Kingdom MMA Awards 2013: Upset of the Year

Kingdom MMA Upset of the Year Award 2013: Chris Weidman

by Ben Heather @benheather

2013 has been a great year for MMA, champions have been dethroned and if not have finally looked like they might actually be human after all and can be challenged. Which leads us to present our award for the upset of the year.

Benson Henderson lost his title to long time rival Anthony Pettis. GSP got pushed all the way and took more punishment this year than we have ever seen him take. He ultimately kept his title before giving it up as he took an indefinite leave of absence from fighting and Johny Hendricks will get his chance again to be crowned the UFC Welterweight champion. It has also been the year that Chris Weidman has twice defeated the fighter many thought was unbeatable and rightfully so classified as the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva. Alexander Gustafsson also pushed Jon Jones to the limit but just missed out on defeating the champion and this is only what happened in title fights in the UFC.

In Bellator the biggest upset of the year came in February as Emanuel Newton defeated the massive favourite King Mo. Again just beating him was a massive upset win but the manner in which he did it really was special winning via a spinning back fist halfway through the first round of there fight at Bellator 90. This then set in place a rivalry which came to a head when they faced off for the rematch at Bellator 106 in November. Where again Newton won but this time via unanimous decision after 5 rounds to become the Bellator interim Light Heavyweight Champion.

Bigfoot Silva went in to his heavyweight battle with Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 as a massive underdog and the first two rounds looked like the bookies were right to make him the underdog going in to the fight. However, just at the end of the second round Bigfoot caught Overeem. When they came out for the start of the third round it was a completely different fight and Bigfoot picked apart Overeem before the referee had seen enough and Bigfoot got a massive TKO victory which set him up for the a title shot against Cain Velasquez. This was certainly one of the biggest upsets of the year and in any other year may have got the award but not 2013.

2013's award belongs to one man and that man did the impossible and defeated a fighter who was unbeaten in the UFC with a record of 16-0, held the record for the longest championship reign of any champion in the UFC ever and truly looked unbeatable. That was until UFC 162 on July 6th when Chris Weidman faced off against Anderson Silva.

What Chris Weidman did against Anderson Silva may not just be the biggest upset of the year, it has to be up there with the biggest upsets of all time. Chris Weidman knocked out the greatest fighter of all time when nobody predicted that could happen. People were saying Weidman could win but maybe by submission or decision. Nobody other than Weidman's camp said he would knockout the champ.

People can say what they want about the first fight "Anderson was clowning around" "Anderson was playing with Weidman and he got caught with a lucky shot" but in my opinion people who say stupid comments like that after seeing Chris Weidman knock out the greatest fighter on the planet are crazy. Anderson Silva fought Weidman the same way he fought every single fight in the UFC before that day the only difference is Anderson Silva's showboating made him even better because he was winning. As soon as he got caught and knocked out not many people gave Weidman any credit or the respect he deserved but instead said it will be different the second time.

This past weekend they had the rematch, we all know by now the outcome and nobody wants to see a fight finish with such a major injury like that, but up until the injury Chris Weidman was clearly in control of that fight. He nearly knocked out Anderson Silva in the first round and in the second made the changes to his game from the first fight by checking the kicks instead of taking the punishment on his legs. It was one of those checked kicks which resulted in a broken leg for Silva.

After the fight some of those same people who gave Weidman no credit for the first win were calling the injury "a fluke injury" but it was as a result of the changes Weidman had made to his game and if he didn't make those changes Silva would not have a broken leg now.

Weidman not only did the impossible and pulled off the biggest upset of the year once, he did it twice in the space of six months. For that Kingdom MMA's award for Upset of the Year 2013 goes to Chris Weidman.

We salute you Chris and hope that you start to get the respect you deserve for pulling off such a great achievement.

Review of UFC Fight Night 33 - Hunt vs Silva

Event Review: UFC Fight Night 33 Hunt vs Silva

by Sam Heard @SamHeard_

The UFC’s latest international event from Brisbane, Australia was a card that went beneath many people’s radars; overshadowed by its close proximity to the crazily anticipated UFC 168 and headlined by one fighter with perhaps the worst MMA record in his division and the other coming off a loss in one of the most one-sided title fights you’re ever likely to see. However, the event proved to be anything but forgettable, featuring arguably one of the best Heavyweight bouts of all time, the renaissance of one of the sport’s legends and the emergence of some very promising fighters making their UFC debuts. Here’s a rundown of the fights.

Mark Hunt (9-8-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) vs. Antonio Silva (18-5-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC)

Perhaps one of the reasons MMA is so appealing to we Britons is that the amount of football we watch makes us yearn for a sport with a definitive winner. Though this fight ended in a rare ‘Majority Draw’ ruling when it hit the judge’s scorecards, the feeling after witnessing this Heavyweight war was worlds away from the usual disappointment when a contest fails to produce a winner. Most people expected this fight to end in the first round. Either Hunt’s massive fists would connect with the even bigger head of Bigfoot or the Brazilian would manage to take Hunt down and exploit the Kiwi’s undeveloped ground game. As is often the case in MMA these pre-fight speculations were completely off. Mark Hunt scored several takedowns and effectively reversing Silva against the cage (comparable to Gustafsson’s outwrestling Jon Jones) while Bigfoot had success on his feet, dropping Hunt in the very first round. No one anticipated just how tough these two guys are. On several occasions both fighters were close to being stopped; at the end of the 4th round Bigfoot had his notoriously terrifying full mount on Hunt and I feared the fight would be stopped with just 15 seconds until the bell while there were several occasions were Hunt had Bigfoot severely rocked on the feet. Overall the draw was probably a fair result as the momentum shifted so many times during the five round war. Without a doubt a late entry into the Fight of the Year race.

Result: Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva declared majority draw (48-47 Hunt, 47-47, 47-47)

Mauricio Rua (22-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) vs. James Te Huna (16-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC)

Astoundingly there were very few people giving Shogun a chance in his fight against Australia’s own James Te Huna. Granted, Te Huna is visually the larger, stronger man and many had speculated that the numerous wars Shogun has found himself in throughout the years had finally had an impact on his reflexes and fight technique. It seemed that either retirement or a drop to 185lb loomed for Shogun. You can never count out a former champion like Shogun and for the duration of the one minute fight he looked sharper then the favourite, stuffing his takedown attempt and throwing some nice leg kicks into the mix. Just when Te Huna thought it was his time to seize control of the fight with the Brazillian’s back against the cage, he walked on to a stiff left hook, instantly sending him to the canvas. Shogun tried to follow up with a Henderson-esque right which fortunately missed the already unconscious Australian. Is Shogun back? I think so.
Result: Mauricio Rua def. James Te Huna via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:03

Ryan Bader (16-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) vs. Anthony Perosh (14-8 MMA, 4-5 UFC)

In what was perhaps the most predictable bout on the card, Bader got a Unanimous Decision victory over Anthony Perosh, bossing the Australian for the entirety of the fight. It seemed a certainty that Bader was going to get a stoppage in the very first round, rocking Perosh several times on the feet, knocking him down and bullying him on the ground. As was to be expected, Bader was the faster and stronger of the two fighters, beating Perosh to the punch on all exchanges. As Bader noted in his post-fight interview, Perosh is a sickeningly tough creature. Bader has revealed that he broke his right hand during the fight which is probably why he wasn’t able to get the stoppage. Perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of this fight was that but a single judge ruled one round to be 10-8 when, in my opinion at least, both the 1st and 3rd rounds were as deserving of a 10-8 as any.
Result: Ryan Bader def. Anthony Perosh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Pat Barry (8-7 MMA, 5-7 UFC) vs. Soa Palelei (20-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC)

Once again, this fight ended with the uncomfortable footage of Pat Barry unconscious on the mat – perhaps it is time for HD to re-evaluate his position in the UFC’s heavyweight division… This time the knockout would come by the hands of Soa Palelei, a fighter many were surprised to see return to the Octagon. Barry’s game plan should have been a simple one; avoid Palelei’s initial rush, keep it standing and then exploit the Australian’s abysmal conditioning. Instead, Barry threw a questionable flying knee which allowed Palelei to catch him and get the takedown before mounting him and hammering his lights out. The power of these shots never seemed that devastating so it seems Barry’s chin is done.
Result: Soa Palelei def. Pat Barry via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:09

Dylan Andrews (17-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Clint Hester (9-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC)

TUF 17 housemates came out immediately throwing bombs at each other in the first round of this Middleweight bout. With friends like these who needs enemies, eh? Andrews got the better of the opening exchanges until attempting a guillotine choke. When this failed, Hester found himself in half guard and was able to rough Andrews up with some vicious elbows from top. The theme of Hester dominating with ground and pound continued into the second round. After round two Andrew’s corner pulled him out of the fight due to a suspected dislocated shoulder. The replays afterwards revealed that Andrew’s shoulder does indeed pop-out as he throws an overhand right at Hester. Gut-wrenching.
Result: Clint Hester def. Dylan Andrews via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 5:00

Bethe Correia (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Julie Kedzie (16-13 MMA, 0-2 UFC)

The intense weigh-in stare down between these female Bantamweights promised an exciting fight which certainly delivered. Both women demonstrated some high-level striking and rigorous cardio. Kedzie’s losing via split decision is in part to blame on Greg Jackson who gave the (incorrect) advice that she was two rounds up heading into the third. Even when a fighter is up on rounds I believe it’s detrimental to let them know – we all know that you cannot trust the judges and Kedzie’s intensity certainly diminished in the third. After this loss Kedzie has announced her retirement from MMA, a great shame as she is still a very competitive fighter with a particularly nice kicking game.
Result: Bethe Correia def. Julie Kedzie via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Highlights from the Undercard

Alex Garcia’s R1 KO of Ben Wall. Jheez – Hector Lombard Mk II.

Takeya Mizugaki vs Nam Phan. A great back and forth stand-up battle. Mizugaki wins via UD.