Debbie Lee, UFC - Jamais desistir. Translation: Never quit. The Portuguese phrase is inked handsomely across the underside of Thiago Silva's right forearm in black. It's one of many tattoos that blanket the 27-year-old's body, but this one serves a specific purpose, reminding him to always press on in the face of adversity.
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Elliot Worsell, UFC - The nickname 'Semtex' implies that the threat of an opponent isn't the only thing that can blow up in the face of Paul Daley on fight night.
Even when presented with an opponent more than capable of shattering his dreams, Daley refuses to recognise or concern himself with the danger. Blessed with an abundance of natural ability and Octagon-based tools, Daley only fears the prospect of his own car not starting.
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Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Sure, Gilbert Yvel is 33 years old and a 12 year veteran of pro mixed martial arts, but the Holland native's old school cred goes even further than that.
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Mike Russell, UFC - Maybe it's because he's not a flamboyant fighter who reverts to smack talk to earn himself press or maybe it's because he hasn't been christened with a sinister sounding nickname like Pitbull or The Axe Murderer; whatever the reason might be, Jake Ellenberger is sick of being a mixed martial artist on the cusp of being a household name. If everything goes according to his plans, all of that will soon change and the 24-year-old Nebraska native will go from fighter on the fringe to fighter in the title contention fray of the UFC's welterweight class in 2010.
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Frank Curreri, WEC - There was an epiphany, nearly three years ago, when Bryan Caraway discovered his true potential as a mixed martial artist. He had journeyed to Albuquerque, New Mexico to test his mettle at Greg Jackson's gym for a week-and-a-half. The former college wrestler sparred and rolled with standouts Diego Sanchez, Damacio Page and Leonard Garcia, who was preparing for a UFC collision with Roger Huerta.
That's when it happened - the compliment of a lifetime.
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Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Fresh from a two minute, five second victory over Ryan Roberts on December 4th in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, Duane Ludwig was settling in for the holidays and winding down with his family in a local shopping mall a few weeks ago, and like many of us, he was getting his 2010 to do list together.
First on the list - get back to the UFC.
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Debbie Lee, UFC - Believe it or not, the transition from computer wiz to MMA fighter isn't that much of a stretch. Listen to Joe Lauzon elaborate on his former role, and he may as well be talking about the latter.
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Elias Cepeda, UFC - Mark Munoz is running late today. Helping a friend whose car has run a flat tire out on the road has put the UFC middleweight a bit behind schedule, but the friendship is hardly an inconvenience for Munoz.
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Chuck Mindenhall, UFC - Hard to believe, but Cole Miller was the second least-fighterly presence on the Ultimate Fighter 5; the first was Joe Lauzon, who beat Miller in the quarterfinals that season. Even if you squinted, neither guy was what you'd call "imposing," and neither talked very effective smack. Miller's nickname is "Magrinho"—which means "skinny" in Portuguese, so designated by American Top Team owner Ricardo Liborio because of his lanky 6-foot-1 frame—and Joe was described by Dana White as looking like a computer nerd.
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If a regular old picture is worth a thousand words, a good MMA shot has to be worth millions. When the speed of the shutter coordinates perfectly with the action inside the Octagon, the results are thrilling and sublime -- not mention suitable for framing.
So we pored through every fight picture from 2009 to find the most exciting images, which we whittled down to the top ten shown here. (Click on any picture to see it full-size.)
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