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Boards MMA Awards 2016
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12-12-2016 10:46pm#1
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Fighter of the Year: Conor Mcgregor
Fight of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Knockout of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Submission of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Event of the Year: UFC 205
Upset of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Newcomer of the Year: Landon Vanatta
Comeback Fighter of the Year: Conor McGregor
Disappointment of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Moment of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Gym of the Year: SBG
Coach of the Year: John Kavanagh
deal with it
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Fighter of the Year: CM Pu... *ahem* Conor McGregor. Has had an unbelievable year. A loss. A redemption and 2 titles.
Fight of the Year: Lawler v Condit
Knockout of the Year: Mark Hunt (KO) v Frank Mir
Submission of the Year: Ben Rothwell (Go Go Choke) v Josh Barnett
Event of the Year: UFC 204
Upset of the Year: Bisping beating Rockhold on a couple of weeks notice. Fairytale stuff.
Newcomer of the Year (must have made UFC debut in 2016): Marc Diakiese looked right at home on his debut. Very exciting fighter.
Comeback Fighter of the Year: Conor McGregor - Could have lost a lot of credibility in fighting Diaz again after getting subbed like that but I think he earned a whole new respect from those who like to hold a grudge against him.
Disappointment of the Year: UFC 200. All of those great fights and it was such a dud. Close second is CM Punk. Just an absolute disaster.
Moment of the Year: Tough one really. Conor winning the two belts is an unbelievable image. The scenes of Bisping winning that elusive belt BUT Cody Garbrandt cutting a promo at UFC 202 with Cruz in the Studio above him is sticking in my mind a lot. It was bloody brilliant.
Gym of the Year: It's hard to single out one. Nobody really stands out.
Coach of the Year: Matt Hume but again, it's hard to really pick an outstanding candidate.0 -
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Fighter of the Year: Conor Mcgregor
Fight of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Knockout of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Submission of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Event of the Year: UFC 205
Upset of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Newcomer of the Year: Landon Vanatta
Comeback Fighter of the Year: Conor McGregor
Disappointment of the Year: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor 1
Moment of the Year: Conor McGregor-Eddie Alvarez
Gym of the Year: SBG
Coach of the Year: John Kavanagh
deal with it
Now gamebred, copy and paste0 -
Fighter of the Year: Michael Bisping had be for me incredible story from winning against the Middleweight GOAT to a champ on a bout taken on 2 weeks notice against an opponent who had defeated him previously to then defending against the man who inflicted his most memorable loss. Stipe comes closest he was never getting the nod from me anyway he was set on that path initially by downgrading that UFC Dublin card.
Fight of the Year: Lawler v Condit. Honourable mentions Mcgregor Diaz 2, Joanna v Claudia 2
Knockout of the Year: Easily the hardest to choose for me but I'll give it to Hendo v Lombard vicious back elbow in a fight the ref could've easily waved off in Lombards favour. Honorable mentions Rumble blitzing through a guy in Glover who is known for his durability in all of 13 seconds, Ryan Bader vicious knee to beat Latifi just for the sheer shock of seeing Bader get a win in that way as in not by Decision .
Submission of the Year: Chas Skelly jumping front kick from the opening bell to set up and then finish via an anaconda choke vs Maximo Blanco in under 20 seconds. Honourable mention: Ben Rothwell
Event of the Year: UFC 199 squashed between a stacked UFC 198 (which ended up playing out average) and a much anticipated UFC 200 (which well ya know) this card blew them away from top to bottom the prelims kicked off with Polo Reyes v Dong Hyun Kim crazy fight and ending with the Bisping KO of Rockhold scenes! everything else in between included Ortega down against Guida only to finish him with a knee with 20 seconds left on the clock,Poirier destroying Bobby Green,the Henderson KO that I've chosen as KO of the year. Honourable mentions FN: Alvarez v RDA (on the same week as UFC 200 and weakest of the 3 events set that week on paper but turned out to be a very enjoyable fight card a hard one to top for the bigger stars...and overall they didn't. Kicked off with 5 subs in a row, then a number of close fights and ending with a new champion being crowned also the last time we saw Joe Duffy in the octagon who also picked up a sub, UFC 205 Not much that hasn't been said a card that actually delivered on MMAs debut in MSG.
Upset of the Year: Back to back losses for Holly Holm.
Newcomer of the Year (must have made UFC debut in 2016): Should be allowed this one as it's not even a year to the day...yet after all someone mentioned Mcgregor with 2 belts the FW one wasn't even won this year and he didn't see 2016 out with it :rolleyes: anyway it's Francis Ngannou I'm going with first UFC fight December 19 on the last card of 2015, has won 3 in a row since and a guy who gives some hope for the future of the HW division. Honorable mention Mike Perry particularly if he wins Saturday /or if I'm not allowed Ngannou.
Comeback Fighter of the Year: Cowboy Cerrone bouncing back with 4 KOs in a divison up after failing miserably in title showdown with RDA.
Disappointment of the Year: UFC 200 not just the event itself but lots of things connected with it, unnecessary interim title fight, Main event falling off twice,Jon Jones,downfall of Miesha Tate from weightcut struggle to losing belt leading to eventual retirement, Gastelum Hendricks several boards users joked here how someone would be sure to miss weight Gastelum delivered,Brock Lesnar "I'm a white-boy and jacked deal with it" -> USADA currently dealing with Brock Lesnar. Theres likely more but I'll stop there I think I've elaborated enough.
Moment of the Year: Conor dispatching Eddie Alvarez and making him look very limited to become 2 weight world champ.
Gym of the Year: ATT possibly
Coach of the Year: No stand out I'll say Jason Parillo if even for the bizarre folded arms celebration
I will add I have not yet watched UFC 206.0 -
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Fighter of the Year: Conor McGregor (as long as Cody loses to Dominick...if he wins I'm splitting it)
Fight of the Year: McGregor v Alvarez.
How you judge the fight of the year depends on the prism you view it through. The stakes and stage could not have been higher. UFC re-entrance into NY, sold-out MSG with gate and attendance record, audacity of the week (mink coat and basketball shots on the floor of the Knicks), the realisation of a promise made 3 years ago when he had no right to promise 2 belts.
When you factor all of the above into the equation, to deliver a near-flawless performance against a consensus top-3 lightweight of all-time, it shades it for me over Carlos-Robbie, Conor-Diaz and Choi-Swanson.
Knockout of the Year: Conor again (v Alvarez).
Cerrones was beautiful, Lando's head kick was awesome, Krylov beautiful, Rumble just raw power piercing Glover's guard..... but the finishing sequence that put Eddie away was beautiful.
Conor is known for his counter-striking but not renowned for his combinations. And most certainly not known for having a right hand. He showed he could do it all. From the punch whizzing an inch from his face to the cobra-like first counter left, finding the right through Eddie's pierced guard, a sweet home for the left on the temple and the final right on his way down. It was a moving target at every step of the sequence and he landed flush.
(For the record, it was classed as a straight KO because Eddie was unable to defend himself)
Submission of the Year: Mackenzie Dern's modified Imanari choke against Montana Stewart. The whole sequence from rubber guard to submission was a thing of beauty and I think any other answer is just wrong lol.
Event of the Year: UFC 205. It may not have delivered in the same way UFC 189 delivered in terms of the overall card, but it had a similar feel and stakes to it.
Upset of the Year: McColgan-Queally. Ok, ok, a lot of you predicted it and most won't even consider it an upset. But Queally was on the verge of his UFC signature and was expected to have far too much experience and know-how to stifle and shut down McColgan. Instead, Joe came out arms wide and shell-shocked Peter for the first 2 rounds. Ok, Queally mounted a comeback, too little too late. It marked McColgan out as a serious prospect.
Newcomer of the Year (must have made UFC debut in 2016): There's one standout contender (Lando Vannata) despite going 1-1. Other names to throw into the mix - Mark Diakese being one.
I'm going to split the award between Mickey Gall and CM Punk.
Gall because he has been electric and flawless in his 2 performances both on and off the mic. His interview after the Punk fight was McGregor-esque - he showed some humility, some bravado and some wrestling heel stuff with his call-out of Sage.
Punk because he persevered through a long-road to make the walk, likely knowing he was going to get his head ripped off. That takes stones. Luckily, he got submitted quick and despite the embarrassment, he gave a beautiful post-fight speech.
Comeback Fighter of the Year: No other choice - Dominick Cruz. Amazing performances after such a long lay-off. Ok, the Dillashaw fight was close but in truth TJ was chasing shadows for much of the fight and he thoroughly destroyed Urijah.
Disappointment of the Year: Paddy Holohan forced into an early retirement due to a blood disorder. Immensely likeable both as a fighter and a human being. Was gutted for him and remain gutted for him. But his loss is SBG's gain and he will prove to be just as important as Owen Roddy in his support of JK and SBG.
Moment of the Year: Meeting Conor and John and texting Ariel Helwani for hours talking about life ...Ah no. For me, it's without question Miesha Tate getting her hands on UFC gold at 196. She has been a pioneer for womens MMA, fighting since 2007 constantly in the shadows of Ronda Rousey in later years.
She has done as much, if not more, for the sport of womens MMA as Rousey and i firmly believe without the likes of Miesha there would have been no Ronda.
Nobody can take that moment away from her, even if she lost the belt in her next fight.
Gym of the Year: Well, it's been a terrible year for many gyms.
ATT, for example, suffered a dreadful run with losses for Glover, Pickett, Poirier, Lombard and obviously Robbie Lawler.
Nova Uniao have been in decline since USADA (coincidence or not).
Tristar are lacking in stars.
AKA lost their belts with Rockhold and Liam McGeary and DC didn't defend his belt once.
I could continue but I suppose it comes down to this:
SBG Ireland don't deserve the gym of the year award if you base it on the strength of the depth of their roster. Artem is 2-1 for the year in the UFC, Charlie 0-1, Conor 2-1, Aisling kept out through injury, Gunni is 1-0 and there must be serious questions on how much longer they can claim him as an SBG Fighter because he conducted most of the Tumenov and Kim camps in Mjolnir.
However, on the cumulative basis of positive results on the local scene and the historic achievement of Conor, and the fact that almost all of the talent has been nurtured from day 1, i think they shade it.
Coach of the Year: Jason Parillo deserves a huge shout for his work with Bisping and Cyborg. Hasn't been stellar years for Greg Jackson, Firas Zahabi....... Matt Hume had a great year. I won't go through them all.
I'm going to go with Owen Roddy.
John has done wonderful things and he is, without doubt, the head honcho. I've given him enough praise over 2016 so i'm going to highlight Owen.
I strongly feel the striking of the entire SBG Ireland entity has improved. You look at Artem recently, Conor's performance against Alvarez, you look at Dave Fogarty's strong showing in the amateurs, you see Ryan Curtis sharp combinations, everywhere you look there's a steady improvement in striking and I feel he gets nowhere near the credit he deserves.
It can't have been easy being so close to his dreams and having to hang it up and give all his energy to helping others.
Honorary Award: Shared between Axwell and Boards MMA Forum.
Axwell has a thankless task in here, particularly on fight nights, but increasingly outside of fight nights. A lot of people get their kicks out of slating Conor and when Conor does so well, they turn their attention to his "nut-huggers" like myself, Gamebred and others. It usually goes tit-for-tat and multiple deletions, yellow and red cards.
It's an unpaid, thankless task and he has been good to me on a personal level.
He deserves all our thanks and I'd almost suggest chipping in maybe 2 or 3 euro each to buy him something. If anyone is up for that.
Lastly, the Boards MMA Forum.
My first post in here was Dec 2015 but I lurked it for years building up the confidence to speak. It can be scary to even try with the knowledge possessed by stalwarts such as Mellor.
The ratio of good people:trolls in here is still not bad. There are so many genuine good guys and girls. Sure, we disagree on lots of stuff but that's the nature of a forum and generally for every "Is Conor going to wrestle Brock Lesnar" day, we have 2 days of good discussion.
My username is taken from the film It's a Wonderful Life. I chose it because of the message of someone feeling like they have nothing to live for and being convinced they do.
The closing segment of that film has Auld Lang Syne in the background, and ends with George reading an inscription on a book written by his Guardian Angel (Clarence), it says:
Dear George,
Remember no man is a failure who has friends,
Thank you for the wings,
Love,
Clarence
George was going to commit suicide until his Guardian Angel Clarence jumped in first and George, instead, jumped in to save him. Clarence got his wings back and was able to fly away.
Dear MMA Forum,
Remember my inbox is always open. You have a friend.
Thank you for my wings,
Love,
Dan0 -
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