Just over three quarters through the year, we have seen a number of stunning Mixed Martial Arts upsets in 2009. Using publicly posted oddsmaker lines to rank them, Tapology has compiled a list of the year’s top 20 upsets to date. From newcomer Joe Warren’s improbable victory over Kid Yamamoto in the Dream featherweight tournament, to veteran Mark Coleman defying father time against Stephan Bonnar, there have been plenty of upsets to keep fight fans on their toes.
The rankings are based on the oddsmaker money line for the favorite in each fight. The greater the line, the greater the potential upset. Odds are taken from multiple sportsbooks to come up with an average. If a fight took place without any publicly posted odds, it didn’t qualify for this list.
Some notable stats: 10 of the top 20 upsets were caused by a KO or TKO. 9 took place in Japanese promotions Dream and Sengoku. The top upset this year to date took place this past Saturday night at WEC 43, where huge favorite Waggney Fabiano lost via triangle choke submission against newcomer Mackens Semerzier.
| Rank | Loser Odds | Loser Name | Winner Odds | Winner Name | Result | Fight Date | Event Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -715 | Wagnney Fabiano | +465 | Mackens Semerzier | Round 1 Submission | 10/10 | WEC 43 |
| 2 | -568 | Hayato Sakurai | +428 | Marius Zaromskis | Round 1 KO/TKO | 7/20 | Dream.10 |
| 3 | -550 | Norifumi Yamamoto | +400 | Joe Warren | Decision | 5/26 | Dream.9 |
| 4 | -500 | Brock Larson | +423 | Mike Pierce | Decision | 9/16 | UFC UFN 19 |
| 5 | -478 | Ikuhisa Minowa | +358 | Katsuyori Shibata | Decision | 4/5 | Dream.8 |
| 6 | -476 | Josh Koscheck | +388 | Paulo Thiago | Round 1 KO/TKO | 2/21 | UFC 95 |
| 7 | -475 | Akihiro Gono | +325 | Dan Hornbuckle | Round 3 KO/TKO | 8/2 | Sengoku 9 |
| 8 | -475 | Andrei Arlovski | +300 | Brett Rogers | Round 1 KO/TKO | 6/6 | Strikeforce |
| 9 | -463 | L.C. Davis | +323 | Michihiro Omigawa | Decision | 3/20 | Sengoku 7 |
| 10 | -450 | Satoru Kitaoka | +325 | Mizuto Hirota | Round 4 KO/TKO | 8/2 | Sengoku 9 |
| 11 | -415 | Rafael Cavalcante | +320 | Mike Kyle | Round 2 KO/TKO | 6/6 | Strikeforce |
| 12 | -415 | Andre Galvao | +285 | Jason High | Decision | 7/20 | Dream.10 |
| 13 | -408 | Martin Kampmann | +293 | Paul Daley | Round 1 KO/TKO | 9/19 | UFC 103 |
| 14 | -386 | Dave Herman | +356 | Mu Bae Choi | Round 2 KO/TKO | 1/4 | Sengoku No Ran |
| 15 | -386 | Phillipe Nover | +326 | Kyle Bradley | Round 1 KO/TKO | 5/23 | UFC 98 |
| 16 | -384 | Miguel Torres | +278 | Brian Bowles | Round 1 KO/TKO | 8/9 | WEC 42 |
| 17 | -380 | Stephan Bonnar | +302 | Mark Coleman | Decision | 7/11 | UFC 100 |
| 18 | -370 | Maximo Blanco | +290 | Akihiko Mouri | Round 1 DQ | 5/2 | Sengoku 8 |
| 19 | -355 | Donald Cerrone | +278 | Benson Henderson | Decision | 10/10 | WEC 43 |
| 20 | -345 | Thales Leites | +295 | Alessio Sakara | Decision | 8/8 | UFC 101 |
Damn, that Mike Pierce messed up a big parlay bet I had going!
Great list!
I don’t blame ANYONE for being surprised by the Shibata win, let’s leave it at that (in terms of his… ability).