Surprise Fighter of the Year

[The Sandmen]

Surprise Fighter of the Year

Select Two (2)

Carlos Condit (25-14)
- 6-0 on the season
- won MW

Shogun Rua (22-16)
- 5-1 on the season
- refreshing resurgence, given his BRUTAL past few seasons

Din Thomas (7-11)
- entered season 3-9
- 4-2 on the season

Tim Sylvia (11-9)
- 3 fight win streak to start the season; ended 3-2
- won HW N1C tournament

Ian McCall (3-3)
- entered season 0-1
- 3-2 on the season
- big upset wins Jeremy Stephens & Diego Sanchez

[xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club]

Sylvia & McCall... no brainer here.

[The Sandmen]

I think Condit. You tell me before this season he will go 6-0, win (then defend) the MW championship, I would be incredibly skeptical.

Sylvia levelled out after his 3 fight win streak with 2 losses, and McCall is still basically a rookie, so we don;t really have expectations for him at all yet.

[xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club]

I don't think that Condit was AS much of a surprise as most of the others on the list.

[The Sandmen]

Condit - had his shots at the belt (somewhat) and failed. He proved he is upper mid-level. This season, he came out as elite.

Rua - SHOULD be good, but has been under performing

Din Thomas - He had a good season, deserves to be on the list

Tim Sylvia - great start, but his flaking off at the end ruined any "surprise fighter" vote I would have given him

Iam McCall - as i said, never really tested, only had 1 fight before this season. His upsets were huge, and will get my vote for upset, but he still lost fights (against weaker opponents than he beat) so his upset is clearly a fluke.