A team of writers at Inside Fights has worked together to decide upon this year’s awards for the individuals and organizations in the sport of mixed martial arts that went above and beyond the competition. Categories include Fighter of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, and several other important awards to give credit where credit is due.

The series will be broken down into four parts, with this section following up parts one and two with “Knockout of the Year” and “Submission of the Year”.

Submission of the Year

This award goes to the most impressive, scientific and dynamic submission of the year.

Winner: Toby Imada’s inverted triangle choke against Jorge Masvidal at BFC 5

Everyone’s calling it the best submission of the year, and quite possibly the best submission of all time. Just when Masvidal thought he was out of harm’s way with Imada slung over his shoulders, Imada sunk his left leg under Masvidal’s neck and the inverted triangle choke was expertly applied before Masvidal even knew he was in trouble. Masvidal was too stunned to tap out, so he stood there while he was forced into unconsciousness. His body flopped over and revealed his purple face much to the satisfaction of the fans and definitely Imada.

Knockout of the Year

The “Knockout of the Year” award goes to the owner of the most brutal knockout strike (whether it be a kick, knee or a punch) of the year.

Winner: Dan Henderson’s right-hook knockout shot against Michael Bisping at UFC 100

As opposing head coaches of hit Spike TV program “Ultimate Fighter”, it was natural and almost necessary for Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping to build up heat for their fight at UFC 100. Although there were bigger rivalries on previous Ultimate Fighters (Ortiz/Shamrock and Pulver/Penn), none were more intense than Bisping and Henderson’s.

For the first time in the show’s history, The Ultimate Fighter pit two nations against each other: United States of America vs. United Kingdom. Michael Bisping, who is quite the cocky bloke, saw this as an opportunity to get under the skin of former American olympian Dan Henderson by talking an incredible amount trash. One week it was tales about how Bisping’s British fighters were superior to Henderson’s American fighters, and the next it would be about how Henderson should be the underdog because everyone was underestimating Bisping’s knockout power. All this time, Hendo kept quiet besides the witty comebacks because he knew his time of revenge would come when they were across from each other in the octagon.

“He has his big right hand; I don’t think he’s gonna land that big shot. I very rarely get hit. I’ve never been dropped, I’ve never been knocked out. And if he does, this hand will be there to block it, and this hand will be right there to counter.” Michael Bisping on the Countdown to UFC 100.

When bell-time rolled around, both fighters were pumped by Bisping’s antics and were looking for the knockout victory. After eight minutes and twenty seconds of Michael Bisping circling to his left, he eventually walked into Dan Henderson’s right hand. Needless to say, he didn’t have “this hand” to block it, nor did he have his other hand to throw the counter. Henderson’s right hand sent Bisping to the canvas in what was the knockout punch of the year, and followed it with another concussion-worthy right for good measure.

2009 Inside Fights MMA Awards – Part 1
2009 Inside Fights MMA Awards – Part 2

Stay tuned to Inside Fights for Part 4 of our award series for 2009.

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