2011 Fighters of the Year

2011 has been quite an eventful year for MMA. It opened with a Fight of the Year candidate in January between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and ended on December 30th with the highly anticipated Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem clash of the heavyweight titans. Generally speaking, the year saw some incredible performances and there were a bevy of fighters that had banner years. The men who made this list of fighters of the year have all fought at least twice and went undefeated for the year against some solid competition. Without further ado, here is the list counting down from five to one.

5.) Nick Diaz: Nick Diaz had a whirlwind of a 2011. He defended the Strikeforce Welterweight Title twice this year, dominating Evangelista Santos en route to a submission win and knocking out Paul Daley in one of the wildest one round slugfests in ages. To top it all off he ripped into the UFC like a tornado, gaining then losing then regaining a shot at UFC gold. His spectacular boxing display against BJ Penn and post-fight tirade put him back in the main event. All three of Diaz’ fights this year were memorable and he set himself up for the next year or two as a major name in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.

4.) Benson Henderson: Bendo went from losing the WEC Lightweight Title last December to main eventing UFC 144 in Japan against Frankie Edgar this February. Quite a turnaround, especially considering all the doubt cast towards the championship aspirations of the WEC lightweights. Bendo went 3-0 this year against tough competition. He beat the solid Mark Bocek in April,and followed it up by dominating the top contender Jim Miller during the summer. It was Miller’s first loss since March 2009. For an encore, he had a fight of the year candidate against Clay Guida on the UFC on Fox prelims. This fight showed off his diverse set of skills and relentless tenacity. Between his insane cardio, granite chin, and all-around skills, he poses a serious threat to Edgar when they face off.

3.) Anderson Silva: Another year passes for the Spider without a defeat, going 2-0 this year. While the win total isn’t jaw dropping, the fashion in which he won certainly is. At UFC 126, he had the knockout of the year with his front kick to the jaw of Vitor Belfort. It was possibly the only strike Silva even threw in the three minutes of the fight and it came out of nowhere to devastating effect. His second fight was at UFC Rio, where he utterly humiliated the longtime middleweight contender Yushin Okami in about a round and a half. Okami started the fight by getting Silva in the clinch, where Anderson nullified any Okami advantage. The second round saw Silva absolutely abuse Okami, dropping him twice with jabs while keeping his hands at his side. Never before had Okami been dominated like that, but it was par for the course for Silva. To boot, Silva’s wins over fellow Brazilian (and noted celeb) Belfort and Okami turned him into a megastar in his homeland. It’s now been nearly six years since Silva has lost (via illegal kick) and seven since his last real defeat to Ryo Chonan’s flying heel hook. Not too shabby.

2.) Dan Henderson: Any other year, and Hendo is likely the year’s top fighter. He started it off by winning the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title just months shy of his 41st birthday, knocking out Rafael Calcavante. He followed this up by fighting the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, giving up nearly 30 pounds in the process. The result was a first round knockout, the first such loss in the Russian’s mythical career. He capped off 2011 by returning to the UFC and cementing himself as a top contender for the 205 lb. title with a decision win over Shogun Rua in one of the greatest fights of all time. It was certainly one of the top two or three fights I’ve had the privilege of seeing. With the type of year Hendo had, he certainly eradicated all the doubts about him after his loss to Jake Shields last year in his Strikeforce debut. While I and most people don’t expect him to win against the man who is ranked number 1 in this list, if there’s one thing that Hendo has shown it’s that you can’t count out his heart and that nuclear missile of a right hand.

1.) Jon Jones: I’m not a fan of Jones due to his personality and some questionable tactics during fights, but there is no denying he had the best year of any fighter in MMA in 2011. In fact, it ranks as possibly the best year in MMA history. Off the top of my head, Shogun Rua’s 2005 run is the only major competitor for best year ever. Regardless, Jones went 4-0 this year and won each fight by finish. In February he beat (at the time) fellow prospect Ryan Bader by submission, just absolutely dominating him. Six weeks later he got a title shot against Shogun Rua. While part of Rua’s poor performance was due to his rehab from knee surgery, it’s not an excuse and Jones utterly abused him into a fourth round TKO. In September, he fought Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and picked him apart from range until submitting him in the fourth round. Last week, at UFC 140 he recovered from a first round that saw him get outstruck significantly by Lyoto Machida and turned in a sick standing guillotine in the second round to win. Of all his performances, this was the most impressive due to the composure he showed after getting blasted for the first time in his young career. He became the first fighter to beat three former champions and the fact he finished all of them is even more impressive. Now, he is two to four opponents away from clearing out the entire division. Talk about bringing stability to your weight class.

2011 saw a lot of great performances in MMA. I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings. In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts here or on facebook.