| 30 December 2009
With another year almost in the books, it is time for The MMA Manifesto to hand out its Best of 2009 awards. Next up - Fighter of the Year.
We've reached the end of our awards gala which means it is time to hand out the big hardware - The 2009 MMA Manifesto Fighter of the Year. Surely someday this award is to be as coveted as a Grammy or an Oscar or even a Noble Peace Prize. There were plenty of fighters to choose from this year from various promotions all over the world. The eventual winner is one of the world's best pound-for-pound MMA fighters and he proved it this year. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is....
If you don't recognize that handsome man, that would be the UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. GSP only fought twice in 2009 but he made them both count, knocking off two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He started things off by forcing B.J. Penn's corner to throw in the towel during their UFC 94 bout (GSP dominated that fight whether he really was greased as Penn's camp suggests or not). Then he knocked the tar out of young gun Thiago Alves at UFC 100. Two bouts, two of the world's best fighters humbled by St-Pierre. It's not just the fact that GSP beat these two great fighters, but rather it's the manner in which he beat them. St-Pierre outclassed both Penn and Alves, dictating how both fights were played out and totally bullied both men. He was bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled than his opponents, which, when considering how good Alves and Penn are, is an enormous accomplishment.
With not much opposition left for him in the welterweight ranks, St. Pierre might have to jump up to middleweight to find an interesting fight. But all that is for another day - for today, GSP is the King of 2009.
Others worth noting: Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, B.J. Penn, Anderson Silva.
Other 2009 award winners: Submission of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Fight of the Year.
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