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Not long now until my rematch in Las Vegas with Frankie Edgar. It’s been almost three years since I beat him but, on New Year’s Day, the UFC Lightweight World Title will be on the line at MGM Grand. A lot of people have asked me if I feel like the uncrowned champion, because I beat Edgar and Edgar has to beat me to prove that he’s the ‘real champ’. I appreciate the thought, but there’s no question Frankie is the real champ and I have to beat him next weekend. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? In this sport, you don’t have to beat everyone in the division and they work out your won/loss/draw ratio at the end of the season. In this sport, you beat the champion, and that makes you the champion. And Frankie Edgar beat the champion – BJ Penn – twice. That makes him Number One and he has nothing to prove against me at all other than what we have to do in the Octagon on New Year’s Day. The next thing I get asked about a lot is if I am pissed that Frankie got the title shot ahead of me, even though I beat him. I’m not. I just don’t think like that. It will all work out. I don’t go into this sort of mental second guessing ‘Oh, why did they pass me up? Why did this happen? It’s not right!’ I don’t do that. Frankie deserved his shot, and I deserve mine. Some people say ‘But beating BJ Penn for the belt means more than beating Edgar’. Well, OK, really? Because Edgar beat Penn twice, and who knows if Penn will come back down to 155 pounds to fight me when I win the title. I can only pay attention to who I have in front of me; and right now that’s Frank Edgar. I want to hold the belt for years, and beat all sorts of guys, so it will work out. I am ready. No disrespect to Frankie, he’s a great champion and a gentleman and I respect him professionally and personally. But he’s losing that belt and is going to be ‘one and done’ with the championship. Nothing personal, it is just the sport. I’m not one of these fighters who feels he has to invent a reason to hate a guy just to motivate himself to drive past the burger bar and to the gym each day. Winning, getting closer to the title, winning the title, defending the title and becoming eventually known as a great in the sport is what motivates me. I don’t need to know if you’re a bad guy, a good guy, or whatever. If you sign to fight me you are getting the best version of me I can become in the gym, and I will come to beat you as bad as I can, good guy or not. If someone is an idiot and I want to beat him extra bad, hey, great, but I don’t need to convince myself that someone is an idiot if they aren’t. I train very hard either way and I am always trying to get better. I think the fans are ready for a big fight between guys like me and Frankie, who don’t smack talk but will go in there and fight their hearts out without stupid and fake smack talk.? How many letdowns have we seen from these smack-talkers anyway? You can hype a fight up, you can talk a lot of crap, say you’re gonna score a brutal KO, beat someone so bad, but then you gotta go and do all that and if you don’t you look like a clown. How many times have these smack talkers gone out and done nothing like what they kept saying they were going to do?

We’re getting closer to the fight with Gray Maynard on January 1st, and just finished up another good week in camp. I got back on Sunday from Ricardo Almeida’s fight in Montreal and got right back into things on Monday. I went up to Phil Nurse’s in the city in the morning, and then I went over to Renzo’s and took John Danaher’s class, and Renzo was there as well. Then I shot over to Toms River and finished with strength and conditioning. That’s what a typical day is like in camp – I’m always on the road. The city’s the farthest I go, though I still go up to Hamilton to Ricardo’s academy, which is like an hour away. It was nice to break up camp a little bit with Ricardo’s fight, and he beat a tough guy in TJ Grant at UFC 124. I think Ricardo has fought his last three fights two or three weeks before my fights and I like it. I like the fact that I get to go and take the whole UFC event in without having to fight. It kinda gets me prepared for what’s to come. And as far as breaking camp to work his corner, that’s just how we roll. I know he’s gonna be in the corner for me and he’s my teammate, so we sacrifice for each other. When he sacrifices for me, that’s the least I could do for him. It’s funny, but I had people asking me, ‘you’re the champ, why are you carrying someone else’s gear?’ But I’m real. I feel like I’m a working class fighter, and that’s what a working class guy would do. And it’s the least I can do – if anything, I feel honored to carry his stuff from the cage because I know he would do it for me. While in Montreal I got to see the commercial for my fight on the big screen, and when they called me the best lightweight in the world, it was great to hear that and to finally get that recognition. It definitely adds a little pressure to the next fight for sure, but you have to use that pressure as motivation more than anything. Ever since the second fight with BJ, I feel like I’m getting a little more love, and I’m enjoying it, but as long as my family and teammates treat me the same, then it’s all good no matter what happens. You can’t get too caught up in what people are saying though, because I’ve got a big fight in front of me. And I can’t really look at it as revenge; I’m just looking at this as my next fight, and I need to defend my belt against a tough opponent. It just so happens that he beat me and a win would be a perk of the job. Our first fight was almost three years ago, and I watch it a little bit, but I think we’re two different fighters. I watch more of Gray’s recent stuff, but I’ve definitely sat down with my team and reviewed it somewhat. One thing a lot of people don’t remember from around that fight is that I was the first person from the Jersey shore on MTV because they had me on ‘True Life’ even before the Situation and Snooki made it big. A lot of people ask me about ‘The Jersey Shore,’ and the first season I didn’t watch too much, but the second season I started watching it, and it’s pretty entertaining. I literally live over the bridge from where they film it and that’s not acting – there are people like that. But back to the first fight with Gray. They were filming the ‘True Life’ episode for MTV and I was getting married ten days after the fight, but I’m not a big excuse guy. He was just better than me that night. If anything, I would blame the loss on my technical skills at the time or my gameplan, stuff like that. And when it came to the altitude in Colorado that night, I thought I felt fine. It was definitely one of my fights where I didn’t have the same energy levels, but I wouldn’t say it was the altitude. When things aren’t going your way, sometime you feel a little more tired than normal. That was a long time ago though and we’ve both gotten better, so I think this is going to be a great fight on January 1st. Christmas is coming up on Saturday, but it’s still time to work, so this week I’ll go hard, and I go hard right until I get into Vegas. My body’s always pretty healthy, so I don’t really tone it down too much and being that I don’t really have to cut weight, my body doesn’t take too much of a beating. But before you ask, that doesn’t mean I’m leaving the lightweight division anytime soon. There are definitely enough challenges at ’55 for me and being that the WEC got acquired by the UFC, there are a lot of interesting opportunities ahead for me, so we’ll see what happens. Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks for the support. I’ll see you back here on fight week. For more information on Frankie Edgar, follow him on Twitter @FrankieEdgar

The fights – they’re why everyone tunes in when the UFC is on television or in a local arena, and when it comes to classic bouts, 2010 has kept the organization’s history of excellence intact. So without further ado, here are this year’s Highly Unofficial best. 10 – Jeremy Stephens W3 Sam Stout On paper, this UFC 113 bout had all the stylistic makings of a Fight of a Night, and neither Stephens or Stout disappointed, as the lightweights went at it tooth and nail for 15 minutes, with Lil’ Heathen emerging victorious via three round split decision. Early on, it was all Stephens thanks to his harder strikes, but Stout’s resilience and fast hands kept him in the fight, and when he scored with a big body shot in the third, it looked like he was going to pull out the win. But Stephens shook it off, got back to his feet, and the two ended the fight the way they began – by throwing punches. 9 – Diego Sanchez W3 Paulo Thiago Diego Sanchez was running out of options. He lost a lightweight title bout to BJ Penn in 2009, jumped back to welterweight in 2010 but lost his return to John Hathaway, and then he went back to his original trainer, Greg Jackson, in order to find his mojo again. Well, he found it in October, and with his back against the wall, the “Nightmare” returned to pound out an exciting three round decision win over ultra-tough Paulo Thiago. And it wasn’t just that Sanchez got the job done, it was that he did it with the aggressive style and varied attack that made his name in the first place. It may have been the fastest 15 minutes you’ve seen in a long time. 8 – Mark Munoz W3 Aaron Simpson When I think of friends fighting friends, I always refer back to the 1991 welterweight title bout in boxing between Simon Brown and Maurice Blocker, the gold standard when it comes to two buddies putting their friendship aside and going to war. Mark Munoz and Aaron Simpson definitely did their part to add to this combat sports legacy in November with a three round scrap that had you wincing when it came to some of the blows landed by both wrestlers. And when the former college standouts weren’t going toe-to-toe, they were showing off high-level wrestling on the mat, making this a complete and visceral display of why this sport is so great. Munoz got the nod this time, via unanimous decision, but I wouldn’t mind seeing another one in the future. 7 – George Sotiropoulos Wsub2 Joe Lauzon Early in their pivotal lightweight bout at UFC 123, it looked like Joe Lauzon’s striking was going to be the key to figuring out the riddle of George Sotiropoulos. But the Aussie contender had no intention of giving up his unbeaten UFC record yet, and after a fast-paced first round that featured high-level action both standing and on the mat, he made the necessary adjustments in round two, got his own game back on track, and finished Lauzon with a tight kimura. 6 – Carlos Condit TKO3 Rory MacDonald Going into their UFC 115 match in June, fight fans wondered whether 20-year old wunderkind Rory MacDonald had the experience to hang with former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit. Well, that answer came early and often against ‘The Natural Born Killer’, as MacDonald took the first two rounds of the bout thanks to a dynamic attack that kept the aggressive Condit off-balance. But in the third, Condit’s experience paid off as he got MacDonald to the mat and grounded and pounded his way to victory with seven seconds left. In the end, Condit got the victory, MacDonald got respect, and the fans got a helluva fight. 5 – Sean Sherk W3 Evan Dunham Regardless of what you think of the controversial split decision rendered in Sean Sherk’s favor, the fact remains that the former UFC lightweight champ and rising star Evan Dunham put on a three round classic back at UFC 119 in Indianapolis. Sherk showed little in the way of ring rust after a 16 month injury-induced layoff, and after a couple big slams and some crisp standup that opened up a nasty cut over Dunham’s eye, it looked like the “Muscle Shark” was going to run over the up and comer. But Dunham, who already had a breakthrough in 2010 with wins over Tyson Griffin and Efrain Escudero, dug deep, put on his hard hat and went to work, apparently winning the next two frames. The judges disagreed, awarding the bout to Sherk, but there were no losers in this one in the eyes of the fans. 4 – Brock Lesnar Wsub2 Shane Carwin If you happened to doubt the punching power of Shane Carwin, it didn’t take long for you to become a believer in July as he cracked Brock Lesnar in the first round and proceeded to lay down a hellacious beatdown on the then-heavyweight champion. It was a stunning turn of events that was topped by Lesnar’s ability to weather the storm to make it out of a round he had no right surviving. Then, as the bell was about to ring for the second round, he smiled at Carwin as if to say “you got yours; now I’m about to get mine.” And he did, taking an exhausted Carwin down and submitting him with an arm triangle. In a nutshell, it’s what all heavyweight title fights should be like. 3 – Stephan Bonnar TKO2 Krzysztof Soszynski The first fight between Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 110 in February was damn good. Their rematch at UFC 116 made the first one look like a three round lay and pray fest. Filled with intense exchanges that could have ended the bout at any number of times, Bonnar and Soszynski earned their Fight of the Night bonus checks, but it was Bonnar who resurrected his career with the type of performance that will guarantee him a job for as long as he decides that he wants to put on the gloves, bite down on his mouthpiece and go punch for punch with all comers in the Octagon. 2 – Chris Leben Wsub3 Yoshihiro Akiyama It wasn’t an enviable position to be in – following the third and fourth entries on this list on the epic UFC 116 card in July, but Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama may have taken that as a challenge, as they went on to put on one of the best fights of the year. Featuring fierce toe-to-toe action, changes in momentum, and a shocking and exciting finish, this bout had it all. And in the process, Leben, fighting for the second time in two weeks, completed his transformation from MMA’s problem child to legit middleweight contender. 1 – Anderson Silva Wsub5 Chael Sonnen The drama before this UFC 117 bout took place couldn’t hold a candle to what happened on fight night, as Silva and Sonnen engaged in a championship fight for the ages. Yes, Sonnen dominated the majority of the bout with his ground and pound attack, but each moment before he would take the previously untouchable title holder to the mat was filled with tension as Silva unleashed the strikes many believed would end the fight. But even though he got rocked on a few occasions, Sonnen was resolute in his attack, and as the seconds ticked by, he was getting closer and closer to one of the sport’s great upsets and the realization of a dream. Then, like the truest of true champions, Silva pulled off a fifth round submission. Calling it a spectacular comeback doesn’t do it justice, but judging this fight to be the best UFC bout of 2010 certainly does. Honorable Mention – Kendall Grove-Mark Munoz, Jared Hamman-Rodney Wallace, Pascal Krauss-Mark Scanlon, Brian Stann-Mike Massenzio, Kyle Kingsbury-Jared Hamman, Michael Bisping-Yoshihiro Akiyama, Matt Mitrione-Joey Beltran, Leonard Garcia-Nam Phan, Nate Diaz-Marcus Davis, Ricardo Romero-Seth Petruzelli, Evan Dunham-Efrain Escudero, George Sotiropoulos-Joe Stevenson, Chris Lytle-Matt Serra II, Mirko Cro Cop-Pat Barry, Sam Stout-Joe Lauzon, Krzysztof Soszynski-Stephan Bonnar I, TJ Waldburger-David Mitchell

Glendale, Ariz. – UFC, are you ready for “Showtime?” Because he’s coming soon. On a night wrapped in historical overtones, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis dethroned WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson at Jobing.com Arena to earn a UFC title shot. Both fighters waged a back-and-forth battle that was worthy of Fight of the Night and may have been decided in the final 80 seconds of the fifth round. With the fight apparently up for grabs, Pettis went airborne, acrobatically bounced off the cage fence and executed a beautiful high kick that landed flush on the hometown champ’s jaw and dropped him to the canvas. It was an electrifying and unprecedented move that no one in press row had ever seen, like something out of a “The Matrix” movie. It sent the live crowd at the arena into mass hysteria. Henderson gamely weathered the crucial assault and got back to his feet, but that sequence may have anchored his defeat by unanimous decision. The riveting match was fittingly the last bout ever for the decade-old WEC, which is set to merge with its sister organization, the UFC. That means Pettis, a Milwaukee native who starred in an MTV episode of “World of Jenks,” is slated to fight the winner of the Jan. 1 bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and unbeaten challenger Gray Maynard. An emotional Pettis, whose father was murdered during an armed robbery in 2003, credited his coach Duke Roufus for the one-of-a-kind kick that made a lot of people’s jaw drop. “We practice that all the time,” Pettis said, “and I’ve got 10 more kicks like that coming when I get to the UFC.” Roufus called the kick an “Ong Bak” kick, noting it is an old Muay Thai technique. Pettis dropped Henderson on another occasion with a stiff right hand, but barely survived a rear naked choke in the fourth round that was close to being dead on. Pettis was not the only man to make history Thursday night. Dominick Cruz did, too. Cruz’s handsome reward for a night’s work: Two world titles and a slice of history. The super-quick Californian used his ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ striking style to beat up No.1 challenger Scott Jorgensen for five rounds to become the UFC’s first-ever bantamweight champion.

That KICK! Anthony Pettis did the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in an MMA fight…what a kick!? – Aaron Simpson ? Wow what a kick! ? – Chuck Liddell ? That’s was an amazing kick by pettis crazy.? – Johny Hendricks ? Anthony Pettis just pulled of a bad ass move! Congrats on the win, great fight? – Martin Kampmann ? I jumped out of my chair scratching my eyes like did that really just happen!! Them young bucks r crazy!! – Rashad Evans ? Anthony pettis Is unbelievable! That flying kick made me feel as if Ive been blind… Cheers to @ UFC and the best sport in the world!! #MMA? – Jon Bones Jones ? Kick shmick. I can do that, easy. #yeahrightlol? – Phil Baroni ? The last and the best headkick of WEC, and maybe the best headkick I’ve seen. @showtimepettis – Brad Tavares ? Pettis officialy pulled of the greatest move ever in an mma fight!!? – Joseph Benavidez ? Pettis kick off the cage, absolutely rediculous! Awesome performance!? – Eddie Wineland ? Good God did u see Pettis’ jump kick off the cage?!!! I’ve never seen anything like that.. NINJA – Rich Attonito ? Good decision… For a change. That kick was unreal.? – Joe Lauzon ? Wow showtime pettis just did that!? Insane? – Brian Stann ? How many fighters out there are gona see if they can throw a jumping off the cage head kick in training today???…………. I know i am! – Mark Scanlon Historic Final WEC Congrats to Dominic. I did not Fight how I fight or want to fight. It will never happen again.? Scott jorgensen ? In Phoenix finally. @ reedharriswec said that I “looked thinner.” It’s always nice when a man notices… – Daniel Downes ? Is it me or do these gloves make me look 10 times sexier?! @ UFC http://yfrog.com/h0hfgzxj – Danny Castillo ? SHOWTIME!!! That’s right the new champ! So proud of you bro. http://yfrog.com/h22olmj ? – Erik Jon Koch ? Hats off to Anthony Pettis, he had a great gameplan n execution…I can be better, u guys deserve better, I will be better… Thx 2 all my fans, friends, n family 4 the love n support…GOD is good, all the time…gonna keep my head up n get better 4 next time..

This FanPost was rewritten and front-paged by James Iannotti of MMAmania.com. World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) is no more. The farewell event for the promotion before merging with the UFC went down earlier tonight from the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” featured a blockbuster fight card with two world title bouts and an assortment of other high profile match-ups. Here’s how it all went down: WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson headlined the event, putting his gold on the line for the final time against 23-year-old number one contender Anthony Pettis . The WEC brass couldn’t have asked for a better show out of the two men. They closed the WEC doors in style, complete with a wall walking head kick from Pettis late in the fifth round to secure the upset victroy. It was a back and forth five round war for the ages with both fighters leaving everything they had in the cage. Pettis didn’t finish the fight with the late highlight reel kick, but that’s what everybody is going to be talking about tomorrow. It was something you’d expect to see in a Bruce Lee movie. He had Henderson backpedaling. He ran off the cage and connected with a flying kick right on the chin. Henderson crumbled to the floor, but he somehow managed to recover and make it to the final bell. The fight was very close, but Pettis deserved to win

The very last fight to ever take place under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner was nothing less than spectacular. For five whole rounds, Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis went to war for the WEC lightweight title and to determine the number one contender for the UFC lightweight championship. It truly was “Showtime,” folks. Anthony Pettis took a decision victory to become the WEC lightweight champion in a thrilling fight for the world’s most exciting organization. It was a “razor close fight” as color commentator Stephan Bonnar referred to it. In the fifth and final frame, Pettis landed the most exciting head kick in the history of MMA. In fact, this may have truly been the “Fight of the Year.” Ben Henderson was unhappy with the decision being awarded to his opponent but there was little doubt “Showtime” won the fight after the final round. Throughout the fight, “Bendo” was landing takedowns but it seemed as if each time he did, Pettis would reverse him and take his back. He never could get the submission but it scored him enough points to give him two of the first four rounds. Not to be outdone, Henderson nearly choked out the MTV reality star with a rear naked choke in the third. Pettis, determined and unwilling to break, managed to get out once again and head to a fifth and deciding round. The fourth round may have saw the most action but what happened in the fifth will never be forgotten.? Towards the end of the round, in what was still close enough to get nervous about for either fighter, Pettis charged forward with Henderson backing away. Instead of going straight at him, he used the cage to push off and landed the most amazing head kick in the history of the WEC. “Bendo” immediately dropped and looked like he was out

The most graceful finish in all of combat sports, the submission win can come in a number of ways, but the end result is always the same – a victory for the man pulling off the move, and a look of ‘what happened?’ from the victim. 2010 had its share of memorable wins by way of submission, and in part III of the Highly Unofficial awards, here are the best. 10 – Jim Miller gives Oliveira his first “0” Jim Miller felt a little disrespected in the lead-up to his UFC 124 bout against unbeaten phenom Charles Oliveira, and despite his lengthy win streak in the Octagon, he was seen by many as the underdog. So how did the Jersey native respond? By doing what veterans do. In this case, Miller walked through a few kicks to the head, took Oliveira down, and then finished him off with a kneebar less than two minutes into the fight. Don’t expect any disrespect to be thrown Miller’s way anymore. 9 – Davis breaks new ground against Boetsch ? Already known for his wrestling and ground and pound, Phil Davis’ submission game is starting to get some positive notices as well, not surprising since three of his five finishes have come via tap out. In his most recent bout at UFC 123 in November, “Mr. Wonderful” even went as far as to create his own move, a modified kimura that finished veteran Tim Boetsch and which is already being dubbed “The Philmura.” 8 – Palhares introduces Drwal to the heel hook If there’s one fighter in the UFC that you don’t want around your feet or legs, it’s Rousimar Palhares. In March, he gave a quick and deadly demonstration why, as he caught and submitted Tomasz Drwal with a heel hook in just 45 seconds. And while these moves happen so fast that they never look like much, a glance at the pained face of the fighter on the receiving end speaks a thousand words when it comes to the devastating effects of a well-placed move like the one the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt specializes in. 7 – Dogged Dollaway hangs on to finish Doerksen Ever since his Peruvian Necktie finish of Jesse Taylor in July of 2008, fight fans have been waiting for another submission to remember from The Ultimate Fighter alum CB Dollaway. They got it at UFC 119 in September, when Dollaway showed the continued evolution of his game in submitting veteran jiu-jitsu black belt Joe Doerksen. After locking in a guillotine choke, Dollaway had to weather a feverish escape attempt from the Canadian, but he held on and modified the choke to finish matters at 2:13 of the opening round. 6 – Lesnar roars back, finishes Carwin After taking a hellacious beating from Shane Carwin in the first round of their July bout, Brock Lesnar’s odds of making it out of his corner for round two, let alone winning the fight, were slim. But the then-heavyweight champion showed his warrior’s heart by roaring back, taking down a winded Carwin, and finishing matters with a memorable arm triangle. 5 – Bocek wins battle of black belts with Hazelett A lot of times, if you match up two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, a kickboxing match breaks out. Not this time, and Mark Bocek made sure that his UFC 124 bout with Dustin Hazelett went to the ground almost immediately. In pre-fight interviews, Hazelett said he was just fine with that prospect, but Bocek sapped the joy out from the Kentucky native quickly, finishing the bout via triangle choke just past the midway point of the first round, and establishing Bocek as one of the game’s top groundfighters. 4 – Double Trouble – Lytle Surprises Foster and Brown When you’ve been around the fight game as long as Chris Lytle has, you develop more than a few veteran tricks.

There’s nothing like a good upset to shake things up in the world of mixed martial arts, and the UFC had its share of interesting ones in 2010. And though the winners in the second installment of the 2010 Highly Unofficial awards were underdogs going into these defining bouts, it’s safe to say that they won’t be sneaking up on anybody else anytime soon. 10 – “El Dirte” shows “Filthy” Tom Lawlor some veteran tricks Despite carrying a five fight winning streak and a boatload of experience into his UFC return against Tom Lawlor, late replacement Joe Doerksen was looked at by many as a mere hurdle for hot prospect Lawlor to hop over on his way to the next level of the fight game, especially considering that “Filthy” Tom was coming off a 55 second submission win over CB Dollaway and a controversial three round decision loss against Aaron Simpson. And early on, the fight went according to plan, as Lawlor rocked Doerksen standing and seemed to be one punch away from finishing him. But hard-nosed vets like Doerksen don’t go away that easily, and in round two, he roared back, catching Lawlor in a rear naked choke that finished matters at the 2:10 mark. 9 – Sonnen decisions Marquardt Everyone assumed that Chael Sonnen was going to be a stiff test for Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in February, but few believed that the outspoken Oregonian was going to stop the streak that saw Marquardt knock out Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia, and Demian Maia in consecutive bouts. But with an aggressive ground attack and an inhuman pain tolerance, Sonnen kept pushing and pushing for 15 minutes until the judges awarded him a well-earned unanimous decision win that also put him the number one middleweight contender’s spot. 8 – Dos Anjos surprises Etim Terry Etim will never be confused with countrymen Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy when it comes to dominating newspapers and websites with quotes come fight week, but after four consecutive UFC wins from October 2008 to November 2009, he had established himself as one of the UK’s top exports. But at the same time, Rafael dos Santos, in an even quieter manner, bounced back from an 0-2 UFC start to even his slate with wins against Rob Emerson and Kyle Bradley. And when dos Anjos took Submission of the Night honors with his UFC 112 armbar over Etim, it made a statement that when it comes to lightweight prospects, you can’t overlook this Brazilian up and comer. 7 – Pyle delivers career defining performance against Hathaway When your first two professional fights are against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Jon Fitch, it’s safe to assume that competing against an undefeated young gun in hostile territory isn’t going to rattle you too much. And that was the case when 11-year vet Mike Pyle traveled to England to face John Hathaway in October. In control from the opening bell to the end, Pyle never let Hathaway get untracked, and the unanimous decision win – Pyle’s biggest in the UFC – was a mere formality. 6 – Bader shows he’s big time with win over Lil’ Nog Ryan Bader has all the tools to make it big in the talent-rich light heavyweight division – physical gifts, heavy hands, stellar wrestling, and competitive drive. The only thing missing in his 12 pro fights was world-class experience. So when pitted against legit 205-pound contender Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, many expected that the experience gap would be too big for Bader to leap this early in his career. Not so, said young Bader, and though his three round win over the former PRIDE star won’t hit any Fight of the Year lists, the victory was a solid one that has propelled the former Ultimate Fighter winner into a highly-anticipated February showdown against fellow rising star Jon Jones. 5 – McCorkle shows more than internet savvy against veteran Hunt If you knew who Sean McCorkle was before his UFC 119 debut against Mark Hunt, you were either the hardest of hardcore fans or a member of the Underground forum. The rest of you were probably wondering what the unbeaten Indiana heavyweight had done to get UFC matchmaker Joe Silva angry, as there was simply no way he matched up with former PRIDE and K-1 star Mark Hunt. Then the bell rang, and the hometown hero fought like he had been in the Octagon since birth as he submitted Hunt with ease in just 67 seconds. Add in his recent bout against Stefan Struve (albeit a losing effort), and the notoriety of “The Big Sexy” has extended far beyond the internet. 4 – Beltran spoils the return of the Gracies The Gracie name is royalty in the UFC, and rightfully so. So when unbeaten Rolles Gracie became the first member of MMA’s first family to appear in the Octagon since his cousin Royce did so in 2006, it was a big deal. And when Joey Beltran was asked to come in on short notice to replace Mostapha Al Turk against Gracie, no one blinked twice, despite the fact that “The Mexecutioner” was coming off a second round TKO over Houston Alexander a few weeks prior to the bout. But Beltran wasn’t coming in to lose, and after weathering an early storm, he finished Gracie with strikes at 1:31 of the second round, shocking the MMA world in the process. 3 – Hathaway becomes Sanchez’ Nightmare England’s John Hathaway was solid in his UFC victories against Tom Egan, Rick Story, and Paul Taylor, but few thought the 22-year old had the experience to deal with veteran Diego Sanchez, whose previous three fights saw him in against BJ Penn, Clay Guida, and Joe Stevenson. Hathaway was a revelation though, as he welcomed Sanchez back to the welterweight division with a master class that left no doubt who the winner was after three rounds. It was ‘The Hitman’ 2 – Russow KO’s Duffee After a seven second KO of Tim Hague that set a UFC record for fastest knockout, Todd Duffee was going to be a favorite over a lot of people, including his second Octagon foe, Mike Russow. And for much of their bout at UFC 114 in May, things went according to plan for Duffee, who hit Russow with everything but the ring stool while building up an insurmountable lead. Well, it was insurmountable until Russow cracked Duffee with a right hand that ended the bout at 2:35 of the final round, capping off one of the more spectacular comebacks in recent history. 1 – Edgar Shocks Penn No surprise when it comes to the fight at the top of the list here, but it was a surprise at Abu Dhabi in April, when scrappy New Jersey native Frankie Edgar put on a career-defining performance by defeating BJ Penn for the UFC lightweight title. And while the fight was competitive and close, there was little doubt that Edgar’s crisp striking and effective movement, as well as a couple points-scoring takedowns, solidified the new champ’s unanimous decision win. And if that wasn’t enough, Edgar repeated the feat in more dominant fashion four months later, proving that the first win was no fluke. ? Honorable Mention: Dave Branch- Tomasz Drwal, Chris Leben-Yoshihiro Akiyama, Dennis Hallman-Ben Saunders, Frankie Edgar-BJ Penn II, Yushin Okami-Nate Marquardt, Nik Lentz-Tyson Griffin, Charles Oliveira-Efrain Escudero, Evan Dunham-Tyson Griffin ?

After an improbable and world-changing 17-year run in the fight biz, the UFC is finally set to crown its first bantamweight champion. The historic honor, and a sparkling new UFC belt, will go to the winner of Thursday night’s battle between Dominick Cruz and challenger Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 in Glendale, Ariz. The 25-year-old Cruz, who previously lived and trained in Arizona for a time, feels like a man of destiny. “I’ve been put in this position for a reason,” said the reigning WEC titleholder, making his second defense of the belt he won in March from Brian Bowles. “God has blessed me with this position to make history. None of this happened by accident. I’m excited that we’re coming over to the UFC and we get to be the very first guys that have ever fought in this division. It’s just an awesome feeling and I think it’s definitely going to be like a legacy that we’ve all started.” In weighing the gravity of his present situation, Cruz (16-1) alluded to legendary pioneers such as Randy Couture and Royce Gracie and “all those guys that started the UFC.” “Well, in a sense that’s kind of a way a lot of us guys have done for the 135- pound division,” Cruz continued. “We’ve kind of jump-started it and set the bar for everybody else who’s here to follow. So I’m just pumped that God has blessed me with these opportunities.” Standing in Cruz’s way is a former Division I wrestling standout that has skyrocketed up the bantamweight rankings since dropping his WEC debut to Damacio Page nearly 3 years ago. Jorgensen (11-3) credits the loss to Page as the turning point in his career, and has caught fire since by overwhelming seven of his last eight foes. The lone setback during that span – via split decision to Antonio Banuelos – was a contest many believed Jorgensen actually won. Fighting out of Boise, Idaho, Jorgensen has raised eyebrows with a rapidly-improving standup arsenal. He has stood and banged for extended periods of time against Banuelos (twice), Brad Pickett, Takeya Mizugaki and Kenji Osawa, and has never been outclassed in that realm, to the surprise of many. In fact, Jorgensen usually lands the more damaging punches on his feet, and his guillotine choke is downright wicked, making him even more dangerous. But does he have what it takes to dethrone Cruz, who has won seven straight largely by mystifying his opponents, almost toying with them, with his speedy and elusive style of dancing around the cage, landing combos and then darting out of harm’s way? “Dominick, he’s a champ, you know?” Jorgensen said. “He finds a way to win. But his style to me is just – he moves a lot and he’s very mobile but I feel it’s a very defensive style. You know, he uses his strikes to set up his movement and his movement to set up his strikes and in both ways he tries to stay out of big exchanges. He tries to land quickly and get out but I don’t feel like they’re very effective strikes. You know, they’re scoring points but they don’t hurt.