Fighter Of The Year: Jose Aldo The Brazilian Featherweight may be soft spoken, but his blitzkrieg assault is devastating. Aldo entered the year with a 1st round KO of Rolando Perez and then put the TKO down on Chris Mickle. It was the spectacular 8 second flying knee KO on Cub Swanson that really turned heads and earned Jose the Featherweight title shot against Mike Thomas Brown. Mike was the only man to make the 2nd round with Aldo but then got pounded out on the floor for his efforts. The Nova Uniao member rattled off 4 impressive wins in 2009 showcasing his blazing speed, power, and without having to use his Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt. 16-1 with newly minted gold around his waist and the sky may not even be the limit for this kid.
Fight Of The Year: Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida The "Nighmare" loves to attack and ran across the cage tearing into the "Carpenter" and almost kicking his head off. The 2nd saw Clay bounce back from near death to even the odds on the judges score cards. It was a very close and non-stop affair earning Diego the Split-Decision win of the year!
Honorable Mention: Mike Brown vs Urijah Faber II The "California Kid" wanted his Featherweight title back and wasn't going to let something like 2 broken hands stop him. Urijah threw elbows and knee's like they were going out of style but just could not overcome Brown's steady attack.
Honorable Mention: Donald Cerrone vs Ben Henderson It would have been the "Fight Of The Year" had the judges not screwed the "Cowboy" at the end. The men came out and absolutely went for broke for 5 rounds earning "Smooth" the "interim" title.
KO Of The Year: Fedor Emelianenko's KO on Andrei Arlovski All the way back in January, people were foaming at the mouth as the "Pitbull" came to do the impossible. Arlovski had a plan in tow that found some success but got cocky and leapt into the air with a flying knee. The "Last Emperor's" overhand right from hell was waiting and Andrei was nicely tucked into the canvas for bed.
Honorable Mention: Vitor Belfort almost kills Matt Lindland The "Phenom" raised his stock as he dropped the "Law" and then stiffened him up on the ground leaving the Team Quest co-founder unconscious long enough to make everyone nervous.
Honorable Mention: Dan Henderson shuts Michael Bisping up. It was a 1 sided war of words with "Hendo" doing his talking in the Octagon. At UFC 100 Dan just wrecked the "Count" with that famously heavy right hand and followed it up with a flying forearm just for fun.
Submission Of The Year: Toby Imada's Inverted Triangle Choke The Dawg Pound fighter was getting a brutal beating at the hands of Jorge Masvidal at the Bellator Fighting Championships, when he leaped over the back of "Gamebred," and secured a the unique triangle in mid-air! Jorge was in deep trouble and when the 2 men fell to the ground, he went to sleep completely. A stunning come from behind win with a move I didn't even know existed!
Honorable Mention: Brad Pickett's Peruvian Necktie on Kyle Dietz. A little undercard fight nobody was paying attention to brought out the runner-up submission winner with a beautiful choke that nobody can escape from.
Breakout Fighter Of The Year: Marius Zaromskis A relative unknown from Lithuania, the "Whitemare" won 4 fights with 3 of them in spectacular fashion. Marius cut his teeth in England's Cage Rage for the most part and then entered the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. The 1st round saw a Decision win over Seichi Ikemoto and then it was on to face the dreaded Japanese hero Hayato "Mach" Sakurai whom he brutalized. A bloodied "Mach" ate a high kick and was dispatched by Zaromskis with some brutal G&P. From there it was a highlight reel head kick KO in the finals over Jason High to become the 1st DREAM Welterweight Champion! Marius finished the year with yet another high kick KO on Myeon Ho Bae at DREAM 12. Now Zaromskis signed a contract with Strikeforce and will debut next year against Nick Diaz for their inaugural Welterweight title.
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