Elsalvajeloco Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 RUSTAM KHABILOVW-KO1 (SUPLEX AND PUNCHES) vs. VINC PICHEL (The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale, December 15, 2012)W-TKO1 (INJURY) vs. YANCY MEDEIROS (UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen, April 27, 2013)W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) vs. JORGE MASVIDAL (UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3, November 6, 2013) After Jackson's MMA teammate and fellow Dagestani compatriot Khabib Nurmagomedov began turning heads in summer 2012, Rustam Khabilov blazed his own trail in the lightweight division by impressively stopping TUF alum Vinc Pichel. Pichel found himself in a precarious position time-after-time when Khabilov began suplexing him on his head and neck. While Khabilov didn't get a chance to show off his vast array of offense in his sophomore peformance against Strikeforce vet Yancy Medeiros, he did grab another victory in the octagon when Medeiros suffered a thumb injury in the first round. In his third UFC bout, Khabilov went tit-for-tat with the much more experienced Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal at UFC Fight for the Troops 3. Khabilov was able to answer questions about his cardio, endurance, and heart against the former South Florida street fighter after his first two fights didn't see a second frame. The three round netted Khabilov a share of the Fight of the Night bonus as well as his third straight UFC win. HYUN GYU LIM W-KO2 (KNEE AND PUNCHES) vs. MARCELO GUIMARÃES (UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann, March 3, 2013) W-KO1 (KNEE AND PUNCHES) vs. PASCAL KRAUSS (UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis II, August 31, 2013) Over the last five years, Korea has been a mixed bag for producing UFC talent. Former PRIDE 183 lbs. standout Denis Kang was ultimately a disappointment during his UFC tenure. Yoshihiro Akiyama has yet to collect a second win in the UFC's octagon. Dongi Yang was proven to be a non-factor in the middleweight division over his four fight run, which only yielded one win. Only Dong Hyun Kim had made multiple trips to the winner's circle while under Zuffa employ. That was before the arrival of Korean Top Team's Hyun Gyu Lim. Lim posted his first UFC win in March of 2013 with a sudden and violent knockout of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Marcelo Guimarães. Having spent much cage time in Guam prior to signing with the UFC, Lim's UFC debut in Japan was a little closer to home. However, Lim took a trip to Milwaukee in his second UFC bout to face German Pascal Krauss. While both men were several miles away from their birthplace, it was Krauss who had been training locally at the Roufusport gym. Once again, Lim was able to dispatch of his opponent with knee strikes inside the distance after some back-and-forth. The southpaw from Korea moved up the welterweight ladder and grabbed a $50k Fight of the Night bonus to go with his second UFC victory. CONOR MCGREGOR W-TKO1 (PUNCHES) vs. MARCUS BRIMAGE (UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi, April 6, 2013) W-DEC3 (UNANIMOUS) vs. MAX HOLLOWAY (UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen, August 17, 2013) Loud. Brash. Outspoken. And that's just in 140 characters or less on Twitter. Ireland's Conor McGregor has managed to issue more grandstand challenges during his UFC run than he has actual fights in his five and half years in the sport. While combat sports hasn't made a sizeable dent into the Irish market recently, the UFC seems to have all the right star making ingredients with McGregor that promoters failed to capitalize on with the likes of John Duddy, Andy Lee, and Matthew Macklin. Although sidelined with injury, McGregor has kept buzz surrounding his name by creating his own brand of trash talk. As a two division Cage Warriors champ, McGregor had earned status as one of Europe's top prospects at 155 pounds and below. It didn't hurt that a good number of his destructive performances were on YouTube and showcased his fast hands and fast reflexes. Thus, a demand for the youngster from Dublin to get a UFC shot became very real. His sub ninety second handling of American Top Team product Marcus Brimage in Stockholm got people talking. What started as a war of words at the weigh-ins turned into the derailment of Brimage's hype train by McGregor's own hype locomotive. Going into the UFC's first foray on the Fox Sports 1 platform, McGregor was in prime position to make a name for himself with a main card spot. Because the show was in Boston, McGregor made his entrance into the TD Garden with great fanfare to the strains of the Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping Up to Boston". His opponent, Max Holloway, brought his own striking arsenal with him. McGregor was just always one step of ahead of the Hawaiian slugger and used his underutilized grappling to stifle his foe. The injury to his ACL did not stop him from grabbing all three judges' scorecards for the unanimous decision win. THE REST OF THE NOMINEES: KELVIN GASTELUM W-DEC3 (SPLIT) vs. URIAH HALL (The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, April 13, 2013) W-SUB1 (REAR NAKED CHOKE) vs. BRIAN MELANCON (UFC Fight Night 27: Condit vs. Kampmann II, August 28, 2013) YOEL ROMERO W-KO1 (FLYING KNEE AND PUNCHES) vs. CLIFFORD STARKS (UFC on Fox 7: Henderson vs. Melendez, April 20, 2013) W-KO3 (PUNCHES) vs. RONNY MARKES (UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3, November 6, 2013) BRANDON THATCH W-TKO1 (STRIKES) vs. JUSTIN EDWARDS (UFC Fight Night 27: Condit vs. Kampmann II, August 28, 2013) W-SUB1 (KNEE TO THE BODY) vs. PAULO THIAGO (UFC Fight Night 32: Belfort vs. Henderson II, November 9, 2013) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 If McGregor wins.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 RUSTAM KHABILOV is your 2013 Them's Fightin' Words Rookie of the Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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