2017 in MMA, the best shit

[wandshogun09]

We're past the halfway point of 2017 now. Where the fuck has that 7 months gone? 

What's been your highlights so far? Favourite fights, best knockouts, best submissions, best shows, best commentators, MMA journalists, MMA tweeters. Whatever you want. I guess this thread could be handy to look back on when the MMA Awards come up on here at the end of the year as well. There's always stuff you forget about. 

Looking back over this year's cards,  despite it being a McGregorless and Rouseyless year in the UFC, it's been a good year in general, I reckon. 

I'll kick things off with my rough Top 15 Fights of 2017 so far...

15) Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Jessica Andrade (UFC 211 - May 13th) 

14) Shogun Rua vs Gian Villante (UFC Fight Night - March 11th) 

13) David Teymur vs Lando Vannata (UFC 209 - March 4th) 

12) Robert Whittaker vs Yoel Romero (UFC 213 - July 8th)

11) Tim Elliott vs Louis Smolka (UFC on FOX - April 16th) 

10) Paulo Borrachinha vs Oluwale Bamgbose (UFC 212 - June 3rd)

9) Jessica Andrade vs Angela Hill (UFC Fight Night - February 4th)

8) Eddie Alvarez vs Dustin Poirier (UFC 211 - May 13th)

7) Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier 2 (UFC 214 - July 29th)

6) Darren Elkins vs Mirsad Bektic (UFC 209 - March 4th) 

5) Robbie Lawler vs Donald Cerrone (UFC 214 - July 29th)

4) Jimmie Rivera vs Thomas Almeida (UFC on FOX - July 22nd) 

3) Derek Campos vs Brandon Girtz 3 Bellator 181 - July 14th)

2) Brian Ortega vs Renato Moicano (UFC 214 - July 29th) 

1) Justin Gaethje vs Michael Johnson (UFC TUF Redemption Finale - July 7th) 

Yes, July killed it! 

[jimufctna24]

I really enjoyed Kelvin vs Weidman the other week. It had a nice little story to it, with Weidman needing a win coming off a 3 fight skid, and performing in front of his home crowd. He was also going up against Kelvin, a cracking little fighter who is finally reaching his potential at 185lbs. The fight itself was very entertaining as well. The loss didn't do Kelvin much harm. 

The most compelling fight for me was Jones vs D.C. It ticked all the boxes. It had a tremendous backstory, the two best fighters in the division, and a rabid crowd. It also delivered inside of the cage. For those 15 minutes or so, nothing else mattered in the world to me, other than what was transpiring in the cage. Cerrone vs Lawler was very good. It was a bit of an open goal really. Gaethje vs Johnson was indeed A-1. For action inside the cage, it was clearly the fight of the year so far.  I also really enjoyed Gusty's victory over Glover. 

Elsewhere, the Bellator PPV was interesting, partially for the wrong reasons. Chael saying he hated New York, and stomping back to the locker room with a face like thunder had me in stitches. I can't really comment on MMA journalists these days. I only really pay attention to Helwani's Twitter, and read bits and bobs on Sherdog. I did enjoy Dan Hardy's breakdown of the McGregor vs Floyd fight on BT Sport. It was all false hope, but he did a decent job of half-convincing me that McGregor has a snowballs chance in hell. I've enjoyed Cruz and Stann's commentary on UFC shows. Also, after years of being very lukewarm towards him, I have finally started to warm to Jon Anik. He does his job well enough. 

I think that's about it. 

 

[OzExile]

No mention of Jose Aldo vs Max Holloway, gents? Dafuq? That was one of the best mains of the year. 

 

My memory sucks but looking back through the main events, Lewis vs Hunt and Bermudez vs Korean Zombie were fun. 

 

Other enjoyable fights: 

Masvidal vs Cerrone 

Knight vs Skelly

Whittaker vs Jacare 

Namajunas vs Waterson 

Edgar vs Rodriguez 

Then there were two heavyweights on some UFC prelims that kicked the fuck out of each other, literally. One of them was basically on one leg, but put up a hell of a fight. Anyone remember what I'm referring to? 

 

[Noah Southworth]

2 hours ago, OzExile said:

Then there were two heavyweights on some UFC prelims that kicked the fuck out of each other, literally. One of them was basically on one leg, but put up a hell of a fight. Anyone remember what I'm referring to? 

The fight you're referring to could be Rashad Coulter vs. Chase Sherman from the undercard of UFC 211. That was a pure slobberknocker.

[wandshogun09]

I liked Aldo vs Holloway but I didn't think it was that great a fight really. It was good. But I thought it was more a great performance from Holloway than a great fight. Once Max got past Aldo's initial volley and figured out what he needed to do, it was a wrap. 

I've really, really, really enjoyed the commentary on the UFC shows this year. I don't think it's ever been better than it is now. Cormier is fucking brilliant at it. He's my favourite. Cruz is also fantastic, like a fight wizard. Stann has been good for a while. Anik is growing on me and I think he's way better than he used to be. Rogan's alright in small doses but I think this year is the first time that I really wouldn't care if Rogan fucked off permanently. 

[ColinBollocks]

Agree with both those points, wand. Aldo/Holloway was a good watch, but it's getting nowhere near my top 10 best fights of the year.

The Stann/Anik/Cruz combination the other week highlighted how little they need Rogan, these days. In fairness to Rogan, he's improved a lot from a few years ago, where he seemed to have a few clangers every PPV and let his calls get clouded by his favourites. Cruz, in particular, is scary good; you learn something new every time he does a show.

A highlight, for me, was seeing Korean Zombie come back and absolutely boss it.

[jimufctna24]

9 hours ago, OzExile said:

No mention of Jose Aldo vs Max Holloway, gents? Dafuq? That was one of the best mains of the year. 

Aye, that deserves a mention. 

I was chuffed with the result. Holloway has always had bags of potential, it's been a joy to watch him put it altogether in recent years. 

[OzExile]

19 hours ago, Noah Southworth said:

The fight you're referring to could be Rashad Coulter vs. Chase Sherman from the undercard of UFC 211. That was a pure slobberknocker.

That's it Noah. Boss! 

Gents, I couldn't disagree more about Brian Stann. Very difficult to watch and listen to him. I like Anik - who was thrown in a tough spot - and DC and Cruz though. I love Rogan's promos pre-fight, but his commentary is starting to wear thin.  

[jimufctna24]

Rogan's commentary has been wearing thin for years. I would be happy if they dropped him altogether from the commentary booth. I wouldn't mind if the UFC kept him in another role. As said, he's a decent talking head in the pre-fight video packages. He could be used as a presenter in some capacity, or serve as an occasional pundit. 

Rogan is a safe bet to be eventually inducted into the "contributors" wing of the UFC Hall Of Fame. You would have to admit that he deserves it as well, even if he isn't your cup of tea (and he isn't really mine) 

[Dead Mike]

I like Rogan. He injects some personality into the commentary which when you're watching an event for 4/5 hours (inc prelims) is much needed. Anik has got better & is less robotic & whilst Cruz is excellent at keeping the viewer informed he's not the best at expressing the excitement of the event. You need the balance IMO. A trio of Anik, Stann & Cruz would be clinical & dull.

[ColinBollocks]

I'd have thought so too, but they were brilliant the other week there. I think most on here agreed, it worked. Plus, Cruz has clearly relaxed a lot and is less "clinical & dull".

Rogan, for me, is a bit like Andy Gray. He's the enthusiastic voice of the big game - even if he lacks the same level of informed opinion of the fighters, his passion gets him through.