New Year's Eve MMA Roundup

• UFC 66: Chuck Liddell is the man. Chuck revealed to Dana White after the fight, that three weeks out from the fight, he tore his ACL. His team told no one, and Chuck still knocked down Tito twice in their three round bout on the way to a TKO win. Shockingly, Tito didn't complain about the possibly, quick stoppage, probably because it could've been stopped in the first, when Chuck knocked Ortiz silly with an overhand left to the temple. You would have to think, if Quinton "Rampage" Jackson wins his debut in the UFC, he is next in line for Chuck.
• Also at UFC 66, Jardine shocked the world when he caught Forrest Griffin with a good punch, and stood toe to toe with the fan favorite. Jardine knocked down Forrest and exploded with vicious shots until the ref had to stop it. Forrest was visibly upset with himself, as Jardine had shook up the 205 title picture. Jardine is right in there, and with a win over perhaps Tito, Babalu, or someone else of not, a title shot may not be far away.
• Fedor Emelianenko defeated Mark Hunt in a tough title fight. Mark hung in there well, and almost had a kimura upon the champ. Fedor just seems able to get out of anything, and his speed, and sambo throws, eventually got Hunt into trouble where Fedor finished.
• Other Pride Shockwave results, saw Minowa get destroyed by Timura, who yelled at the ref for not stopping the fight sooner, and causing the Punk to be beaten unnecessarily. James Thompson upset Japanese favorite Yoshida (as predicted on this site), while Nogueira rebounded against Josh Barnett, with a unanimous decision. Takanori Gomi bludgeoned top challenger Ishida, and Gilbert Melendez and Kawajira had the predicted, fight of the night, with Melendez scoring the victory, and probably a title shot at Gomi.
• Genki Sudo made quick work of Damacio Page, and shocked the world in announcing his retirement from the sport (more on that later)!! Sakuraba got worked yet again, as Akiyama TKO'd him, probably a couple of times, to victory. Sak complained Akiyama had something slick on his body, but the refs found nothing. Sak did not look good again, and took a bad beating. Can his retirement be far away?

Pride and UFC put on some good shows, while K-1 seemed rather predictable. Still, with the sport of MMA exploding in popularity, and fighters starting to shift to different promotions, 2007 looks to be a really interesting year for combat sports.