TheNatural
My Member!
As a long time fan of basically anything on a PPV I thought it would be interesting to combine all of the combat arts, scripted or otherwise, into one category of awards for the year and pick out a few categories. Feel free to make your picks, I decided to throw out a few nominees for ideas, but pick anyone:
Inspirational athlete of the year
My nominees:
- Zach Ryder
- Dan Henderson
- Bernard Hopkins
Winner: Bernard Hopkins
As he likes to say, he's a fine wine that gets better with age. It's crazy to think a man 46 years old and turning 47 in a few weeks is doing anything in a sport such as boxing, much less schooling guys half his age and winning titles as he did against Jean Pascal. Chad Dawson takedown aside, the guy still has the belt and may make it to 50 as a relevant active boxer.
Most hated athlete of the year
My nominees:
- John Cena
- Chael Sonnen
- Floyd Mayweather
Winner: Floyd Mayweather
Tough competition here, you have the most annoying wrestler in history with no fans above the age of 7, you have the biggest troll in all of MMA in Chael Sonnen, and you have this man. As they say, actions speak louder than words. Nothing like a year of continuous talk of a never happening superfight with Pacquaio with he said/she said justification and blame of why the fight isn't happening. But let the actions speak louder than words.
Mayweather got a KO victory after a wide open cheapshot after his opponent apologized for an illegal headbutt. He went off on an 80 year old interviewer who responded telling him he would kick his ass 30 years ago. He ducked court for a deposition from a suit against Manny Pacquaio for defamation for saying he used steroids (he claims it and demands a test, but doesn't show to court?) And the year end icing to the cake: sentenced to 90 days in jail for beating up his girlfriend and supposedly abusing her son as well. What a great guy.
Comeback of the Year award
My nominees:
- Erik Morales
- Josh Barnett
- The Rock
Winner: The Rock
With all due respect to old become young again Morales and roid marred revived career of Josh Barnett, nobody electrifies like The Rock. After several years in movies finally .. The Rock .. came back to wrestling. And immediately everyone over the age of 7 turned on WWE's most famous current star to root against him, and single handedly saved what would have been some horrible PPV numbers for WWE.
Athlete of the Year
My nominees:
- Andre Ward
- CM Punk
- Jon Jones
Winner: Jon Jones
Haters going to hate, but this was the year of Bones with a phenomenal rise. It started taking out promising young prospect Ryan Bader, and then a month later TKO'ing Shogun Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Then he submits another future Hall of Famer in Shogun, and ends the year a couple weeks ago leaving an unconscious Machida dropping like a heap with a standing guillotine. One of the best years ever for any MMA fighter.
Battle of the year
My nominees:
- CM Punk vs. John Cena, Money in the Bank
- Delvin Rodriguez vs. Pawel Wolak, ESPN Friday Night Fighta
- Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua, UFC 139
Winner: Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua, UFC 139
A battle that shows what MMA is all about. Near knockouts, near submissions, great ground game, vicious strikes, and two exhausted veterans at the end with the crowd going nuts. No contest, the battle of the year and possibly the greatest MMA fight of all time.
There's my awards, feel free to add/subtract any you wish, or any other categories. It's been a hell of a year.
PS - The title should be boxing instead of UFC, oops
Inspirational athlete of the year
My nominees:
- Zach Ryder
- Dan Henderson
- Bernard Hopkins
Winner: Bernard Hopkins
As he likes to say, he's a fine wine that gets better with age. It's crazy to think a man 46 years old and turning 47 in a few weeks is doing anything in a sport such as boxing, much less schooling guys half his age and winning titles as he did against Jean Pascal. Chad Dawson takedown aside, the guy still has the belt and may make it to 50 as a relevant active boxer.
Most hated athlete of the year
My nominees:
- John Cena
- Chael Sonnen
- Floyd Mayweather
Winner: Floyd Mayweather
Tough competition here, you have the most annoying wrestler in history with no fans above the age of 7, you have the biggest troll in all of MMA in Chael Sonnen, and you have this man. As they say, actions speak louder than words. Nothing like a year of continuous talk of a never happening superfight with Pacquaio with he said/she said justification and blame of why the fight isn't happening. But let the actions speak louder than words.
Mayweather got a KO victory after a wide open cheapshot after his opponent apologized for an illegal headbutt. He went off on an 80 year old interviewer who responded telling him he would kick his ass 30 years ago. He ducked court for a deposition from a suit against Manny Pacquaio for defamation for saying he used steroids (he claims it and demands a test, but doesn't show to court?) And the year end icing to the cake: sentenced to 90 days in jail for beating up his girlfriend and supposedly abusing her son as well. What a great guy.
Comeback of the Year award
My nominees:
- Erik Morales
- Josh Barnett
- The Rock
Winner: The Rock
With all due respect to old become young again Morales and roid marred revived career of Josh Barnett, nobody electrifies like The Rock. After several years in movies finally .. The Rock .. came back to wrestling. And immediately everyone over the age of 7 turned on WWE's most famous current star to root against him, and single handedly saved what would have been some horrible PPV numbers for WWE.
Athlete of the Year
My nominees:
- Andre Ward
- CM Punk
- Jon Jones
Winner: Jon Jones
Haters going to hate, but this was the year of Bones with a phenomenal rise. It started taking out promising young prospect Ryan Bader, and then a month later TKO'ing Shogun Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Then he submits another future Hall of Famer in Shogun, and ends the year a couple weeks ago leaving an unconscious Machida dropping like a heap with a standing guillotine. One of the best years ever for any MMA fighter.
Battle of the year
My nominees:
- CM Punk vs. John Cena, Money in the Bank
- Delvin Rodriguez vs. Pawel Wolak, ESPN Friday Night Fighta
- Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua, UFC 139
Winner: Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua, UFC 139
A battle that shows what MMA is all about. Near knockouts, near submissions, great ground game, vicious strikes, and two exhausted veterans at the end with the crowd going nuts. No contest, the battle of the year and possibly the greatest MMA fight of all time.
There's my awards, feel free to add/subtract any you wish, or any other categories. It's been a hell of a year.
PS - The title should be boxing instead of UFC, oops