THE LATE LATE SHOW

Frankie Edgar, UFC Fight Night 57

Frankie Edgar just doesn’t know when to give up. In keeping with the spirit of his beat down of BJ Penn back in July, the former 155lb champ carried out one of the most one-sided and sustained destruction jobs seen in the Octagon this year.

During his 25-minute ground assault on Cub Swanson, Edgar delivered a masterclass in guard passing and precision battery to carve up his foe’s face at a relentless pace. There was quite simply no let up.

After definitively derailing the SoCal native’s hype train courtesy of a thorough thrashing, you could’ve been forgiven for thinking Toms River’s finest would cruise to the klaxon and collect a wide decision, but no. ‘The Answer’ kindly let the judges leave early to beat the traffic.

The final bell was on the horizon, but there was one final piece of punishment to come. Swanson found Edgar on his back and had his neck cranked to force the tap. At 4:56 of round number five it was the latest finish in UFC history and another fine chapter written in an already stellar career.

GROSSEST MOMENT

Leslie Smith, UFC 180

How many of you grabbed the left side of your head in shock when you saw Leslie Smith’s ear explode into the air live on camera at UFC 180? We know we certainly did and judging by the Fighters Only Twitter timeline, a lot of you guys did too.

We thought MMA was done with cauliflower ear eruptions after Kimbo Slice blew James Thompson’s lug to smithereens at EliteXC: Primetime in 2008, but when Jessica Eye landed the devastating overhand right which subsequently ended the fight, we couldn’t help but live in terror.

We know the UFC was desperate to leave a mark on the Mexican fans in their first visit to the city, but we’re pretty sure Dana White and co. didn’t want fighters to leave body parts around the Octagon canvas too. Nasty stuff.

GLORY DAYS

Joe Schilling, Bellator 131

Scott Coker knows what the fans want. Action-packed battles between strikers who are ready to stand toe-to-toe and trade. There was already one man on the Bellator roster who was guaranteed to deliver that sort of scintillating savagery on Spike – Melvin Manhoef. All that was needed was the perfect foil. Fortunately, Coker didn’t even need to change the channel to find him.

Spike’s kickboxing promotion Glory provided Joe Schilling for an explosive event in San Diego and the two KO artists went to work. There was only going to be one way this fight would end: with one man flat on his back. Manhoef was the early pace setter, dropping his opponent and going into overdrive in round one to try and force a stoppage from referee Mike Beltran.

Schilling survived and came out in the second to give the fans what they wanted. First an elbow to the dome and then a knee to the guts put his Dutch foe on notice before a counter-right-left combination shut Manhoef’s lights off before he even hit the mat.

MOST UNEXPECTED OUTCOME

Fabricio Werdum, UFC 180

The script was written the day crocked champion Cain Velasquez withdrew and Mark Hunt stepped in to face Fabricio Werdum for the interim heavyweight title in Mexico City, but nobody gave ‘Vai Cavalo’ his copy. It should have been either Hunt via early KO or Werdum by submission. It was all so predictable, or so we thought.

The writing looked to be blazed across the wall in round one as Werdum was dropped by a trademark Hunt overhand right. It seemed like MMA’s hardcore fans were about to get the Cinderella-story finish they’d dreamed about. Werdum felt the power and it rocked his confidence. He went into his shell a little and Hunt poured on the pressure, but in round two something happened that nobody predicted, except perhaps Werdum and coach Rafael Cordeiro. The Brazilian launched a flying knee as Hunt ducked to release another haymaker. That’s when the blockbuster script was torn to shreds.

One of MMA’s best chins failed, Werdum pounced and made one of the least-likely outcomes of 2014 a reality. That’s our sport folks. That’s why we love it.

SIDE ORDER OF RIBS, PLEASE

Luís Santos, One FC: Battle of the Lions

Hopefully former Bellator welterweight Luís Santos was lost in translation when he distanced himself from a potential scrap with One FC 170lb champ Ben Askren in November after he served up his sixth first-round stoppage in seven wins

Now plying his trade in Asia, Santos left a mark on Bakhtiyar Abbasov when a right soccer kick and left knee connected clean to break a couple of the Azerbaijani’s ribs inside the first minute of the first round.

“I’m just a beginner,” Santos’ interpreter said to commentator Josh Thomson as Abbasov was carried out of the cage. “I’m a beginner here and not ready yet,” he repeated when asked about a potential Askren challenge.

Describing oneself as a “beginner” with a 61-9-1 pro record is stretching it a bit, especially when Askren is just 14-0. With rib-cracking displays like this, it can’t be long before the Brazilian is forced into contention.

THE BRITISH ARE COMING... TO LOSE!

UFC Fight Night 55 & 57

The UFC released one of its atmospheric, fan-rousing viral videos at the beginning of November titled ‘The British Are Coming’ – a 45-second action-packed VT produced to make a statement about four Brits competing on two cards in Sydney, Australia and Austin, Texas later in the month.

However, perhaps two words were mistakenly omitted from the title. First Michael Bisping and Ross Pearson bombed Down Under before Luke Barnatt and Brad Pickett suffered points defeats in the Lone Star State. Hardly the second coming of the British empire!

All four are based in the US these days too, the first three in California and Pickett at ATT in Florida, so they’d actually ‘arrived’ a long time ago – in terms of location at least.

Unlike the TKO’d Sydney double-act, the two plucky Brits in Texas were at least on the receiving end of points losses. Barnatt, who was unlucky not to have his hand raised against Sean Strickland in Berlin in May too, lost a split decision to counter-striking local Roger Narvaez. Pickett endured a split decision loss of his own to Chico Camus – despite one judge scoring him as a head-scratching 30-27 victor.

THANK HEAVENS FOR JOSÉ

Ovince St Preux, UFC Fight Night 56

Had featherweight champion José Aldo failed to successfully defend his belt two weeks earlier it’s likely an entire nation would have required treatment for depression in the aftermath of the UFC’s second Brazil fight card in a fortnight in Uberlandia.

It’s clear 2014 has been a dark time for the samba nation, with title belts and once-iconic fighters proving to be about as reliable as the national soccer team. Any hopes that Aldo’s success at UFC 179 would signal a change in fortune for the spiritual home of MMA were dismissed inside 34 seconds when late stand-in Ovince St Preux demolished future Hall of Famer ‘Shogun’ Rua.

The near 6,000-strong crowd went from frenzy to frozen in a matter of seconds as hero Rua got caught cold in the main event, much to the surprise and delight of St Preux, who was on the comeback trail after he received a five-round beating from Ryan Bader in August.

With his first real attack, Shogun missed with a short right cross and left himself wide open for OSP’s trademark left-hook counter, which landed clean across the chin and resulted in the former UFC champ propped up against the fence with his head exposed for more punishment. That left referee Mario Yamasaki with no option but to save his countryman. The dark days are not over!

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