Amid a summer* of cancelled fights and big name injuries, fans were left with little to look for, but luckily it wasn’t all doom and gloom. In the three months that just passed, we were treated to a spectacular knockout, an amazing round, a world class submission, and an amazing event. All in all, the Summer of 2012 still brought it. Here were the summer’s highlights:
Knockout of the Summer: Zorobabel Moreira (vs. Roger Huerta)
In a brawl featured at ONE FC in Kuala Lumpur, UFC veteran Roger Huerta faced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Zorobabel Moreira in a welterweight bout, and much to the shock of fans, he dominated the once great Roger Huerta before landing the most brutal soccer kick knockout we have ever seen.
Submission of the summer: Joe Lauzon (vs. Jamie Varner)
In one of the the fights of the summer, Joe Lauzon and former WEC champion Jamie Varner squared off in a high-paced back and forth fight which Jamie Varner seemed to be winning going into the third and final round, but staying in true Lauzon form, “J-Lau” found a way to cinch up a picture perfect triangle choke in order to secure the victory.
Event of the Summer: UFC on FOX 4
.png)
In a great all around event, Jamie Varner vs. Joe Lauzon put this event over the top as the event of the summer, but to be frank, apart from InvictaFC 2, every other major event was a major letdown, especially UFC 147 and UFC 149.
The UFC on FOX shows have recovered from a bad start, and the last two events on FOX have been incredible, with UFC on Fox 3‘s main event of Miller vs. Diaz capping a great card, and UFC on FOX 4 turning out even better. Every fight on the main card delivered, and my special high point was seeing Mike Swick return from his long layoff to score a stunning finish against DeMarques Johnson.
Round of the Summer: Andrew Craig vs. Rafael Natal Round 2
One of my favourite fights of the Summer took place at UFC on FUEL 4. After a near finish by Rafael Natal in the 1st round, he came out aggressive again in the 2nd round, and caught Andrew Craig clean, diving in for the kill. However, somehow Craig recovered and managed to land the most stunning come from behind head kick I have ever seen.
Though summer continues to fade into the distance, the moments that astounded and shocked us linger in our memories. As 2012 begins to draw to a close, we’ll be looking back at the summer months to get a sense of the year that was. These are but a few such moments, but there really were so much more.
Note: The summer is defined, for the purpose of this article, as 6/01/2012 to 8/31/2012.
Still think Frankie is the 155 champ. I like B Henderson a lot. But don't think he won the second fight. Maybe not the first except that upkick that hurt Frankie and that part where he was in trouble with the submission. But it was mostly Frankie. Second fight was Frankie no doubt.