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.
Submission of the Month: Charles Oliveira vs. Hatsu Hioki, UFC Fight Night 43
My Submission of the Month goes to Charles Oliveira for his modified anaconda choke on Hatsu Hioki at UFC Fight Night 43, which took place June 28 at Vektor Arena in Sydney, New Zealand. This was an extremely crafty submission pulled off by one of the UFC’s most creative submission artists in Oliveira, and the fact he was able to take out a grappling ace like Hioki — who had never been submitted up until that point of his career — is nothing short of astonishing.
The other thing that’s impressive about the submission is that it came in a fight Oliveira was losing. The Brazilian was getting thoroughly outwrestled by Hioki for nearly two full rounds before pulling off this incredible submission with just 28 seconds left in the second round. Just fantastic stuff from “Do Bronx,” and further proof of how special of a submission fighter this youngster truly is.
• Hatsu Hioki vs. Charles Oliveira: Charles Oliveira def. Hatsu Hioki via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:32 of Round 2.
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Knockout of the Month: Dan Hooker vs. Ian Entwistle, UFC Fight Night 43
My Knockout of the Month goes to Dan Hooker for his brutal TKO finish on Ian Entwistle at UFC Fight Night 43. Entwistle, a leglock specialist, went for the heel hook on Hooker early on in the fight, but he wasn’t able to get it, and Hooker brutally punished him with nasty elbows from the top to score a TKO win in his UFC debut.
There weren’t many candidates for this award, as there just weren’t many knockouts in June, but in my opinion this was the best of the bunch. It showed the MMA world just how vicious Hooker is, something we saw again in his slugfest against Maximo Blanco at UFC Fight Night 52. I’m looking forward to seeing what other kind of violence this man can bring to the cage in his next fight.
• Ian Entwistle vs. Daniel Hooker: Daniel Hooker def. Ian Entwistle via TKO (elbows) at 3:34 of Round 1.
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Fight of the Month: Tae Hyun Bang vs. Kajan Johnson, UFC 174
My pick for Fight of the Month goes to Tae Hyun Bang and Kajan Johnson for their barnburner at UFC 174, which culminated in a third-round knockout for Bang in his second UFC fight. The bout took place June 14 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and while it might not be saying much that this was the best fight of that card (the worst PPV offering the UFC had all year), in a month that lacked epic fights, I thought this was the best one.
For two rounds this was a close fight, and Johnson, the hometown native, was arguably winning it. But in the third, Bang nailed him with a massive punch that knocked him out cold. It was pretty crazy stuff, and clearly the UFC was impressed, as it awarded both fighters $50,000 each for Fight of the Night, as well as an additional $50,000 bonus to Bang for Knockout of the Night. Again, June was a month lacking in FOTM contenders, but this was a tremendous fight and deserves the award.
• Kajan Johnson vs. Tae Hyun Bang: Tae Hyun Bang def. Kajan Johnson via knockout (punch) at 2:01 of Round 3.
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Robbery of the Month: Diego Sanchez vs. Ross Pearson, UFC Fight Night 42
My pick for Robbery of the Month goes to Diego Sanchez for his asinine split decision win over Ross Pearson at UFC Fight Night 42, which took place June 7 at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most fans and media who watched the fight thought that Pearson won every round, and for sure two rounds, and yet two of the judges sitting cageside found a way to award Sanchez the decision, with one shockingly giving Sanchez all three rounds.
This was a horrendous scorecard, one of the worst ever in UFC history, and among the worst in MMA history. It was just terrible. I’ll be honest, I had money on Sanchez going into this fight, but I thought Pearson clearly won all three rounds, and when I saw Sanchez get his hand raised, I was absolutely shocked. I knew there was a chance the judges could have some bias towards Sanchez in his home base of Albuquerque, but I didn’t imagine this. It was just a horrible decision, and the two judges who gave the decision to Sanchez should be ashamed of themselves, and they need to be retrained by the commission in how to score MMA bouts.
• Diego Sanchez vs. Ross Pearson: Diego Sanchez def. Ross Pearson via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28).
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Do you agree with these choices for June 2014? Rate these fights and others, and be sure to make your voice heard!
Personally I had Do Bronx ahead of Hioki before the finish but it was still great.