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--Day One: Shawn Ennis' Top 11 Fights of 2011
--Day Two: Rich Hansen's Top 11 Events of 2011
--Day Three: Jamie Penick's Top 11 Knockouts of 2011
--Day Four: Jamie Penick's Top 11 Submissions of 2011
--Day Five: Anwar Perez's Top 11 Fighters of 2011
--Day Six: Matt Pelkey's 11 Biggest Disappointments of 2011
--Day Seven: Jason Amadi's 11 Biggest Surprises of 2011
--Day Eight: Rich Hansen's 11 Biggest Stories of 2011
11.) Frankie Edgar slams Gray Maynard
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We have all heard the story by now,;Frankie Edgar battled back from a 10-8 first round to earn a draw with Gray Maynard at UFC 125. Questions surrounding the state of Edgar's consciousness still existed as round two began; however, it became quite apparent that Edgar was still very much in the fight when he picked up and slammed Maynard (the more decorated wrestler) early in round two. This visually pleasing move by the champion sent a message to Maynard regarding the rest of the fight, and that message was that Edgar was not, and would never be, going away. Nothing exemplifies the fighting spirit of Frankie Edgar more than this simple double-leg slam.
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10.) Daniel Cormier destroys Bigfoot Silva in one round
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Many people seemed to have overlooked how much talent Daniel Cormier had shown in his young MMA career prior to this fight. People following Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix did not give him a huge chance to win after coming in as an alternate. Less than one round with Antonio Silva later, that all changed. Cormier took Silva, a man coming off the biggest win of his career in a one-sided pounding of Fedor, and walked him down, cracking him repeatedly with huge right hands while patiently biding his time until he saw an opening to finish. Silva was unable to garner a takedown against the Olympic wrestler, and paid dearly for it. One final, precise uppercut later and Cormier was in the heavyweight tournament finals.
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9.) Diego Brandao arm-bars Dennis Bermudez
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This is easily one of the slickest submissions of the year, but it was the entire fight and situation that made it so special. Brandao and Bermudez went to war in one of the most exciting one round fights of the year, and the way Brandao was able to recover from a knockdown and near-finish and snatch a beautiful, fight-ending arm-bar was simply amazing. It was an incredible end to a few minutes of crazy, back-and-forth and action.
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8.) Paul Daley stumbles to defeat
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Exciting visuals are often what make a jaw dropping moment so shocking. It was not all that surprising to see Nick Diaz battle back from a big left hook knockdown by Paul Daley, although the fact that he was able to do it inside of one round was quite astounding. What made this finish so jaw dropping was the unique visual of Paul Daley, after being lit up by punches from Diaz to the head and body against the cage, crumple backwards out of a standing position, without Diaz so much as touching him. Daley, one of the best strikers in the welterweight division, flailed backwards and onto the canvas. The image is still ingrained into my brain.
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7.) Johny Hendricks KOs Jon Fitch
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Jon Fitch losing? It only happens when he fights GSP, right? Not anymore. Johny Hendricks changed all that with a huge left hand at UFC 141. Fitch was a unanimous pick to win by almost all experts, despite Hendricks' underrated skill set. But Hendricks proved once again that this is MMA, and a fan cannot even blink or else he or she might miss something like this. Anything can happen in any given fight, and it would be a mistake to say that it was a fluke, because landing that huge punch early in the fight is no easy task.
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6.) Jon Jones' guillotines Lyoto Machida... and walks away
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As we all know by now, Lyoto Machida was able to show Jon Jones the first real adversity of his young career at UFC 140 in December. An effective ground elbow changed the entire fight, and after hurting "The Dragon" with a punch, Jones was able to grab hold of a wicked guillotine and was able to choke Machida unconscious while cranking his neck at the same time. The guillotine itself was great, but watching Jones simply drop an unconscious Machida to the mat and walk away was incredible, and made for a perfect symbolization of the calm dominance Jones showed throughout 2011.
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5.) Marius Zaromskis' rolling heel kick
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If you have not seen this, please go to YouTube. Marius Zaromskis - yes, that Marius Zaromskis - pulled off a rolling heel kick against Bruno Carvalho, the #5 middleweight in Europe (take that however you want). While it only hurt Carvalho, and Zaromskis needed a follow up to force the stoppage, the move itself set up the stoppage and was absolutely brilliant to behold. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before, and it actually worked! Believe me, go to YouTube and check it out.
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4.) Lyoto Machida "crane kicks" Randy Couture
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After Rampage Jackson was able to earn a decision against Lyoto Machida in November 2010 by clinching him against the cage for the larger part of three rounds, the feeling was that Randy Couture had a good chance of doing the same thing to Machida at UFC 129; however, Machida was simply too skilled and too fast for the aging legend. "The Dragon" was able to land the rare "crane kick" and send Couture into retirement - and his tooth into the audience - in one beautiful and deadly move.
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3.) Silva front kick KOs Belfort
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Fans were thrilled that Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort were finally facing off after a long delay, due to injuries to Belfort. The fight lasted a round, but was full of excitement and Belfort truly looked to be a worthy opponent for the Champion. That all changed, however, when Silva unleashed a beautiful left front kick to drop Belfort, and then finished the game challenger. While Machida's crane kick may have topped this in terms of pure beauty, the fact that Silva did it first puts him slightly ahead of Machida.
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2.) Cheick Kongo KOs Pat Barry
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A potential KO of the year, this was again a finish that was made special by the action that preceded it. Kongo's fight ending uppercut was not an incredibly beautiful finishing strike, but the fact that he was standing on wobbly legs after two absolutely brutal knockdowns by Barry made it very special. My jaw hit the floor. If you have not seen the theme here yet, it's that anything can happen in MMA. That is what makes the sport so special.
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1.) Frank Mir snaps Antonio Nogueira's arm
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Frank Mir snapped Minotauro Nogueira's arm. Yeah, that happened. This might have been a pipe dream of the most diehard Mir fans, but who would have thought it could become a reality? Frank Mir wanted to prove his win over Nogueira in 2008 was no fluke, and he did just that in violent fashion. After getting rocked early, Mir was able to grab hold of Nogueira's arm in the scramble that would ensue after "Big Nog" jumped down for a guillotine. The ensuing rolls across the Octagon and the brutal finish by Mir provided a shocking moment of heavyweight submission mastery that is not often seen in that division. It seems Mir has settled the debate over who is the heavyweight division's best submission artist. Watching Mir snap Big Nog's arm in half is my #1 jaw-dropping moment of the year.
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Honorable Mention: The multiple jaw-dropping moments throughout Henderson-Shogun and Alvarez-Chandler fights, as well as Bigfoot beating down Fedor
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Feel free to debate about this list, as I'm sure that there are moments other fans might have viewed as more jaw-dropping or I might have missed. I'll also be happy to discuss MMA with anyone on my twitter @MikeBacior.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Staff_Editorials_19/article_12077.shtml
Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana
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