Make your pick for the biggest upset of 2017 in Bloody Elbow’s Year-End Awards.
Over the next few days, Bloody Elbow is going to ask for your opinion on some of the best things that have happened in the MMA world over the course of 2017. There will be a total of eight different categories you’ll be asked to vote on. For the sake of simplicity we’re going to stick with high-level and relevant MMA stuff in these posts. While I’m sure there was a ludicrous knockout in an unscheduled MMA event at The Lumberyard strip club in Des Moines, or an insane pancreas lock submission on an obscure ZST! card in Japan, let’s just stick to stuff a lot of us have seen, okay? (If that spiel looked familiar, it’s because I’ve used the same one for seven years in a row. Originality? What originality?)
It’s pretty simple. I’ll post 5-10 options in a category, you vote for what you think was the best. If you think I left something really important off my list, post it in the comments and we can add it to the poll if it’s deemed worthy. I can almost guarantee you won’t like all my suggestions, but narrowing down these lists is tough.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get onto the third poll – the biggest upset of 2017. As usual in MMA, you can never tell who is going to win even if you think you have a good idea. Here are some of the most unlikely outcomes of the year.
Before that though, if you haven’t yet, go back and vote on the first two categories – Best Submission and Biggest Robbery.
Ulka Sasaki stuns Justin Scoggins, UFC Fight Night 111 – This one flew under the radar but was a huge shock at the time. Despite having similar UFC records, Scoggins had faced much stronger competition and had been in and out of the rankings. Sasaki was more than a 4-1 underdog, but picked up a second-round submission win and a performance bonus to boot.
Josh Emmett knocks out Ricardo Lamas, UFC on Fox 26 – Emmett got the short-notice bout with Lamas and he definitely made the most of it. Despite missing weight, he cracked his highly-ranked opponent with a huge left hook that left him in an unconscious heap.
Darren Elkins stops Mirsad Bektic, UFC 209 – Bektic was a very legit prospect and was a very big favorite coming into the bout with the workmanlike Elkins, despite Elkins being on a three-fight winning streak. And for two rounds, it looked extremely one-sided. Bektic bloodied Elkins up badly in the first and continued to kick his ass in the second. Then Elkins came alive. He landed some shots, then a huge head kick, and he got the highly improbable finish win with less than two minutes left.
Volkan Oezdemir dusts Misha Cirkunov, UFC Fight Night 109 – Oezdemir was coming off a UFC debut where he barely beat OSP. Cirkunov was 4-0 in the UFC and only a fight or two away from a title shot. But in just 28 seconds, Cirkunov was unconscious on the mat.
Felice Herrig over Alexa Grasso, UFC Fight Night 104 – This was another case of highly-touted prospect taking on an established fighter who hadn’t done a ton in the UFC. But Herrig fought extremely well and picked up a deserved decision victory.
Rose Namajunas knocks out Joanna Jedrzejczyk, UFC 217 – This was just shocking. Thug Rose clubbed the strawweight queen with a left hook, then bombarded her with strikes until the champ tapped out. In the first round. To win the UFC women’s strawweight title as a 5-1 underdog.
Brent Primus defeats Michael Chandler, Bellator NYC – Odds-wise, this was the biggest upset of the year in MMA. Primus was in the +750-+850 area, fighting a guy most considered to be a top-ten lightweight in the world. The outcome of this fight is pretty simple to describe – Chandler hurt his leg, and even though he dropped Primus on a bum wheel, the fight was called off fairly quickly due to injury and Primus was the new Bellator lightweight champion. Then Chandler tried to sit on his stool but his cornerman had taken it away, which led to one of the funnier moments of the year in MMA when he fell on his ass.
John Moraga stops Magomed Bibulatov, UFC 216 – Bibulatov was the hottest prospect in the UFC flyweight division. Moraga had won just one of his last four bouts and was basically fighting to keep his job. But, despite being a big underdog, Moraga came out and destroyed Bibulatov with a punch, ending the fight at just 1:38 of the first round.