I, like Nick Diaz and Rory MacDonald, am a big fan of the Joe Rogan podcast. While I'm typically excited to see a new episode on itunes or joerogan.net featuring one of my favorite guests like Joey Diaz, Bert Kreisher, or Ari Shaffir, I nearly went bananas when i saw Americas favorite gangster Chael Sonnen as the featured guest on episode #216. It's an interesting listen, primarily because Chael does break his typical character to have a roughly 3 hour, very candid conversation that covers a myriad of topics including TRT, Bigfoot, the real identity DB Taylor and plenty more.

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It came down to 1 vote, but Mania has selected Shogun Rua's KO of Lyoto Machida as the 2010 KO of the year. The voting was close between Shogun/Machida, Daley/Smith, and Condit/Hardy with 3 votes seperating 1st from 3rd. There was absolutley no love (other than me and 1 other maniac) for Garza's flying knee KO, but I can't say I didn't see that comming.

For tonights poll we look at Breakout fighters of 2010. While the definition of breakout fighter is fairly objective I will attempt to give a little guidance, but feel free to ignore my oppinion (ass holes) ;). A breakout fighter is someone who was a blip on the map just a year ago and rose into contention through a series of wins. In my oppinion this should not include prospects like Jon Jones and JDS who have been on the map for some time now, but to keep everyone happy they will be included in the poll. So whether you agree with me or not vote on the 2010 breakout fighter of the year. 

*UPDATE- I neglected my Bellator buddies so I added Hector Lombard and Ben Askren to the Poll. If you wish to change your vote let me know in the comments section.

Voting has officially closed on the SOTY poll and you guys have deemed Fabricio Werdum's upset Triangle/Armbar over Fedor as your 2010 submission of the year. It came down to just a 2 vote margin of victory over Anderson Silva's clutch triangle. Although it was close Werdum taking submission of the year is definatley justified.

Aside from the submissions, 2010 was filled with plenty of spectacular KO's. Vote for whichever impressed you the most. Be it a dynamic and graceful, a spectacular comeback, a shocking upset, or just a plain brutal beatdown. There were so many to choose from so I decided not to include TKO's. Only out cold knock outs. Feel free however to vote for any of them by selecting other and detail it in the comments section. So I ask, What was your favorite KO of 2010?

You guys called it and Anthony Pettis vs Ben Henderson is your 2010 fight of the year. Maybe it was because it was so recent, or possibly it was the showtime kick, but whatever the reason you guys named the back and forth 5 round war Fight of the Year.

 Moving on to further business, 2010 saw many excelent submissions. Some where innovative and creative, comeback thrillers, upsets, or just plain impressive to watch. So what was your favorite submission of 2010? Were you impressed with Anderson's last minuit clutch performance? Or possibly you guys think Werdum's monumental upset deserves the SOTY nod. Who knows, may be you like one of the many innovative or flashy moved pulled off in 2010. Whatever the case it's your chance to decide maniacs. Have at it.

Sorry for being late on this one, but I after a long day of being outside in the cold I didn't feel like typing anything up after the fights. You guys have spoken and named Cain Velasquez as your 2010 fighter of the year.

 First off I'd like to say I was blown away by the main event last night. What a way to close out the WEC! A back and forth war in both the striking and grappling deparments that saw both fighters have moments of success in every frame. And do I even need to say anything about the showtime kick? I think at this point everything has been said. But now to the matters at hand. 2010 has had plenty exciting fights. The nomenees include back and forth technical wars, slugfests, and thrilling comebacks. Rather than set any major criteria for FOTY I'd rather everyone just vote for whatever fight was the funnest. Which fight thrilled you the most. I'm also going to add an (other) option in todays poll after many readers remarked I left people out of the last poll. Please clarify in the comments section if you select other.

 Before last night my vote would have been for sure Silva vs Sonnen, but after that performance by Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis I'm not sure. But my opinion doesn't matter, it's what you guys decide! So without further ado:

Well Maniacs, 2010 is coming to a close and what a year it was. Many thrilling performances, some great upsets, spectacular knock outs and crazy submissions highlighed a bigger and better year for MMA. I plan on putting a new poll question up every day over the next week for you guys to vote on the years best in various categories. Tomorrow's poll will be up after the WEC card to ensure we don't exclude any potential candidates. 

These will include:

1. Fighter of the Year

2. Fight of the Year

3. Submission of the Year

4. KO of the Year

5. Breakout star of the year

6. Biggest story of the year

7. Biggest Balls of the year

It's being reported that Anderson Silva will likely be out until next year which makes an immediate rematch with Chael Sonnen or a fight with #1 contender Vitor Belfort unlikely in the near future. Inspired by discussion I had on the thread about Chael getting an immediate rematch I decided to give my best Joe Silva impression and give a few Matchups that I like and my reasoning behind them. Feel free to post your own matchups as well.

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I was wondering if some of the guys who dominated PRIDE and made the move to the UFC in the twilight of their careers will be recognized in the UFC Hall of Fame. Guys like Big Nog, Wandy, and Cro Cop who had so many achievements and accolades when the best fighters in the world were in Japan, but came to the UFC late in their careers with mixed results. I feel these legends should be recognized for their achievements outside the UFC. I understand if Dana doesn't want to honor every great PRIDE fighter, but I think he owes it to the fighters who came over to the states and fought for the UFC. You can even make the argument that Mark Coleman's fights outside the UFC contributed a good deal to his bid into the Hall [his UFC career alone probably doesn't constitute a Hall of Fame resume]. These guys contributed greatly to the success of MMA and therefor the success of the UFC as well. Fighters who made their legend in Japan and came stateside in their later years deserve to be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame. 

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If BJ Penn defends his title against Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 there will be much talk about what is left for him at Light Weight. I'm sure many (including myself) would like to see him jump up to 170 and make some exciting matchups there. The UFC seems on board even after stating over and over again that Light Weight is where BJ belongs. But I for one am a little tired of shelling out 44.99 to see BJ beat the pulp out of whatever challenger is foolish enough to try and take the belt away from him (just a little tired, still get plenty of enjoyment out of it). So anywho it got me thinking about who I'd like to see him fight at 170 and I thought I'd pass the question on to you guys.

There were some pretty good knock outs this year. What was your favorite? For the most part I think the best ones happened primarily in the UFC, but there may be some ones in Japan that have slipped my mind. If that is the case than please fill me in on the comments section. 2009 has been good to the world of MMA and lets hope 2010 is even better. Happy new year Maniacs, and may it be filled with joy and bring you great cheer! 

There has been talk of a WEC pay-per-view event for a couple of years now. If they want to do it they're really going to have to stack the card with some big name fights [and probibly some money rematches]. I think the possibilities are entertaining and there are prospects for some good fights. I wish they'd make it cheeper, but they wont. How many of you guys would shell out another 45 bucks?

Like many of you guys I can't think of who BJ should fight next. To me there aren't very many compelling  matchups for him at lightweight, but like most of you I feel another run at the welterweight belt seems a little premature. The way he has obliterated the competition and the way he was crushed by GSP leaves BJ in an awkward spot. With that being said who ever, when ever BJ fights I will be watching.

How about it guys? Little Nog was reportedly offered Vera for UFC 110 and said he was happy with the date, but not happy with the opponent [being that Vera is comming off a loss]. Well isnce it appears that Jones didn't sustain any injuries in his DQ loss why not throw him in there with Little Nog. Nog probibly has an advantage standing, but Jones will hav so much reach on him. On the mat it's Jones' ground and pound [which was on full display last night] against the submission game of Little Nog. To me it's a dream fight and the winner should definatley be put in the top 5 and in the front line of the title picture.