BODIE'S BREAKDOWN: MID YEAR AWARDS

DENVER — Folks, before I get to the meat of this article, I have some news to drop. Recently, I was informed by Union GP President Dante Reed that I will now be a part of Everest MMA’s broadcast team and as such, my services as a reporter will be suspended so I may focus all of my attention to the production meetings for these events. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this opportunity, I just hope I do you all proud to provide as much knowledge and entertainment as possible for these future contenders of this sport.

So now that we got that out of the way, let’s get to the reason you all are here. A few days ago, independent MMA journalist Steven Snyder released an article where he gave out his mid year rankings for all throughout the industry. I commend him for expanding the horizon because when you do, there is surely going to be a few controversies when ranking certain fighters who may never compete against each other.

There were some questions raised after reading that piece, so what I’m going to do is stick to Union Grand Prix. There’s no doubt that there are fighters all over the globe in several promotions that are deserving of the recognition, but as I said, I’m gonna stick to the company I’ve covered the last several months. Same categories will be covered that were handed out last December, so let’s jump into it.

CAMP OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: 9th World Performance Institute, Real Killas MMA, Throne MMA

Winner: The ScrapYard MMA

This one is a close call, and maybe by surprise it’s a photo finish between two newer camps. The KC based 9th World and the Ireland based ScrapYard have put together two championship reigns over the last 6+ months with damn near identical stature. 9th World is home to the undefeated Heavyweight Champ Kennard Rozier and former Middleweight Champ Asher Jrue. Rozier has slayed nearly every former champ while Jrue delivered the upset of 2019 by defeating Robert Guilliman (yearly awards had already been announced, otherwise this would have clearly won). However, the nod goes to ScrapYard for the fact that current Lightweight Champion Delaney Donovan has been cleaning out a very stout and competitive division and hasn’t lost since his lone defeat to Hanako Takeuchi at UGP 11 on May 11, 2019. On top of that, Double D currently has the most wins in a Union GP Octagon with 12. Another big reason is Dallas Meechan, current Bantamweight Champion. Playboy quickly made a name for himself during the 2019 Championship Grand Prix, where he made it to the finals before falling to inaugural Champ Lauren Moore. Meechan would rebound with a big win over Lena Lyons before beating Zari Aliyah for a second time to capture the strap. Meechan then avenged his loss to Moore in his first title defense, insisting on the matchup which shows some incredible moxie.

PROSPECT OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Nigel Musgrove, Ricardo Sandoval, Maliyah Lyons

Winner: LA Brooks

There’s been a lot of great talent signed through 2020 which will yield an exciting future. Anyone one of these fighters mentioned could pull ahead and make some big noise, but for me I gotta go with the big man, LA Brooks. The Big Bad Kaiju quickly showcased his terrifying power by rolling to a 3-0 record with three knockouts all inside the first round. A lot of people were clamoring for a potential matchup with Heavyweight Kennard Rozier after Brooks smashes former inaugural champ Ferdinand Diao. Instead, he got matched up against two-time Heavyweight Champ Derrick La’Bell, and we finally realized that Brooks is human after all. Nobody questioned his standup striking, but La’Bell took him to the ground and proved to be an uncharted territory. Brooks got overpowered with a barrage of ground and pound with La’Bell’s signature “hellbows” capping the fight with a TKO loss for Brooks. If this guy can work on his ground game, or just avoid the few grapplers in the division, Brooks has a chance to get back into contention and possibly compete for a title before the year is over.

COMEBACK OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Zari Aliyah, Travis Decker, Kelsi Morrow

Winner: Lena Lyons

One thing that has become a common occurrence for Lena Lyons, is that her MMA career has seen a lot of peaks and valleys. It’s been difficult for her, since she turned pro, to string together a solid win streak. Thugga was looking to cap off 2019 with a win, but unfortunately a torn meniscus gave her a loss via TKO stoppage against Yasmine Vermeulen. Luckily, the injury wasn’t as serious as many had feared, and was able to rehab completely without the need for surgery within two months. In her return back from injury, Lyons stacked up two big wins against some of the division’s top contenders and now she’s staring down a title fight on the horizon in a rematch against Dallas Meechan. If Lena can even the score with Playboy while capturing championship gold, there’s no question Lena is deserving of this award.

SUBMISSION OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Isabel Azevedo (Triangle from Mount vs Unais Cox), Ardan Kelly (Americana vs Michael Santos), Randall Wade (Kimura vs Josiah Euphrates)

Winner: Asher Jrue (Armbar vs Ricardo Sandoval)

It’s been a bit of a down year so far for highlight reel submissions. It’s probably due to the fact that the man that won this award last year, Jordan Parker-Kane, just recently announced his retirement, but the subs have been few and far between. So far through 6+ months, Asher Jrue takes it and not necessarily because the submission was so extraordinary, but because of the circumstances. After beating Guilliman in stunning fashion to finish 2019, Jrue lost in the immediate rematch and two more after that. So coming into his fight against a fast rising contender in Ricardo Sandoval, Asher needed a win in the worst way possible to stop the bleeding. The fight did not go in his favor for the first two rounds, and it looked like this once burning bright prospect was fading out fast. Sandoval had imposed his will for two rounds and much of the third. However, right around the halfway mark of the third and final round, Asher was able to slip in a textbook armbar to secure the win and end his three-fight skid. Asher now has one fight left on his contract, and if he plans on seeing a pay raise in his next deal, another spectacular submission finish would certainly do the trick.

KNOCKOUT OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Rozier (all of them), Joseph Byrne (vs Harmon Janssen), LA Brooks (vs Ferdinand Diao)

Winner: Natalie King (vs Byron McCall)

This list of KO contenders are mostly filled with flash knockouts out of nowhere, but the one I decided to pick was one that had the most impact and meaning. After an unsuccessful bid at the Middleweight Title, Byron McCall decided to move down to Lightweight and embark on a new journey to a Union Title reign. His first bout at 155 put him right in line for a title shot as he took on the powerful former champ Natalie King. The Bandit has been sitting in limbo at the number one ranking spot since her second loss to Delaney Donovan at UGP 17 and many wondered if she would ever get another crack at the title while Double D holds the throne. When this fight was announced, it seemed like whoever won this fight would go on to face Donovan, and many leaned toward McCall if for nothing else than to see a new contender for the title. However, King did what she’s become known to do and finished McCall off in just over two minutes. A once tantalizing future for McCall was quickly put to an end, and after scoring his third loss in a row, whispers of retirement started to loom. McCall finished out his contract in a second Lightweight fight, this time against Erick Costa, and was able to clinch a victory with a second round TKO head kick. After this fight McCall announced his retirement, and though many fighters waffle back and forth on this major decision, he sounded pretty content with the choice and we very well may have just seen the last of “The Last”.

UPSET OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Dallas Meechan (vs Lauren Moore), Zion Momo’a (vs Asher Jrue), Dang Tay (vs Kelsi Morrow)

Winner: Asher Jrue (vs Robert Guilliman) | Dallas Meechan (vs Lauren Moore)

Okay, so this is my hot take that may ruffle some feathers, or at least cause some confusion, because this fight actually took place at the tail end of 2019. I make this pick solely because the 2019 awards were announced just days before this fight took place and didn’t get a chance to be considered. It absolutely deserves the recognition because a young and relatively unknown Simba shocked the world and took the veteran Primarch into deep waters with a 4th round KO stoppage to capture the 185 pound title. But, if I have to pick a fight in 2020 for this category, then I take the rematch of Dallas Meechan vs Lauren Moore. As I’ve mentioned before already, Meechan lost to Moore at UGP 17 with a 4th round KO stoppage for the inaugural crown. After rebounding and capturing the title from Zari Aliyah, Meechan made a fearless request and wanted Moore as his first defense. A lot of people thought this was a bold, maybe even borderline cocky, call out, but it’s one Dally wanted back. He finished Moore in the second round and cracked a few ribs in the process and now Meechan is no longer considered an underdog, but the ruler of the 135 pound division.

FIGHT OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Ardan Kelly vs Michael Santos (Boss Fight XVIII), Zari Aliyah vs Dallas Meechan (Boss Fight XVII), Zion Momo'a vs Asher Jrue (UGP 19)

Winner: Delaney Donovan vs Bellamy DeSilva (UGP 21)

Throughout the first half of the year, we have all witnessed some nail biters, flash KOs, wrenching submissions, and wild decisions on the scorecards. However, looking through the events of 2020, my pick for fight of the mid year goes to Donovan vs DeSilva, which just happened. Could be some recency bias, sure, but what we all expected in that fight and what was actually delivered were nowhere close. Everyone expected Donovan to try and keep the fight standing and finish off his opponent through his blazing striking prowess; while on the flip side DeSilva would take it to the ground and work that submission magic. The latter was the case, or at least the pace through an entire five round bout. DeSilva recorded double digit takedowns (13) and threw subs all night and kept it on the ground for over FOURTEEN minutes! However, the amazing part of it all was the fact Donovan was able to hold his ground while being, well, on the ground. The ten minutes that the fight was standing, Donovan was able to land some solid combos and counters to eventually tip the judges scores in his favor in a split decision victory. No, this fight didn’t produce fireworks like Donovan’s first fight with Natalie King did that earned the 2019 Fight of the Year honors, but for anyone who can digest and dissect the ground game of MMA knows this was a grueling chess match that the champ was able to narrowly overcome.

FIGHTER OF THE MID YEAR

In the Hunt: Delaney Donovan, Roscoe Robinson, Robert Guilliman

Winner: Kennard Rozier

And finally, my Fighter of the Mid Year pick. Take one quick look at the names I listed alongside the winner, and you’ll quickly notice that all of these fighters have a lot in common, most notably defending their titles multiple times this year. When you see this list of fighters and look back at what they have accomplished, I don’t think you would find too many arguments if any of these names were selected as Fighter of the Mid Year. However, I had to go with one, and my pick went to undefeated Heavyweight Champion Kennard Rozier. Since winning the 2019 Championship Grand Prix and exploding on the scene, he’s successfully defended the strap three times, more than any other former champ. Not only did he defend his title, he did so in dominating fashion. Three defenses with three first round knockouts, it’s hard to argue that “Pluggz The Great” doesn’t deserve to sit atop this pedestal.

So, what’d you all think? Did I get it right, or do you see it differently? Let me know your selections on Twitter or commenting on this article. Signing off for now, but I’ll see you all again this weekend in The Mile High City for Everest // Denver and Boss Fight XX!