Most Disappointed Fighter (Male): Mirko Cro Cop

Although some have always felt that Mirko has always been more hype than substance since crossing the bridge from K-1 to MMA, the octagon proved to be this kickboxer's worst nightmare. The cage against the heels definitely demands a great ground game and Mirko failed to deliver to the fans. Smothered by a mid talented Cheick Kongo, and KO'd by his own round house to the head make him without a doubt the most disappointed fighter of 2007.

runner-ups: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Denis Kang, Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Most Disappointed Fighter (Female): Gina Carano

runner-up: Yoko Takahashi

Gina Carano is a gem for the entire MMA industry so let's hope, in the year 2008; she can set a good standard and became a raw model for the kids. Remember making the contract weight is mandatory to become a professional athlete in combat sports. Or perhaps she can always fight at 145 lbs & under? Yoko Takahashi is a veteran but lost to her own disciple HIROKO in a title fight. HIROKO just made a pro debut in November 2006 but a year later, Yoko already can't handle her? It was very disappointing and makes you wonder about the quality of women MMA fighters at the heavier weight classes.

Sakuraba vs. Funaki was another dream match that came at least five years too late.

Best Promotion (male): WEC

Runner-up: HERO'S / DYNAMITE!!

Everyone knows by now that the UFC is by far the biggest MMA organization in the world. Nothing comes even close to their success. In fact beside the UFC and King of the Cage, I can't think of any promotion that has actually made a good profit. Of course, this promotion has the full backing of Zuffa not only financially but also from production to marketing to everything else. Their show on TV looks just like Ultimate Fight Night but in blue. Yes, blue is the key word. Zuffa knows marketing and branding better than anybody else in this industry. They were very successful in branding the UFC and now the blue version of the UFC is probably the most watched MMA show in the country besides the UFC. Almost like the Bushido series under PRIDE but even better in terms of branding. Now, the general public sees the blue Octagon, and they think "Oh that is Ultimate Fighting" and then later will probably realize that this MMA show is also promoted by Zuffa, and this show was established to concentrate on lighter weight classes, and discover talents in the middle weights. So it’s a blue version of the UFC, and that is the WEC. And the next thing we know, Zuffa dominates the two leagues in the industry. UFC and WEC. Is this like one owner controlling both the American League and National League? Well, at least it seems like this is going towards that direction. Is this a monopoly? Not yet. Not as long as Elite XC keeps spending money to acquire promotions signing old guards like Ken Shamrock, and not yet until another giant named K-1 / FEG closes its shop called HERO'S. FEG is struggling to make HERO'S bankable but the show still has a national broadcasting contract and after all, besides the UFC and WEC, which other organization has super stars? Maybe Elite XC but at this point, we still have to give an edge to HERO'S promoted by FEG. Brock Lesner, Marcelo Garcia, Hong Man Choi, J.Z. Calvan, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Denis Kang, KID Yamamoto, and many others fought in HERO'S. So what can we expect from HERO'S next year? There is a rumor circulating in the Japanese TV world that HERO'S will no longer be on prime time because the rating was below the average in 2007. If this is true then that is going to be a big blow to HERO'S. But there is one other resort and that is "grand coalition." After the back stage negotiation in regards to the New Year's Eve show it seems like now FEG controls many fighters who used to fight in PRIDE. Does this mean HERO'S is getting fighters like Takanori Gomi and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai? Or Tanikawa is maybe closing HERO'S to establish a new promotion with the old DSE group? Either way, in 2008, we can expect some big changes in terms of HERO'S.

Although Roger Gracie has began his MMA rise through BodogFIGHT, he has already moved on.

Worst Promotion (male): bodogFIGHT

runner-up: Cage Fury

Not only a ship of fools, but a ship lined in gold, this organization should have been charged in civil court for cutting off forty fighters from their fights in the summer of 2007, which were first postponed and then cancelled without explanation. Now this organization only buys advertising rights in other existing shows and promotions.

Best Promotion (female): Smack Girl

Runner-up: Fatal Femmes Fighting

There aren't many promotions out there with women’s MMA bouts so choices were limited, so out of Elite XC, BodogFight, Hook n Shoot, Fatal Femmes Fighting, K Grace, Smack Girl, and a few others we ended up with two promotions and those were, Smack Girl and Fatal Femmes Fighting. Sure BodogFight had more top match-ups of women‘s MMA fighters than anybody else, while Elite XC brought the most attention to female mixed martial artists from the US TV viewership than any other promotion, but no one was more consistent than Smack Girl. The purse may not be the highest in today's standards but Smack Girl is the only female MMA promotion in the world that maintained more than seven shows per year since 2002. Considering how the WEC only promoted seven shows in 2007, the exact same number as the Smack Girl shows, we all have to recognize here that Smack Girl must be doing something right.

Eddy Mills' California-based Fatal Femmes Fighting surprised everyone with top-notch production and world-class fighters from the very first inaugural show in February 2007. This didn't slow down a bit for the next two shows so let's hope this show will continue into 2008 because women's MMA needs more promotions.

Truly a conceptual mixed martial artist, Minowaman is striving towards cartoon super hero stardom.

Entertainment Spirit Award

(Male) Minowaman

When MMA fighters are not hung up on their records and are instead interested in challenging themselves and the odds it makes for very interesting possibilities in the eyes of the fans. Minowaman, the superhero does not mind taking a beating and will take on the largest of foes in the MMA ring.

(Female) Megumi Yabushita

When winning is no longer the point but entertaining the spectators with intense athleticism and competiton you call Megumi Yabushita. Yabu doesn't care how large or capable her opponent is, she can almost always guarantee tossing her oponnent through the air like a rag doll and demonstrating the spontaneous power of judo.

Fighters to Watch in 2008: Lyoto Machida, Josh Barnett, Roger Gracie, Frank Edgar, Roger Huerta, Chris Horodecki, Jorge Masvidal, Rodrigo Damm, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Pang Sung Hwan, Dae Won Kim, Thiago Silva, Kazuo Misaki, Akihiro Gono, KJ Noons, Daniel Tabera, Ginele Marquez, Carina Damm, HIROKO, Su Hi Ham.

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