Another year is almost in the books which means it’s time to recap a wild and wacky year in the mixed martial arts world. All week The MMA Manifesto will bring you the best that 2010 offered to fight fans. Next up: Submission of the Year.
No one is untouchable in mixed martial arts. It is just the nature of all sports at the elite level – once you get to the top, regardless of sport, everyone is immensely talented. Mixed martial arts is no different – anyone can lose at anytime to any given opponent.
For the longest time Fedor Emelianenko was the exception to this rule. The Russian heavyweight was untouchable in the cage or ring – 10 years and 34 matches into his career he had yet to taste defeat (we don’t count his TKO-cut loss due to an illegal strike really a loss). Emelianenko was unstoppable, unbeatable – that is, until June 26, 2010 in San Jose. Fabricio Werdum was a well respected heavyweight but not considered a legitimate threat to snap Emelianenko’s winning streak. In fact, Werdum was widely considered just a warm up fight for Emelianenko to get him ready for a potential PPV bout versus Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem. Yet a little over a minute in to the bout, the jiu-jitsu ace spun his web and Fedor can caught up in it. Did Fedor underestimate the Brazilian’s ground game? Was he overconfident? Or did he just make a mental mistake? Who knows, but it is irrelevant now. An armbar/triangle combo got the job done. Fedor’s arm got contorted and his head turned red from the choke. And as he tapped, the whole MMA world got turned on its head. Anything was possible now.
Runner up: Anderson Silva on Chael Sonnen.
Year in Review: UFC Fighter Salaries, UFC PPV Buyrates.
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