxing Day, we (very appropriately) begin with the UFC.

2011 was a year of firsts for the UFC. It had the lower weight classes compete for the first time (and it was announced will also be adding flyweights in early 2012.) It held the first stadium show and first event in Ontario when 55,724 attended UFC 129 in Toronto in April, and it held the first event in Brazil since 1998 at UFC 134 in Rio in August.

Of course, the UFC made the biggest splash when it announced it had signed a seven-year, $100-million contract with FOX for its first network television deal, and then held a teaser show in November that saw Junior Dos Santos knock out Cain Velasquez in 64 seconds to be crowned new champion and start a new era for the UFC. This all served to further UFC's continued expansion, both globally and mainstream.

Sadly, 2011 was also a year in which the MMA community, and in particular Canada, lost a great man, when Shawn Tompkins, the renowned trainer from Tillsonburg, Ont., known as “The Coach,” passed away at young age of 37 due to a heart attack. He was one of the pioneers for the sport and will be sorely missed.

Like in any year, the UFC crowned new champions, visited new destinations and brought new fighters into the fold (including after it “joined” with rival Strikeforce). Here we look at some of the more fun and unique highlights of the year as we present a look-back at 2011 in the UFC.

Jon Jones becomes light-heavyweight champion (and heroic public servant on the same day)

The UFC’s 205-pound title-holder did a lot more than win four fights in '11 -- going from prospect to king in less than 12 months. On March 19, a mere six weeks after his first win of 2011, Jones did something that has to be considered rare. Hours before his title fight against champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, Jones, who was on his way to meditate in a New Jersey park as part of his usual preparation, ran to the aid of an elderly couple who had just had their car robbed.

Along with his coaches, Jones ran down the thief and held him until the police arrive. Later than night, he knocked out Rua in the third-round of their UFC 128 main event, and a “multi-talented” star was born.

Honourable mention: Steven Seagal becomes celebrated trainer

Forget Jagger, in 2011 the Brazilians were singing, “I’ve got the moves like Seagal.” The action hero and accomplished martial artist is apparently responsible for the two most noteworthy KOs of the year: Anderson Silva with a front kick to knock out Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, and then the virtually identical crane-like kick by Lyoto Machida, which sent Randy Couture into retirement.

Georges St-Pierre

If Jones was the one who had the surprisingly good year, GSP had the exact opposite.

This is not a knock on the Canadian hero, he just didn’t quite accomplish what he or his fans would have liked in 2011. Against Jake Shields, he dominated, but didn’t have the finish that he essentially promised. Then in October, an injury knocked him out of an anticipated fight in Las Vegas, followed by an even bigger one in December that is going to keep him out for a long time.

2011 was the first calendar year since he joined the UFC five years ago that he did not fight multiple times. He himself admittedly said that not long ago he was on top of the world but now he’s "in a downfall."

Unfortunate mention: Jorge Santiago

The Brazilian fighter came to the UFC in 2011 as the Sengoku middleweight champion and had won 11 of his past 12 fights. But he lost both of his fights and was subsequently released by the promotion. A year of promise in which he requested to be released by the Japanese promotion ended up being one to forget.

Nick Diaz

This is a no-brainer. Diaz, who has always had a “villain” label, missed not one, but two press conferences for his first UFC fight for the title against GSP. For that he was stripped of the opportunity.

Then, even as his own coaches couldn't locate him, he posted an explanation/excuse on YouTube (referring to the PR responsibilities that he shirked as a “beauty pageant”).

When he finally did fight at UFC 137, defeating B.J. Penn in impressive fashion, he called out GSP, questioning whether the champion was really hurt. And then it all culminated with the infamous post-fight rant, in which he basically called himself the “bad guy.”

Dishonourable mention: Rashad Evans

A polarizing character himself, Evans was involved in a couple things that didn’t endear himself to many: first a high-profile war of words on Twitter with his former teammate Jones; and then a comment to upcoming opponent Phil Davis, in which he made a joking reference to the Penn State sex abuse scandal (in very poor taste).

Mark Hominick’s head hematoma

For Canadian fans, it’s nearly impossible to forget the heroic performance by Mark Hominick at UFC 129 in front of his hometown fans, but for all UFC fans the image of the baseball-sized swelling on his forehead from the strikes inflicted by champion Jose Aldo was burned into our brains. (Click on the photo for a higher-resolution view, if you can handle it.)

It was certainly tough to look at as we held our breath that the doctor might not let Hominick continue in the fight due to the mountainous lump. But he did, and Hominick braved it, showing much heart despite the “second head,” and came back and almost took out the champion in the fifth round.

Honourable mention:

Frank Mir breaks Big Nog’s arm

The second event in Toronto generated another replay from which we couldn’t look away (even though some might have wished they did) when the “no-mercy” submission artist locked and twisted a kimura on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to the point of snapping. No, we didn’t see a nasty image, but we could imagine. Oh, Big Nog, why didn’t you tap?

Brock Lesnar

Even though he hasn’t even fought yet in 2011 (he has a pretty big one coming up this Friday), nobody makes the headlines like the former UFC heavyweight champion (and ex-WWE superstar). Even when the hulking behemoth doesn’t enter the cage, any time he does anything, it’s big news.

Lesnar started off 2011 seemingly healthy, a year after making waves for his criticism of Canadian healthcare after a bout with diverticulitis and served as one of the two coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, where he continued to cause stirs whenever he opened his mouth. He came down with diverticulitis again and opposing coach Dos Santos instead fought Shane Carwin in Vancouver.

Still the talk remained all about Lesnar, and it was questioned whether his short career might be over. Not so, as he announced his return in a promotional video that brought back the Brock buzz:

Even the most trivial things -- such as Lesnar neglecting to properly tag an animal he hunted in Alberta and then getting fined for it -- become headlines with him. (The good news is this time he said he “loves Canada.”)

He ends 2011 with one the year’s biggest fights (both physically and figuratively), when he takes on Alistair Overeem. As Dana White said when this fight was first announced in November, “Can you imagine the UFC heavyweight division without Brock Lesnar?”

Honourable mention: Chael Sonnen

If there’s another fighter who draws nearly as much attention than Lesnar, it’s the self-proclaimed “people’s champion” (sorry, Tito). Sonnen ran his mouth all year, but backed it up by dominating Brian Stann and followed it with his infamous line: “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck.” (We’ll have to wait until 2012 to see if he'll finally get his rematch with Silva, although now it seems he's done with the middleweight champion, or so he says.)

James Brydon is the Managing Digital Editor and blogger for sportsnet.ca's UFC section.