Greatest entrance

‘Rampage’ Jackson, UFC 123

Hells yes. ‘Rampage’ Jackson choosing the iconic theme music from fanboy-favored Pride for his entrance at UFC 123 was beyond brilliant. The epic orchestral tune was a nod to his comments before the fight that he wanted to go back to the all-out aggressive style that he used in the Japanese promotion. It worked too; Jackson did well to engage on a couple of occasions with the ‘elusive’ Lyoto Machida. Could the walkout be an early bid for 2011 World MMA Awards’ ‘Most Memorable Entrance’?

Biggest disappointment

Jorge Rivera vs Alessio Sakara, UFC 122

Great fights aren’t reserved for the big names, but still the potential slugfest between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara got little love when it was announced. Two hungry stand-up scrappers in a battle without the baggage of title-shot pressure were surely destined to landscape an MMA diorama for the ages. Disappointingly, Sakara’s flu-like illness meant the bout was pulled a few hours before showtime. Unfortunately the fight looks doubtful for rescheduling; at the time of going to press Rivera had signed up for a fight with Michael Bisping.

Most frightening moment

Takeya Mizugaki vs Urijah Faber, WEC 52

When Takeya Mizugaki was eventually released from Urijah Faber’s rear naked choke he was unconscious and alarmingly stiff. With the Japanese fighter’s hands pressed against the cage while in Faber’s submission he was unable to tap; there being no space for the referee to see if his arms were limp or responsive it ended in the inevitable. ‘The California Kid’ admitted to being as concerned as the viewers at seeing the rigid Mizugaki when he let go. Thankfully, when the cameras came back to the cage, post snappy ad-break, Mizugaki was lucid and perfectly fine.

Craziest submission

Phil Davis, UFC 123

Not even Joe Rogan, the UFC’s resident submissions guru, knew exactly what Phil ‘Mr Wonderful’ Davis was doing wrenching Tim Boetsch’s left arm behind his back in the north-south position. Apparently it was a modified kimura, masterminded by Davis and later dubbed the ‘Mr Wonderful’ with the help of Rogan post fight. Bizarrely, Davis’s nickname comes from a pet cat he once owned. Does that make the hold humbling or fearsome?

Most impressive debut

Michael McDonald, WEC 52

To win your WEC debut at 19 years old, inside three minutes, by armbar and with a nickname as curious as ‘Mayday’ suggests promising things for Michael MacDonald’s future. His November WEC debut against Clint Godfrey was all McDonald too, dropping the veteran and later sinking in a tight armbar from the bottom. Get ready for the UFC’s bantamweight division; there’s gold in them there hills.

Hooray for hammers

Karlos Vemola, UFC 122

Aside from being known for disposing of foes with TKOs on small British events as quickly as Brock Lesnar goes through a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, Karlos Vemola also gained notoriety via a YouTube video where he smashes a car to nuts and bolts with a sledgehammer. Apparently the same strategy was penned for Seth Petruzelli; Vemola rushed the ‘Silverback’ and, in between dumping him on his head twice, lashed him with ferocious ground ‘n’ pound. The London Shootfighters man got the stoppage after reportedly breaking Petruzelli’s nose. Behold the training power of hammers.

Biggest controversy

Gerald Harris vs Maiquel Falcao, UFC 123

The Fighters Only inbox took a small beating when the first round of Gerald Harris and Maiquel Falcao’s UFC 123 bout ended six seconds early. The ‘scandal’ being that Harris looked ready to tap in the Chute Boxe fighter’s rear naked choke. Some people went as far as saying it was a conspiracy to keep Harris in the UFC; a theory that lost its legs when Harris was cut after dropping the bout’s decision despite being 3-1 in the organization. The timekeeping error is being looked into but, still, the blunder might have saved the monstrous boos the pair received when the bout ended; some of the loudest for a long stretch.

Most surprising rout

BJ Penn over Matt Hughes, UFC 123

UFC fans have never seen Matt Hughes, the promotion’s most dominant welterweight champion, run through inside a mere 21 seconds in the Octagon. That BJ Penn did it was astounding. The irony is that in a Dana White video blog before the event Matt Hughes successfully encouraged the promotion president to up the fight-night bonuses from $75,000 to $80,000. With BJ understandably getting ‘Knockout of the Night’, Hughes put an extra $5,000 in BJ Penn’s pocket.

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