Perez's Take
PEREZ: The rise and fall of Chael Sonnen tops list of "Top Stories of 2010"
Jan 4, 2011 - 10:58:22 PM PEREZ: The rise and fall of Chael Sonnen tops list of "Top Stories of 2010"

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By: Anwar Perez, MMATorch Columnist

Throughout this week, we'll present a number of articles from MMATorch writers detailing their top ten stories of 2010. Check back throughout the week for a different perspective on the year that was MMA in 2010.

When sports fans are mostly concerned with playoff berths and bowl games, the end of a year in MMA usually means a reset button for the next year, to see where the sport will take us next. This past year was no exception as some things stayed the same, while others went out of control and changed the landscape of the sport for the foreseeable future. Here are my top 10 stories of 2010.

10. The Emergence of Frankie Edgar

Edgar came out and showed everyone that no one should doubt his skill, and dominated then-king of the lightweights, B.J. Penn. His coming out party at UFC 118 proved to the world that he is the best at 155.

9. New Blood in the UFC

Fighters such as Ryan Bader, Jon Jones, Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, and the aforementioned Frankie Edgar, showed fans new faces to cheer for, and fighters that are on the cusp of greatness in their respective divisions as they climb up the ranks, and prepare for 2011 to be their year.

8. The Dragon has been Slain

This past year also saw Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida made to look like a mere mortal as he lost both of his bouts (and his light-heavyweight championship) this year to Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson. Once thought to be unbeatable, Machida now looks rather mortal.

7. The Return of Shogun

Shogun Rua made an impact by decisively defeating Lyoto Machida for the light-heavyweight championship belt, finally realizing the potential that he has had from his days in Pride and the hype machine when he came into the UFC.

6. GSP becomes P4P King

This is opinion based sure, but you can't deny that having won every round of every fight you've been in the last three or so years as nothing short of greatness. Anderson Silva may have more in the way of dominating finishes, but Georges St. Pierre showed why he clearly is the pound-for-pound king with his overly-dominating wins over Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck.

5. Chuck Liddell Retires

Though most of the MMA world saw this coming, it wasn't until very recently that Chuck Liddell announced his retirement, taking a VP position with the UFC. Though his last few fights left fans underwhelmed when they didn't see the Liddell of old, no one can take away the fact that this sport is where it is today in part because of Liddell. Dana White and others can point to the Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fight from The Ultimate Fighter Finale to why MMA it is where it is today, but Liddell was the one in every non-MMA venture, from tv shows to commercials, and magazine articles. Thank you Chuck, and we couldn't have done it without you.

4. Fedor Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar Lose

Coming into 2010, the debate was whether or not Fedor or Lesnar was the best heavyweight in the world. As the year closed out, neither can make that claim. Fedor was in a position to lose that post once he signed on to face a more challenging opponent in Fabricio Werdum. Though Fedor was still able to ride the legacy and legend that he built from his days in Pride, Werdum was not there to relive past glories, and shocked the MMA world when he submitted Fedor. To be fair, it was something that had to happen eventually, as Fedor kept fighting opponents with less than stellar records or even credentials in MMA, and that once he faced someone of a slightly higher caliber than those fighters, he would end up losing.

As for Lesnar, coming off of a life threatening illness, he came out and shocked the world twice. Once by beating the unstoppable Shane Carwin via submission, after Carwin gassed himself out in the first round. No one thought that Lesnar could be beat if Carwin couldn't beat him. Then when Cain Velasquez showed up and showed that he would be the one to dethrone Lesnar. Velasquez defeated and pummeled the champ decisively, gaining the heavyweight championship in the process. Lesnar has not been heard from since. Two men that started the year out as being on top are now leaving fans wondering "where do they go from here, and can they recover their past glory?"

3. Strikeforce Embarrasses Themselves

Strikeforce started the year out high on themselves as they were in the position of having a network deal with CBS, plus having Fedor Emelianenko, once regarded as the greatest fighter ever, and the recent signing of legend Dan Henderson. Well, all those things blew up in Strikeforce's face. First, Henderson was heavily promoted in his fight against then Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields in their bout on CBS. Henderson was dominated during the fight and the champion Shields beat Henderson, and in the process left the organization to fight in the UFC.

As mentioned above, Fedor Emelianenko lost via submission, while their own Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has defended the belt once in about three years, and the one time he did fight for the organization, it was against a fighter that was coming off of a loss. Perhaps the biggest misstep for Strikeforce was the debacle that happened at the end of the Henderson-Shields fight on CBS. After the win, Shields was confronted by Jason "Mayhem" Miller, and what ensued on national television was a riot inside the cage. This was clearly an embarrassment for Strikeforce as they reinforced the idea that MMA is nothing more than a sport that has neanderthals running around causing trouble. Between a riot inside their own cage on national television, and two of its most heavily promoted stars being humiliated after having money spent on building the brand around them, Strikeforce looked like a sinking ship, with the rats not realizing it was sinking.

2. UFC-WEC Merger

The thought of the UFC having the WEC folded into its own brand has been something that has been talked about the past couple of years. The thought was never so high than when in April, the UFC basically used their own crew, announcers and every single resource in broadcasting in producing the WEC's first (and only) pay-per-view with Aldo vs Faber. From then on, most reporters and columnists guessed it was only a matter of time before the WEC was no more. Then it happened. The UFC announced that they would fold the WEC and bring its lighter fighters into the brand. That means more fighters, more divisions, and also, more names to their roster. They now had the likes of Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, and Jose Aldo. They can showcase these smaller fighters as big time players, and if anyone can do that, Dana White and the UFC certainly can. The last WEC event in December was bittersweet as not only was it the last WEC event ever to be held, but also, some of these fighters were fighting for jobs and an opportunity to fight in the Octagon. Some made it in, and some (Jamie Varner for example) were not so lucky. It showed that even though there were more divisions, the standards, if anything, were raised higher for fighters to fight to the best of their ability and fight against the best in the world.

1. The Rise and Fall of Chael Sonnen

No other fighter made a bigger noise this past year than Chael Sonnen. For better or worse, he was the guy to face Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Championship. After soundly dominating Nate Marquardt in February, it was only a matter of time before Sonnen would face Silva. Sonnen was always known as a "self-promoting" fighter as he trash talked everyone and their mother (Silva's manager too) on his way to the bout.

Some of the stuff said was entertaining, some could be construed as racist, others as nonsense. But then the fight came. For four rounds Sonnen dominated the champ like no one else has ever done. He was close to victory, and in the blink of an eye, he got caught, and tapped out to a triangle choke. Even in defeat, Sonnen became more respected and popular based on his ability to take it to the champ like no other. Even Dana White stated that there would be an immediate rematch.

Then, the drug tests came back. Sonnen had failed his test. High levels of testosterone were found in his system, and steroids was the reasoning for the failure according to the commission's findings. Sonnen appealed the one-year suspension that was brought down against him, and was able to get it reduced to six-months. No matter, the damage had been done. Nothing can change the fact that he tested positive for a banned substance. No matter if the substance had no bearing on the fight (similar to the idea that steroids didn't make Barry Bonds hit all those homeruns, as he still had to go up there and hit), it still looks like he cheated.

That will forever be his legacy. Even today, fighters such as Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Sean Sherk have to deal with the stigma that resulted in their failed tests. That's something that is not dismissed easily by the media or fans. Sonnen could have had a storybook year, but instead, it was turned into a nightmare by his own hands, and now 2011 is looking to bring him down even further.

Thanks for reading this past year, and it should shape up to be a great upcoming year for MMA and its fans. Thank You.