411’s Fighter Of The Month: September

Posted by  on 10.01.2009

Another 30 days have passed, so the time has come once again for the 411 MMA staff to make their picks for the best performance of the month. Vitor Belfort, Junior Dos Santos, Paul Daley, Gray Maynard, and Tyson Griffin all got some love, but who took home this month’s top prize?

We're racing towards the end of the year, but first let us reflect on the month of September. We saw some good action from the UFC, Strikeforce, and Sengoku and there were plenty of new names getting votes from the 411 staff.

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

Jonathan Solomon

1) Paul Daley
Well how about that. The guy who looked like a rookie against Jake Shields not too long ago stepped into the UFC for the first time and knocked out a potential championship challenger in Martin Kampmann. Daley definitely belongs in the UFC and with his striking prowess, is more dangerous than some people credit him for.

2) Gray Maynard - In the co-main event of the Spike UFC special, Maynard fought a tough opponent in Roger Huerta. While he needed another decision to do it, he won nevertheless. With the big win, Maynard moves into potential title contention in the near future.
3) Tyson Griffin - Griffin continues his rise up the lightweight rankings with a fine performance against Hermes Franca. Best of yet, he didn't need to go to a decision to win. He knocked out the purple headed warrior.
4) Tim Kennedy - For a dominant showing against Zak Cummings, he gets some notice here. For the seven-plus minutes the fight lasted, Kennedy was always in control.
5) Tyron Woodley - Does this man look like a future dominant fighter or what? He is new to the sport but he has all the tools to become a big name. He submitted veteran Zach Light with a beautiful textbook arm bar on Showtime and that earns him some recognition.

Patrick Mullin

1) Vitor Belfort
This is a guy who the books had as an underdog for the most part. He went in and destroyed Rich Franklin as soon as he let his hands go. Not even Anderson Silva or Lyoto Machida looked that good in their victories over Rich. He's back.

2) Paul Daley - Martin Kampmann was potentially in line for a title shot until he ran into a pugilistic onslaught from the young and hungry Daley who blitzkrieged his way to a win.
3) Antonio Silva - Silva continued his roll by putting always dangerous Jim York to sleep with an arm triangle.
4) Tyron Woodley - American Top Team's new addition became a highly touted prospect with his performance against Zach Light.
5) Efrain Escudero - I didn't think he had that kind of finishing ability, but man was I wrong. He just put it on Cole Miller and didn't stop until Miller was done.

Daniel Bonnizzio

1) Paul Daley
Yeah, who among you honestly saw Daley not only winning his match with the Hitman but winning by a first round TKO? A standing TKO nonetheless? This huge win from the underdog gets him the #1 spot in my books.

2) Vitor Belfort - So in about 5 or so punches the Phenom managed to stop the former Middleweight champ and did it in brutal fashion. Some may point to a clip, some point to a slip but I'll point to better boxing by Vitor and poor hand positioning by Franklin against someone he knew was gonna stand and bang hard. His win over Rich gets him #2.
3) Gray Maynard - Maynard extends his win streak and cements himself as a potential contender for BJ's 155 pounds crown with his decision win over always tough Roger Huerta. Locking in a near-fight ending Kimura in the last round that had me cringing showed us he's trying to evolve past any LnP discrepancies he may have had in the past and it brings him to #3.
4) Junior dos Santos - Some will say he was going to win anyway, but I felt that it was a big win for the relatively young and hungry Junior. He went in with an experienced striker in Cro Cop and instead of taking him to the ground where he would have had a clear and away advantage he chose to trade leather for the better part of the whole fight and made Cro Cop quit after a brutal uppercut to the eye. Twice. This win over a big name nets him #4.
5) Mike Pierce - I'll admit I share Csonka's love of Brock Larson, so to see the dominant welterweight get owned for three whole rounds by a relative newbie in Pierce nets the young man the #5 spot.

Larry Csonka

1) Junior dos Santos
I know Mirko is not the Mirko that he used to be, but the win for dos Santos is a HUGE one in terms of him becoming both a viable heavyweight contender and future star. Mirko has been added to the hit list, and he also showed that he can go deep into a fight, which we had not seen thus far. A very important victory for dos Santos.

2) Paul Daley - I like to pick upsets and all, but I did not think that Paul Daley would defeat Martin Kampmann, and in such dominating fashion. Daley looked great, and ended the title aspirations of Kampmann.
3) Tyron Woodley - As I mentioned in the 3R's this week, "T-WOOD" was impressive in his most recent fight, and the man has future star written all over him. He is one of the guys that I am excited to see fight again.
4) Gray Maynard - Gray Maynard continues his winning ways with a hard fought victory over Roger Huerta. Maynard doesn't win "exciting" fights, but the man wins, and that's his job.
5) Vitor Belfort - While I was not as impressed with Belfort as most seemed to be, but he did defeat Rich Franklin, so he deserves some credit.

Samer Kadi

1) Paul Daley
Daley has announced himself as a contender in the welterweight division with an upset win over Martin Kampmann. Kampmann was supposed to square off against Mike Swick to determine the number one contender for GSP's title. When Swick pulled out injured, Kampmann was expected to walk through Daley. Instead, Daley unleashed a brutal barrage of punches to stop "The Hitman" in the first round.

2) Vitor Belfort - Vitor has secured a middleweight title shot by defeating Rich Franklin in just his first fight back in the UFC. The Phenom showed his speed, power and explosiveness by knocking out "Ace" in the first round.
3) Tyson Griffin - Tyson Griffin put on the most impressive performance of his UFC career by becoming the first man to stop Hermes Franca. Griffin showed improved striking as he dominated Franca on his way to a second round stoppage.
4) Junior dos Santos - A win over Cro Cop doesn't mean too much these days, but the Brazilian was impressive nonetheless, adding another big name opponent to his victim list, and edging closer to a potential title shot.
5) Efrain Escudero - I'm really surprised Efrain's win over Cole Miller isn't generating more talk. Cole Miller is an always game opponent, and Escudero walked right through him. Efrain could become a serious threat in a stacked lightweight division.

Jeffrey Harris

1) Paul "Semtex" Daley
Daley made a pretty loud announcement coming out of nowhere and facing a top contender in Martin Kampmann and just outclassing Kampmann in every way. Kampmann made a huge mistake standing and banging with a guy that throws bombs like Daley and Kampmann isn't always the smartest fighter. Daley is now looking good in a crowded WW division, the problem is the huge gap that seems to exist with the top contenders and GSP.

2) Junior dos Santos - Santos destroyed the hopes and dreams of Pride marks everywhere, and that in itself is reason to put Santos on the list. Santos proved that Crocop probably shouldn't have come back to the UFC and that the sport has changed with the way the new young fighters are evolving. We know dos Santos can bang, but what we also need to see is his ground game being trained by Nogueira and all.
3) Tyson Griffin - Griffin did his job and he looked great doing it for a change beating up a fat, slow, and out of shape Hermes Franca. Griffin came in at weight and put Franca down. This doesn't make Griffin a #1 contender since he recently lost to Sherk, but hey he could be there soon. Griffin proved he won't be forgotten in the lightweight division anytime soon.
4) Efrain Escudero - Efrain Escudero hadn't fought in a while and Cole Miller was definitely a tough game opponent. Escudero was highly overlooked and he proved it with his fight. Escudero is definitely one to watch out for.
5) Gray Maynard - Maynard showed some different dimensions to his game against a Roger Huerta that wasn't going to go gently into that dark, dark night. While I'm sure a more dominant or impressive win would've clinched Maynard getting a future title shot, Maynard's definitely at the top of the heap.

Dan Plunkett

1) Vitor Belfort
Vitor returned the the UFC after a four year absence in the main event of UFC 103 against Rich Franklin. It only took "The Phenom" 3 minutes to put Franklin away, thus earning him a shot at the middleweight title. On January 2, Belfort will look to finally live up to the hype that was made of him 12 years ago.

2) Paul Daley - "Semtex" took out top welterweight contender Martin Kampmann with superior striking ability at UFC 103. Now the Nottingham native has set his sights a potential bout against Matt Hughes.
3) Dan Hornbuckle - Hornbuckle has looked very impressive lately; his victory over underrated welterweight Nick Thompson is no exception to that.
4) Gray Maynard - A win over Roger Huerta moves him one step closer to the lightweight title shot he craves.
5) Junior dos Santos - "Cigano" defeated Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 103 which will move him further into title contention.

Adam Tool

1) Vitor Belfort
His return to the UFC really couldn't have gone better. Rich Franklin is a tough opponent that doesn't get finished very often, but Belfort made it look easy. With his renewed fighting spirit following the drop to middleweight, it appears that the old Vitor may indeed be back.

2) Junior dos Santos - While he may not be the legend he once was, there's still something to be said for beating Mirko Cro Cop. The finish was anti-climatic, but the fight itself answered plenty of questions about this rising heayweight contender.
3) Tyson Griffin - The Xtreme Couture fighter finally got the knockout win he's been looking for since coming to the UFC. Beating a former contender like Franca should help to establish Griffin amongst the lightweight elite.
4) Paul Daley - Got a nice win in his UFC debut, while scoring a decent upset in the process.
5) Rick Story - Was on the winning end of the best fight I saw this month, and on top of that he got $120,000 in bonuses for his work.

The Results

Honorable Mention: Efrain Escudero

5th Place - Tyron Woodley (6 points)

Made his presence known as one to watch in the welterweight division

4th Place (TIE) - Gray Maynard / Tyson Griffin (12 points)

These Xtreme Couture teammates get to share a spot after Maynard beat a very game Roger Huerta while Griffin scored a nice win over the always-dangerous Hermes Franca

3rd Place - Junior dos Santos (18 points)

Knocked off Mirko Cro Cop, and now finds himself amongst the elite in the UFC heavyweight division.

2nd Place - Vitor Belfort (24 points)

Jumps into the #1 contender spot for the middleweight belt following his KO of Rich Franklin

Fighter of the Month for September - Paul Daley (34 points)



Who could have seen this coming? Daley makes headlines in his UFC debut, and becomes a dangerous opponent for the rest of the welterweight division.

2009 Fighter Of The Year Standings

Mike Brown - 30 points

Georges St. Pierre - 27 points

Lyoto Machida - 24 points

Paul Daley - 15 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

Vitor Belford - 12 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

Junior dos Santos - 9 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

Gray Maynard - 6 points
Tyson Griffin - 6 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

Tyron Woodley - 3 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

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