10 Fighters: A Biased Fan's Perspective, Part 1

Gotcha!

I actually hate to watch Kimbo but I could not resist pulling a fast one.

The 10 guys I want to talk about have all had some success, some failures, but each has been a lot of fun to watch.

This is the first half of this two part article, and I will publish the second half of my list on Sunday. It would probably be too long of a read if I didn’t and I don’t want to short change these fighters.

Some fighters get some press. Some, like Kimbo, get way more than their share. Some, like those in my list are often forgotten, criticized, or underappreciated. Each of them deserves some credit though- for making MMA more exciting. We all know about the Brocks, the Randy's, the Hugh's, etc...Let’s not forget some these guys either.
Like them, Hate them, but always love to watch them.

1. Takanori “Fireball” Gomi:

Currently ranked the 10th best lightweight in the world by Sherdog, Gomi was a ruthless striker. At one point winning seven or eight fights in a row as a Bushido and Pride fighter, Gomi was once considered by many to be the best fighter in the world.

I personally watched him fight live at Bushido 8 where he defeated a very tough man in Jean Silva, a Chute Box member from Brazil.

He eventually lost to Nick Diaz at Pride 33, but this defeat was overturned when Nick failed a drug test following the bout. It was ruled a no-contest. He went on to a couple more victories before being stopped by Sergey Golyaev in a split decision in his last fight for the Pride organization.

BTW Gomi also has the fastest knockout ever recorded in Pride when, in 2004, he stopped Ralph Gracie in six seconds.

2. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen:

Joachim Hansen is a great fighter from Oslo, Norway. In 2003 he actually defeated Gomi and took his Shooto World Welterweight Belt.

I also watched him live at Bushido 8 when he defeated some ankle biter named Masakazu Imanari. He used one of the most vicious and cold knee strikes to the head to finish Imanari that I have ever seen. He didn’t even bother to see if he had knocked out his opponent—he hit him, turned, and walked away. Awesome.

Sherdog currently ranks his as the third best fighter of his class.

Some notable victories he has had besides defeating Gomi were wins of Yves Edwards, Luis Azerado, and aforementioned Sergey Golyaev. This guy really needs to be in the UFC.

3. Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa

This guy absolutely rocks. I saw him beat Kimo with an Achilles Heal Lock while giving up about 60 lbs to the HW fighter. He was also known by Bas Rutten as “Super Minowa” because of his tendancy to wear a Japanese flag as a cape following his victories. He has never weighed more than 185lbs for a fight but often takes on much larger opponents.

If I was Brock Lesnar and I saw this guy walking down the street looking pissed I would cross it to avoid him. YES, he’s that tough.

The best fight I ever saw in my whole life (on tape) was his fight against Phil Baroni. Going toe-toe in the second round, taking and receiving blows like a madman possessed he eventually fell. I have never seen anything like it before that wasn’t in—as Bas Rutten put it- in a Rockie movie. Purely awesome entertainment.

To give you an idea of what this monster is like- he once fought and beat the Seven foot plus “Giant Silva” with knee strikes to the head causing a referee stoppage in the first round. Absolutely sick.
 
He did eventually avenge his loss to the next guy on my list Phil Baroni.

4. Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni

Phil is a controversial character. Having a bad attitude and a mouthful of trash talk didn’t help win him as many fans as he probably deserved. Whatever his piss poor record in the UFC might be—he has been in some of the most exciting fights of the sport.
His battle with Ikuhisa was absolutely epic.
 
I watched him defeat one of Japan’s top fighters, Ryo “The Shark” Chonan at Bushido 8. Ryo himself has had a somewhat unsuccessful career in the UFC. Undoubtedly bothered by the different rules, language, and travel times.

Whatever the case, Phil’s career in the UFC was basically ended by Matt Serra student, Pete “Drago” Cele, at UFC 51 Super Saturday. After dominating the fight standing—he gassed and was put to sleep by Pete with a Guillotine choke at the end of the third round.

He truly did resurrect his career in Pride though and fought some incredible fights. Whatever his attitude, he deserves respect. He’s also from NY darnit!

5. John “The Natural” Alessio

This guy is a great “Natural” striker from Canada. He started fighting at a very young age and I was able to watch him live in 2002 at King of the Cage “Bad Intentions” where he handled his opponent, Chris Brennan, rather easily.

Some notable fights for him were his losses to Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez—both by unanimous decision.

His fight with Diego was absolutely incredible though. Although in most respects it was a bit of a yawner, I have never seen its like before. In the third round of that fight he actually held Diego on his back for over three and a half minutes.

Calmly carrying the “Nightmare” around the Octagon, he calmly received instructions from his coaches and attempted a variety of standing armbars and wristlocks. He never did fall although the situation basically caused him to lose by decision.

Most recently he signed a three fight deal with EliteXC that is probably null now that that organization seems to have gone under.

Don’t count this guy out though, he has a lot of fight left in him and you will see him again.

On Sunday I will publish the second half of this list and I hope you enjoy it.

These fighters have really brought a lot of entertainment to the sport and joy to me. I feel privileged to have been able to see them and I hope you agree that even though they are not named Randy or Brock or Anderson Silva, they are still great men.

Thanks for the fights guys!