I am just like the legions of fans that were sucked into the UFC from its reality t.v. show and the subsequently incredible Griffin vs. Bonnar I.  Oddly enough, I started watching pay-per-views this time last year with the Hughes and Franklin card, so my first review of a year in the UFC is also my only year to truly pay attention to what is going on in this section of the sport.  Needless to say, I’ve turned into a huge fan of the sport.  It’s unpredictability and deep talent pool makes for great water cooler-type conversation and endless speculation is also suitable for my favorite kind of sport.  Also, the excitement of watching one of your favorite fighters win is second to none.  Now, bear in mind, I don’t claim to be any sort of expert(as I’ve only seriously paid attention for a year) and personal bias will surely slip in every now and then, but for those new to the sport I may provide a beginner’s insight to the burgeoning sport.

Best intro music:
 Intro music for fighters can sometimes set the mood for the fighter or just be indicative of their personality.  Although, it can veer from the redneck(Matt Hughes) to the downright bizarre with David Loiseau’s intro music at UFC 58 with his techno dance hall intro.  The heaviest surely goes to Andre Arlovski coming out to Icepick(think Hatebreed, because…well…it is) and the funniest is definitely Forrest Griffin coming out to Trick Daddy’s “Let’s Go” in all of his fights.  Although the best has to go to Jeff Monson at his last fight against Tim Sylvia when he came out to the soothing tones of John Lennon’s “Imagine”.   Surely indicative of his political stance(radical left), it also transcended the typical intro music by juxtaposing the meanest looking dude on the planet with a very soothing song.  Surely, a mental psyche-out…or maybe that’s just what I’d like to believe.

Best commentator:
 Without any shadow of a doubt, this honor goes to Mike Goldberg.  Not necessarily because he knows what he’s talking about, but because he provides a great deal of entertainment himself.  With gems such as “He’s a ground wizard” and the most recent outburst of “Holla!!!”, his excitement can barely contain itself.  Oddly enough, it can be pretty contagious, if somewhat endearing because of his child-like glee.

Best comment:
 “He’s on him like a rat on a Cheetoh” -Randy Couture

Least interesting fight card:
 From the uninspired fight between Trevor Prangley and Jeremy Horn to the obscenely boring Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Kevin Jordan(with the exception with a last second superman punch finish), this card had very little going for it.  This was exemplified by two of the weakest championship fights you’re likely to see.  Nate Quarry and Joe Riggs were hopelessly outclassed by Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes going into the fight.  Albeit, the only reason Riggs was fighting was because Karo Parisyan(a true contender) was injured before the fight and Nate Quarry being in the mix was simply indicative of the shallow talent pool of the Middleweight division.  Hughes simply dismantled Riggs and sunk in a kimura and Franklin scored a devastating knockout of Quarry(surely one of the best of the year).  The lone bright spot was Georges St. Pierre dominating Sean Sherk by outwrestling the wrestler.

Most pointless fight:
 This has to go to Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie.  I admit this is purely a personal opinion, as I have never particularly cared for the concept of old-school vs. new-school.  Ultimately, it turned into a really sad fight, with Gracie being totally dominated by Hughes.  I’m particularly bummed by this fight, because it pushed back more exciting matches in the Welterweight division.  Georges St. Pierre was waiting after his decision win over B.J. Penn.  Unfortunately, we had to wait virtually 6 months for anything meaningful to happen at the top of the welterweight division because of a glorified exhibition match.

Best acquisition:
 Hands down, this has to go to B.J. Penn.  One of the most dynamic and well-rounded fighters in the world, Penn provided a great injection of excitement into the already burgeoning welterweight division.  Although, an 0-2 ‘06 record isn’t terribly indicative of his talent.  A controversial decision loss to St. Pierre(mainly due to some well-timed takedowns) and bizarre finish to his championship fight with Hughes(more on that later), on paper, his record does not do Penn justice.  If you watch the fights, it’s plain to see that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Most disappointing acquisition:
 In an effort to beef up the newly reformed lightweight division, the UFC brought back its first lightweight champion, Jens Pulver.  Although, his return was a harsh dose of reality for the veteran.  Going in, nobody thought big-eared youngblood Joe Lauzon would have a prayer of a ghost of a shadow of a chance against the dangerous Pulver.  Although, jiu-jitsu specialist Lauzon proved to be more than game and knocked out(?!) Jens Pulver in the first round…convincingly.  Maybe the loss can be attributed to ring rust or getting caught up in the moment, but hopefully Pulver will bring more to the table next time.

Most bizarre finish:
 This surely has to go to the championship fight between Penn and Hughes.  For the first two rounds, Penn was absolutely dominating Hughes in ever facet of the fight.  He utilized his tremendous balance and flexibility to befuddle and disrupt any chances of Hughes taking him down or doing anything with him once they reached the mat.  Although, once the third round hit, Penn was a shell of his former self by not being able to respond to anything Hughes threw at him.  At first, it may be attributed to his short-notice(due to a St. Pierre injury), but apparently it was due to a broken rib he sustained at some point in the 2nd round.  Never before have I seen someone so dominating in two rounds, only to flake out so badly in the third.  Bizarre indeed.

Best comeback:
 As begrudgingly as it is to admit(as Andre Arlovski is one of my favorite fighters), the best comeback is Tim Sylvia’s championship win over Arlovski at UFC 59.  After one of the most devastating punches I’ve ever heard/seen(you know it’s a gnarly punch when you can hear it above the crowd noise), Sylvia somehow managed to gain his composure and nail Arlovski with what appeared to be a gimpy uppercut.  Arlovski dropped and Sylvia fell on top to finish him off.  Arlovski appeared to have a glass jaw, but this may be attributed to the fact that he was such dominating presence in the previous year that he may have forgotten what it’s like to get punched…who knows.

Deepest Division:
 The welterweight division is far and away the best division in the UFC and anywhere else for that matter.  With fighters such as champion Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Karo Parisyan, and Diego Sanchez all being legitimate title contenders, the welterweight division has the most exciting match-ups.  With ‘07 coming up, the prospect of seeing Sanchez fighting Hughes and then Pierre for the championship or Parisyan getting a rematch with Sanchez and his long-awaited fight with Hughes, as well as his rematch with St. Pierre; well, suffice to say that ‘07 is going to be a great year in the welterweight division.

Weakest Division:
 By and large, the weakest division is the middleweight division.  The talent pool just isn’t that deep and with Anderson Silva sitting atop that hill, it’s going to be hard for the UFC to find somebody capable of posing any threat to Silva retaining the title.  Although, a rematch against Franklin is needed, because he simply did not look like he was ready for Silva.  Although, Silva’s upcoming bout against jiu-jitsu blackbelt Travis Luttter could be the surprise of the year(after all anything can happen).  The light-heavyweight division is in a close second though.  Even though it has plenty of contenders, none of them are prepared to beat champion Chuck Liddell at his own game.

Best champion:
 This is just slightly biased(well maybe moreso), but Georges St. Pierre has my nod for the best champion of ‘06.  Just look no further than his dismantling of Matt Hughes(“the most dominating welterweight champion”) during their championship bout.  Since his sole loss against Hughes last year, he’s won all of his fights in convincing and impressive fashion(except his Penn win, but that was impressive nonetheless) and considering the depth, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Worst champion:
 Tim Sylvia takes the honors on this category because of his inexplicable transformation into one of the most boring fighters on the planet.  Ever since he won the title he’s had two of the most unenjoyable matches a viewer is likely to see.  Flying against convention, Sylvia turned into a counterpuncher.  This is made even more inexplicable by the fact that he’s 6’8” and has a definitive reach advantage over everybody.  So, when the guy with such a massive reach advantage decides to only counter, the opponent can’t get in and wisely doesn’t barge in, so the fight turns into a 25-minute standstill.  Even more inexplicable, is the fact that he really doesn’t need to do this.  He had great success being aggressive and has proved he has an iron chin(which is how he won the title in the first place).  So, unfortunately, until Sylvia decides to grow some balls and fight a dynamic fight, count on a boring 25 minutes in the next fight.

Best knockout:
 While there have been plenty of great knockouts this year, this honor has to go to Rich Franklin’s knockout win over Nate Quarry.  If anything, this was the cleanest knockout of the year.  Franklin’s straight right punch nailed Quarry right on the chin and Quarry’s body went completely limp on the way down.  Quarry was knocked out so bad that one of his legs was completely stiff and off the mat even when he hit the ground.  This was a k.o. in the truest sense of the word.

Best submission:
 This has to go to the most recent fight in which Rob MacDonald submitted Chris Leben with one of the gnarliest guillotines I’ve ever seen.  What  made this submission even more interesting was the fact that he sinched in the guillotine while on Leben’s side(typically this is done parallel to the opponent’s body) and Leben never really tapped and they had to pull MacDonald off when Leben was passed out.  Considering MacDonald was saved by the first round bell, this victory was made all the more impressive.

Fight of the year:
 This category is extremely hard to judge, so I just picked my favorite fight of the year in terms of how exciting it was for me to watch.  This has to go to Karo Parisyan vs. Diego Sanchez.  I’m not going to spend much time describing the fight, because it just needs to be seen to be believed.  A back and forth battle on the ground and on their feet with great judo sweeps by Parisyan and the relentless ground attack of Sanchez.  This fight also marked the first time I’ve ever seen a tooth rocketing out of a fighter’s mouth, courtesy of a well-placed knee by Sanchez.  Sanchez pulled out the decision, but the fight was extremely close and just begs for a rematch.  Both of these fighters are extremely dynamic and always press very hard on the action and provided the best match of ‘06.

Now what are we to expect in ‘07?  With the most recent acquisitions of PrideFC superstars Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, the light-weight and heavyweight divisions are going to be shook up considerably.  Jackson was the last man to beat Liddell and did so in a very convincing fashion and Crocop is quite simply one of the scariest men alive with the most heinous kicks you’ll ever see.  As evidenced by their recent victories at their ufc debuts, these men are still in their prime and expect both to be title contender’s before the year’s end.  Also, do yourself a favor and look up these guys on youtube or google video, if you’re unfamiliar then those videos should get you properly stoked.  The recent announcement of Randy Couture coming back is also a very exciting development(it is made even more exciting considering is first fight will be for the heavyweight title).  The welterweight division will remain the deepest division and provide for some of the most exciting match-ups in the year.  Expect Mike Swick to get a middleweight title shot, a B.J. Penn/Jens Pulver rematch midyear, and the return of Andre Arlovski(although this may be stunted by Crocop, but what a fantastic fight it would be).  Suffice to say, ‘07 should be another banner year for the UFC and with the inclusion of Rampage and Crocop, this may be the best year ever.

- Jacob