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Sherdog names the Iceman Fighter of the Year |
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Written by SHerdog Staff
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Tuesday, 09 January 2007 |
 There may have been more impressive in-ring performances from fighters over the past 12 months, but no mixed martial artist in 2006 had the same impact on the sport as Chuck Liddell. For these reasons, Sherdog.com has named the UFC light heavyweight champion as Fighter of the Year for 2006.
Marking the third consecutive year Liddell has gone undefeated —
scoring stoppages in each of his 10 fights during the span — the
37-year-old “Iceman” won three contests in 2006 to extend his won-loss
record to 20-3-0.
Liddell began his Fighter of the Year campaign by retiring UFC legend
Randy Couture (Pictures) in the rubber match of perhaps the most
important trilogy in UFC history.
On Super Bowl Saturday, Liddell plastered a right hand on the venerable
Couture for the second time in three fights, putting the “Natural” on
his shield one final time.
Liddell-Couture III also set the gate revenue record for a mixed
martial arts card in North America, netting nearly $3.4 million in
ticket receipts.
During the calendar year, The Iceman’s fights took the first, second,
and fourth spots on the list of all-time UFC gates. And Liddell’s New
Year’s Eve-weekend bout with Tito Ortiz now owns the top
position by over $2 million.
In August, some six months after stopping Couture, Liddell overwhelmed
Renato Babalu to score a knockout just 95 seconds after the opening
bell. That main event contest brought in $3 million at the door, and
helped accelerate Zuffa towards MMA dominance.
Liddell’s rematch with Ortiz was the zenith for him and the UFC in 2006.
In his third title defense of the year, it was anticipated that
Liddell-Ortiz II would shatter UFC pay-per-view records — which, thanks
in some measure to Liddell, ballooned to upwards of 700,000 for a
single card in 2006 — by out-selling any pay-per-view event for the
year and topping 1-million subscriptions.
Again Liddell dominated.
After dropping the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” in the first round,
Liddell bided time while stalking on an injured knee to score a
third-round technical knockout.
Liddell joins 2005’s co-award winners Takanori Gomi and Mauricio Rua as a Sherdog.com Fighter of the Year.
Other finalists for the award were PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix winner
Mirko Filipovic , and UFC welterweight champion Georges St.
Pierre .
Fight of the Year
In a year full of in-ring wars, stand-up fights and grounded submission
battles, it was difficult to find one contest that ranked above the
rest. After much deliberation, we believe Diego Sanchez (Pictures) and
Karo Parisyan (Pictures) settled that question in August, when their
welterweight clash portrayed every aspect of a great mixed martial arts
fight.
Capping off his win by inducing the most discussed image of a flying
tooth since Gerard Gordeau punted Teila Tuli in the face, the
undefeated Sanchez solidified in the minds of many that he was the real
deal at 170 pounds, and a sure-fire challenger for the belt in 2007.
Knockout of the Year
Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) made sure fans would remember his highly
anticipated PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix semifinal bout versus
Wanderlei Silva for more than just the circumstances
surrounding the contest.
In the end, Filipovic’s effort against Silva, which will be remembered
for countless images of the Croatian plastering a left high kick into
the side of Silva’s shaven skull, remains that night’s iconic moment.
After battering “The Axe Murderer” for the first half of round one,
“Cro Cop” finally landed the dangerous kick — perhaps the single most
effective weapon in MMA outside of Liddell’s right hand — and crumbled
Silva on the spot.
Later that night, Filipovic stopped Josh Barnett to capture the GP crown.
Submission of the Year
Generally, end-of-the-year awards are published before the New Year.
But in mixed martial arts, that’s just not possible. With four major
fight cards in the 72 hours leading up to Jan. 1, Sherdog.com — and the
rest of the MMA world — had to wait before it could truly piece
together a list commemorating the year’s best.
Aren’t we glad we did? Thanks to Shinya Aoki there isn’t one award that’s easier to dole out.
During PRIDE’s “Shockwave” card, the Japanese submission maven applied
what many longtime followers of MMA have said is the first successful
gogoplata — a choke with the legs that looks like something kids might
try in the schoolyard — on former Shooto champion Joachim Hansen .
Few imagined Aoki would best his tapout-inducing flying triangle
against Clay French in November, but the rubberband-limbed
submission-grappler made it easy to forget after toying with Hansen as
if the Norwegian was a BJJ blue belt.
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