Stephan Bonnar has to be up there, he entered the year on such a roll, then came the Jardine fight, where he escaped with an iffy decision, a really lackluster defeat to Evans, and another loss to Griffin. Follow that up with his positive steroid testing, and yeah, Bonnar has a lot to reflect on in order to have a good 2007.
David Loiseau had two fights this year, and they cost him, respectively, a championship and a contract. I definitely don't agree with how they just cancelled his contract, just to add insult to injury. However, I think he might be back in a year or so.
Andrei Arlovski came into the year ranked in the Heavyweight Top 5, as a hot UFC champion...he ended the year with a surprising upset loss to Tim Sylvia and another lackluster loss to Sylvia. He needs to seriously destroy Marcio Cruz in order to get the ball rolling again for 2007, especially if CroCop and Herring are lurking in the shadows.
I would say Vitor Belfort had a really disappointing year. He lost a poor fight to Overeem in StrikeForce, and lost again at Real Deal to Dan Henderson....then he tested positive for steroids, thus barring him from fighting in the U.S. for like another year, considering the rulings of Nevada State Athletic Commission are followed like scripture by the other ruling bodies in the country. His career needs nothing less than a miracle to get revived.
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Israel Vazquez....Super Bantamweight Champ....Super Heavyweight Heart
This man is my hero.
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