VSN's MMA Fighter of the Year (2009)

[SHOGUN]

Which fighter had the most impressive year?
Poll closes on January 8th.

Jose Aldo

WEC FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION

4 Wins
0 Losses

1/25/2009 WEC 38 Varner vs. Cerrone
Win Rolando Perez KO (Knee and Punches)

3/1/2009 WEC 39 - Brown vs. Garcia
Win Chris Mickle TKO (Punches)

6/7/2009 WEC 41 - Brown vs. Faber 2
Win Cub Swanson TKO (Flying Knee and Punches)

11/18/2009 WEC 44 - Brown vs. Aldo
Win Mike Thomas Brown TKO (Punches)

---------------------------------------------

Eddie Alvarez

BFC LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT WINNER
BFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

4 Wins
0 Losses

4/3/2009 BFC - Bellator Fighting Championships 1
Win Greg Loughran Submission (Guillotine Choke)

5/1/2009 BFC - Bellator Fighting Championships 4
Win Eric Reynolds Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

6/19/2009 BFC - Bellator Fighting Championships 10
Win Toby Imada Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

10/25/2009 Dream 12 - The Cage of the Rising Sun
Win Katsunori Kikuno Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke)

---------------------------------------------

Fedor Emelianenko

WAMMA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

2 Wins
0 Losses

1/24/2009 Affliction - Day of Reckoning
Win Andrei Arlovski KO (Punch)

11/7/2009 Strikeforce / M-1 Global - Fedor vs. Rogers
Win Brett Rogers TKO (Punches)

---------------------------------------------

Lyoto Machida

UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

3 Wins
0 Losses

1/31/2009 UFC 94 - St. Pierre vs. Penn 2
Win Thiago Silva KO (Punches)

5/23/2009 UFC 98 - Evans vs. Machida
Win Rashad Evans KO (Punches)

10/24/2009UFC 104 - Machida vs. Shogun
Win Mauricio Rua Decision (Unanimous)

---------------------------------------------

Gilbert Melendez

STRIKEFORCE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

3 Wins
0 Losses

4/11/2009 Strikeforce - Shamrock vs. Diaz
Win Rodrigo Damm KO (Punches)

8/15/2009 Strikeforce - Carano vs. Cyborg
Win Mitsuhiro Ishida TKO (Punches)

Strikeforce - Evolution 12/19/2009
Win Josh Thomson Decision (Unanimous)

---------------------------------------------

Gegard Mousasi

STRIKEFORCE LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

3 Wins
0 Losses

5/26/2009 Dream 9 - Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round
Win Mark Hunt Submission (Straight Armbar)

8/15/2009 Strikeforce - Carano vs. Cyborg
Win Renato Sobral TKO (Punches)

11/7/2009 Strikeforce / M-1 Global - Fedor vs. Rogers
Win Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou TKO (Punches)

---------------------------------------------

Michihiro Omigawa

3 Wins
1 Losses

3/20/2009 Sengoku - Seventh Battle
Win L.C. Davis Decision (Unanimous)

5/2/2009 Sengoku - Eighth Battle
Win Nam Phan TKO (Punches)

8/2/2009 Sengoku - Ninth Battle
Win Marlon Sandro Decision (Split)

8/2/2009 Sengoku - Ninth Battle
Loss Masanori Kanehara Decision (Split)

11/7/2009 Sengoku - Eleventh Battle
Win Hatsu Hioki Decision (Split)

---------------------------------------------

BJ Penn

UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

2 Wins
1 Losses

1/31/2009 UFC 94 - St. Pierre vs. Penn 2
Loss Georges St. Pierre TKO (Corner Stoppage)

8/8/2009 UFC 101 - Declaration
Win Kenny Florian Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

12/12/2009 UFC 107 - Penn vs. Sanchez
Win Diego Sanchez TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

---------------------------------------------

Georges St. Pierre

UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION

2 Wins
0 Losses

1/31/2009 UFC 94 - St. Pierre vs. Penn 2
Win B.J. Penn TKO (Corner Stoppage)

7/11/2009 UFC 100 - Lesnar vs. Mir 2
Win Thiago Alves Decision (Unanimous)

---------------------------------------------

Marius Zaromskis

2009 DREAM WELTERWEIGHT GRAND PRIX WINNER
DREAM WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION

4 Wins
0 Losses

4/5/2009 Dream 8 - Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Opening Round
Win Seichi Ikemoto Decision (Unanimous)

7/20/2009 Dream 10 - Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final
Win Hayato Sakurai TKO (Head Kick and Punches)

7/20/2009 Dream 10 - Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final
Win Jason High KO (Head Kick)

10/25/2009 Dream 12 - The Cage of the Rising Sun
Win Myeon Ho Bae KO (Head Kick)

 

[Champ]

Anyone that fights in Dream

 

[Liquidrob]

I'm leaning towards Aldo, had a bunch of Highlight real KO's like Zaromskis did, but fought better comp with the Mike Brown win

 

[JeremyHight]

If you are throwing in guys with only 2 fights, you could probably include

Anderson Silva
UFC Middleweight Champion
2 Wins
0 Losses

04/18/2009 - UFC 97 - Redemption
Win Thales Leites Decision (Unanimous)

08/08/2009 - UFC 101 - Declaration
Win Forrest Griffin KO (Punch)

Although I am extremely biased considering Silva is my favorite fighter.

 

[SHOGUN]

I REALLY considered not putting GSP or Fedor on the list because they only had two fights, but I figured someone would have bitched and moaned and the two fights they did have were were some of the biggest of the year.

 

[Liquidrob]

I think Silva's display against Thales takes him off the list, I know he won every round, but that fight left a bad tastes in a lot of peoples mouths

but the beatdown on Forrest was awesome

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

despite the controversial decision against shogun , machida had an unbelievable year. a lot of people were down on him for not finishing fights and his "elusive" fighting style but his victories over silva and evans were spectacular. jose aldo had a great year as well.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Aldo or Dreamcatcher.

 

[Liquidrob]

Faber needs to drop to 135, he is not a big 145er, Brown muscled him around, I cant imagine what Aldo would do to him, Brown looked like a kid trying to get that single leg on Aldo

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

I dont realistically see how it can be Penn because he actually lost a fight in 2009, and got dominated too, while so many of these other fighters didnt lose, or come close to losing a fight. Im going with Aldo, he was the guy that immediately came to mind when I saw the thread title. Id put Machida 2nd, only because he has 3 huge wins, despite most of us believing he didnt really beat Shogun. Followed by Mousasi, who really made a star of himself this year with 3 very impressive victories over some solid fighters. Id bunch GSP, Fedor, and Melendez right behind those 3.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Faber needs to drop to 135, he is not a big 145er, Brown muscled him around, I cant imagine what Aldo would do to him, Brown looked like a kid trying to get that single leg on Aldo

I still say Faber wins the 2nd fight if he doesnt break both his hands early in the fight.

 

[Liquidrob]

Machida fought the best comp overall, but he lost that fight IMO, so I cant give it to him

 

[Steel Mamba]

Anderson Silva remains the best fighter of 2009, but I don't know if anyone could argue that he was the most impressive in 09.

Tough call, but I'm going to go with Machida, he was damn near untouchable in 09 and still undefeated.

 

[Liquidrob]

Aoki would make a good case if you count the Alvarez win, it was on 12/31/08, I was going to say it was really in 2009, but I think Japan is a head of us, lol, so that doesnt work, his only loss was at 170 like Penn

Win Joachim Hansen Submission (Armbar) Dream 11 - Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final 10/6/2009 2 4:56
Win Vitor Ribeiro Decision (Unanimous) Dream 10 - Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final 7/20/2009 2 5:00
Loss Hayato Sakurai TKO (Knees and Punches) Dream 8 - Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Opening Round 4/5/2009 1 0:27
Win David Gardner Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Dream 7 - Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Opening Round 3/8/2009 1 5:58
Win Eddie Alvarez Submission (Heel Hook) K-1 - Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008 12/31/2008 1 1:32

 

[Liquidrob]

I know Penn got his ass handed to him by GSP but he doesn't belong at 170 and I think he realized that. Ever since that fight I think he's looked like one of the most dominant champions in all of MMA and I think he's out to prove that he's the best 155er by far.

I am BJ Penn fan, but beating Florian and Diego is meh

The UFC LW division was created around Penn, before BJ dropped back down to LW the UFC created a 155 title fight between an unranked Sherk and Florian who both failed at 170, the only think legit about the title is Penn has it while all the top comp over the years has been fighting in Japan

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

I know Penn got his ass handed to him by GSP but he doesn't belong at 170 and I think he realized that. Ever since that fight I think he's looked like one of the most dominant champions in all of MMA and I think he's out to prove that he's the best 155er by far.

Agreed on all accounts, BJ is dominant at 155 right now, and doesnt belong at 170.. but he still did get worked in a match this year, so IMO he cant be in the running for this "award".

 

[SHOGUN]

At first I was going to vote for Aldo or Zaromskis, but I ultimately went with Omigawa. His story and now 5-1 record all against top FWs is too much for me to ignore. The guy was totally irrelevant at 155 with a 4-7-1 record coming into the year, he then drops to 145 and comes incredibly close to winning a stacked FW grand prix as the fighter chosen least likely to win by a far margin, and then beats the finalist (and arguable winner by some) of another stacked FW Grand Prix in Takaya. He may not have been as flat out dominant as Aldo, but his year has been damn impressive.

Michirio Omigawa = Most improved fighter and THE feel good story of 2009.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Im pretty shocked BJ has 2 votes while Fedor and GSP have zero.. especially considering GSP whooped BJ's ass this fricken year.

 

[calgaryballer]

I went with Machida. Regardless of how the Shogun fight went (I thought he lost), he finishes the year with three very impressive wins on his record.

Fedor and GSP are my faves, but I would have liked to see more fights from them.

Aldo was my second pick

 

[SHOGUN]

Bump.

Deadline is approaching.