10 Things to Remember from 2007

This was a big year for the sport. 2006 really marked an explosion into the spotlight for the sport and '07 was an opportunity to show that we're not going anywhere. While there's alot to be said, both good and bad, for the things that went on this year, there was certainly no shortage of interesting goings on. Both in the cage and in the boardroom, the sport showed some serious change. Here's the highlight reel from 2007:

10) BJ Penn returns to 155 pounds, the weightclass that he had long deserted, the fight Jens Pulver. The rematch between the two fighters was, brief, and BJ finished with a rear naked choke in the second round, but the proof that Penn is back in the mix was only solidified further when the UFC offered him the chance to fight Joe Stevenson for the Interim Lightweight title at the beginning of the 2008 year.

9) Dan Henderson comes to the UFC to unify the first UFC and Pride titles. He lost his fight as the 205 pound representative of the Pride hardward to UFC champ Rampage Jackson, but his next unifying fight at 185 pounds with Anderson Silva will reveal whether or not he really is the champion of champions in his natural weight class.

8) Anderson Silva defends his title three times, demolishing everyone the UFC has to throw at him without even spending the full length of a title fight in the cage. Anderson's wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt and Rich Franklin came together in a total time of less than 20 minutes, and Anderson continues to be a complete wrecking ball in the 185 pound weight class.

7) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson shocks the world by making quick work of then UFC lightheavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, putting Liddell to sleep less than two minutes into the opening round of their fight.

6) Sean Sherk tests positive for steroids, becoming the highest profile trial in the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While his appeal has been postponed repeatedly, there is little to do other than to see what becomes of the UFC 155 pound champion.

5) Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou bursts on to the MMA scene when the man everyone thought was a stepping stone connected with a right hand to the face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, one of the unstoppable brothers Nogueira. It was the first time one of the brothers had lost a fight without the judges and it showed that anything can happen.

4) Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell finally comes to fruitition, and the long awaited striker vs. striker matchup takes place in the Octagon. Liddell won a decision over Silva in a fight that showcased his jaw, but also showed Silva's skills as a counterpuncher. While the fight didn't occur in the prime of either fighter, Liddell vs. Silva was still an exciting matchup that had the kind of back-and-forth pace that is hard to count on in this sport.

3) Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic gets knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga, making Gonzaga an undisputed force in the sport and leading people to question the power of CroCop, once thought to be the undisputed champion of heavyweight striking. In the wake of his loss to Gonzaga, CroCop dropped a decision to Cheick Kongo, but few things have shocked MMA fans more than seeing Gonzaga's right shin catch the Croatian squarely on the dome.

2) Matt Serra upsets Georges St. Pierre to become the UFC Welterweight champion, making the reality show winner perhaps the biggest underdog of the turbulent year to pull out his win. More impressive, in reality, was the way that he did it; knocking out St. Pierre in the first round.

1) Zuffa buys the Pride Fighting Championships, making the UFC the largest organization in the world by far and resulting in the buyouts of half a dozen top ten contracts from the former Pride roster. While there's some contreversy about what this did for the sport, whether it created a UFC monopoly, created the potential for some serious, high caliber matches or a little bit of both remains to be seen, but it has changed the entire landscape of the sport both in South-East Asia, where there are a handful of shows now emerging to fill Pride's space, and in North America, where the quality of fighters is quickly improving.