T*U Fighter of the Year

COMEBACK FIGHTER OF THE YEAR (Category 3 of 9)
Although Randy will definitely get a lotta love here (and he should), he wasn't the only one that came outta the dark and took his place among the game's elite... again. You can only hold 'em down for so long until they break the leash and go kung fu (or whatever) all over your face.

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	Randy Couture UFC Left the sport as Liddell’s latest highlight reel KO only to come back and fight and dominate the biggest and baddest fighters the UFC could throw at him. Oh yeah, he did all of this at 44. // Sylvia W / Gonzaga W //
	Antoine Jaoude IFL An Olympic caliber wrestler who’s taken chunks out of his MMA career for freestyle wrestling, Jaoude has rededicated himself to MMA through the IFL and has so far ripped through everyone put in front of him. Woulda been a classic had Big Ben hung around. // Crawford W / Cole W / Christison W / Ott W //
	Chris Leben UFC It looked like Anderson Silva and then even Kalib Starnes all but buried Leben’s career, but after using Terry Martin to post up one of the best KO’s of the year and a new gig in Hawaii that has him more focused than ever, Leben looks his best yet. // MacDonlad L / Starnes L / Martin W //
	Vladimir Matyushenko IFL After falling out of favor with the UFC all the way back in ’03, The Janitor has been on just an absolute tear in the IFL, goin’ 5-0 on the year and strapping his waist with the first ever gold handed out in the IFL. // Compton W / Levens W / Stark W / Boetsch W / Schoenauer W //
	Bao Quach Shooto/KOTC He was the epitome of a journeyman and even considered by a lot of people as a gatekeeper, but shit Holmes, few turned up the heat like Bao did in ’07. His win over Fujimiya will be talked about for years to come. // Sanchez W / Payne W / Hawkins W / Fujimiya W / David W //
	Nate Quarry UFC Think there were even some rumors that Quarry had died at one point. Quarry was nowhere to be found after getting his face smashed in by Rich Franklin. It was almost a full two years before he came-back in September to KO Drago in gangsta fashion. // Sell W //
	Benji Radach IFL After almost having his jaw removed from his head by Chris Leben’s fists back in ’04, Radach has come off a three year layoff and is now in the IFL, where he’s rippin’ it up like we all remember him doin’ back in the day. Dudes got even heavier hands if that's at all possible. // McGivern W / Foster W / Marunde W / Harris W / Beauparlant W //
	Jorge Santiago Bodog/Strikeforce You woulda thought '06 was the year that Santiago got his big break, but after taking some big knocks against Leben and Belcher in the UFC's cage, it looked like his chance for stardom maxed out. Then '07 hit and Jorge blew shit up like the A Team just ran threw town. He triangled sub-guru Jeremy Horn and then just looked like a fuckin' rock star at the Strikeforce tournament. His four wins in '07 mighta been one of the most impressive undefeated runs of any fighter this year. //Semenov W / Horn W / Salmon W / Prangley W //
	Matt Serra UFC Well, first off, he won the TUF show that was actually called The Comeback, which is a good start, but after being best known in the mainstream for getting his head knocked off by Shonie, his new claim to fame is embarrassing GSP in ‘07. // Lytle W / GSP W //
	Dong Sik Yoon HERO'S He was pretty much a Pride punching bag when he made the move from judo to MMA, but after impressin’ the hell outta everyone with his win over Manhoef and then again over Galesic, the man named Dong, looks about as legit as they come. // Manhoef W / Galesic W / Fabio Silva //

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