411’s Fighter Of The Month: August

Posted by  on 09.03.2009

We’re fresh off of one of the biggest months we’ve seen this year, as UFC 101, WEC 42, Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, and UFC 102 have all come and gone. August was full of exciting performances from Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Cris Cyborg, Brian Bowles, BJ Penn, and more, which led to some extremely close voting from the 411 staff! But who took home Fighter Of The Month? It may not be the person you were expecting…

There's no word I can use to describe the month of August other than "stacked." Two big shows from the UFC, a game-changing event from the WEC, and a historic night for Strikeforce led to some of the craziest voting I've ever seen. The race for Fighter Of The Month was closer than ever before, but before we get to the picks…

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

Bill Wannop

1) Anderson Silva
The fighter of the month has to be Anderson Silva. Silva went up in weight, fought the former light heavyweight champion and probably could have beat him with one hand tied behind his back. The way he stood there with his arms at his side and simply dodged each punch by head movement looked like something out of a movie. Then with one precise jab, Forest was out cold. The visuals of that fight will never get old, first his facial expressions when he is booed during the intros then his dancing and dodging. Silva is scary!

2) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - I don't think anyone has come back from a poor performance better than Nogueira. He looked slow, weak and plain old against Mir, but he came back and simply dominated Couture. He knocked Couture down twice, and had some beautiful sweeps from the bottom. Personally I would rather see Nogueira be next in line against Lesnar rather than Carwin, but whatever.
3) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - Here we have the winner of the first major female main event for the first female title. While it was a fun, exciting fight, Dana White was correct in saying that is still was very sloppy and I agree that it may not have been UFC caliber. While both fighters looked nervous, Cyborg used her aggression to simply smother Carano and not let her get any sort of rhythm eventually finishing her off right before the bell.
4) Brian Bowles - I am sure he will be higher on other peoples list, the reason he is so low on mine is simply I am not too familiar with WEC, having just seen the last two events. I knew Torres was the favorite going in and Bowles victory was a huge upset, but not knowing the back-story or history of the WEC or their division cannot allow me to rate him higher.
5) Gegard Mousasi - His first fight in the United States ended with a huge explanation point as he completely destroyed Sobral. He made people take notice, and I only hope that he can find some decent fights out there, or perhaps that he finally signs with the UFC so we can see some great matchups.

Patrick Mullin

1) Anderson Silva
There's just no other answer. Anderson moved up a division and obliterated former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin with the greatest of ease, turning in what is probably a career best performance against a man many thought would be his toughest opponent. The thought of this guy retiring soon saddens me.

2) Gegard Mousasi - Speaking of impressive destructions, Mousasi opened up a lot of people's eyes in his Strikeforce debut. We all knew he would outstrike Babalu, but if it went to the ground how would he fare? He answered that question by pounding Babalu into oblivion in less than a minute to win the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.
3) B.J. Penn - Another guy who was supposed to be faced with his toughest challenge to date was B.J. Penn. He beat Florian from pillar to post, never putting himself in danger, and scoring on his first takedown attempt following up with the rear naked choke for the dominant victory.
4) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - Who would think something involving Gina Carano couldn't be pretty? It wasn't the most technical performance, but Cris's aggression and relentless style completely overwhelmed Gina Carano to crown her Strikeforce 145 pound women's champion one-sidedly.
5) Brian Bowles - I'd like to rank Brian higher than 5 for beating a top 5 pound for pounder, but Torres went in there like an amateur and a great pro in Bowles knew how to take advantage of it.

Larry Csonka

1) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos won the first ever women's MMA match to headline a major card, defeating Gina Carano in impressive fashion and winning the first Strikeforce Women's title. There is only one first, and in my mind, she deserves the top spot.

2) Brian Bowles - He shocks the world, to some, and took out one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport to win the WEC Bantamweight Title.
3) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - He rose from the ashes so to speak and put on a clinic against Couture. Big Nog is BACK and looks as good as ever.
4) Gegard Mousasi - WAR MOUSASI~!
5) Anderson Silva - He demolished Forrest Griffin and made him run like a little bitch. An impressive performance by the Spider.

Jonathan Solomon

1) Brian Bowles
Shocking the world comes easy to WEC. Nobody thought he could do it and Bowles went out there and knocked Miguel Torres out. The new Bantamweight Champion now is a marked man, let's see if he can keep the strap.

2) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - She goes down in history as the winner of the most famous female MMA bout ever. With an entire arena against her, she pounded Gina Carano into submission and took home the new Strikeforce female championship.
3) BJ Penn - Here I thought Penn's reign was about to end and he goes out and dominates Kenny Florian. I mean, it was never even close. BJ Penn is THE MAN at 155 and I'm not sure he there is anyone who can beat him.
4) Anderson Silva - Speaking of total domination...
5) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - He sure made me and lots of other people look like fools. Apparently, Big Nog never went anywhere and he's still kicking ass like a professional. If I were Brock Lesnar, I'd be ordering some BJJ tapes.

Samer Kadi

1) Brian Bowles
This has to rank as one of the most stacked editions of FOTM ever. There are just so many to choose from, and each fighter on the list can make a case for being #1. With that said, I'm going to have to go with Bowles here. The guy knocked out one of the best P4P fighters in the world when few gave him a chance, and became the WEC bantamweight champion.

2) Anderson Silva - Had he knocked Forrest out in the second or third round, he wouldn't have been so high on the list. But that performance is one of the best I've ever seen. Silva completely toyed with Forrest, knocked him down three times, made him look like an amateur and knocked him out, confirming his status as the top pound for pound fighter in the world.
3) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Many, myself included, wrote him off after the Mir fight. I thought Randy would dominate Nogueira on his way to a comfortable win. Instead, Big Nog looked like the Nogueira of old and beat Couture up for three rounds in one the greatest fights I've ever witnessed.
4) BJ Penn - BJ bounced back after the GSP beating and choked Kenny Florian out in the 4th round to retain his UFC lightweight title.
5) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - It was between her, BJ, and Mousasi to fill up the last two spots. And frankly any combination would have worked. But at the end of the day, BJ Penn retained his title and answered his critics, and Cyborg won the first ever female Strikeforce championship by stopping Gina Carano in the first round in the biggest female MMA bout to date.

Jeremy Lambert

1) Anderson Silva
Made former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin look like he should be fighting on local shows, turned a booing Philly crowd into the biggest Silva fans in the world, forced Griffin to challenge Usian Bolt's world record, and made some awesome facial expressions during UFC 101 and 102.

2) Brian Bowles - Pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the year and captured the WEC Bantamweight title when he knocked out top pound for pound fighter Miguel Torres.
3) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Proved he wasn't washed up and pretty much dominated Randy Couture in front of his hometown crowd. Nogueira turned in his best UFC performance to date.
4) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - Became the first ever Strikeforce Women's Champion and solidified herself as the top female fighter in the world by man handling Gina Carano.
5) BJ Penn - Made Kenny Florian regret really saying that shit.

Scott Kuczkowski

1) Brian Bowles
Not many fans gave Brian Bowles a chance in hell against Miguel Torres, but just like Brown upset Faber, Bowles was able to finish Torres and become the new WEC Bantamweight Champion. Not only did Bowles defeat a fighter who hadn't lost in 5 years, he finished him with strikes in the first round. This extends his unbeaten streak to 8 fights, having never gone to a decision in his career.

2) Anderson Silva - Many fans including Dana White questioned Silva's heart when it came to fighting, which pretty much precipitated his matchup with Griffin, a fighter who was supposed to "push" Silva. Well, less than 5 minutes later, Griffin was running from the octagon like a scared girl and Anderson Silva was once again one of the most dominant strikers in MMA. Silva now has his sights set on other fighters in the Light Heavyweight and possibly even the Heavyweight division who might pose a challenge to him.
3) B.J. Penn - I hoped BJ Penn would get beaten by Florian, as I figured he thought he was above fighting as a Lightweight and didn't deserve to wear the strap. After a few rounds of toying with KenFlo, BJ easily took him down and choked him out to demonstrate to everyone in the world why he is considered the best there is at 155. His next challenger is Diego Sanchez, who although a different breed of fighter than Florian, will still have an uphill battle when it comes to dethroning Penn.
4) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - I didn't think Bog Nog would be able to beat Randy, but he did so and made it look pretty painless in doing so. Noguiera demonstrated some very crisp standup and had Randy well scouted. His next test will be the winner of Carwin/Lesnar, which will be an interesting test.
5) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - Cyborg is the first women's champion, a title she will probably hold for quite a while and not have to worry about defending until next year, or possibly even afterwards. While it was a nice victory for her, unless she's placed in a bout with a dynamic fighter the fans can get behind, no one is going to care at all until she rematches with Gina Carano.

Dan Plunkett

1) Brian Bowles
Bowles gets the top spot over Anderson Silva by a hair. Miguel Torres was considered not only the best bantamweight in the world, but also one of the best fighters in the world overall. It took Bowles less than one round to finish him off, and it earned him the WEC bantamweight crown.

2) Anderson Silva - Nobody turned in a more dominating performance this month than Anderson. He looked unstoppable in beating top 5 light heavyweight Forrest Griffin at UFC 101, cementing his spot atop the pound-for-pound rankings.
3) Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - In the biggest fight in the history of women's MMA, Cyborg finished Gina Carano in the first round to take home the gold.
4) BJ Penn - Unquestionably the best lightweight in the world after submitting Kenny Florian.
5) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Showed that he still had some gas in the tank by decisively beating Randy Couture.

Adam Tool

1) Anderson Silva
I'm arguably this site's biggest Anderson Silva fanboy, and even I was amazed with how dominant "The Spider" looked against Forrest Griffin. In less than five minutes Silva erased all the criticisms that had been surrounding him for the last year. He also managed to extend his UFC record for most wins, and he became the first MMA fighter to defeat a top 10 opponent in three different weight classes (he used to compete at welterweight y‘know). Nobody got people talking this month like Anderson Silva. Well other than Fedor, but he didn‘t fight this month so…

2) Brian Bowles - At this point I see no real competition for the award of "Upset Of The Year." Bowles was a respected opponent, but few gave him any real chance of beating Miguel Torres, a fighter long considered one of the top pound-for-pound guys in the sport. Bowles demolished Torres and took the WEC Bantamweight Championship. Not a bad month I would say.
3) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Came out on the winning end of the frontrunner for "Fight Of The Year." As a result he is now right back into the thick of things in terms of the UFC heavyweight title picture.
4) Gegard Mousasi - I knew Mousasi was good, but his one minute destruction of "Babalu" made it abundantly clear just how good he is. Now he's got the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship, and I can't wait to see him fight again.
5) BJ Penn - I expected him to emerge victorious against Kenny Florian, and that's exactly what he did. With the win Penn solidifies himself as the clear #1 guy in the lightweight division.

The Results

5th Place - Gegard Mousasi (9 points)

Laid a first-class beatdown to "Babalu" and won gold in his American debut.

4th Place - BJ Penn (15 points)

The UFC Lightweight Champion dispatches of Kenny Florian and asks, "who‘s next?"

3rd Place - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (20 points)

Gave us an epic performance in what may be the Fight Of The Year.

2nd Place - Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (21 points)

Say hello to the new face of women‘s MMA and the sport's first major female champion.

I told you the voting was close this month right? Well if you've playing along (or if you've already scrolled ahead) then you might have noticed there are still two names to go but only one award. For the first time in this feature's history, we have a tie for first place. Therefore

Fighters of the Month for August - Anderson Silva & Brian Bowles (35 points)



Anderson Silva destroys Forrest Griffin to re-affirm his status as one of the best in the world, while Brian Bowles scores a major upset to dethrone Miguel Torres for the WEC Bantamweight Championship.

2009 Fighter Of The Year Standings

Mike Brown - 30 points

Georges St. Pierre - 27 points

Lyoto Machida - 24 points

Anderson Silva - 15 points
Brian Bowles - 15 points
Brock Lesnar - 15 points
Diego Sanchez - 15 points
Nick Diaz - 15 points
Miguel Torres - 15 points
Demian Maia - 15 points

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - 12 points
Dan Henderson - 12 points
Brett Rogers - 12 points
Joe Warren - 12 points
Shane Carwin - 12 points
Nate Marquardt - 12 points
Fedor Emelianenko - 12 points

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - 9 points
Marius Zaromskis - 9 points
Jake Shields - 9 points
Frank Edgar - 9 points
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - 9 points
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal - 9 points
Paulo Thiago - 9 points

BJ Penn - 6 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

Gegard Mousasi - 3 points
Mark Coleman - 3 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

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