411's Fighter of the Month 6.03.08: May 2008

Posted by Justin Thomas on 06.03.2008

BJ Penn retained his lightweight championship against Sherk, Silva knocked out Jardine, Alvarez/Hansen and Smith/Lawler have FOTY candidates and Machida got the biggest win of his career. Who is going to be our first Fighter of the Month?

Welcome to the first ever edition of 411's Fighter of the Month! My name is Justin Thomas - Your Tuesday MMA News reporter. Every month me and my colleagues in the MMA zone will vote and I will declare The 411 Fighter of the Month!

Each writer chooses 5 fighters, they can vote for anyone, and each fighter gets a point total attached to the ranking. Just like this:

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

We tally up the votes and crown our Fighter of the Month! The points of each fighter will be saved and added to the 411 Fighter of the Year ranking.


The Voting


Bren Oliver

1) BJ Penn
Cleared up any doubt he was the UFC's Lightweight Champion by dominating Sean Sherk, while also stirring the pot with his desire to fight GSP and proving he's clearly one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
2) Kimbo Slice: Win or lose, he is the reason MMA was on network television and he also got a lot of mainstream love leading up to the EliteXC/CBS event.
3) Tito Ortiz: Proved fans still love him based on the support he received at UFC 84 and is about to revitalize his career in a new organization. He's also constantly been in the news based on his ongoing feud with Dana White.
4) Wanderlei Silva: While he's still 1-3 in his last four fights, Wandy has seemingly revitalized his career with his vicious knockout of Jardine. People are now mentioning him as a title contender and feel like the old "Axe Murderer" is back.
5) Eddie Alvarez: Put on a major "Fight of the Year" candidate against Joachim Hansen at DREAM 4 and is fast-becoming one of the biggest prospects in MMA.

Jeremy Lambert

1) BJ Penn
Without a doubt, the best Lightweight in the world. He picked apart Sean Sherk for 3 rounds before finishing him and no matter who wins the DREAM Lightweight tournament, Penn is still #1. After all the talk and hype, BJ Penn delivered.
2) Wanderlei Silva: The Axe Murderer is back and he almost murderer Keith Jardine. He gives his best.
3) Eddie Alvarez: Was on the winning side of the Fight of the Year candidate with Joachim Hansen.
4) Gina Carano
5) Kimbo Slice

Adam Tool

1) BJ Penn
Could there be any other choice? With his three-round domination of former champ Sean Sherk, Penn erases any doubt and becomes the undisputed lightweight champion. Not only that, but he cements his place atop the worldwide lightweight rankings. Penn has silenced his critics and left the MMA world with just one question: can anybody beat this guy?
2) Wanderlei Silva - Plenty of MMA fans wanted "The Axe Murderer" to win against Keith Jardine, but did anybody think he would do so in such convincing fashion? In 36 seconds Wanderlei put the rest of the UFC light heavyweight division on notice, and showed that he still has a place in this day and age.
3) Robbie Lawler/Scott Smith - Obviously nobody saw Saturday's middleweight title fight ending the way it did. However before the stoppage we were on our way to what would've been the undisputed fight of the night. These two fighters went back and forth for 13 minutes and I can't wait to see them finish what they started.
4) Lyoto Machida
5) Eddie Alvarez

Dustin James

1) BJ Penn
The UFC's lightweight champion proved to the world that he is the #1 lightweight in the world with his victory over Sean Sherk. Now BJ, PLEASE don't move up to welterweight. Stay down here in lightweight for awhile and prepare yourself for the winner of Florian/Huerta.
2) Wanderlei Silva: The Axe Murderer is back! It was great seeing Silva KO Jardine at UFC 84 and he showed that he is back. Perhaps he will move down to middleweight and face Anderson Silva? It's a good time to be named SILVA!
3) Lyoto Machida: The Dragon sent Tito Ortiz packing out of the UFC. Machida has a unique style of fighting that doesn't entertain a lot of casual MMA fans. However, he gets the job done and in the end that is what is important.
4) Eddie Alvarez: Alvarez is turning out to be a scary lightweight. His fight against Joachim Hansen at DREAM 3 was a fight of the year contender. Alvarez is moving up in the lightweight ranks.
5) Brett Rogers: It was a good month for Brett Rogers. He KO'd Jon Murphy pretty quickly at EliteXC's CBS debut. Then he went out and called out Kimbo Slice in the post-fight press conference. What does this do for Rogers? It gives him name value and he could end up being the man who de-rails the hype train known as Kimbo Slice.

Fredrick Peterson

1) BJ Penn
Incredible fight against Sean Sherk on May 24th. He came in well conditioned and ready to fight. He is now undoubtably the number one ranked lightweight in the world.
2) Wanderlei Silva: Highlight real knockout makes Wanderlei a contender for Fighter of the Month. After coming off three straight losses, Silva totally dismantled Keith Jardine.
3) Lyota Machida: With a victory over UFC legend Tito Ortiz, "the Dragon" puts himself in line for a Light Heavyweight Title shot.
4) Gina Carano
5) Eddie Alvarez

John Curry

1) Wanderlei Silva
After Jardine was billed as a contender to the title, Silva showed up and displayed why he is a fearsome fighter. For simply re-establishing himself in dynamic fashion in a fight that some thought he would lose I give him the Fighter of the Month award.
2) BJ Penn: Penn surprised me by showing up for his fight against Sherk in great condition and well focused and proceeded to put on an MMA clinic against Sherk.
3) Lyota Machida: I am not a fan of Machida but I have to admit that the showing he displayed against UFC legent Tito Ortiz impressed me and I would not be surprised to see a title fight in the very near future for him.
4) Eddie Alverez: Anyone who say the DREAM 3 fight understands why Alverez is a contender for the Fighter of the Month award. Unfortunately, he fought in the same month as BJ and Wanderlei did so he recieves third place for me.
5) Rich "No Love" Clementi: While most people have forgotten about his fight this month against Terry Etim, I haven't. This guy deserves to be on this list of Fighter of the Month for taking this fight on short notice, just over 1 month after his fight against Stout went to decision. Any fighter who is willing to do this and win in the UFC deserves some credit.

Justin Thomas

1) Wanderlei Silva
I know that BJ Penn was in the main event, but I couldn't resist to put Silva in the #1 slot. He knocked out Jardine very quickly and finally he's back. Silva is still young, he's got a great camp and he could get a title shot soon, especially if Rampage retains. Let's hope that Silva goes on a long winning streak again...
2) Kimbo Slice - Yes, perhaps he does not deserve this spot. But he got no love from my colleagues and well basically he has never gotten much love from anyone. Poor man is Kimbo. The reason he's here, he won the most watched MMA match ever and like it or not, the fight was stopped due to punches, which is still impressive. And by the way, the fight was exciting.
3) BJ Penn - He's won the UFC 84 main event, but did not impress me. Penn used his jab effectively ala Tim Sylvia to score points and he was aggressive for 10 seconds in the whole fight. That was enough though, he defeated a top contender in Sean Sherk and established himself as a dominant champion.
4) Josh Barnett
5) Eddie Alvarez

Wendell Mitchell

1) BJ Penn
If WEC were eligible this month, B.J. would have slipped down a couple of notches. As is stands, his dominating performance over Sherk easily made him the best fighter in the month of May. As much as I want to see him fight GSP, that fight can wait until he's had a chance to lock up against the winner of Florian and the original MMA Cover Model Huerta.
2) Wanderlei Silva: The Axe Murderer is back! It was great seeing Silva KO Jardine at UFC 84 and he showed that he is back. Perhaps he will move down to middleweight and face Anderson Silva? It's a good time to be named SILVA!
3) Robbie Lawler: Other than my love of saying that name out loud, I enjoyed what little of his fight I saw. It started off a bit slow and the crowd let them know, but when they started laying into each other, it was fun while it lasted.
Alvarez is turning out to be a scary lightweight. His fight against Joachim Hansen at DREAM 3 was a fight of the year contender. Alvarez is moving up in the lightweight ranks.
4)Scott Smith: It takes two to tango and the man with "Hands of Steel" made an excellent dance partner for the Ruthless one. The Dragon sent Tito Ortiz packing out of the UFC.
5) Gina Carano: Ignoring the fact it seemed she was plugging American Gladiator more than she talked about her heart truly being in the sport, she put on a hell of a showing against an opponent that I've seen can fight and pulled out a victory. Between her fight and the middleweight bout, the show wasn't as bad as some of us feared.

Larry Csonka

1) BJ Penn
Penn put away Sherk in an impressive performance at UFC 84, and now there is no dispute around the championship. Where Penn goes from here will be interesting to see, but the man is on top of the 155 world, well, as far as UFC goes. I want to see him vs. Huerta; that would be a hell of a fight.

2) Lyoto Machida: I don't think that Machida is getting a lot of respect. All I hear about is the fact that he is boring or that Tito is past his prime. Regardless, the man is 13-0 and has that big win over Tito, he should get some recognition for that.
3) Wanderlei Silva: He looks to be back, if for only one night. But it was a damn impressive night.
4) Eddie Alvarez
5) Robbie Lawler/Scott Smith

Randy Harrison

1) BJ Penn
After his thoroughly dominating performance in the biggest fight of the month, could there really be any doubt? He tore Sherk apart for the better part of three rounds and showed that he's the cream of the crop in the Lightweight division. This "new and improved" BJ stands poised to finally take advantage of all of his natural talents and potential and he really seems like he could be on his way to being known as the greatest fighter of all time.
2) Eddie Alvarez/Joachim Hansen: This was a great fight, easily the fight of the month, and both guys deserve to be recognized for their efforts. Watching this fight live at 3 am was one of those moments where I felt proud to be a fan of the greatest sport in the world. Both guys left their hearts in the ring and showed each other deep respect after a great war. A huge win for Alvarez as well, which cements his status as the top prospect at 155 in the world.
3) Wanderlei Silva: Possibly the nicest fighter I have ever met, I've been down with Silva from the beginning so it was incredibly exciting for me and made me extremely happy to see the Wanderlei of old make his return. The killer instinct was there, the aggression, the power, the fury. Keith Jardine didn't have a prayer and after seeing Silva suffer through arguably the toughest period of his career, I'm happy to see him "back.
4) Lyoto Machida
5) James Thompson


The Results


-Honorable Mention: Scott Smith.

-5th place: Robbie Lawler (7 points).

-4th place: Kimbo Slice (9 points).

-3rd place: Eddie Alvarez, Lyoto Machida (17 points).

Eddie impressed everyone by not only defeating Hansen, but putting on a FOTY candidate. Machida's fight wasn't as exciting, but Lyoto dominated Ortiz and got the biggest win of his career. The future looks bright for these young men.

-2nd place: Wanderlei Silva (38 points).

Silva rebounded after 3 straight losses and knocked out Keith Jardine in only 36 seconds. Impressive performance by Wanderlei and he got the 2nd place.

-1st place: BJ Penn (47 points).

Penn main evented UFC 84, came out victorious, defended his title and defeated a former champion. That was enough to get the 1st place.


Fighter of the Year Standings

The voting began on June 3rd.

1. BJ Penn - 47

2. Wanderlei SIlva - 38

3. Eddie Alvarez - 17

3. Lyoto Machida - 17

5. Kimbo Slice - 9

6. Robbie Lawler - 7