2007: The Year of the Upset

First off I'd like to say happy New Year to all. What a great year 2007 was for MMA, and what a great finale to the year with UFC 79. If I am going to summarize what 2007 meant to me it would be the year of the upset. I’ve listed some of the upsets which come to my mind over the past year, please feel free to add your comments and any other matches that you can recall from the last year;

Pride 33 Henderson v Silva, Diaz v Gomi, Sokoudjou v Nogueira - This was one of the best pride events that were put on show, from Henderson’s spinning back fist which Chuck Liddell tried last month, to the African Assassins 23 second KO of Minotoro. Its sad Diaz failed a drug test after his fight as it was probably one of his biggest victories (the fight went down as a no contest as he failed the drugs test).

Pride 34 Sokoudjou v Arona - In another fine performance the African Assassin took care of his opponent in less than 2 minutes.

UFC 68 Couture v Sylvia - Randy came out of retirement and won the Heavyweight title despite being the underdog. One word to summarize Randy, Legend.

UFC 69 GSP V Serra - Serra blew GSP away and overwhelmed him with a striking attack; hopefully this match is a turning point in St. Pierre's career.

UFC 70 CroCop v Gonzaga - My favorite of all the upsets, as I was lucky enough to be at the event when it came to my home town of Manchester. I had to turn to my friend and ask him if what I had seen had just happened. I still can’t believe Gonzaga knocked CroCop out with a head kick.

UFC 71 Liddell v Rampage, Jardine v Alexander - What a great event this was, Houston announced his arrival with a phenomenal KO of the dean of mean and although Rampage held a victory over the Iceman, who expected him to come to Chuck's house and beat him the way he did? Not me.

UFC 75 CroCop v Kongo - Cheick gave CroCop his second straight loss in the UFC, honestly not many had given the French man a shot, but he proved all wrong by beating Mirko.

UFC 76 Liddell v Jardine, Griffin v Rua - Another great event, Jardine defeated the Iceman when both were looking to get back on track after each losing their prior fights. The event also had the arrival of Shogan who would face Forrest Griffin, Forrest showed Rua that there’s no easy contest in the UFC and defeated Rua by Submission making Forrest the number one contender for the Light Heavyweight title. I personally think that Rua will come back from the loss more stronger and focused, and I feel 2008 will be a good year for him.

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