411’s Fighter Of The Month: July
Posted by on 08.03.2009
Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre retained their UFC championships in dominant fashion at UFC 100, Dan Henderson gives us a contender for Knockout of the Year, and Marius Zaromskis turned a lot of heads by winning the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Which man took home Fighter of the Month for July? Only one way to find out…
July wasn't as stacked as August is going to be (even without Affliction: Trilogy), but there were two big events in the MMA world as the UFC held their historic 100th event while DREAM crowned a new champion with the conclusion of the Welterweight Grand Prix. Before we get to the voting, here's a quick refresher:
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
Patrick Mullen
1) Marius Zaromskis
Zaromskis defeated Hayato Sakurai and Jason High in the same night to become the first DREAM welterweight champion. He finished both men via TKO in impressive fashion, enduring an early beating from Sakurai and scoring a comeback TKO, while he took out High with a big time head kick. Zaromskis is the only guy to compete twice this month and win, doing it impressively against great opposition.
2) Brock Lesnar - Brock avenged his only defeat with one of the most one-sided performances in recent memory, and against a top 5 heavyweight no less.
3) Georges St. Pierre - Against the man who was supposed to be his toughest challenge GSP controlled from start to finish over five dominant rounds.
4) Tom Lawlor - Going in against C.B. Dolloway as an underdog for reasons unbeknownst to me, Lawlor impressed all by putting Dollaway to sleep in less than a minute with a guillotine.
5) Mark Coleman The Hammer turned back the clock for maybe the last time in defeating Stephan Bonnar to earn a victory for his own relevancy via ground and pound to win a unanimous decision.
Jonathan Solomon
1) Brock Lesnar
The man everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was talking about following the most purchased MMA PPV in history. He's now the undisputed heavyweight champion and perhaps the biggest heel in the UFC which means future fights should do big business as well. When you're being talked about in all sorts of mainstream places and not for committing a crime, that's never a bad thing.
2) Mark Coleman - The Hall of Famer gets the silver spot this month because he probably saved his fighting career by beating Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Now he probably will be around until he loses two fights in a row or looks awful. Say what you want, but DON'T CALL HIM OLD!
3) Marius Zaromskis - Shocked fans by beating both Hayato Sakurai and Jason High to win the DREAM welterweight tournament and championship. He did so with impressive knockouts featuring his devastating legs. He is definitely a guy to watch in the near future, taking him from unknown to an entertaining and successful fighter in one month.
4) GSP - The best fighter in the world had another simple fight in which he dominated his opponent over five rounds. He may not be making quick work of opponents but he is never in danger of losing. And this includes the fact he tore his groin during the fight and still had to out-wrestle a fighter who was about twenty pounds heavier.
5) Anthony Ruiz - He stepped up on short notice to fight Gan McGee at Pure Combat 9 and knocked him out in the third round. Ruiz was giving up close to 50-pounds to the former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight, but that made no difference.
Matt Welch
1) Brock Lesnar
Boxing had Muhammad Ali, football has Terrell Owens and now MMA has Brock Lesnar. In one night, Lesnar became one of the most polarizing figures in the history of the sport and to boot, the guy managed to erase any doubts about who the better man was between he and Frank Mir. Pounding Mir's face to the point where it looked like a pulsating tomato, Lesnar's stock shot through the roof at UFC 100 and everyone is waiting on pins and needles to see what's next for the UFC heavyweight champion.
2) Georges St. Pierre - At this point, it's getting scary how much better Georges St. Pierre is than the rest of the field. Thiago Alves was perceived as his biggest threat, but couldn't manage to edge GSP for a single round over the span of 25 minutes. St. Pierre is getting better with every fight and is closer and closer to cleaning out a relatively stacked welterweight division.
3) Marius Zaromskis - Just like DREAM made stars out of it's middleweight and lightweight grand prix, Marius Zaromskis emerged as the stud of the welterweight field, ousting the heavily-favored Hayato Sakurai and Jason High in one night. Even better, he beat both in highlight reel fashion, delivering a pair of brutal head kicks that would make Mirko "Cro Cop" applaud. Zaromskis emerged as a prospect to keep an eye on.
4) Mark Coleman - In what is the feel-good story of the year thus far, Mark Coleman rose from the dead and outlasted Stephan Bonnar for his first UFC victory in 12 years. Nobody in the right mind could have foreseen it, but Coleman worked his trademark top game while avoiding a flurry of Bonnar submission attempts. It's tough to see what will become of this, but for a guy who hasn't picked up a win since 2006, hats off to "The Hammer."
5) Dan Henderson - Every sports bar that carried UFC 100 let out a thunderous "OH!!" when Dan Henderson finally landed that trademark right hand flush on the jaw of Michael Bisping. In a true knockout of the year candidate, Henderson silenced the UFC UK posterboy and even added a merciless superman punch for good measure. Any fight fans loves a good knockout and the Dan Henderson bandwagon got a little bit deeper on July 11.
Jeffrey Harris
1) Brock Lesnar
Anything is possible! Lesnar avenged his sole career MMA loss and brought resolution to the UFC Heavyweight title situation that lasted nearly two years. Now Lesnar is truly the top dog of the UFC heavyweight division and is currently the most talked about MMA star. Sure there's Fedor. But Fedor has never been on a PPV event that drew over an estimated 1.5 million people. To those that are complaining about Lesnar's behavior, show me any professional athletic sport, and it will definitely has someone that's flipped the bird or done some controversial or even downright unprofessional and disrespectful things. Shaq sung a song asking Kobe to tell him how his rear tasted. Also, Tito Ortiz is one of the biggest MMA draws of all time, and he was doing some of the same things.
2) Dan Henderson - Don't call him old. Despite Bisping trying to convince all of us how terrible Henderson's standup and fighting was, he didn't have much of an answer to Henderson earlier this month. Henderson definitely made a statement with this victory, his first KO in over two years, over a big name opponent like Bisping. Let's just hope a more interesting fight is on the horizon for Henderson, like a rematch with Anderson Silva for the middleweight belt instead of the rematch no one wants to see with Rich Franklin.
3) Georges St. Pierre - Thiago Alves was supposed to have some of the most dangerous standup in the welterweight division and not to mention being ridiculously big for that weight class as well. But GSP proved that his skills are on a whole other level as the #1 contender could do so little against one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. After his third straight title defense, GSP could be embarking on one of the most dominant welterweight title runs of all time.
4) Jon Jones - Jones remains perfect in his MMA and UFC career after his submission victory over Jake O'Brien. Now Jones with a few key victories could start getting up there into title contention by say 2011 if he continues doing his job. Or is it too early to say that? Still Jones continues to look impressive.
5) Tom Lawlor - Lawlor became an internet sensation overnight by dressing up as "Just Bleed" guy at the UFC 100 weigh-ins. Lawlor went from internet hero to legend after coming out to "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT" for his entrance with Seth Petruzelli on a leash acting like a dog. Lawlor submitted TUF 7 finalist, CB Dolloway, in under a minute and took home a six figure bonus. not Mr. Lawlor.
Jeremy Lambert
1) Georges St. Pierre
Dominated arguably his toughest test to date and easily the most dangerous striker he's ever faced en route to defending his Welterweight title. Not only that but he did so with a pulled groin. HIT HIM WITH YOUR GROIN!
2) Brock Lesnar - Avenged his only MMA loss by turning Frank Mir's face into hamburger, cut the best promo he's ever cut, and caused a media riot.
3) Marius Zaromskis - Scored not one, but two highlight reel head kick KO's in the same night against two good opponents and won the Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix.
4) Dan Henderson - He shut up Michael Bisping and still has the best walk in music ever.
5) Mark Coleman - Gotta show Coleman some love after he picked up his first MMA win since 2006 at the age of 44 against a solid Stephan Bonnar.
Dan Plunkett
1) Georges St. Pierre
Just dominated Thiago Alves, the #2 ranked welterweight in the world going into the fight, for five rounds. Even after he injured his groin, GSP didn't even slow down. The dude's a machine. With this win, he has beaten virtually every interesting title contender in the welterweight division.
2) Brock Lesnar - With his win over Frank Mir, he not only avenges his only loss, but he became a top 3 heavyweight in the world and got a ton of publicity.
3) Marius Zaromskis - Scored two sick head kick knockouts en route to winning the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix.
4) Mark Coleman - Nearly 13 years to the day after making his UFC debut, Mark Coleman defeated Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100.
5) Dan Henderson - KTFO'd Bisping and may be in line for a middleweight title shot depending on what happens to his upcoming fight against Rich Franklin.
Samer Kadi
1) Brock Lesnar - Lesnar put on the best performance of his career at the biggest show of the year, avenging his previous loss to Frank Mir. Brock showed great fighting maturity, patience and efficiency on his way to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
2) Georges St. Pierre - Another big fight, another big performance by one of the sport's P4P best. GSP handled the biggest test of his career with relative ease, despite fighting with a pulled groin for the last two rounds.
3) Marius Zaromskis - A star is born. Zaromskis enjoyed what would probably end up being the most memorable night of his career, scoring two head kick knockouts to become the DREAM welterweight Grand Prix champion.
4) Dan Henderson - With a contender for "knockout of the year", Dan Henderson turned Michael Bisping's lights out with a crushing right hand.
5) Mark Coleman - Rolled back the years with a very impressive display against a tough opponent in Stephan Bonnar.
Bill Wannop
1) Brock Lesnar
Lesnar proved once again that he is for real and here to stay by completely dominating the former champion Mir. Lesnar took no damage as was in control the whole fight to earn fighter of the month honors. Many hated his post fight comments, but in the cage Lesnar has looked unstoppable.
2) Georges St-Pierre - A good performance put in by GSP, over Alves who was thought to be the toughest test to date for GSP. While GSP was dominant his inability to finish Alves puts him at #2.
3) Dan Henderson - Henderson shut Bisping up with authority and finally showed everyone that Bisping is not ready to face the divisions best. Up next is a rematch with Rich Franklin and with a victory hopefully Dan will be given a title shot.
4) Marius Zaromskis - Marius comes out of nowhere to win the DREAM welterweight title with 2 solid victories. He finished both fights and looked impressive in the victories.
5) Jon Jones - Jones continues his winning ways by submitting Jake O'Brien. Too bad this fight did not make the air, as Jones is an exciting fighter and with the proper exposure could be a huge star.
Larry Csonka
1) Brock Lesnar
Welcome to the BROCKTAGON bitches! Brock Lesnar defeated Frank Mir at UFC 100 to become the UNDISPUTED UFC Heavyweight champions, and in my eyes, the #2 heavyweight in all of MMA. He comes back from his ONLY loss thus far in MMA, and is evolving very quickly, which id quite frankly, a scary thing to think about. Brock deserves the top spot, and not all of the shit he gets.
2) Marius Zaromskis - In the eyes of most, Marius Zaromskis became an instant star with his DREAM welterweight Grand Prix performance. Not only does he take home the title, but he defeated two men to do so. Any other month I would give his first place, unfortunately for him we're living in the Brock Lesnar era.
3) Georges St. Pierre - GSP not only defeated "his toughest challenger" yet, but he did so while fighting on an injured groin. Much respect, man points, 3rd place buddy.
4) Dan Henderson - Hendo shut Bisping up with a highlight reel knockout at UFC 100. unfortunately he doesn't get the title shot most thought he would..
5) Mark Coleman - Rocky picks up a hard fought victory.
Adam Tool
1) Brock Lesnar
Let's see…Avenged his lone MMA loss, successfully defended his UFC Heavyweight Championship for the first time, beat a top-ranked opponent in dominant fashion and hey, he may have even got on top of his wife. For better or worse, Brock's win in the main event, his post-fight antics, and the subsequent storm of media attention put the UFC in the mainstream more than it's ever been before. Also, I'm not really sure who can beat the guy.
2) Georges St. Pierre - While some (other than myself) considered Thiago Alves to be the biggest threat to GSP's title reign, it was not meant to be. Simply put, St. Pierre served up the kind of performance that once again reminds us all how wide the gap is between #1 and everyone else at welterweight.
3) Dan Henderson - If you hate Michael Bisping as much as I do, than this was probably your highlight of UFC 100. I know it was mine.
4) Marius Zaromskis - Quite literally came out of nowhere to capture the DREAM Welterweight Championship. His star-making performance consisted of two tremendous head kicks over two well-respected opponents. He also gets bonus style points for making his entrance dressed as Akuma from Street Fighter.
5) Tom Lawlor - For a fighter that didn't appear on the PPV, I don't think anybody saw their profile rise higher than Lawlor. His unforgettable turn at the weigh-ins, that bizarre entrance, a $100,000 submission over the favored CB Dollaway, and a classic post-fight speech. Well done.
The Results
Honorable Mention: Tom Lawlor
5th Place - Mark Coleman (12 points)
"The Hammer" scores his first win since coming back to the sport he helped to innovate.
4th Place - Dan Henderson (18 points)
Gets a stunning knockout over his rival coach, and secures a middleweight title shot in the process.
3rd Place - Marius Zaromskis (28 points)
While he certainly wasn‘t a favorite when the DREAM Welterweight GP started, he put on several impressive performances to win it all.
2nd Place - Georges St. Pierre (37 points)
Dominates a very tough opponent from bell to bell, and the legacy of GSP continues to grow.
Fighter of the Month for July - Brock Lesnar (47 points)
Ladies and gentlemen, meet your new undisputed king of the UFC heavyweight division.
2009 Fighter Of The Year Standings
Mike Brown - 30 points
Georges St. Pierre - 27 points
Lyoto Machida - 24 points
Brock Lesnar - 15 points
Diego Sanchez - 15 points
Nick Diaz - 15 points
Miguel Torres - 15 points
Demian Maia - 15 points
