411’s Fighter Of The Month: June

Posted by  on 07.02.2009

Mike Brown solidified his spot at the best featherweight in the world by defeating Urijah Faber again, Brett Rogers destroyed Andrei Arlovski, Eddie Alvarez won Bellator‘s first lightweight title, Jake Shields beat Robbie Lawler and Bobby Lashley defeated Bob Sapp! But who took home the Fighter of the Month Award for June? Check out the full column for all the details and for the updated standings for the year!

There's no other way to say it, June was stacked with all kinds of MMA action. We had UFC 99, The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields, WEC 41, the season finale from Bellator, and even a crazy little show called Ultimate Chaos. This was a tight month for voting, with just a few votes being the difference in many cases. If that wasn't enough, the results have led to a new leader in our end of the year standings. Stick around to see who it is, but first…

How It Works

Each staff member picks five fighters and ranks them. I'll assign a point value to those rankings. Points are determined as:

1st - 5
2nd - 4
3rd - 3
4th - 2
5th - 1

The fighter with the most points is our Fighter of the Month and then new points are assigned that will go towards Fighter of the Year. Those points are:

1st - 15
2nd - 12
3rd - 9
4th - 6
5th - 3
6th - 1

The Voting

Larry Csonka

1) Brett Rogers
The FOTM deal is a lot like the WOTW deal, and to me, winning titles and or making the biggest impact tends to get the top vote from me. Well, no one proclaimed LOOK AT ME any louder than Brett Rogers as he DESTROYED former UFC Champion Andrei Arlovski. There is a lot that Rogers has to prove, but the fact is he is undefeated and just took out former top 10 heavyweight with EASE. Tip top my friend.

2) Mike Brown - The first time it was shocking the world, but the second time it was making a statement. Mike Brown is YOUR WEC Featherweight Champion, and he is one of if not THE top in his weight class right now. The man deserves respect, and that's what he'll get from me.
3) Eddie Alvarez - Eddie Alvarez survived the tournament process and then defeated Toby Imada via submission to win the first ever Bellator lightweight title. Alvarez is awesome, and I am personally glad to see him find so much success.
4) Sarah Kaufman - Sarah Kaufman defeated a very game Shayna Baszler at the Villasenor vs. Mr. Cyborg show this month, and not only takes her record to 10-0, but is making noise to remind people that there are more ladies out there than Gina and Miss Cyborg. Sarah Kaufman vs. Erin Toughill please.
5) Bobby Lashley - Bobby Lashley defeated Bob Sapp in the main event of tonight's Ultimate Chaos event, by making Sapp tap out due to strikes at 3:17 of round one. Lashley keeps making noise with his wins, and is slowly climbing the ladder and staying on the radar.

Jonathan Solomon

1) Mike Brown
The best featherweight in the world proved that status with a great win over Urijah Faber. Brown was never at risk of losing the five-round fight and now appears to be poised to dominate the rest of the division.

2) Eddie Alvarez - Talk about a guy on a successful road. He won the Bellator lightweight crown and finally can rest...until his next fight of course.
3) Brett Rogers - Oh yeah! With one knockout, he becomes one of the top non-UFC heavyweights. The win over Arlovski (shocking to me) sets up an interesting fight with Alistair Overeem (possibly).
4) Jose Aldo - It seems whenever we see this kid fight, he knocks people out. He did just that to Cub Swanson and is the number one contender to Brown's belt.
5) Dan Hardy - He now is a name in the UFC welterweight division coming off his win over Marcus Davis. Hardy can talk and he can fight, a perfect match.

Jeffrey Harris

1) Mike Brown
Its time to start giving this world's best featherweight his due. Brown went the distance in a grueling title match with Urijah Faber and dominated him the entire fight. Urijah was fearless and relentless, even after breaking his hands, but Brown proved he is the real deal and why he is the champ even with no one in the arena wanting him to win except himself and his team.

2) Brett Rogers - Rogers proved he deserves respect in beating former UFC Champion Arlovski whose professional boxing aspirations seem to have been put on hold indefinitely after this latest knockout loss. Rogers finally gets some well deserved notice and spotlight over MMA superstar Kimbo Slice who has accomplished little in comparison to Rogers who proves that hard work does pay off.
3) Jose Aldo - If Mike Brown is the top featherweight in the world after trouncing Faber twice and Leonard Garcia, then I would say Aldo is a close second continuing to look non-stop impressive with his latest knockout victory. Aldo claimed he wanted to be to the featherweight division what Anderson Silva has been to the middleweight division. At this rate, he might not be far from that goal.
4) Nick Diaz - Nick Diaz might not have much love for the sport of MMA, but he's still damn good and talented at it. Diaz continues to impress fighting at a higher weight after destroying and exposing Scott Smith. Diaz pulled probably the most successful punches ever recorded in MMA fight and made it look easy. With talk of Noons returning to MMA for a possible rematch with Diaz, will that fight materialize, or is Diaz looking ahead and going to welterweight or middleweight?
5) Mike Swick - Mike Swick's stock in the UFC continues to rise as a top welterweight and he could be one or two key victories away from a title shot having won his last 4 fights, and having an 8-1 record in the UFC.

Scott Kuczkowski

1) Brett Rogers
He destroyed Andrei Arlovski in less time than it took Andrei to walk to the ring. Not only has Rogers established himself as one of the top heavyweights in the industry, he destroyed Arlovski's MMA career. Not bad for a knockout that took less than a minute.

2) Jake Shields - Folks thought Jake Shields didn't have any stand up game, and he doesn't have much of one, but it was enough to set up the takedown and submission victory on Robbie Lawler. Next up: Frank Shamrock.
3) Mike Brown - Defeating Urijah Faber once is pretty impressive; defeating him a second time makes you the man to beat at Featherweight.
4) Diego Sanchez - He may be in one of the deeper UFC divisions, but his win over Clay Guida sets him up for a potential title shot later this year.
5) Bobby Lashley - He might not be the greatest, but folks pay to see him knock out whomever is matched against him in his freak-show bouts.

Samer Kadi

1) Mike Brown
Beat Urijah Faber again and cemented his place as the top featherweight in the world and one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world. People should give Brown his props.

2) Brett Rogers - Pulled off a huge upset by knocking out Andre Arlovski in a matter of seconds. His fight with Overeem should tell us whether he's the real deal, but for now let the man enjoy the biggest win of his career.
3) Jake Shields - I didn't give him much of a chance and many questioned how he would fare against the bigger stronger opponent who happens to be a great striker. Shields didn't care, he submitted Lawler in the first round.
4) Jose Aldo - This guy is a beast. It's a crime if he doesn't end up getting the next shot at Mike Brown.
5) Diego Sanchez - May have just earned himself a title shot after a war with Clay Guida.

Jeremy Lambert

1) Jake Shields
The best Welterweight not in the UFC made one of the best Middleweight's not in the UFC look like a mediocre fighter by quickly submitting him with a guillotine choke. His striking also improved from a 2 to a 3. That's worth mentioning as well.

2) Brett Rogers - I'm still not sold on him but he scored the biggest win of his career by knocking out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. He hits hard.
3) Diego Sanchez - Was part of arguably the best fight all year, won the fight, and became the #1 contender in the UFC Lightweight Division. Did he have a great month? YES!
4) Mike Brown - Solidified his status as the #1 Featherweight in the world by defeating Urijah Faber.
5) Cain Velasquez - Showed a lot of heart by continuing to press forward after getting dropped early in each round and then almost murdered Kongo for 14 minutes and 30 seconds. I scored the fight 30-3.

Bill Wannop

1) Brett Rogers
Without a doubt he has to be the fighter of the month. Nobody gave him a shot against Arlovski, and Rogers came in and instantly made a name for himself by not only defeating Arlovski but possibly ending Arlovski's career at the top of the MMA mountain (Affliction did not renew his contract, and who knows if the UFC will take him back). I look forward to his next fight and hope it is against a name opponent.

2) Mike Brown - Mike Brown came in against Urijah to prove that his first victory was more then just a lucky punch. He was in Urijah's back yard, and implemented a good game plan to neutralize Urijah's attack. While the first victory may have been because of a lucky punch, he showed his all around MMA skills this month as he out grappled Urijah (true he did have a broken hand), one of the top pound for pound fighters. It looks like Brown will dominate the division for a long time.
3) Diego Sanchez - I still do not understand why people were chanting Guida during his matchup and how Sanchez still gets booed. He came out and took the fight to Guida almost ending it in the first minute. He showed great striking, awesome cardio, pushed the pace and made a statement against a tough opponent. Sanchez is my pick to be the one to dethrone BJ Penn.
4) Nick Diaz - Diaz actually made me a fan this month. I have hated the guy for so long, but after his performance I am looking forward to his next fight. He totally picked apart Scott Smith who was thought to be a dangerous striker and basically took no damage, while landing like 200 strikes of his own. Let's hope he comes back to the UFC so we can see him truly tested.
5) Bobby Lashley - People better recognize that Lashley is coming. He went in there and fought a much larger opponent and was still able to manhandle him. Sapp is no slouch as he almost defeated former UFC interim champion Nogueira in a previous meeting, so this fight has to move Lashley up the ladder. The guy seems to be bringing back the scary ground and pound that Tito Ortiz used to be known for and as long as he is able to get fighters on their backs, he will win every time.

Dan Plunkett

1) Mike Brown
Won a decision over Urijah Faber and showed that the outcome of the first fight wasn't a fluke. The WEC featherweight division is stacked, so it will be interesting to see if he can hold onto this title for a while.

2) Diego Sanchez - He will probably be getting a title shot against the winner of Penn/Florian. Plus, his fight against Clay Guida was awesome.
3) Brett Rogers - Knocked out a top 5 heavyweight in shorter time than the best heavyweight to ever live could do it. Earned a shot at Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem with the win.
4) Jake Shields - Moved up in weight to fight one of the top middleweights in the world and he submitted him in the first round.
5) Ray Mercer - Knocked Tim Sylvia the fuck out in 9 seconds.

Adam Tool

1) Mike Brown
A few years ago Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto was the man to beat in the featherweight division. Then it was Urijah Faber. Now Mr. Mike Brown sits firmly atop the ladder at 145 lbs. and after his most recent performance I'm stumped to try and figure out who can actually beat the guy.

2) Diego Sanchez - He was on the winning end of the best fight in the UFC this month, and has now established himself as a top contender in the lightweight division. He deserves a spot on the list just for his performance in the first round alone.
3) Jake Shields - The best welterweight not in the UFC got the most high-profile win of his career thus far by submitting Robbie Lawler. The only question is how long will he be able to sustain that momentum in the shallow pool that is Strikeforce's welterweight division?
4) Brett Rogers - Speaking of high-profile wins, Rogers made a huge leap in the heavyweight division by flattening Andrei Arlovski. If he's not the #1 contender for the Strikeforce heavyweight strap, I don't know who is.
5) Cain Velasquez - There were lots of excellent performances at the UFC's first event in Germany, but none impressed me more than Velasquez in his dominant win over Cheick Kongo. He showed that he can come back from danger after being rocked and he finally got to display his cardio by going the distance.

The Results

Honorable Mention: Bobby Lashley

5th Place - Nick Diaz (4 points)

Diaz keeps rolling in Strikeforce, and a rematch with his old buddy Joe Riggs is next.

4th Place (TIE) - Eddie Alvarez & Jose Aldo (7 points)

Alvarez becomes Bellator‘s first lightweight champion while Aldo moves into contendership for the WEC featherweight strap.

3rd Place (TIE) - Diego Sanchez & Jake Shields (17 points)

Sanchez appears to be next in line for the UFC Lightweight Championship, and Shields gets a huge win in the main event at Strikeforce.

2nd Place - Brett Rogers (35 points)

It was a life-changing moment for Rogers, and it looks like his days of fitting tires at Sam‘s Club are officially over.

Fighter of the Month for June - Mike Brown (38 points)



Brown proved that he is no fluke, and his second win over Urijah Faber establishes that he is undisputed king of the featherweight division.

2009 Fighter Of The Year Standings

Mike Brown - 30 points

Lyoto Machida - 24 points

Diego Sanchez - 15 points
Nick Diaz - 15 points
Miguel Torres - 15 points
Demian Maia - 15 points
Georges St. Pierre - 15 points

Brett Rogers - 12 points
Joe Warren - 12 points
Shane Carwin - 12 points
Nate Marquardt - 12 points
Fedor Emelianenko - 12 points

Jake Shields - 9 points
Frank Edgar - 9 points
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - 9 points
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal - 9 points
Paulo Thiago - 9 points

Eddie Alvarez - 6 points
Jose Aldo - 6 points
Tatsuya Kawajiri - 6 points
Toby Imada - 6 points
Martin Kampmann - 6 points
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - 6 points
Dan Henderson - 6 points

Krzysztof Soszynski - 3 points
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai - 3 points
Matt Hamill - 3 points
Cain Velasquez - 3 points
Jorge Santiago - 3 points

Bobby Lashley - 2 points

Sarah Kaufman - 1 point
Hideo Tokoro - 1 point
Scott Smith - 1 point
Anthony Johnson - 1 point
Satoru Kitaoka - 1 point