Ten Best – The Fighters of 2010
10 (tie) – Rick Story All right, I know, I’m being indecisive, but when it came to the tail end of the list, I just couldn’t pick two fighters out of the trio of Chris Leben, Evan Dunham, & Rick Story to leave out. One (Story) went 4-0 this year, which is an amazing feat. The second (Dunham) lost a fight, but that one fight he lost he likely should have won on the scorecards. & the third (Leben) won three big fights, but the first was over a fighter (Jay Silva) who can’t be considered on the level of his other two victims. So…a three way tie, & I’m sticking to it. Anyway, Rick Story has always been a tough kid with a lot of potential. In 2010, he started to break through to the next level with two close wins over Jesse Lennox & Nick Osipczak, a brutal TKO of Dustin Hazelett, & a gut check decision victory over Johny Hendricks. Story is the real deal, & he’s only going to get better. 10 (tie) – Evan Dunham Unheralded lightweight Evan Dunham quietly made a name for himself in the UFC in 2009 with wins over Per Eklund & Marcus Aurelio, but in 2010 he moved from prospect to contender with an impressive come from behind finish of Efrain Escudero & a clear-cut decision win over Tyson Griffin. Next up for the Las Vegas resident was former UFC lightweight champ Sean Sherk at UFC 119, & Dunham not only showed his talent against “The Muscle Shark”, but he showed his heart & grit in battling back from a nasty cut over his eye to arguably win a fight which ultimately went to Sherk via a controversial split decision. 10 (tie) – Chris Leben Entering 2010, Chris Leben’s UFC career was on the line after back-to-back losses to Michael Bisping & Jake Rosholt, but amazingly, by the time he forced Yoshihiro Akiyama to tap out in the third round of their UFC 116 bout in July, he was back among the ranks of middleweight contenders. This amazing transformation took place thanks to wins this year over Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson, & the aforementioned Akiyama, with the latter two victories occurring within a two week period. Next up for the resurgent “Crippler” is a January 1st date with Brian Stann. 9 – Rashad Evans Following the loss of his UFC light heavyweight title via knockout to Lyoto Machida in May of 2009, fight fans were wondering how Rashad Evans was going to react in his next bout. Well, in January he decisioned Thiago Silva, going back to his wrestling roots & surviving a late sequence when Silva got him in trouble. & four months later he headlined another major event when he took on – & beat – bitter rival Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with another solid wrestling-based victory at UFC 114 in May. Some would say “Suga” is back, but in reality, he never left, & in 2011 he will be rewarded with a shot at light heavyweight boss Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. 8 – Yushin Okami Long seen as the forgotten man in the middleweight division, Japan’s Yushin Okami always seemed to be one win away from the big one when he would slip back into the shadows after key losses to Rich Franklin & Chael Sonnen. But in 2010, “Thunder” put it all together
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Ten superfine – The Fighters of 2010
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