2011 Year End Awards
We are counting down the 2011 Year End Awards, and today we bring you four more; MMA Upset of the Year, Comeback Fighter of the Year, Year’s Greatest Moment, and the Annual South Shore Award (Top MMA School)!
I hope you are all enjoying the best of 2011.
From Old School

2011 MMA UPSET OF THE YEAR – Chuck “Cold Steel” O’Neil
Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis once had an eleven fight win streak and was the UFC gate keeper at 170 lbs. But after hitting a rough spell he was cut loose by the UFC; since that time he had built a nice three fight win streak and was banging his way back to the big stage. Chuck “Cold Steel” O’Neil was supposed to fly to Miami, Florida, defend himself well enough to call it a good effort, try not to get busted up too badly, collect his paycheck, and come back home to New England and get on with life as one of the top Welterweight MMA fighters in New England. But Chuck wasn’t supposed to actually beat The Irish Hand Grenade. Well, Chuck O’Neil and his camp (Mass Bjj / Gracie Barra NH) just never got the memo.
Saturday Night, October 15, on the W-1 Reloaded Show in the Sunshine State, Chuck took the fight right to the heavily favored Davis. He worked the jab and kept the fight long in the first round. “I actually cut him a little in the first round,” said Chuck. He kept the pressure right to him and in the third round he busted Marcus up real good! “I smashed him good in the third; I put a huge hole in his head.” When the fighting was done the only part that wasn’t bloody was the soles of Davis’ feet; and chuck O’Neil left the cage that night with a decision win over one of the most well recognized Welterweights in the world!
Several top NorthEast regional fighters had recently taken on UFC veterans, but none could really figure out the puzzle. O’Neil knew going into this fight that, despite being a huge underdog, he had a game plan that could work, and he executed it nicely. The win put Chuck back on the UFC radar and in the NorthEast MMA #1 slot at Welterweight; right where he belongs.

2011 COMEBACK FIGHTER OF THE YEAR – Todd “The Hulk” Chattelle
(Comebacks are all about turning things around.)
For those of you who are just plain sick and tired of reading about this guy, too bad! In 2010, Todd went 1-2 and his only win came against then 0-4 Glenn Reeves. In 2011, Todd embarked upon a four fight win streak, beating two ranked Middleweights, the former top ranked Welterweight, and one New England MMA legend. Names like Nader, Oteri, Rivera, and Weatherby were left in his wake as The Hulk found himself on top of the Middleweight pile and all dressed up as Rhode Island’s first ever MMA Title Holder!
Todd was the overwhelming favorite of the committee as he earned more votes than the other nominees combined
CES MMA matchmaker Patrick Sullivan told me that Todd has never turned down an opponent. “He just takes every fight that I put in front of him; he’s the easiest guy to work with,” says Patrick. I guess that means that we can look forward to seeing more of Todd in 2012.
Nice going, Champ!

GREATEST MMA MOMENT OF 2011 – Nick Newell beating Denis Hernandez
What makes a great MMA moment often times is when one of our own gets to display his skill set (one that NorthEasterners have become familiar seeing) on a much bigger stage, thus opening the eyes of the MMA world outside of our own neighborhood. Joe Lauzon did this back in 2006 when the unknown kid took a fight on short notice and made his UFC debut, shocking the MMA world with a first round KO of former World Champ Jens Pulver.
Notorious Nick Newell and his Fighting Arts Academy team and family descended upon Tampa Florida on December 2nd. Nick Newell v Denis Hernandez was to be the Featured Fight on the XFC 15 fight card. Notorious Nick, who is becoming more notorious every day, pulled a crazy submission via heel hook that not only won him NorthEast MMA Submission of the Year but also left perpetual MMA talking head Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg without words for the first time ever. This was a huge win for Nick, but Nick was probably the favorite in this fight. The one aspect that really makes this the NorthEast MMA Greatest Moment is that, in only a few weeks, it is approaching two million You Tube views.
This event not only represents a break out point in Nick’s MMA career, but it also serves as an inspiration to millions of viewers world wide who need to overcome challenges that are associated with being different. Nick was born without most of his left arm and has had to adapt and overcome his whole life. His freshman year of high school resulted in a 6-22 record. (Four of those six wins were because the other team didn’t have a wrestler at Nick’s weigh class.) Nick would go on to All-State honors (as a junior and senior) and a college wrestling career.  He is currently 6-0 in his Pro MMA career and is ranked #5 in the region.
To say that Nick has adapted and created his own style in and out of the cage is a huge understatement; but now the rest of the free world knows this too.
I will be on the look out for more Notorious things in 2012!
Old School

TOP MMA SCHOOL OF 2011 – South Shore Sport Fighting
(Their JV team could beat your varsity!)
SSSF has made this their annual school award. Despite the presence of Sityodtong, FAA, and Team Link, South Shore still took home all the votes except six. (We have 23 members on this committee.)
In 2011, SSSF had their fighters on every stage. Josh Grispi was slated to fight for the UFC Featherweight Title, but Champ Jose Aldo came up injured and the fight was scratched. Their fighters hold regional belts on the Pro and Amateur stages. Their fighters appear across the Pro and Ammy rankings in a variety of weight classes. They have fighters winning on practically every fight card in New England. Heck, their retired guys make up a whose who of MMAssociates. (At 145 lbs, they are ranked 1 & 2 Ammy, they have three of the top ten Pro, three retired guys who could come back tomorrow and have an impact, and their best 145er is in the UFC!) Nicknames; they have Thunder Kitten, CupCakes, Sloppy Joe and The Fluke. Their towel boy is probably a bad ass with a cool Nickname.
South Shore has become the annual no brainer for Top MMA Team of the Year!
‘Nuf said!
Old School