AFTER LOOKING AT the first half of the UFC’s biggest year to date last week it’s now time to see what the second half of the year had in store and it started out with one of the biggest shocks in UFC history.
July
Everything seemed to be going to script for the UFC in 2013. Jon Jones and GSP had already defended their titles and at UFC 162 Anderson Silva was fully expected to do the same. But Chris Weidman had different ideas. The seemingly invincible Silva had been troubled and unexpectedly taken down in the first round of their fight and when he was caught by Weidman in the second a faux leg wobble turned into a full blown KO as Weidman took advantage of some play acting on “Spider’s” part.
The KO was Silva’s first ever UFC defeat and went down as one of the biggest upsets in UFC history possibly second only to Weidman’s coach, Matt Serra, when he KO’s GSP. On the same card Norman Parke saw off Kazuki Tokudome to improve his UFC record to 2-0.
The month finished with another successful title defence and more plaudits for the ever-improving flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson while Robbie Lawlor and Melvin Guillard provided the fireworks with spectacular KO victories.
YouTube credit: UFC
August
We began with Jose Aldo maintaining his long running unbeaten record with a KO victory over Chang Sung Yung as Phil Davis Phil overcame Lyoto Machida in a close battle in the light heavyweight division.
Chael Sonnen embarrassed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by choking him out in the first round of their bout as Travis Browne condemned Alistair Overeem to back-to-back KO losses.
The reputation of Conor McGregor continued to grow as he caught the eye of a whole new American audience on Fox Sports and in Boston as he dominated Max Holloway en route to a unanimous decision victory, a feat that was all the more impressive after out turned out that he blew his knee out during the fight.
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Carlos Condit closed the month off proving he was still a top contender in the welterweight division as he saw off Martin Kampmann while Kevin Gastelum continued to show great potential by choking out Brian Melancon in the first round of their bout.
UFC 164 saw another title exchange hands as Anthony Pettis produced one of the performances of the year to dethrone Ben Henderson within a round. Josh Barnett made easy work of Frank Mir and Chad Mendes became the first man to stop Clay Guida via strikes.
YouTube credit: ArmyVtrN
September started with Glover Teixeira and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza proving they are the Brazilians to watch in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions respectfully with Teixeira earning a shot at Jon Jones after his win over Ryan Bader.
Jones was a little lucky to hold on to his belt later on that month as Alexander Gustafsson looked to have finally done the impossible and beat the American only for the judges to score the bout in Jones’ favour.
Renan Barao saw off the latest challenger to his interim belt Eddie Wineland with a perfectly timed spinning back kick as Khabib Nurmagomedov crept up the lightweight ladder with his third UFC victory of 2013.
YouTube credit: ZedFlashy
October
Cain Velasquez proved to be too strong for Junior dos Santos once more as he finished the year with the UFC heavyweight title still around his waist. Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez offered up a fight of the year performance at the same event with Melendez coming out of top of an absolute slugfest.
John Dodson showed that he was ready for another crack at Demetrious Johnson as he saw off Darrell Montague inside a round as Hector Lombard finally began to find his feet in the UFC with a win over Nate Marquardt.
YouTube credit: jey k
November
Coming into this fight, Jonhy Hendricks was perceived to be the biggest threat to GSP’s crown in years and the proved to be the case as “Bigg Rigg” dismantled the champ but somehow walked away as the loser.
GSP shocked everyone by seemingly announcing his retirement in the Octagon after, robbing the fans of the spectacle of a re-match and Johny Hendricks a chance at redemption. Rashad Evans easily overcame Chael Sonnen as Robbie Lawlor finished 2013 with a 3-0 record as he saw off Rory MacDonald.
YouTube credit: SuperNightmare900
December
It was so unfortunate that the year should finish on such a sour note with Anderson Silva’s horrific leg injury bringing down the curtain on what had been a fantastic 12 months for the UFC. Hopefully Silva can return to full health before seeing about making a comeback into the Octagon.
Elsewhere the flag-bearer for women’s MMA, Ronda Rousey continued to armbar her way into the record books as she saw off her long-time foe Meisha Tate. The year also finished well for Travis Browne as elbowed his way to victory over Josh Barnett.
Uncaged: Looking back on the UFC's biggest ever year
AFTER LOOKING AT the first half of the UFC’s biggest year to date last week it’s now time to see what the second half of the year had in store and it started out with one of the biggest shocks in UFC history.
July
Everything seemed to be going to script for the UFC in 2013. Jon Jones and GSP had already defended their titles and at UFC 162 Anderson Silva was fully expected to do the same. But Chris Weidman had different ideas. The seemingly invincible Silva had been troubled and unexpectedly taken down in the first round of their fight and when he was caught by Weidman in the second a faux leg wobble turned into a full blown KO as Weidman took advantage of some play acting on “Spider’s” part.
The KO was Silva’s first ever UFC defeat and went down as one of the biggest upsets in UFC history possibly second only to Weidman’s coach, Matt Serra, when he KO’s GSP. On the same card Norman Parke saw off Kazuki Tokudome to improve his UFC record to 2-0.
The month finished with another successful title defence and more plaudits for the ever-improving flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson while Robbie Lawlor and Melvin Guillard provided the fireworks with spectacular KO victories.
YouTube credit: UFC
August
We began with Jose Aldo maintaining his long running unbeaten record with a KO victory over Chang Sung Yung as Phil Davis Phil overcame Lyoto Machida in a close battle in the light heavyweight division.
Chael Sonnen embarrassed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by choking him out in the first round of their bout as Travis Browne condemned Alistair Overeem to back-to-back KO losses.
The reputation of Conor McGregor continued to grow as he caught the eye of a whole new American audience on Fox Sports and in Boston as he dominated Max Holloway en route to a unanimous decision victory, a feat that was all the more impressive after out turned out that he blew his knee out during the fight.
Carlos Condit closed the month off proving he was still a top contender in the welterweight division as he saw off Martin Kampmann while Kevin Gastelum continued to show great potential by choking out Brian Melancon in the first round of their bout.
UFC 164 saw another title exchange hands as Anthony Pettis produced one of the performances of the year to dethrone Ben Henderson within a round. Josh Barnett made easy work of Frank Mir and Chad Mendes became the first man to stop Clay Guida via strikes.
YouTube credit: ArmyVtrN
September started with Glover Teixeira and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza proving they are the Brazilians to watch in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions respectfully with Teixeira earning a shot at Jon Jones after his win over Ryan Bader.
Jones was a little lucky to hold on to his belt later on that month as Alexander Gustafsson looked to have finally done the impossible and beat the American only for the judges to score the bout in Jones’ favour.
Renan Barao saw off the latest challenger to his interim belt Eddie Wineland with a perfectly timed spinning back kick as Khabib Nurmagomedov crept up the lightweight ladder with his third UFC victory of 2013.
YouTube credit: ZedFlashy
October
Cain Velasquez proved to be too strong for Junior dos Santos once more as he finished the year with the UFC heavyweight title still around his waist. Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez offered up a fight of the year performance at the same event with Melendez coming out of top of an absolute slugfest.
John Dodson showed that he was ready for another crack at Demetrious Johnson as he saw off Darrell Montague inside a round as Hector Lombard finally began to find his feet in the UFC with a win over Nate Marquardt.
YouTube credit: jey k
November
Coming into this fight, Jonhy Hendricks was perceived to be the biggest threat to GSP’s crown in years and the proved to be the case as “Bigg Rigg” dismantled the champ but somehow walked away as the loser.
GSP shocked everyone by seemingly announcing his retirement in the Octagon after, robbing the fans of the spectacle of a re-match and Johny Hendricks a chance at redemption. Rashad Evans easily overcame Chael Sonnen as Robbie Lawlor finished 2013 with a 3-0 record as he saw off Rory MacDonald.
YouTube credit: SuperNightmare900
December
It was so unfortunate that the year should finish on such a sour note with Anderson Silva’s horrific leg injury bringing down the curtain on what had been a fantastic 12 months for the UFC. Hopefully Silva can return to full health before seeing about making a comeback into the Octagon.
Elsewhere the flag-bearer for women’s MMA, Ronda Rousey continued to armbar her way into the record books as she saw off her long-time foe Meisha Tate. The year also finished well for Travis Browne as elbowed his way to victory over Josh Barnett.
YouTube credit: Andrew Man
Irish photographer steps in to save the day after Harrington’s caddie falls ill
Star man Chris Hadfield tries his hand at hurling in Dublin
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