2014 was an eventful year in the world of mixed martial arts. There were quite a few memorable moments and fights in the last 12 months. Looking back at this year in the sport, we at MMA Ratings are picking out particular moments from every month that stand out amongst them all.
Fight of the Month: Tarec Saffiedine vs. Hyun Gyu Lim, UFC Fight Night 34
My pick for Fight of the Month was the five-round war between Tarec Saffiedine and Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC Fight Night 34, which took place January 4 at Marina Bay Sanda in Marina Bay, Singapore. The bout, which served as the main event of the first-ever UFC event in Singapore, went the full 25 minutes and earned Fight of the Night honors at the event, and looking back throughout the year that was, this was in my opinion one of the top 10 scraps fans were treated to all year.
Lim started off the bout strongly, but the giant welterweight soon faded and Saffiedine began to pour on the leg kicks during the middle rounds, dropping Lim with kicks to his legs on numerous occasions. Somehow, Lim was able to keep fighting through the punishment, even though at many times it was hard to watch. But Lim showed his warrior spirit and went the whole distance.
In the last round of the fight, with Lim down big, all of a sudden he let out a war cry in the middle of the cage and with just a few minutes left in the action, found his second wind, coming close to knocking Saffiedine out in the closing seconds of the fight. At the end of five rounds Saffiedine was awarded the decision, but Lim showed that he’s a tough out for anyone at 170 lbs and that he’s certainly someone to keep an eye out for in 2015. This was a tremendous fight, and after the match the fighters took a great photo and posted it on Twitter, which you can see here:
Just two great martial artists with a lot of respect for each other.
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Hyun Gyu Lim: Tarec Saffiedine def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47).
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Fans’ Choice for Fight of the Month: Yoel Romero vs. Derek Brunson, UFC Fight Night 35
Knockout of the Month: Luke Rockhold vs. Costas Philippou, UFC Fight Night 35
My pick for the knockout of the month is Luke Rockhold’s brutal body kick KO against Costas Philippou back at UFC Fight Night 35, which took place January 15 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. The finishing blow delivered from Rockhold’s shin to Philippou’s liver earned Rockhold a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus and was the most memorable knockout of the month in my eyes.
I figured that Rockhold would win this fight, and I knew his kicking game was good, but knocking out Philippou with one huge kick surprised me. This was just a really, really brutal kick. Rockhold, a southpaw, had Philippou’s liver lined up perfectly, and Philippou, who had never been knocked out prior to the fight, was hit at just the right spot that it shut his entire body down, forcing him to turtle up, and making the ref stop the fight.
There were some other nice knockouts in January, including the brutal TKO of Derek Brunson via elbows to the body by Yoel Romero on the same card, and a head kick by Donald Cerrone on Adriano Martins at UFC on FOX 10, but for me, knocking out a top-10 middleweight like Philippou with a kick to the body is nothing but impressive, and I think Rockhold is a very worthy recipient of this honor.
• Luke Rockhold vs. Costas Philippou: Luke Rockhold def. Constantinos Philippou via TKO (body kick) at 2:31 of Round 1.
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Submission of the Month: Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis, UFC on FOX 10
My pick for Submission of the Month goes to Alex Caceres for his come-from-behind rear-naked choke submission over Sergio Pettis at UFC on FOX 10, which took place January 25 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Caceres was a big underdog heading into the bout, despite having much more experience in the Octagon than Pettis, but because of the hype of being lightweight champ Anthony Pettis’ brother, Sergio Pettis was a big favorite to win this fight, which was his second in the UFC.
And for the first 14-and-a-half minutes, that was the case. This was a very close fight between two evenly-matched fighters, but most thought Pettis was on his way to winning a narrow decision and that Caceres would need to do something great to pull through with a win. And that’s exactly what he did, somehow finding his way to the floor with Pettis and sinking in the fight-ending choke at 4:39 of round three, just 21 seconds shy of the fight ending, to hand Pettis his first official loss.
It was a victory that earned Caceres a $50,000 bonus for Submission of the Night, as well as a share of $50,000 for Fight of the Night with Pettis, but not just that, it also earned him a fight against Urijah Faber at UFC 175. And while he was competitive with Faber, ultimately it was he who was the victim of a third-round rear-naked choke, as he lost the biggest fight of his career. But he showed in the fight against Pettis that he’s no joke, and “Bruce LeeRoy” is a dangerous out for anyone in the bantamweight division.
• Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis: Alex Caceres def. Sergio Pettis via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:39 of Round 3.
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Upset of the Month: Nikita Krylov vs. Walt Harris, UFC on FOX 10
My pick for biggest upset of the month also took place at UFC on FOX 10, and it was Nikita Krylov’s stunning head kick KO of Walt Harris in the very first Fight Pass prelim of the night. Krylov was a 4-to-1 underdog heading into this fight, one where he was at a 20-pound weight disadvantage to the athletic Harris, who was being hyped up as a future heavyweight contender. Krylov was coming off of an embarrassing UFC debut TKO loss to Soa Palelei at UFC 164, and most thought he would get smashed by the bigger Harris, but just the opposite occurred.
After a few early exchanges on the feet, Krylov stopped the Harris hype train dead in its tracks, as he unleashed a vicious head kick that knocked Harris out just 25 seconds into the first round. It earned Krylov not just the first win of his UFC career, but it also broke the record for fastest head kick knockout in UFC history, breaking Gerard Gordeau’s record from UFC 1 in 1993.
This was an awesome knockout and Krylov immediately became a favorite of mine because of it. As for Harris, well let’s just say no one will be talking about him and the title in the same sentence ever again.
• Walter Harris vs. Nikita Krylov: Nikita Krylov def. Walt Harris via TKO (head kick, punches) at 0:25 of Round 1.
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Do you agree with these choices for January 2014? Rate these fights and others, and be sure to make your voice heard!
A very overlooked fight was Brian "T-City" Ortega vs. Keoni Koch at RFA 12. A fight with a lot of grappling, T-City put on a clinic of how to be on bottom and block punches effectively.