411’s Fighter Of The Month 3.09.10: February

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 03.09.2010

Randy Couture submitted Mark Coleman, Chael Sonnen defeated Nate Marquardt, Cain Velasquez knocked out Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva edged out Michael Bisping, and Sarah Kaufman won the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship, but who is the fighter of the month? Check out the full column to find out!

February was a relatively quiet month for MMA, but it had no shortage of breathtaking and breakout performances. Fighters with a combined age of 91 headlined a major UFC event, one certain middleweight stirred controversy with his mouth and earned the right to back up the talk with a future title shot. A young lion dethroned his elder counterpart, but the same night we saw another fighter show glimpses of the magic that kept him champion for 6 years. Not to mention the second women's fight to headline a major event in North America. Maybe February wasn't such a quiet month after all.

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

Samer Kadi
1) Cain Velasquez
Cain proved he's legit and put any doubt to bed with a first round knockout of the legendary Minotauro Nogueira. With the win, Velasquez finds himself in firm contention for a heavyweight title shot although that will depend on the upcoming Mir-Carwin fight. In any case, Velasquez has shown that the hype surrounding him is indeed justified.

2) Chael Sonnen - His surprising domination of Nate Marquardt has put him in the number 1 contender spot. Sonnen now awaits the winner of the Silva-Maia title fight in April. His chances aren't great against The Spider but he does possess the style to trouble Anderson. Sonnen has also turned into a quote machine, an ability few were aware he possessed.
3) George Sotiropoulos - A star was born as George Sotiropoulos put on a grappling clinic against Joe Stevenson. George also showed some improved stand up and dominated Stevenson in every aspect of the game. The crowd made for an electric atmosphere as well.
4) Paulo Thiago - Thiago may now be a win away from a title shot, courtesy of a beautiful D'Arce choke submission of Mike Swick. Thiago is now 2-1 against AKA welterweight and is likely to get the winner of the Alves-Fitch fight at UFC 111.
5) Wanderlei Silva - Looked somewhat rejuvinated in a solid display against Michael Bisping on his middleweight debut.

Larry Csonka

1) Cain Velasquez
ALL ABOARD THE CAIN TRAIN! Seriously, the guy arrived with his victory over Big Nog. I won't repeat everything I said in the R's back a while, but I wasn't sure about him. The Kong fight was nice, the Rothwell fight proved a lot, and now, he beat a legend and is a legit contender for the title.

2) Sarah Kaufman - Sarah Kaufman served notice that she is the top 135 female fighter with a complete domination of Takayo Hashi at Strikeforce Challengers 6. Kaufman is now the first 135lb champion, and looks to keep her undefeated streak (11-0) going.
3) George Sotiropoulos - There is a new rising star in the Lightweight division and his name is George Sotiropoulos. His victory over Joe Stevenson proves that he belongs, and with another victory, he could be fighting for the title.
4) Chael Sonnen - Not only has Sonnen been impressing in the shit talking department, he is winning fights. He dominated Nate the great, and is now in line for a title shot.
5) Paulo Thiago - Paulo Thiago took out Mike Swick and inches closer to a title shot.

Jeffrey Harris

1) Cain Velasquez
What's hilarious is that going into this fight people criticized Cain for not having any power. People even called Cain pillowfists. This is despite Cain havingly only a single fight that went the distance, the one with Kongo. That said, way to go Cain and his status-cementing performance against Nogueira dropping Nog and knocking him out. Cain's now definitely in the title mix and he looks to keep getting better and better.

2) Chael Sonnen - Chael was the underdog going into his fight with Marquardt, but it didn't matter as Sonnen put on a wrestling clinic against the favorite and top ranked middleweight fighter and grinded out the victory. Chael's also become a great self-promoter as of late, pushing heavily for a fight with Anderson Silva. And honestly, that's a fight I'd really like to see right now as Sonnen is selling the potential matchup brilliantly.
3) George Sotiropoulos - ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! Sotiropoulos had an impressive 4-0 record in the UFC against lesser competition and had looked very dominant after dropping to lightweight. However, a fight with top UFC lightweight, Joe Stevenson, was a whole other matter entirely. However Sotiropoulos picked a great night to put on a career highlighting and starmaking performance at UFC 110. In his home country of Australia, Sotiropoulos displayed amazing jits and even some very slick boxing against an experienced former title contender in Stevenson.
4) Paul Thiago - People complained that UFC was giving Thiago too many hard matchups and throwing him into the fire too quickly with fights against the likes of Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Mike Swick. However, Thiago has looked good and achieved some nice victories and is now 3-1 in the UFC having beaten top welterweights like Koscheck and Swick. Thiago showed that he has formidable standup and submission power in the Swick fight and could be on the track to title contention.
5) Ryan Bader - Its time people stood up and started giving the TUF 8 205 champion the respect and recognition he deserves. Bader went into the cage against a game, competitive, and crafty veteran in Jardine. However, Bader's superior striking, wrestling, chin, and willingness to follow a gameplan saw him through to victory. Bader pulled off an impressive knockout victory and remains perfect in the UFC and in MMA overall. Bader is the future of the UFC 205 pound division.

Daniel Bonnizzio
1) Chael Sonnen
He may not have had the single most dominant performance on this list, and he may not have had the single most impressive performance on this list, but he had the single most important performance on this list. Going into UFC 109, no sane man was picking Chael to win. Nobody. So when the Team Quest product turned in an astounding performance against the consensus #2 middleweight in the UFC, well, I was more than shocked. With his performance a few weeks ago, Chael definitely earned the right to both Fighter of the Month and the definite #1 contender to the Middleweight Championship.

2) Cain Velasqeuz - I admit, I thought Cain was going to beat Nogueira regardless. However, what I didn't expect was the crushing nature of that victory. He was in and out with three and four punch combinations before Nogueira was finishing his second jab. Finally, he landed a flush right that dropped the legend and he followed up with some vicious ground and pound. Cain's one-sided victory over a legendary fighter is more than enough to propel him into title talks, and opens a lot of doors for the young fighter.
3) George Sotiropoulos - The hometown hero of the night turned in the single most dominant performance of the night, especially considering his opponent. Most people (every other staffer on the Roundtable) thought that Joe would be too much for the TUF6 vet to handle, but I knew he had the skills needed to win. The way he controlled the action on the feet before turning to a grappling clinic with both sides giving their all for 15 minutes, combined with his impressive win and the even-more-impressive response he got from the crowd was simply amazing.
4) Sarah Kaufman - So Kaufman walked in to Challengers 6 as the favorite and for 25 minutes laid a beating on Takayo Hashi. Nobody really expected Hashi to win but damnit she tried. Kaufman now gets to wait for StrikeForce to put together their four or eight-man brackets to determine the next challengers but until then the new Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champion gets to sit back and bask.
5) Paulo Thiago - 2-1 against AKA products and 3-1 in the UFC overall, this Brazilian cop is more than dangerous. With his beautiful submission over Mike Swick, Paulo jumps back into the top ranks of the 170 pounders of the world. This guy is the real deal: he has the submission skills, he has the striking, he has the stamina. Now, if he could get that one loss avenged he could seriously be put into title contention by the end of 2010.

Jonathan Solomon

1) Cain Velasquez
TOTAL DOMINATION! Velasquez out-boxed Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in explosive fashion. Now, Velasquez is the toast of the heavyweight division and a man many expect to be champion sooner than later. It's amazing what two minutes of action can do to affirm previous beliefs or in some cases, totally change them.

2) Chael Sonnen - Sonnen dominated Nate Marquardt on the ground, much to my surprise. Over recent months, he has jumped on people's radar as a threat to Anderson Silva.
3) George Sotiropoulos - Talk about a performance that came out of nowhere. In front of his countrymen, Sotiropoulos made Joe Stevenson look like an inexperienced fighter. For a man with over 40 fights, that's saying something. George is now a fighter people will pay attention to, instead of saying, "hey, that's the Aussie from Ultimate Fighter."
4) Paulo Thiago - Thiago took Mike Swick to task and finished him with an awesome D'arce choke.
5) Demian Maia - Coming off a knockout loss, Maia returned to defeat Dan Miller by unanimous decision. He remains a dangerous fighter on the ground but he displayed some improved striking. Afterwards, he earned himself a title shot against Anderson Silva after Vitor Belfort's injury.

Scott Kuczkowski
1) Cain Velasquez
To say Cain has come into his own is sort of an understatement. He dominated a legend in Noguiera and cemented himself at the top of the Heavyweight division. He's also made himself a frontrunner to eventually capture the Heavyweight Strap by the end of the year. Not bad for less than three minutes of work.

2) George Sotiropoulos - George wanted to shine in front of his countrymen and Stevenson was the perfect opponent to do it against. George was able to dominate the standup portion of the fight and even schooled Stevenson on the ground. The victory has placed George on many people's radar and might eventually get him a place in the Top 15 Lightweight ranking.
3) Chael Sonnen - He might not have looked pretty by the end of the fight, but after grinding away for 15 minutes against Marquardt, Chael emerged as the leading contender for Anderson Silva's title. Always outspoken, Chael has done a good job of staying interesting during interviews and brings a blue-collared approach to his work in the octagon. Unfortunately, Chael will have to wait behind Demian Maia for his title shot due to his medical suspension.
4) Paulo Thiago - If knocking out Josh Koscheck doesn't get you noticed in then Welterweight Division, then submitting his stable mate Mike Swick should. Paulo looked crisp in the exchanges and demonstrated that a blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn't just something to wear around his waist. This victory puts Paulo above most other contenders at 170 (in my opinion), including future challenger Dan Hardy.
5) Ryan Bader - Bader has been cruising along pretty well and amassing impressive victories with each showing. His knockout of Jardine was something not even Rampage or the Iceman could pull off and puts him on the cusp of title contention in the UFC's stacked Light Heavyweight Division. A step up in competition should see him challenged even more.

Dan Plunkett:
1) Chael Sonnen
Despite going in as the underdog, Sonnen mauled Nate Marquardt to earn a middleweight title shot. Sonnen had talked himself up so much leading into the fight that for many it became the true main event of the show. I only put him above Cain Velasquez this month because Chael's title shot is guaranteed to be his next fight.
2) Cain Velasquez - Cain has answered all the questions about his game and is ready for a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, he probably won't get the next title shot due to Frank Mir and Shane Carwin being more marketable opponents for Brock Lesnar.
3) George Sotiropoulos - Overwhelmed Joe Stevenson from bell to bell. George moved into the upper echelon of UFC lightweights with the victory.
4) Paulo Thiago - Every time I try to discredit Paulo Thiago he goes and puts on a performance like he did against Mike Swick. I said he got lucky against Josh Koscheck; he went and did well against Jon Fitch. I wasn't very impressed with his striking against Jacob Volkmann; he drops Mike Swick and submits him soon after. Newsflash: Paulo Thiago is for real.
5) Demian Maia - His striking looked improved in his decision victory over Dan Miller, but by no means is he ever going to be a feared striker. The performance, timing of the bout, and an injury to Vitor Belfort have lead to Maia challenging Anderson Silva in April for the middleweight title. Good luck with that.

The Results

Honorable Mention (TIE): Ryan Bader & Demian Maia

5th Place - Sarah Kaufman (6 points)

Outclassed Takayo Hashi to win the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship.

4th Place - Paulo Thiago (12 points)

Submitted Mike Swick to move one step closer to a title shot.

3rd Place - George Sotiropoulos (22 points)

Outworked Joe Stevenson on the ground en route to a decision victory.

2nd Place - Chael Sonnen (27 points)

The 32-year-old dominated Nate Marquardt to earn a middleweight title shot.

Fighter of the Month for February- Cain Velasquez (33 points)




Became the second man to finish Minotauro Nogueira and could be next in line for a title shot.

2010 Fighter Of The Year Standings

Nick Diaz- 15 points
Cain Velasquez- 15 points

Ben Henderson- 12 points
Chael Sonnen- 12 points

Urijah Faber- 9 points
George Sotiropoulos- 9 points

Paul Daley- 6 points
Robbie Lawler- 6 points
Paulo Thiago- 6 points

Junior dos Santos- 3 points
Sarah Kaufman- 3 points

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos- 1 point
Mike Brown- 1 point
Demian Maia- 1 point
Ryan Bader- 1 point