Dana White har presenterat sin egen, högst personliga, tio i topp-lista över årets bästa matcher. Det finns många intressanta detaljer i den, men man kan även fråga sig varför det saknas åtminstone ett par riktigt spektakulära fighter i mister Whites lista.
Dana White rundar av året med att på UFC:s hemsida presentera en egen och i allra högsta grad personlig tio i topp-lista där han sammanfattar årets, i hans tycke, bästa fighter som har utkämpats i UFC:s regi. Det är en lista på fighter som spänner över hela 2015 och som på så sätt ger oss alla den bild av hur mister White ser på det år som om drygt ett dygn är till ända och därmed läggs till historiens arkiv. Hela listan finns att ta del av här nedanför.
Det är extra kul för oss svenskar att Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson under UFC 192 hamnar på en andra plats i listan. Den toppas annars av Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald under UFC 189. Den enda kvinnliga fighten på Whites lista är Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano under UFC 184..
Det finns trots allt några frågetecken som man måste ställa sig efter att ha tagit del av Whites lista. Det saknas nämligen minst ett par riktigt spektakulära fighter. Man kan till exempel fråga sig varför Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm under UFC 193 inte finns med. En annan ögonbrynshöjande fight som inte heller finns med är Jose Aldo vs Conor McGregor under UFC 194. Vad tror du att det beror på? Finns det andra matcher som också saknas på Dana Whites lista?
Här kommer årets matcher, enligt Dana White.
1) Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald UFC 189 den 11 juli
Dana Whites motivering: “Ruthless Robbie has done it again! He was my pick for the fight of the year in 2014 for the first fight with Johny Hendricks, and has done it again in 2015 with the brutal battle he had with Rory MacDonald in the co-main event of UFC189. You’re supposed to wait a few years before saying these kinds of things… but I think this fight will go down in history as one of the greatest fights ever in the UFC.”
2) Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson UFC 192 den 3 oktober
Dana Whites Motivering: “Another classic from the 205lbs division: Both guys came into this fight looking to prove something. DC wanted to underline his status as the champion while Gus wanted to go one better than in his previous title shot. I know this fight is a lot of people’s pick for fight of the year, and I wouldn’t really argue with them. I can’t say enough great things about this fight. It was awesome.”
3) Andrei Arlovski vs Travis Browne UFC 187 den 23 maj
Dana Whites motivering: “This was even better than we all expected. It was 281 seconds of mayhem. This was one of the easiest picks for “fight of the night” I had to make all year.”
4) Brian Ortega vs Thiago Tavares UFC Fight Night den 6 juni
Dana Whites motivering: “Not too many undefeated young fighters are calling out tough veterans like Thiago Tavares – but that’s what Brian Ortega did. The result was the best fight of the year from the lower weight classes.”
5) Conor McGregor vs Chad Mendes UFC 189 den 11 juli
Dana Whites motivering: “The story of how this fight was put together was almost as big a roller-coaster ride as the fight itself. Conor landed some nasty strikes right from the start but was taken down and ate a ton of elbows on the ground. McGregor was put on his back, roughed up, and cut. But Conor is turned it around, winning an amazing fight to cap off one of the most exciting shows of 2015.”
6) John Lineker vs Francisco Rivera UFC 191 den 5 september
Dana Whites motivering: “This was an insane back and forth brawl. These guys threw over 100 punches at each other in less than 120 seconds. I’ve never seen two fighters try to end a fight with one punch so often inside two minutes. This was crazy to watch.”
7) Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano UFC 184 den 28 februari
Dana Whites motivering: “This was the fight where a lot of people thought we’d finally see Ronda get pushed to the limit. Cat Zingano came in as the undefeated no.1 contender, she’d stopped Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes in her previous two fights and she’s the nastiest striker in the division. Instead, ronda beat her toughest opponent in 14 seconds.”
8) Patrick Cote vs Josh Burkman UFC Fight Night den 23 augusti
Dana Whites motivering: “Fighting in his native Canada, cote picked the perfect time to score his first UFC knockout in seven years. In the second round these two just decided to throw leather and see who came out on top. In the end, it was Cote with a great KO.”
9) Charles Oliveira vs Nik Lentz UFC Fight Night den 30 maj
Dana Whites motivering: “This was a rematch from the controversial 2011 fight – but there was nothing controversial about this result – and there’s nothing controversial about putting this battle in the top 10 fights of the year.”
10) Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier UFC 182 den 3 januari
Dana Whites motivering: “This was one of the biggest fights of 2015, and the biggest fight for the 205lbs title since the days of Chuck Liddell. Everyone knows the story about these two hating each other… and the excitement in the arena on the night was unreal. DC landed some bombs early on but “Bones” made adjustments and, in the end, won the decision by negating DC’s wrestling.”
