On the fifth day of Christmas, Mania gave to me ... Five rounds to fight. Four fights a year. Three pay-per-views (PPVs). Two brutal head kicks. And a Brabo from underneath.
Cut me some slack -- we can't all be Bob Dylan.
Christmas day has come and gone along with four of our five Top 5 lists from 2014. Luckily, we've still got the rapidly-approaching New Year (and UFC 182) to serve as excuses for continued debauchery.
For now, though, peel your eyes away from your new iPad 15s (or whatever) because we've got the last of Mania's "5 Top 5s" right here before we usher in 2015.
Read on to find out the very best fight of this crazy 2014:
5. Kyung Ho Kang vs. Michinori Tanaka
Once in a while, you get a perfect stylistic match up that also makes sense from a rankings perspective. Kang had shown incredible potential while coming up just short in his biggest fights, while Tanaka had defeated the capable Roland Delorme in his Octagon debut, but was thus far untested.
With regard to style, both men are physical grapplers with slight differences that make them great match ups for each other. Tanaka is a powerful man who uses a grinding top game, while Kang is huge for 135 pounds and is a very opportunistic grappler with occasional positional lapses. Luckily, they were more than willing to engage on the ground at UFC Fight Night 52 back in Sept. 2014, resulting in 15 minutes of takedowns, sweeps and submission attempts, all at a furious pace.
Kang managed to scrape by and take the split decision, while Tanaka eventually lost his "Fight of the Night" bonus after testing positive for allergy medicine. I'm looking forward to seeing both of these men advance in the crowded Bantamweight division.
4. Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner
You've always got to have at least one balls-to-the-wall slugfest on these lists. Luckily, we got a good one this year.
Jamie Varner and Abel Trujillo beat the absolute stuffing out of each other in one of the few bright spots of UFC 169.
Despite both men being capable of calculated striking, all strategy went out the window immediately as they traded heavy leather. Though Trujillo dished out his fair share of punishment, it looked like Varner had just a bit more firepower and looked on the verge of overwhelming him in the second round. Out of nowhere, though, Trujillo uncorked a monstrous right hook that left Varner about as unconscious as you can be without actually being dead.
It was the first time Varner had ever been stopped with strikes.
Though neither man has tasted victory since, it was a brawl for the ages. We thank you for your sacrifice of brain cells in the service of ultraviolence.
3. Charles Oliveira vs. Hatsu Hioki
Like the aforementioned Kang vs. Tanaka bout, this was a clash of extremely skilled grapplers who thankfully failed to devolve into the sloppy striking match we see far too often. What made this worthy of being a couple of places higher was the fact that these were arguably two of the three best Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists in the division and it had a phenomenal finish to cap it off.
Both Hioki and Oliveira are lethal on the mat and both gladly entered each others' wheelhouse. We got to see one of the best guard passers in the sport take on one of the best bottom games in the sport and the result was almost two full rounds of grappling perfection.
Late in the second, Hioki managed to work his way to Oliveira's back, the most significant positional achievement of the fight. When Oliveira shook him off, Hioki shot back in immediately, leaving his neck out for Oliveira's signature anaconda choke. The Japanese veteran was forced to tap for the first time in his career, giving Oliveira the second of three wins in his breakthrough 2014.
Human chess, everyone.
2. Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2
The first fight between these two comprised a handful of strikes, a few failed takedowns, a blatant fence grab and a knee-based facial reconstruction in the last few seconds. The second fight at UFC 179 in Oct. 2014 was a back-and-forth struggle where both fighters were forced out of their comfort zones and proved themselves among the best in the world.
Both combatants immediately went to work, Mendes abandoning his recent counter-striking ways to pressure the champion with speed and power. Aldo, to his credit, showed that he hasn't forgotten how to get violent, slamming home his fair share of brutal shots. Both men scored knockdowns in the opening round, though some controversy erupted when Aldo dropped Mendes after the bell.
Aldo rode that momentum to a successful second round and seemed to have gained full control of the fight until Mendes connected with a massive right uppercut, possibly the biggest strike Aldo has taken in his entire career. Aldo, backpedaling, roared back with a right hand that took Mendes' legs out from under him.
Mendes banked the fourth round and managed to finally bring Aldo to the mat in the fifth. After that, though, Aldo secured his victory by once more owning the striking. He took the unanimous decision four rounds to one, although the width of the scores belies the entertainment the fight produced.
Aldo will most likely face either Frankie Edgar or Conor McGregor for his next defense. Either way, they'll have a pretty high bar to clear.
1. Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler2
The top two fights on this list are almost interchangeable in terms of position. What puts this one above Jose Aldo vs. Mendes 2 is its incredible tension, dramatic momentum swings and clear usage and payoff of strategies.
Hendricks and Lawler engaged almost entirely at close range during their UFC 181 rematch earlier this month, parrying each others' hands and looking to land brain-scrambling power punches. Watching two men with such an impressive track record of devastation spend such long periods of time at or within arms'-length made for a suffocatingly-tense bout.
Hendricks, generally reliant on his meteor of a left hand, surprised by immediately attacking Lawler's lead leg, a move the "Ruthless" one seemed in no hurry to deal with. Though Lawler showcased excellent head movement, avoiding most of Hendricks' punches and rolling with the ones that did connect, his unwillingness to check those leg kicks or fire back with authority allowed Hendricks to easily take the first two rounds.
After that, though, Robbie found his range and started to land those ferocious punches that have felled middleweights in the past. If there was ever a question about Hendricks' durability, Robbie answered him; some of the shots he landed simply froze Hendricks in his tracks when they should by all rights have left him a drooling mess on the canvas.
Hendricks regained his senses and pressed the attack in the fifth, and when Robbie tried to resume his head movement, he found himself unable to. Hendricks' low kicks had stripped away his ability to efficiently transfer his weight and, for once, Robbie was taking Hendricks' shots full force. A takedown in the last minute sealed the deal for Hendricks, earning him the welterweight title many heel he was wrongfully denied against Georges St. Pierre.
Though their second bout didn't produce quite the same tension, all signs point to a trilogy match between them being in the works. It will be fascinating to see how their strategies evolve.
MMA action resumes in just a few days, Maniacs. Looking forward to another ridiculous year with you lot.