Tapping Out With TBerg 01.02.09: Episode XII: The T-Bergy’s Best Of 2008

Posted by Todd Bergman on 01.02.2009

2008 was certainly the greatest year in Mixed Martial Arts history. We, as fans, have witnessed everything from a former pro-wrestler winning Heavyweight gold to an internet knockout sensation being KO’ed by a cat with pink hair. We also had a very sweet Gina Carano towel-dropping incident. In this edition of “Tapping Out With TBerg,” Todd Bergman hands out his prized T-Bergy’s in the “Best Of 2008”.

Awesome Quote for The T-Bergy's
"You can buy muscles (steroids) but you can't buy COJONES"
-Bas Rutten



2008 Fighter Of The Year

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar entered 2008 as one of the biggest names in MMA. His experience was limited but he was certainly not lacking when it came to confidence. We laughed at him when he couldn't pronounce Frank Mir's last name (It came out more like "Mur" as maybe Brock had spent too much time on the farm.) However, he surprised many with his first showing inside the Octagon. That first outing resulted in a loss, but we all knew that Brock would be back and better than ever. His 2nd fight inside the Octagon was the demolition of Heath Herring in Lesnar's hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brock followed up that fight with the much hyped showdown with returning UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture. "The Natural" proved to be just another notch in the bedpost when it came to fighting Lesnar. Brock dominated the showdown and took the UFC Heavyweight Title in only his 4th professional fight. 2009 will most likely be a bigger year for Lesnar as he will look to avenge his only professional fighting loss against Frank Mir, in an attempt to unify the UFC Heavyweight titles. Here's to you Brock Lesnar, enjoy your T-Bergy, and maybe share the love with your wife Rena.

Runner-Up Anderson Silva- It was a productive year for you Mr. Silva. I won't forget the choke out of Dan Henderson or the skull-rattling KO over James Irvin.

Promotion Of The Year

Ultimate Fighting Championship

What else can you say about the organization? The Zuffa owned promotion has set the bar extremely high when it comes to production and success. Selling out arenas all over the world hasn't become too much for Dana White and company as they continue their way towards world domination one state at a time. Recent reports have stated that the company will be branching more towards Europe in the upcoming year. The only thing that the company was unsuccessful in was obtaining their Moby Dick, of course that being Fedor. You truly never know what will happen in '09, but signing Fedor will more than likely signal a steel curtain over the world of MMA.

Runner Up- World Extreme Cagefighting- Spelled out, the name really sucks, but the company has established itself as the place to watch the best in the world under 155 lbs fight.

Rising Star For 2009
Jason High



Some of you might not be familiar with the up and coming Jason High. That's ok; I forgive you. You won't be able to say that I didn't warn you of the rising star when he makes his Affliction debut against Jay Hieron on January 24th. High already has posted wins over UFC fighter James Giboo and Kevin Burns. His exciting style of ground and pound with excellent submission ability makes him our pick for Rising Star for 2009.

Runner-Up Rafael Cavalcante- You are a very skilled fighter, but I'm not sure where you will end up fighting. Your training with Anderson Silva and Big Nog will certainly take you a long way, but I believe that Jason High will prevail in ‘09.

Fight Of The Year

Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda "WEC 34"

What can you say about this fight that already hasn't previously been mentioned? A back and forth slugfest that featured broken eye sockets and a sweet mullet. In my eyes this fight completely overshadowed the main event fight between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver. Miguel Torres continues to prove that you can be a lightweight fighter and still get the respect that the heavyweights do.

Runner-Up Paul Taylor vs. Chris Lytle "UFC 89"- Years from now people will talk about the war that they saw on Spike TV. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the decision, the fight had everything from brutal strikes to face-morphing pictures.

Moment Of The Year

Thanks to Sherdog.com for the picture!
Kimbo Slice getting knocked out

A lot can happen in 14 seconds. To me, it wasn't the fact that Kimbo got caught, it was everything that led up to the fight. With one Shamrock pulling out of the fight, internet rumors quickly circulated that the other Shamrock brother would step up and take his place; however, this did not happen. Then when the broadcast went live, you had Frank trashing Ken and basically ruining the credibility of the telecast. Nevertheless, Kimbo was knocked out by a shaky looking right and the littlest Shaw boy was left crying. The whole situation smelled of a set up gone horribly wrong. This moment provided the sport of MMA with a negative and a positive. The negative affect of the KO was that some of the mainstream fans thought that MMA was fixed or incapable of taking the next step in popularity. The positive, which I personally think outweighs the negative, was that a boxing promoter found out that MMA is an unpredictable sport and he couldn't self-build his own champion. It also proved that it would take a lot more than just deep pockets to make a successful MMA company.

Runner-Up Frank Mir winning the Interim Heavyweight Title- If you didn't feel something when Mir cried during his post-fight interview then you should make sure that you still have a pulse. A truly great moment that very well could have been the winner of this category had it not changed the sport quite like the defeat of Kimbo did.

Tapping Out Subject Of The Week

The K-1 event took place just the other night, and I just wanted to comment on my overall displeasure for the event. I realize that injuries can occur in the sport and that sometimes fights have to be changed, but it always seems like a show in Japan is having to cancel big fights at the last moment. Could it truly be just a marketing scheme used to gain buy-rates? While I know that it wasn't the case this time, I could honestly see promoters using this tactic. I'm just confused on how the Hansen injury wasn't discovered earlier as he had already weighed in. Don't they do tests before the weigh-ins? Maybe doing the fighter check-ups before the weigh-ins is a UFC-only practice and other companies don't worry about it until after the fighters make weight. I'm certain that JZ would have loved to rest himself a little more had he known that Hansen wouldn't pass the physical. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not upset with K-1, but I am upset that the fight didn't happen because, being a huge JZ fan, I was looking forward to the beating that he would've put on Hansen.

One thing that I wanted to touch upon was Cro Cop. Mirko is a legend in the sport, and I won't dispute that claim, but I think that it's time for him to hang it up. He's constantly getting injured and having to take time off. I realize that he has fans all over the world but he's been less than stellar for the past year, and there's no real explanation as to why. Maybe it's that Cro Cop lost the desire to compete after he kicked Wandy's head into the 5th row. I'm not sure but I know that I don't want to watch Cro Cop continue displaying sub-par performances and then taking off more time due to injuries. It's become an annoyance and, if it continues, the legacy of Mirko will become tarnished.

The final thing that I wanted to mention about the event was the Alvarez/Aoki fight to claim the WAMMA Lightweight Title. I think that the fight was excellent and a great pairing by the folks in K-1. However, I think that adding a paper title doesn't help MMA at all. I understand that the folks at WAMMA can't strap their titles on UFC fighters, because we all know that BJ Penn would have that title if they could. The idea of WAMMA is great but it won't work because rankings are opinions and not facts. Simply let companies put their own specific titles on the fighters and stay out of the sport. I really fear that outside governing bodies like WAMMA are going to continue to make up titles and put them on fighters throughout numerous companies. This won't help the sport and will only blur the line between MMA and boxing, which isn't a good thing at all.

TAP THAT OF THE YEAR
So, Gina Carano hasn't lost at all in 2008. I highly doubt that she is going to lose in 2009, but why not give it a try. Last week, Gina took out Hilary Duff in brutal ground and pound fashion. This week, a new challenger steps forward. That challenger is big backside herself, Kim Kardashian.



As always, it's very simple to pick your winner. Simply add a comment and type the person who you want to win below. If Gina continues to win, which I think that she will, please name another challenger for her.

I hope that everyone has had a great start to 2009. Please remember to support your local MMA and keep your tapping hand strong.