Please vote for what you feel was the best MMA Event of the year 2008. The nominees are below. If you feel I left a deserving event out of the choices, then feel free to choose "Other" in the poll and state the event you feel should win this category. Thank you for participating.
UFC 84: Ill Will was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 24, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Results
Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin
Carwin defeats Wellisch via KO (Punch) at 0:44 of Round 1.
Welterweight bout: Jason Tan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Kim defeats Tan via TKO (Elbows) at 0:25 of Round 3. This preliminary fight was not shown on the broadcast.
Lightweight bout: Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim
Clementi defeats Etim by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 29-28. This preliminary fight was not shown on the broadcast.
Welterweight bout: Jon Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Yoshida defeats Koppenhaver via submission (Anaconda Choke) at 0:56 of Round 1.
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
Palhares defeats Salaverry via submission (Armbar) at 2:36 of Round 1.
Light Heavyweight bout: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Sokoudjou defeats Nakamura by TKO. Nakamura is not able to continue after the end of Round 1.
Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Silva defeats Mendes by Submission (Strikes) at 2:22 of Round 1.
Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Machida defeats Ortiz by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 30-27.
Light Heavyweight bout: Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Reljic defeats Gouveia by TKO (Strikes) at 3:15 of Round 2.
Light Heavyweight bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Silva defeats Jardine by KO (Punches) at 0:36 of Round 1.
Lightweight Championship bout: Champion B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
Penn defeats Sherk by TKO (Knee & Punches). Sherk is not able to continue after the end of Round 3.
EliteXC: Primetime was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Elite Xtreme Combat taking place on May 31, 2008 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The main card aired live on CBS, marking the first time a MMA event aired in primetime on major American network television. The event featured Robbie Lawler defending his EliteXC Middleweight Championship against Scott Smith.
Results
Preliminary card
Bantamweight bout: Mike Groves vs. Joe Sampieri
Sampieri defeats Groves via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Zach Makovsky vs. Andre Soares
Makovsky defeats Soares by unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 29-28, 29-26 and 29-26.
Bantamweight bout: James Jones vs. Calvin Kattar
Jones defeats Kattar by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:49 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Wilson Reis vs. Justin Robbins
Reis defeats Robbins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:06 of round one.
Lightweight bout: Matt Makowski vs. Nick Serra
Makowski defeats Serra by TKO at 3:57 of round two, when Serra was unable to get back to his feet.
Heavyweight bout: Carlton Haselrig vs. Carlos Moreno
Haselrig defeats Moreno by TKO between the first and second rounds, when Morena was unable to continue.
Lightweight bout: Jim Bova vs. Chris Liguori
Liguori defeats Bova by TKO (cut) at 4:31 of round two.
Main card
Heavyweight bout: Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers
Rogers defeats Murphy via TKO (punch) at 1:01 of round one.
Middleweight bout: Phil Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor
Villasenor defeats Baroni by TKO (punch) at 1:11 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Carano defeats Young by TKO (doctor stoppage) between the second and third rounds. Young was examined by the doctor after the end of the second round, who called for the fight to end.
Middleweight championship bout: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
The fight was ruled in a no contest at 3:26 of round three. Smith took an inadvertent finger to the right eye as Lawler was attempting to block punches. Despite being given time to recover by referee Dan Miragliotta, the doctor called for the fight to end out of concern for Smith's vision. The rules state that a title fight must last at least three full rounds, or result in a no contest. Lawler remains EliteXC Middleweight Champion.
Heavyweight bout: Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Slice wins in controversial TKO over Thompson. The third round started with referee Dan Miragliotta stopping the bout after a punch Slice landed to the left side of Thompson's head burst his heavily cauliflowered ear. Four uncontested shots later, a standing Thompson was summarily judged to be TKO'd and the match was called at 38 seconds into the third round; despite near the end of the second round, Kimbo took several hard elbow shots from Thompson on the mat.
WEC: Faber vs. Pulver was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 1, 2008 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event, announced on WEC 33, was a bout between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber for WEC Featherweight Championship. WEC 34 was aired live on Versus.
Results
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Danny Castillo
Cerone wins via submission due to armbar. This fight aired on the live broadcast before the WEC Bantamweight Title Fight.
Featherweight bout: Mike Thomas Brown vs. Jeff Curran
All three judges score the bout 30-27 for a unanimous decision for Brown.
Bantamweight bout: Chase Beebe vs. Will Ribeiro
The judges score the bout 29-28, 29-28 & 28-29 for a split decision for Ribeiro.
Light Heavyweight bout: Tim McKenzie vs. Jeremy Lang
McKenzie wins via triangle choke at the 0.40 mark of round three.
Welterweight bout: Luis Sapo vs. Alex Serdyukov
Serdyukov wins via TKO between the first and second round as Sapo is unable to continue.
Featherweight bout: Jose Aldo vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira
Aldo wins via TKO at 3:22 of the second round.
Bantamweight bout: Dominick Cruz vs. Charlie Valencia
The judges score the bout 30-27, 29-28, & 29-28 for a unanimous decision for Cruz.
Main Card
Featherweight Championship bout: Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
The judges score the bout 50-45, 50-44 & 50-44 for a unanimous decision for Faber. This bout tied for fight of the night with Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda's fight.
Bantamweight Championship bout: Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Torres wins via TKO (Injury) at 5:00 of the third round. This bout tied for fight of the night with Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver's fight.
Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Grigsby vs. Mark Munoz
Munoz wins via KO (Strikes) at 4:15 of the first round.
Lightweight bout: Kenneth Alexander vs. Rob McCullough
The judges score the bout 30-27, 30-27, & 28-29 for a split decision for McCullough.
Affliction: Banned was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Affliction Clothing and Adrenaline MMA. It took place on July 19, 2008 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The card at Banned featured many of the top MMA heavyweight fighters.
The main event was the return of Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fighting against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Emelianenko submitted Sylvia thirty-six seconds into the first round to win in convincing fashion. Afterward Emelianenko was crowned the first Heavyweight Champion of the new World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) independent sanctioning body. After the fight, Randy Couture entered the ring and Emelianenko expressed his desire to fight Couture next. The event also saw victories by former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett, with Barnett avenging an earlier loss to Pedro Rizzo, and by former UFC Light-heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Former UFC standout Matt Lindland and former Pride FC standout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also won.
Also appearing at the event was heavy metal band Megadeth, who performed live. The announcer was Michael Buffer. The disclosed total fighter payroll for the event was $3,321,000.
Results
Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Gary Goodridge
Buentello defeats Goodridge via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).
Light heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Edwin Dewees
Noguiera defeats Dewees via TKO (strikes) at 4:06 of round 1.
Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin
Belfort defeats Martin via KO (punches) at 3:12 of round 2.
Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle vs. JJ Ambrose
Pyle defeats Ambrose via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:55 of round 1.
Main card
Light heavyweight bout: Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
Sobral defeats Whitehead via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Middleweight bout: Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
Lindland defeats Negao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27).
Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young
Hominick defeats Young via submission (armbar) at 4:25 of round 2.
Heavyweight bout: Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Barnett defeats Rizzo via KO at 1:44 of round 2
Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell
Arlovski defeats Rothwell via KO at 1:13 of round 3
WAMMA Heavyweight Championship bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Emelianenko defeats Sylvia via submission (rear naked choke) at 0:36 of Round 1 to win the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship.
UFC 84: Ill Will
UFC 84: Ill Will was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 24, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Results
Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin
Carwin defeats Wellisch via KO (Punch) at 0:44 of Round 1.
Welterweight bout: Jason Tan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Kim defeats Tan via TKO (Elbows) at 0:25 of Round 3. This preliminary fight was not shown on the broadcast.
Lightweight bout: Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim
Clementi defeats Etim by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 29-28. This preliminary fight was not shown on the broadcast.
Welterweight bout: Jon Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Yoshida defeats Koppenhaver via submission (Anaconda Choke) at 0:56 of Round 1.
Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
Palhares defeats Salaverry via submission (Armbar) at 2:36 of Round 1.
Light Heavyweight bout: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Sokoudjou defeats Nakamura by TKO. Nakamura is not able to continue after the end of Round 1.
Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Silva defeats Mendes by Submission (Strikes) at 2:22 of Round 1.
Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Machida defeats Ortiz by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 30-27.
Light Heavyweight bout: Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Reljic defeats Gouveia by TKO (Strikes) at 3:15 of Round 2.
Light Heavyweight bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Silva defeats Jardine by KO (Punches) at 0:36 of Round 1.
Lightweight Championship bout: Champion B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
Penn defeats Sherk by TKO (Knee & Punches). Sherk is not able to continue after the end of Round 3.
EliteXC: Primetime
EliteXC: Primetime was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Elite Xtreme Combat taking place on May 31, 2008 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The main card aired live on CBS, marking the first time a MMA event aired in primetime on major American network television. The event featured Robbie Lawler defending his EliteXC Middleweight Championship against Scott Smith.
Results
Preliminary card
Bantamweight bout: Mike Groves vs. Joe Sampieri
Sampieri defeats Groves via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Zach Makovsky vs. Andre Soares
Makovsky defeats Soares by unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 29-28, 29-26 and 29-26.
Bantamweight bout: James Jones vs. Calvin Kattar
Jones defeats Kattar by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:49 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Wilson Reis vs. Justin Robbins
Reis defeats Robbins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:06 of round one.
Lightweight bout: Matt Makowski vs. Nick Serra
Makowski defeats Serra by TKO at 3:57 of round two, when Serra was unable to get back to his feet.
Heavyweight bout: Carlton Haselrig vs. Carlos Moreno
Haselrig defeats Moreno by TKO between the first and second rounds, when Morena was unable to continue.
Lightweight bout: Jim Bova vs. Chris Liguori
Liguori defeats Bova by TKO (cut) at 4:31 of round two.
Main card
Heavyweight bout: Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers
Rogers defeats Murphy via TKO (punch) at 1:01 of round one.
Middleweight bout: Phil Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor
Villasenor defeats Baroni by TKO (punch) at 1:11 of round one.
Bantamweight bout: Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Carano defeats Young by TKO (doctor stoppage) between the second and third rounds. Young was examined by the doctor after the end of the second round, who called for the fight to end.
Middleweight championship bout: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
The fight was ruled in a no contest at 3:26 of round three. Smith took an inadvertent finger to the right eye as Lawler was attempting to block punches. Despite being given time to recover by referee Dan Miragliotta, the doctor called for the fight to end out of concern for Smith's vision. The rules state that a title fight must last at least three full rounds, or result in a no contest. Lawler remains EliteXC Middleweight Champion.
Heavyweight bout: Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Slice wins in controversial TKO over Thompson. The third round started with referee Dan Miragliotta stopping the bout after a punch Slice landed to the left side of Thompson's head burst his heavily cauliflowered ear. Four uncontested shots later, a standing Thompson was summarily judged to be TKO'd and the match was called at 38 seconds into the third round; despite near the end of the second round, Kimbo took several hard elbow shots from Thompson on the mat.
WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver
WEC: Faber vs. Pulver was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 1, 2008 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event, announced on WEC 33, was a bout between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber for WEC Featherweight Championship. WEC 34 was aired live on Versus.
Results
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Danny Castillo
Cerone wins via submission due to armbar. This fight aired on the live broadcast before the WEC Bantamweight Title Fight.
Featherweight bout: Mike Thomas Brown vs. Jeff Curran
All three judges score the bout 30-27 for a unanimous decision for Brown.
Bantamweight bout: Chase Beebe vs. Will Ribeiro
The judges score the bout 29-28, 29-28 & 28-29 for a split decision for Ribeiro.
Light Heavyweight bout: Tim McKenzie vs. Jeremy Lang
McKenzie wins via triangle choke at the 0.40 mark of round three.
Welterweight bout: Luis Sapo vs. Alex Serdyukov
Serdyukov wins via TKO between the first and second round as Sapo is unable to continue.
Featherweight bout: Jose Aldo vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira
Aldo wins via TKO at 3:22 of the second round.
Bantamweight bout: Dominick Cruz vs. Charlie Valencia
The judges score the bout 30-27, 29-28, & 29-28 for a unanimous decision for Cruz.
Main Card
Featherweight Championship bout: Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
The judges score the bout 50-45, 50-44 & 50-44 for a unanimous decision for Faber. This bout tied for fight of the night with Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda's fight.
Bantamweight Championship bout: Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Torres wins via TKO (Injury) at 5:00 of the third round. This bout tied for fight of the night with Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver's fight.
Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Grigsby vs. Mark Munoz
Munoz wins via KO (Strikes) at 4:15 of the first round.
Lightweight bout: Kenneth Alexander vs. Rob McCullough
The judges score the bout 30-27, 30-27, & 28-29 for a split decision for McCullough.
Affliction: Banned
Affliction: Banned was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Affliction Clothing and Adrenaline MMA. It took place on July 19, 2008 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The card at Banned featured many of the top MMA heavyweight fighters.
The main event was the return of Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fighting against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Emelianenko submitted Sylvia thirty-six seconds into the first round to win in convincing fashion. Afterward Emelianenko was crowned the first Heavyweight Champion of the new World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) independent sanctioning body. After the fight, Randy Couture entered the ring and Emelianenko expressed his desire to fight Couture next. The event also saw victories by former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett, with Barnett avenging an earlier loss to Pedro Rizzo, and by former UFC Light-heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Former UFC standout Matt Lindland and former Pride FC standout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also won.
Also appearing at the event was heavy metal band Megadeth, who performed live. The announcer was Michael Buffer. The disclosed total fighter payroll for the event was $3,321,000.
Results
Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Gary Goodridge
Buentello defeats Goodridge via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).
Light heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Edwin Dewees
Noguiera defeats Dewees via TKO (strikes) at 4:06 of round 1.
Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin
Belfort defeats Martin via KO (punches) at 3:12 of round 2.
Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle vs. JJ Ambrose
Pyle defeats Ambrose via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:55 of round 1.
Main card
Light heavyweight bout: Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
Sobral defeats Whitehead via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Middleweight bout: Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
Lindland defeats Negao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27).
Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young
Hominick defeats Young via submission (armbar) at 4:25 of round 2.
Heavyweight bout: Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Barnett defeats Rizzo via KO at 1:44 of round 2
Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell
Arlovski defeats Rothwell via KO at 1:13 of round 3
WAMMA Heavyweight Championship bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Emelianenko defeats Sylvia via submission (rear naked choke) at 0:36 of Round 1 to win the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship.
