#and if your company debuts you two months in and you absolutely suck at basic singing then that's the company's fault

[koishua]

exactly i hate when ppl go ‘oh let’s see u dance/sing’ no like we r not trained idols nor is it our job? why r u comparing a professional to someone. srsly grow up don’t baby idols let them learn

fr lol i can tell when a food needs more cooking time 😭😭 don't have to suddenly become the food itself oml got me using terrible analogies but whatever and it's not like im saying the idol is at fault when the company decides if they're ready or not or if they think they've trained them well

#ii. ( pt ) —! asks #idk everything that happens in the background obv but my point still stands #may be a great talented prodigous ballerina or an olympic swimmer for all i care 😭😭 you're an idol now !! act like one #and if your company debuts you two months in and you absolutely suck at basic singing then that's the company's fault

[floraisann]

eighteen

➣ ateez 9th member au

➣ warnings: a couple of curse words because jinju + yeosang = chaos

➣ genre: honestly idk since yongju starts all in His Feels™  then because ateez it gradually dissolves into chaos sooooo maybe angstxcrack??? 🤠

➣ word count: 2,317 words (how did i even accomplish this 😳)

➣ summary: it’s yongju’s birthday!! though the question is... who’s gonna tell the others?

➣ main masterlist

➣ yongju’s masterlist 🐉

➣ author’s note: i’m aware that it’s approaching noon on the 29th in korea as i’m posting this, but where i am, it’s still the 28th, meaning it’s still a valid time to post this. so anyways, happy birthday to my firstborn mr. lim yongju 🥺😭 he is my BABIE and i can’t wait until i can actually develop his character further sdkfnvsijn

❅♩♬♩❅――

“I'm tired of the city, scream if you're with me If I'm gonna die, let's die somewhere pretty, ah”

It wasn’t that Yongju’s mindless singing was a rare, unwelcome occurrence in the dorms— in fact, the ATEEZ members had grown so accustomed to the sound of his voice that the halls felt empty in the few hours where both Jongho and their new maknae were silent. Rather the thing that was making the members uncomfortable was the lyrics leaving their youngest’s lips as well as his tone.

Homesickness. The cold, empty feeling in your chest as you long for a home that is no longer yours. That’s what it was. That’s what Yongju was feeling, singing as to distract from the sentiment.

A sigh leaves Yongju’s lips as he pauses the track halfway through the first verse, the raindrops against the window somehow only working to magnify the desolate misery in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t the first birthday he’d spent away from his family (SM hadn’t exactly allowed him to travel back for the special occasion in those thirty months spent hoping for debut with his SMRookies friends), and of course, his relatives had all sent him countless birthday wishes earlier on in the day, but it was still the first birthday he’d spent completely away from any family.

Lim Jinju. His annoying twin sister who, as the title implied, shared birthdays with him. Every year prior to the present one, even if they couldn’t celebrate with their families, at least they had each other. Perhaps her absence was just what was making him feel so miserable. Yongju couldn’t call himself outgoing by any means— often disappearing from others’ eyes hours at a time in order to recharge his rapidly depleting social battery— but it was always in the presence of such… chaotic figures that he felt able to let go.

“Do the members even know my birthday…?” He whispers, his words disappearing within the confines of the dark, empty dorm room. Wooyoung and Yeosang along with several more of the members had left for the company building to get some additional practice hours in to prepare for some upcoming schedules. The only members that stayed with him at the dorms were Seonghwa and Jongho, both of whom were unfortunately injured.

Tired, Yongju let himself flop onto his side, the headboard loudly clicking against the wall before rocking to a stop. “What am I so tired for…?” He mumbles to himself, squinting at the sudden brightness of his phone as he unlocks it. “I haven’t even done anything today.” His thumb hovers over the ‘call’ button for a few seconds as he considers calling home. The thought soon leaves him once more as he groans, shifting onto his back.

“Ah, my head hurts.”

Sleep quickly finds the young boy, its grip firm against him as he’s forced to succumb to his drowsiness. It’s restless, but still, it’s much needed. For the first time in days, Yongju can stop thinking.

♩♪♫♬⇝

“I think he might like the vanilla cake.” Hongjoong softly mutters to San, who stands hunched over, carefully inspecting the contents of the store’s bakery counter to find the perfect treat for their later celebration.

San gently shakes his head, not tearing his eyes from the iced treats as he replies to his elder in a semi-hushed voice. “Vanilla? No that’s too basic even if he is kinda plain. I vote chocolate.”

“Vanilla is basic and chocolate isn’t?” Wooyoung scoffs. “Chocolate is probably the most basic cake flavor to ever come into existence.”

“Everyone shut up, let’s get him carrot cake.”

The members all turn to Mingi, incredulous looks on their faces as they question his words.

Wooyoung is the first to explode. “You absolute HEATHEN do you want him to think we hate him?”

“I was just making a suggestion!—”

“—Wait guys!” Yeosang’s call quickly breaks the chaos as his bandmates turn, not wanting to speak over him. “I have—” He stops himself to laugh into his sweater-covered palm. “—Guys, I got Jinju’s number. Should I ask what kind of cake he’d want?”

The expressions on his members’ faces quickly shift from incredulous to exasperated and Yeosang finds that he can only laugh, giggling as he scrolls to his phone contacts to find ‘Lim Jinju’

“Yeosang,” Yunho finally begins. “You’re telling me that this whole time we were arguing, including the entire car ride to this place—” He stops, closing his eyes as he presses his fingers against his temples. “You had contact with Jinju?”

The accused blonde simply flashes a toothy grin as he extends his arm to show off the newly added contact in his phone. “Okay—” He quickly retracts, looking down at the said contact. “I’m being completely honest here— I actually forgot I had her contact since I just got it last night and entirely by chance too!”

Wooyoung blinks. “Yeosang, what you mean, sir?”

Grinning, Yeosang quickly locks his phone, clapping his hand over the screen as he launches into his story. “Okay! So you know how Yongju always falls asleep while on his phone, right? Yeah! So last night after I showered, I came back to the room and he was asleep, probably on accident too, because the episode of ‘Free!’ he was watching was only half finished.”

“Where are you going with this?” San interjects, Hongjoong quickly shushing him.

“Okay, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, when I was walking past him, I noticed his phone was on like, maybe two percent battery? So being a good roommate, I decided to charge it for him. So when I grabbed his phone, I had the sudden realization that since it was unlocked, the options available to me were endless! So in the end, I both charged his phone and saved Jinju’s number to my contacts for safekeeping.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you suck at ending stories?” Wooyoung flatly questions. Yeosang is quick to glare through his blonde locks, eliciting a few laughs from the other members.

“Well either way, that safekeeping purpose ended up being fulfilled much earlier than expected, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be calling Miss Lim Jinju!”

Before anyone can react, Yeosang’s phone is unlocked, and the familiar ‘calling’ chime rings in their ears.

“Put her on speaker!” Hongjoong instructs, and Yeosang is quick to comply.

“Hello?” Jinju’s strong and clear voice reverberates around them after the third ring, and there’s a momentary bout of chaos as all six men present attempt to greet her at the same time.

“Happy birthday, Jinju!” Wooyoung hollers directly into the speaker.

“What are you all so loud for?” She whines. “I swear you just gave me hearing loss— anyways, I hope I’m not the first twin you’re screaming at because last time I checked, the other June twenty-eight born lad literally lives with you.”

“Well, that’s kinda why we called, you June twenty-eight born lass, you know?” Yunho weakly sings into the speaker, causing a few odd glances from the shop’s workers.

“What could you— Oh!” Yeosang flinches, pushing the phone further away from his face as Jinju yells. “Wait I know exactly why you called! Okay, so be very mindful of Yongju’s taste buds because they’re kinda fucked, and he hates chocolate cake.”

“See! I told you!” Mingi hollers, Wooyoung being quick to slap him across the back of his head as he quips a fast, “You didn’t tell us shit, mr. carrot cake!” back.

“Stop fighting!” Hongjoong scolds, lightly punching Mingi on the shoulder. “Anyways, Jinju, if he doesn’t like chocolate, what should we buy him?”

There’s a brief silence as the twin contemplates her answer, the six members present leaning close to the phone as they make their own guesses as to what Yongju would like. “I’m pretty sure the last time we had cake he really liked the red velvet.”

The members immediately disperse, different degrees of self-disappointment on their faces, save Yeosang, who had begun to softly sing the chorus of ‘Red Flavor’ by Red Velvet.

“Why is it that no one guessed red velvet, yet one of us idiots managed to come up with the idea that Yongju would want carrot cake?” Wooyoung finally asks.

“It’s because we’re all clowns,” San starts, turning away as Hongjoong goes to purchase the small red velvet cake. “And Yongju just so happens to be the circus director.”

❅♩♬♩❅――

“Yongju, wake up!” The boy in question blinks awake, disoriented, as Seonghwa gently shakes him conscious. “Sorry we couldn’t let you keep sleeping, but the managers want you, Jongho, and me over to the company for some last minute evaluation… thing,” He explains.

Yongju sleepily yawns into his hand, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he asks, “What time is it now?”

“It’s 3pm,” His elder quickly answers. “They want me there earlier so I’m heading off now, but the managers are gonna bring you and Jongho over in an hour or so.” He then smiles, lovingly pinching the youngest on the cheek. “Freshen yourself up before then, alright? I’ll see you soon.”

As Seonghwa leaves, Yongju forces himself into a sitting position, dazed, yet trying his hardest to force himself fully awake. Finally, he kicks his legs over the side of his bed, padding straight over to the bathroom to put on some makeup. He was an idol now. He had to at least try to look alive.

♩♪♫♬⇝

“Guys, hurry up! Jongho and Yongju are gonna be here any minute now!” San whines, rocking on his heels.

Seonghwa immediately stops his work in arranging streamers on the wall to glare at the younger boy, who in response, flashes him a wide grin. “If you’re so concerned about us not finishing in time, you could help, yeah?” He rolls his eyes. “I’m literally injured and I’m doing more than you.”

“I’m the supervisor!” He happily sings. “I’m here to make sure you guys are doing your work the right way!”

“What time is it anyways?” Hongjoong quietly mutters. “How much time do we got until they get here?”

“It is,” Yunho begins in a sing-song voice. “It is exactly 4pm at this moment.”

The boys all turn back to Seonghwa as a small choking noise leaves his throat. “Why didn’t you say anything? Jongho told me he’d get Yongju here by four o’clock sharp!”

“Yeah, and I have some news.” Yeosang announces, glancing down at his phone as he calls all the attention to himself. “Jongho just texted the old group chat saying they’re getting out of the car now.”

“I told you this would happen!” Seonghwa yells, all of the balloons they had purchased for the event in his hand as he runs to place them. “This is why I asked all of you to keep track of the time!”

♩♪♫♬⇝

“Do you know what we’re filming?” Yongju softly asks Jongho as they approach the practice room. “Are we filming a dance practice for ‘On’?”

Jongho lets a puff of air escape his lips as he shrugs at the question. “They probably wouldn’t have brought me or Seonghwa here if that were the case since we didn’t even dance in that stage.”

“Good point,” Yongju comments, nodding. “But is there anything else we could film? There was nothing in the schedule for today either.”

Jongho simply shakes his head once more. “I really don’t have the slightest clue.”

The pair stops as they reach the practice room, and for once Yongju notices the lack of light coming through the semi-transparent door.

“Are you sure this is the right room?” He asks his bandmate, frowning as he steps into the pitch black expanse. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the main practice area this dark…”

“Well, the managers told me—”

He’s cut off as the lights flash on and the other seven members’ faces are exposed.

“Happy birthday, maknae!” Wooyoung screams, his high tone easily slicing its way through the babble of the others as they begin singing him a happy birthday.

He can’t help but take a few steps back, his hands flying to his mouth as his eyes fill with tears of… happiness? surprise?

“Why are you running away?” Jongho asks, his hand still draped across the younger’s shoulder as he pushes him closer to the cake.

He smiles, standing somewhat awkwardly as Yeosang places the cake in his arms and he tries his best not to drop it, eyes lighting up as he notices the cake’s color.

They all applaud, urging him to quickly make a wish so he could blow out the candle and enjoy the treat.

Well, what did he want to wish for?

His life situation had taken a drastic turn in the last nine months. It wasn’t just that his thirty four month trainee period had finally drawn to a close. Finally, Yongju had friends, or rather eight brothers and countless fans who he was beginning to truly feel comfortable enough to be completely himself in front of without fear of judgement. And on top of that, he was able to get this far without giving up anything he loved.

He made it. For the first time in the nine months Yongju had spent with ATEEZ, he could finally feel the full effects of the word ‘success’.

He wants it to last.

The members all happily cheer as he blows out the candle, and he flinches away from San’s aggressive shows of affection. Despite the secondhand embarrassment he should be feeling first and foremost as the eight of them act— well— so wholeheartedly themselves, he’s distracted by the warmth he feels in his stomach as well as a sudden burst of energy as he finds he wants to mess around just as he would with Jinju back home.

Yongju debuted. Yongju had a family. Yongju had success.

#ateez #atzinc #kpopuniversenet #ateez 9th member #ateez reactions #ateez headcanons #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez writing #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #ateez yongju

[skottydawgblog]

Top 25 Albums of All Time

Scott Welsch

Criteria:

Every song on the album must be attractive for listening. No “skippers” on the album. No, “Eh, that song kinda sucks” on the album. *Greatest Hits albums ARE NOT acceptable for this list. (This rule devastates me, as it disqualifies Foo Fighters)

2. The album/music/lyrics should still be relevant (and listenable) today.

3. The artist can’t just be for a specific crowd or followers (e.g. Jimmy Buffet, Grateful Dead, Moody Blues, etc.).

4. There is no need for the album to have won any awards or previous recognition.

5. I could have easily made this a “Top 100”, but I have a life.

TOP TWENTY FIVE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME:

#25 Billy Joel — Glass Houses

I played this album at bedtime growing up. I listened to side one, flipped the album, then listened to side two until the needle lulled me to sleep by making the “click click” noise at the end of the record. The album features Billy Joel’s first song to reach #1 status on Billboard (Still Rock and Roll To Me).

#24 Guns n Roses — Appetite For Destruction

My best friend in the 80s said to me, “Have you heard of this new band?” and handed me a cassette tape (in 1987). I listened to the entire cassette from start to finish the first time, and thought to myself, “Oh, man. These guys are gonna be huge.” Sure enough, Guns n Roses became one of the best-known names in modern rock. Their debut album (Appetite) has a buffet of glorious songs to listen to. Repeatedly.

#23 Elton John — Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John released this album as a two-disc set because he ended up writing and recording more songs than required by his recording company for the release. His creativity had kicked in full force (and then some). He recorded it in Jamaica (the country, not the neighborhood in Queens, NY).

#22 Red Hot Chili Peppers — Blood Sugar Sex Magik

The Chili Peppers’ fifth studio album, BSSM pushed them into mainstream. Prior to this album, the closest they had gotten was with a Stevie Wonder cover of Higher Ground on the Mother’s Milk album. No one has ever duplicated the variety of melodic undertones created by the combination of acid-rock, soul-funk, early alt-rock, and blues style on BSSM.

#21 Billy Idol — Billy Idol

Billy Idol’s debut album, released in 1982, was an absolute success after his breakup with the band Generation X. The song Dancing With Myself (track 11 on the 1983 reissue of the album) was actually a song originally recorded BY Generation X (with Billy Idol on lead vocals). It was a retail failure when released with Generation X, but when Billy Idol re-recorded and re-released it as a solo artist, it went mainstream.

#20 The Police — Zenyatta Mondotta

This was the last album The Police recorded by combining their reggae and punk music style before they switched to a more “popular” music style. Songs like Canary In A Coal Mine and Bombs Away had innuendos of political undertones, while Don’t Stand So Close To Me and De Do Do Do De Da Da Da were more lackadaisical and humorous.

#19 Van Halen — Van Halen

This album is an anomaly. Van Halen is a very well known band. They produced twelve albums. Yet, this is their debut album and has their legacy songs. The album has reached Diamond status by selling over ten million copies. It has one of the best-known guitar instrumental songs in history (eruption).

#18 Nirvana — Nevermind

This is my nod to the Foo Fighters, since they are not eligible for the list. Nevermind was the cork that popped and brought alternative rock (as a whole) into the mainstream. It basically created a whole new genre of both musicians and fans.

#17 Lynyrd Skynyrd — (Pronounced Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd)

Well…Free Bird, of course. I don’t need to write any about this album more than that.

#16 Pink Floyd — The Wall

I used to just listen to this album and watch the movie because it was the cool thing to do. Then, once I picked apart the meaning behind both (the music and the screenplay), it was totally eye opening. Pink Floyd was successful at concept before concept was cool.

#15 The Doors — The Doors

The Doors recorded this album in less than a month, yet it will inspire musicians for centuries. Critics often rate it the best album of all time.

#14 Rainmakers — Rainmakers

The Rainmakers self-titled album epitomizes my “100%” criterion. Every well written song tells a story, either historically or humorously. Also, The Rainmakers made rockabilly cool when no one knew what rockabilly was.

#13 Rush — Moving Pictures

With so many amazing Rush albums to choose from, it was difficult to pick just one. However, the rules of my list narrowed it down to Moving Pictures. I have spent countless nights in my life listening to this album from start to finish. Although Side B has no songs that ever received radio play, they are still AMAZING songs.

#12 Linkin Park — Hybrid Theory

This debut album launched Linkin Park into their river of greatness. Linkin Park was initially rejected by 42 recording agents before recording Hybrid Theory and becoming one of the all-time greatest alt rock bands.

#11 Beastie Boys — Licensed To Ill

Licensed To Ill is one of the fastest selling debut albums in history. It gained Diamond status (over 10 million copies). Some claim that Licensed To Ill is the best punk rap album ever released.

#10 Van Halen–5150

5150 was Van Halen’s debut album with Sammy Hagar as lead singer. Each song has crisp, clear instrumentals and incredibly well written music. Although the album received negative reviews from critics, each song creates different feelings and scenarios with the tempos and feelings. I know, I know. Van Halen is already on this list. However, as stated: this album is with Sammy Hagar as lead singer. The previous one was David Lee Roth.

#9 Violent Femmes — Violent Femmes

This was Violent Femmes debut album. It was the party album of the eighties. Every partygoer knew every lyric to every song. The Femmes had one of the most distinctive sounds of the times and remains an enduring classic. The minimalism and simplicity of their music created the attractiveness, and their lyrics are a drug.

#8 New Order — Substance

This is a compilation (2 disc) album. NOT a greatest hits album. It contains a ton of great New Order music. The only reason I made the exception (of “Greatest Hits”) is because it has a “B” sides disc included with many unreleased, 12-inch, and dub versions of the original songs. For New Order fans, this is a gold mine.

#7 The Who — Who’s Next

There are so many great tracks on here. The primary reason this one made the list is Baba O’Riley. This song (often mislabeled as Teenage Wasteland) was originally 30 minutes long. I would have had no problem with the song being that long.

#6 Prince — Purple Rain

Purple Rain had innovation that was unheard of in the early ’80s. For example, When Doves Cry does not have a bass line. The consolidation of R&B with rock was a new concept. Lastly, Prince’s guitar playing on this album was out of this world.

#5 U2 — Joshua Tree

Bono’s “great romance” and fascination with the United States served as the inspirations for The Joshua Tree. I wonder if Bono would have found today’s United States as inspirational? One of the BEST songs on this album- Running To Stand Still.

#4 AC/DC — Back In Black

This is one of the best-selling albums in history. It is AC/DC’s leanest, meanest album of all-time. It will always sound timeless and simple, yet savagely crafted.

#3 Led Zeppelin — IV

This album defined not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of 70s hard rock. It encompassed heavy metal, folk, pure rock-and-roll, and blues. This album not only served as a cornerstone but also a turning point for the future of music. Just don’t ask a guitar player to play Stairway (or Freebird).

#2 Nine Inch Nails — Downward Spiral

It’s no surprise that Trent Reznor collaborated with Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on this album. The instrumentation throughout the album is amazing. Every song leads into the next (it should, as it’s a concept album). Just don’t listen to the lyrics too closely. It could prove very, very depressing!

#1 Pearl Jam — Ten

Ten was the debut album from Pearl Jam in August 1991. Although most consider Pearl Jam a “Grunge” band, the album is more classic rock music. Most of the songs on the album began as simple instrumental band jam sessions that Eddie Vedder then wrote lyrics to go along with. The songs on Ten, despite their deep, dark lyrics, will remain on playlists for generations to come. Ten is powerful, insightful, deep, dark, thought provoking, and brilliant. “Why is the album named ‘Ten’?” you ask, when there are eleven tracks on it? Jeff Ament’s (the band’s bass player) love for NBA point guard Mookie Blaylock provided the inspiration. Blaylock’s involvement in a tragic car accident hit Pearl Jam like an injury to a family member. Blaylock’s jersey number was — you guessed it — Ten.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Steve Miller Band — Book of Dreams

This album has a few legendary songs on it: Jet Airliner, Swingtown, Jungle Love, and True Fine Love. The only reason it did not meet the cut is because it has some “eh” songs on it. However, a host can play this album straight through at a party or a get together, and no one will complain.

The Cars — The Cars

This is an amazing album. Clean, crisp guitar. Ric Ocasek’s vocals and lyrics are powerful. However, two songs (I’m In Touch With Your World and Dontcha Stop) prevent this album from meeting the “100%” criterion.

#rock music #music

[rawiswhore]

Hunter Hearst Helmsley/Paul Levesque x Fem Reader- “Promiscuous Girl”

This year, you've gotten a new job and career; that job is being the valet and arm candy of a WWF wrestler named Hunter Hearst Helmsley, helping escort him into the ring.

A few months joining the WWF, you've seen so many pro wrestlers in that company, and they're getting sexier and sexier every day.

Shawn Michaels is growing out of that outdated, trashy, tacky redneck mullet he has and even shaving his facial hair.

While he isn't as sexy as he would be in 1997, he is getting hotter and sexier every day.

And Billy Gunn of the Smoking Gunns, he, too, has cut that tacky mullet he's had and even shaved off his facial hair, so has his partner, Bart Gunn.

While Billy and Bart are as sexy as they'd be in years to come, Billy is getting hotter, Bart's okay but meh.

While he has cut his hair last year and while he wasn't bad looking with long hair, especially when it was hanging down and not tied up in cornrows, Davey Boy Smith/the British Bulldog is pretty damn hot too.

Even Bret Hart is kinda sexy.

Plus, two brothers in real life have made their tagteam debut in the WWF and they're known as the Hardy Boyz.

While they don't look like they shop at Hot Topic now like they would when they'd be at the height of their popularity, and while Jeff Hardy isn't as hot as he'd be the year after this and years to come, he is quite the cutie pie.

Matt doesn't really do anything for you, sorry.

There'd be other hot, sexy wrestlers who would make their WWF/E debuts in the future that you don't know about yet.

You even look at a few WWF wrestlers now and the company and wonder if they're hot or not.

When men are sexy, there's something you want to do with these men and that isn't just date them, but have sex with them!

And not just have sex with them, but maybe even have a few orgies with them, have so many hot wrestlers swarming all over you and have sex with you; suck one of their cocks while another fucks your pussy while you're jerking off two sexy wrestlers in front of you and two others suck your tits, and they all get to take turns doing that.

However, there is a certain consequence to all of this.

Tonight, you were sitting on a bed in a hotel room, tears streaming down your face.

Hunter, Paul, whatever you want to call him tonight, was busy getting undressed, however, he wasn't undressing to have sex with you.

He was changing into something to sleep in, specifically, just some pajama pants.

You were watching him change out of his costume, you, on the other hand, were dressed in underwear and one of his oversized T-shirts.

He could hear your sniffles as he undressed, and you wanted your sniffles to distract him.

While he was pulling his boots off of his feet and his tights off of his legs and changed into something more comfortable as you watched him, his head turned and looked at you.

Your eyes and cheeks were pinkish colored, clear colored tears falling down your cheeks, Hunter's eyes seeing your face look like that.

You wanted to hold onto something, specifically a pillow, for comfort.

"What's wrong?" he asked, walking up to you. "Are you crying?".

"Yes" you answered, nodding your head.

While you were in the hotel room with him, he wasn't "in character" or "kayfabe" as they say in the wrestling world, not playing the stuck up, snooty, classy Jane Austen-era 1800's gentleman, but instead being himself and not speaking in a fake, terrible attempt at a British accent.

Once he was close to you, he sat down on the bed next to you, putting one of his hands below your shoulder, where his arm was across behind your shoulders.

It's a good thing that you're confessing this while he's getting dressed to go to bed, because if you confessed this while he was asleep and you woke him up, he won't be able to talk with you about what you want to confess to him since he's groggy.

Plus, you probably would wake him up from a good dream he might be having.

Though, Hunter is getting a bit tired and sleepy.

Speaking of confessions, you may as well confess this to him.

Before you could confess something to him, you took a deep breath.

"I really like you and think you're really sexy" you said, your head turned to his face and looking at him. "But...there are so many male pro wrestlers in the WWF who I think are so sexy and hot..."

Hunter/Paul was skeptical about this. Were you cheating on him? Are you pregnant with one of their seeds?

Hunter was also scared that you were pregnant and that's why you were crying.

He'd love to have children with you, and you've thought of having kids with him, but not for now.

"Are you cheating on me?" he asked, sounding a bit angry.

"No" you replied, shaking your head back and forth.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive" you answered, your head standing still and not shaking back and forth. "Let me explain...there's these other male pro wrestlers in the WWF I think are so sexy, and when there's men out there who are so sexy, I want to have sex with them"

"Are you saying you don't love me?" he asked.

"No, I do" you protested, wiping the tears away from your eyes. "But...this is why I was crying. I'd love to have sex with these hot men in the WWF, I wouldn't even mind having orgies with them but...I'm really scared and worried of catching AIDS, HIV or an STD, specifically an incurable one".

You're scared of catching an STD but not with basically cheating on him.

Though you are slightly scared of your confession of wanting to have sex with other men.

However, Hunter basically has sex with ringrats, you were also once a ringrat (which, by the way, is what got you a job as Hunter's valet, because he thought you were absolutely beautiful).

"What 'hot men' do you also want to have sex with?" Hunter/Paul asked, hushing his voice so the people next door won't hear your conversation, as well as crooking his fingers like quotation marks when saying "hot men".

You really hope no one is hearing this conversation next door.

"Shawn Michaels, Billy Gunn, Davey Boy Smith, maybe Bret Hart" was your response from your mouth. "The blond Hardy Boy too"

"Jeff?" he asked.

"Yeah, that one" you replied.

"You could use condoms" was Hunter/Paul's answer from his mouth, his hand moving from under your right shoulder to your hair, where he stroked your hair a bit.

"I know" you replied "But condoms don't feel very good and they can break"

"Indeed" he said, nodding his head.

"I want to say this" you said "Those other men are hot and getting sexier, but they're not as sexy as you are"

You're surprised that women aren't fawning and swooning over Hunter Hearst Helmsley like they are with Shawn Michaels.

When his hair is in a messy ponytail or his hair is hanging down, he looks slightly like Fabio.

Even though you love Hunter's gentleman gimmick, you'd also love if he had a gimmick where he was this male model on the cover of those cheesy paperback bodice ripper romance novels, having some beautiful women in long gowns in his arms swooning over him, especially considering Fabio is a hugely popular pop culture figure in the 90's.

"Are you serious?" he asked you.

"Yes, I am" you replied, serious as you could be. "While other women were swooning over Shawn Michaels, I was swooning over you".

A smile broke out across his mouth, stretching his mouth and lips up and across his face.

While you were talking with him about this, you suddenly stopped crying, which is what Hunter wants you to see.

You wish you could dry your tears and face away with the thin little blanket under the heavy comforter, but that's kind of a bit trashy.

In a perfect world, STD's wouldn't exist.

Not to mention, there's other things you'd love to do with sexy male wrestlers related to sex, but it is rather shocking and trashy.

And speaking of men, you wonder if Hunter/Paul will mind you having sex with other men...

It's a shame cheating has to be considered bad, there's so many hot men out there you'd love to fuck, sometimes have an orgy with them...

#hunter hearst helmsley #paul levesque #1996 #90s #wwf #fanfiction #triple h

[buttdawg]

The best way I can sum up your post regarding Brodie Lee being The Exalted One is they had been planning to introduce a leader for a while, but it wasn't supposed to be Brodie. It was supposed to be Marty Scurll, but he re-signed with Ring of Honor. Then, there were rumors it was gonna be Matt Hardy, but he's aligned with The Elite. So I guess they decided to go with Brodie.

That’s dumb.    That’s really dumb.  

Look, there’s only two possible narratives here for the creative process with the Dark Order.  

The first one is that they invented this stable with a cult gimmick, and they had absolutely no idea what to do with it, so they came up with the Exalted One as a big payoff, where some new wrestler would debut as their leader, and somehow justify the whole shitty idea retroactively.   

If that’s the case, then it’s unfair to whoever got the spot, whether it’s Brodie Lee, Matt Hardy, Marty Scurll, Lance Archer, etc.   Because you’re basically having them come into the company and making them clean up someone else’s mess.   Can Brodie Lee do something cool with the Dark Order?   I guess we’re going to find out.    Could Matt Hardy do something cool with it?   Maybe, but isn’t it a lot better to let him come up with his own storyline and chart his own course, without the burden of fixing someone else’s bad idea? 

I’m not that familiar with the Broken Matt Hardy gimmick, but so far it looks like he’s doing all the stuff fans wanted him to do when he returned to WWE.    The “Delete!” chant, the stuff with Vanguard 1, teleporting, mini-movies, etc.   So far I’m digging it, and I bet his established fanbase are enjoying it too.    At no point have I said to myself “You know this would be a lot better if he also paused during his act to remind us that he runs a cult on the side.”   It’s baggage he doesn’t need.    It’s like giving a track star a third leg.   Even if he knew what to do with it, he’d run a lot better without one.  

Now I have no idea what Brodie Lee could have come up with on his own, but here’s the problem: I still don’t, because he has to work within the confines of this stupid cult gimmick, which basically means he’s doing the exact same crap Evil Uno was doing back when he was supposed to be the one in charge.   The only twist I see now is that he’s doing some sort of Vince McMahon parody, which goes way over my head, because I never worked for Vince McMahon, so I had no idea that the sneezing thing was based on him.   The angle here seems to be that the Dark Order is just a pastiche of WWE, and all the jobbers in masks are loyal WWE wrestlers, and Brodie is Vince, emotionally abusing his followers even as they worship him.   

That’s a stupid gimmick.   Guess what?   Vince McMahon is incompetent.   He has been for years.    I quit watching WWE because I was sick and tired of him sabotaging his own product.    Brodie Lee was sick and tired of it too; that’s why he quit working there.    So why in the hell would any AEW fan want to watch the Exalted One act like real-life Vince McMahon?   The Exalted One is supposed to be a big deal, but if he’s going to act like Vince in real life, then he’s just going to get in his own way and completely ruin his own brand, and why would anyone want to see that?   Why would AEW want that stinking up their airtime?  

This is Billionaire Ted’s Wrasslin’ War Room all over again, except it’s even more inside and less funny.    “Vince is out of touch!  That’s the joke!”   I don’t watch AEW to hear about what Vince is doing wrong.    I watch it to see what other talented people can do right.    Maybe this is cathartic for Brodie, but I can’t believe he spent the last six months waiting out his contract looking forward to this.    He says he had all these things he wanted to do that he couldn’t do in WWE because they wouldn’t let him.   So far, all I see is him doing a Vince McMahon impression while he heads a stable that someone came up with a year ago.   Where’s all these big ideas he had?   Does he just not have any, or is AEW making him do this instead?    I don’t like either answer.  

Now, the second possible explanation for the Dark Order is like you suggested.   They came up with this cult stable as a way to set up Marty Scurll, or some other talent that they just assumed would walk in the door when the time was right, and it would be this cool moment where they did long-term booking and everything paid off.    Except that’s really stupid, because that would mean they booked a big part of their promotion around talent that wasn’t actually working for them.   

Let’s say it was meant for Marty.   Well, ROH made Marty a better offer, so the whole exercise was in vain, and they had to plug a whole other guy into the role, and Brodie drew the short straw.   That’s exactly the sort of horseshit WWE does all the time.   It’s like when WCW promised “The Ultimate Surprise” for a show and got people excited for the Ultimate Warrior, then debuted the Renegade instead.    At least AEW never promised a specific guy, but it’s still irresponsible booking.   Everything the Dark Order did before Brodie signed with AEW was a waste of time.

Let’s say Brodie was their pick from Day One.    Everything the Dark Order did in AEW during 2019 was clever foreshadowing to Brodie Lee.    That’s also stupid, because they would have had no idea that they could get him.   And now they do have him, but sheesh.    I look at the Dark Order, and I can’t decide which is more tragic.    Is it sad because they clearly slapped the whole thing together?   Or is it sadder if it only looks like it was slapped together, and it was actually the culmination of months of careful planning?

Here’s the thing: The only halfway interesting thing about this Dark Order business was the Exalted One’s true identity, and they just revealed that.   Now they’re right back where they started, being a shitty cult of masked jobbers, only it’s Brodie Lee pushing them around instead of Evil Uno.    There’s no point to any of this.    You can’t even do a proper blowoff to the angle, because they can’t even work out how many guys are in the stable or what their names are.   If SCU beats up Brodie, they’ll just trot out “Number 12″ or something and say he’s the final boss of the Dark Order.   Or they can wait for Jeff Hardy’s contract to run out and he can be the Double Secret Exalted One.   It sucks.   

#aew #dark order #brodie lee #even those segments where scu made fun of the dark order sucked #you know the angle is bad when you can't even root for the guys mocking it #this is like aces and eights without the star power #Anonymous

[hyunarkarchive]

oh my stress;;

“'tis i, a writer, togetherslapper of words.” 

knowing that my own five year anniversary at rookies is in about two months makes me actually really emotional, and most of you know, i don’t really get emotional about stuff like this.

i’m here to talk about all the fucking shit storms i brought. starting from good ol’ ellyrk, who turned into yuriirk and currently known as hyunark, as well as, rkxwoozi, aka jihoonrk, fucking namtaerk, eunwoork, minhyunrk, younghyunrk 1.0, junhoerk aka younghyunrk 2.0. i am about 100% sure i’m missing someone BUT YOU KNOW, we can let that muse stay in dungeon vile. 

not even 10 minutes later 

oh yeah- minhork was it? minhxrk??? idk what his url was, shortlived lovely muse i tell you. jisungrk was a thing for like 6 months. however, as you can see, i have a lot of muses, 11 in total, well 8 if you remove younghyun 1.0 & 2.0 and jihoon.

its been nearly five years since i joined rookies and ive made a lot of memories here. good, bad, amazing, mediocre. a lot of memories than pretty much just range. can you believe i’ve actually cried a few times about rookies related thing? yeah, me neither, but here we are hahaha. i will probably not edit this at all, so if you see spelling mistakes, or maybe something is repeated, just ignore it please, its from the heart.

this place really helped me develop my writing, vocabulary and definitely social skills. i might suck at threading and replying on time, but i have to say, all the muns here are amazing!!! i remember when i first joined, oh boy was i fucking terrified of the fact that i SUCKED at writing. i was so cautious about what i write and how i spoke and i think some of you could remember it haha. i’ve also managed to make some amazing friends throughout my stay here, all of them older than me, as well haha and i was babied so much i always found it funny, but very thankful because some of the life lectures i got where definitely needed.

however, i will take a few minutes to write about the last three standing; hyunark, jihoonrk and younhhyunrk

hyunark: 

my first ever tumblr muse. my first rookies muse. my longest standing muse. she;s gone through a lot, and honestly, she will continue to do; i wasn’t all that good with her in the beginning, now i see a lot of gaps and weird stuff whenever i have to go read something to remind myself of events and so on. however, i really love her, and i’ve gotten a bit too attached to her haha. can you blame me tho? from ellyrk, to yuriirk, now hyunark, there have been alot of ups and downs but i am happy where she’s come. to being a potential walking scandal, to being in two survival shows, to being the first muse at rookies to not be offered a contract renewal, to another survival show, to a nova trainee after being cut short twice by hyunbin. she had gone through alot of character development and its shaped her a lot better than i ever could, for which i need to say my thanks to the mods of rookies for it, because without them, hyunark would probably be headed in a completely different direction haha. however, she still focuses on producing, writing lyrics and ever since she got into nova as a trainee, she’s focused on her dance as well because she doesn’t wanna be called an uncooked noodle anymore. her dream is to be a recognized producer and lyricist, and will fight for that title.

jihoonrk:

jihoork was previously known as rkxwoozi. i even used his original blog when i re-applied with him;; he lasted a bit under a year in all honesty the first time and i specifically remember that the reason for that was being signed under trc. it was a pretty unfortunate time for him to be signed, with all the scandals that happened and what not. i was a tad regretful that i dropped him to be honest, which is all the reason to why he was brought back. tbh, he didn’t change in that like 6 months gap he was away. he was the same moody gremlin everyone knew and loved. if you had asked me, a few years ago if i thought jihoon would debut, i’d laugh and say no fucking way, but here we are, when he is a member of convex and got to debut with his longets lasting friend, sehun and best friend seungcheol. so he is living the dream you know? even if he doesn’t show it, he is grateful and appreciates everything that’s happening around him and to him. his main goal right now is to be the variety ace of convex and is working slowly to achieve that goal.

yonghyunrk:

ahhh here we go;; my last muse who had to undergo something similar to jihoonrk;; i brought him in, because i had this idea of a metal head, who really just wanted fame and girl and guys. however, stuff happened, i couldn’t get him to have threads i wanted and so i dropped him. again, i pretty much reapplied a few months later with junhoerk which was basically younghyunrk 2.0 and eventually, i realized that the muse deserved its original fc and here we are again with younghyunrk. to be honest, i don’t even know how i managed to get him to go to mga4, but he went and caused chaos with chungha and we all know how much fun he actually had haha;; he still doesn’t like dance, and will probably not enjoy it until he gets signed and coach tells him he can’t dance and JUST out of spite, he will get better at it. ultimately, he wishes to debut on a band, he wouldn’t really mind if he gets placed at any instrument, as long as he gets to sing. he still wants to reach paradise city, as guns ‘n roses have said.

quick mentions to some of my other muses as well. its funny how all my other muses lasted for months as well;; honorary mentions will go to namtaerk, minhxrk and probably minhyunrk, i won’t be really talking about them, so focusing on eunwoork and jisungrk;

i can without a doubt say that these are my more interesting muses, or eunwoo at least. her dream was to become a musical actress and was a serial dater; she’d date a lot of people, girls and boys, and wouldn’t really bat an eyelash once it was all over. never really had long term relationships either. she was into photography and her photography instagram was more popular than her personal one and she didn’t mind haha.

jisungrk wanted to be a professional football player and he was never really interested in becoming an idol, which made him fun to play. however, he was a really young muse, i think i made him 16? yeah, i think he was 16 and after that i realized i can’t do young muses;; its just weird for me, i have no clue what middle school kids actually do haha, i remember i just slept and did nothing all day, didn’t even study whoops. 

but yeah, these two muses were very short lived but fun and i think that one day, if rkforthmuse is allowed, i highly doubt it, i will bring back eunwoork because she deserved more attention than i ever gave her.

now i will do a few mentions, by a few i mean it will be a lot;; i’m sorry if i get sappy or anything;; please accept my love <33

ABBIE - @seungcheolrk​ & @rkwon​ & @rkgwen​ - sunshine, my lovely amazing sunshine;; thank you. thank you, thank you. its been nearly five years of friendship, can you imagine it? soon, in just two months, it will be half a decade and i am extremely grateful;; i can’t explain it and i know that even saying it on a daily basis to you, it won’t be enough;; its funny how we started talking through rksoo and ellyrk, and now here we are, four years later, rkjicheol being in the same company, debuting together, in the same group. in all honesty, i remember when i dropped jihoon and then picked him up after like, literally two months, and it was one of the best decisions i ever made. i always have fun talking to you, plotting and threading and i honestly wish i did it a lot more than i currently do, but you know, uni is kicking my ass hasljdhlas anyway;; thank you, sunshine, thank you a lot and for these almost five years i love you a lot 🍅🍅🍅

HUNNIE - @yutark​ & @rksunwoo​ & @rkseokwoo​ - where do i even start?? like, oh wow, there is A LOT;; i can definitely say, we started talking when i suggested jihoon as sunwoo’s first kiss and look where the are now? dating, for what? seven months, can you believe that? SEVEN!!! this is insane haha;; and look and where we are now, talking on a daily basis, and its very very nice;; i don’t know what i would do nowadays without you, so i’m really really thankful you deal with my sorry ass so much ahdsdsalla it started with jihoon and sunwoo, then it transitioned to younghyun and yuta, and most recently, its been yuta and hyuna and their lil game of cat and mouse;; its always fun plotting with you, threading, talking, everything really;; and i really hope it will continue to be this way;; i love you

LYN - @rkxsnn & @rkavery - hello there mum!!! impressed im starting with you? anyway, i have A LOT OF THANK YOUS TO TELL YOU, starting from dealing with me, to helping me get through college, to life advice, to all the skype calls we had, a lot of things in these past few years. even if we don’t talk as much and i know you have life kicking u in the ass, i wish we could change that soon;; i miss you a lot;; all of your muses are amazing and i absolutely adore them, as much as i do you!! hmu soon;;  minsoo and elly were iconic, and he will forever be a huge part of her;; remember that mino and taehyun ship we had? good angst times lbr.

JEN - @yujurk - sup there mum number 2 even though i act older than you, you can’t even lie about that haha; you were one of the first people i started talking to in rookies, and still do on a weekly basis? daily? you get the point haha;; damn, i don’t think we ever argued as well, which is insane and you do give good advice and oh my god your muses are so funnnnnnnnnn bring all of themmmmmmmm innnnnnnnnnnnnn;; i’m so so happy that you came back to rookies after that hiatus;; really really happy;; jieun and hyuna are iconic partners in crime;; jihoon is grateful that jieun taught him how to sing;; hyuna thinks soyeon will forever haunt her, no doubt;; jkook is forever jihoon’s bunny you can fight him about it;; eunwoo says jkook never took her on a date, she’s upset about it haha

CLARA - @rkwendy​ & @rkjohnny​ - clara clara clara. you really love having me send the group chat into gay panic huh? i will forever continue to do it, do not worry. once a week sound good? hahah;; i wish we talked more than we do lately, but its always fun no matter what it is;; i also know for sure, you have my back and we can take over a country if we tried hard enough lbr;; i think we mainly stared talking when the brosquad/antisquad happened, which was pretty much when i joined rookies haha;; so again, nearly five years of friendship look at that!! we need to talk more and you need to tell me more baking recipes!! i think it was hyuna and wendy that we first got to interact and then wendy and jihoon and funny enough, i feel like jihoon and wendy are closer than hyuna and wendy haha;; then younghyun joined the picture to fully annoy wendy out of this word;; we need to thread more sobs;; lets make that happen yeah?

SHINOBI - @rkkangjoon​ & @rkgray​- hello there shinobi. i think our meet up scenario was the same as with clarea, huh?  brosquad/antisquad;; we should talk more, that’s a definite but i think that with hyuna&kangjoon we have gotten a lot closer than before and its really cute and nice and i love it qwq gray and hyuna need to release a hit song someday, we better make that happen yeah??? good!!

SACHA - @rkrose​ & @rkkyungri​ - i am super super duper ultra mega giga happy we got to talk a lot in the past few months, get to know each other and its very very nice;; i always have fun talking to you and i know i can lean on you if my day has been shitty, and i am sorry if i’ve had a lot of shitty days sadhljsajldnl ahhh, but yes, our muses will go through a lot and i’m really happy you enjoy it and i hope we can see them grow and develop!! 

ANI - @rkchungha & @rksohee& @rkmiya​ - what am i actually gonna do without you, that’s a very very good question i was asking myself recently. its really weird we never really talked a lot until younghyun was brought into rookies, which was i think this year huh? funny, very weird, what life was i living without you in it?? hahaha, anyway, i’m really glad and happy having chungha and younghyun so close got us to be closer as well, even if i set you into rp panic with random questions and potential scenarios haha;; i’m glad you enjoy them;;; love you lots!!

CARLY - @taeminrk & @rkluna & @danielxrk - we don’t really talk much, but in reality, i actually don’t know where i’d be rn if i couldn’t come to you with stupid questions and inquiries;; i wish you all the best in every possible aspect of life and love seeing you on the dash;; ngl i am also extremely and forever sorry that you have to read through hyunark’s post from like three years ago, that;s some nasty writing right there yikes;; but thank you for taking rookies under your wing and just expanding it and making it better and better with the rest of the mod team;; keep up the good work!!

a very special thanks to all of the royal girls, @rkxnarong , @rkyena , @rkella , @rkcheri , @rksoohyun , @rklisa , @rkrose who made royal survival a blessing, her stay in royal amazing as well;;  special thanks to all the royal boys, ex ones count as well, fight me @rkbyunbaek , @jaehyunrk , @kibumrk, @yienrk , @rkseonho,  thank you for being a part of hyunark’s journey in royal fun and emotional lbr;; you guys managed to make royal fun for me as well, so thank you so so so much to every single one of you guys;;

a huge thank you for og trc roster that’s still here and dealt with jihoon;s sorry ass back then; a huge thank you for the kt roster that had to deal with jihoon as well, even if it was for a short amount of time;; a huge thank you for sphere, and convex members @seungcheolrk , @rkhyun , @rkjinwook , @kibumrk , @rkjinkis , @rktaeyxng , @tenrk , @rkxroyal , @rkohsehun , @yienrk , @rkromeo , @rkzyx, who will now have to deal with jihoon like it not, but i apologize on his behalf;; even if i don’t say it often, i am really really happy jihoon got to debut with your boys and i’m happy i get to interact with all of you so much;; thank you, thank you, thank you;;

thank you rookies, for such an amazing time!! i can only wish and hope for many more!!!

#;wordcount/2715 #rkfifth #[[ im an emotional ball of sap rn #[[ thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

[ashxpad]

The 10 Hottest 35mm Cameras You Could Buy in 1991

1991. What a great time to be alive. Seeing movies like Robin Hood and Hook in the theatres, and hearing hits like “Joyride” by Roxette or “Losing My Religion” by REM are some of my favorite pop culture memories of that time. Not to mention watching TV shows like Home Improvement, America’s Funniest Home Videos, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Of course, being eleven years old, my photography experience was limited to disposable cameras, but that might not be the case for you. If you were older or luckier, you might have had one of these classic or innovative cameras I’ll be talking about today.

Today I’m going to go over the top ten hottest 35mm cameras you could buy in 1991.

A couple of things I want to mention about this list before I get started.

I constructed the list with a few parameters in mind. First, I used Popular Photography’s Top Cameras for 1991 as the base for it. Next, I boiled the list down from twenty to ten, by selecting the ones still most relevant today. The higher number of Google results, the higher it appears on the list.

Read also: 10 of the Hottest 35mm Cameras You Could Buy in 1982

In this golden age of photography, which in my opinion was 1975 to 1995, many of the cameras released had a very long shelf life. Because of that, if I include the older models, my top ten list could have several of the same entries, even if I jump ahead nine years. So for that reason, I have put a cap on cameras to be no older than seven years from the year featured.

That brings me to the last bit, which is this isn’t a list of cameras released in 1991, rather it is a list of the hottest cameras you could buy in 1991. As I mentioned, some of these entries had been out for a few years by 1991.

With all that being said, let’s get started.

#10. Yashica 230 AF

The first camera on today’s list may be a bit of an unknown these days: the Yashica 230 AF. An early auto-exposure camera, with three modes plus manual. The 230 AF was announced in 1986 but immediately caused some controversy, as mentioned in an article by Norman Goldberg, released by Popular Photography in November 1986.

“Yashica created a stir when the company was forced to withdraw its newest entry in the autofocusing fray. Called the 230 AF, the camera quickly became the subject of a patent dispute, but not before several German-language photo magazines came out with the details on the camera. To satisfy the affronted party – perhaps Minolta – the camera was displayed in a locked showcase. Word is that the matter will be resolved soon.”

Despite the early controversy, the 230 AF made its debut in 1987. One of the more interesting features was the CS-110AF flash accessory, which fit over the hot shoe and pentaprism to give a seamless appearance, it almost makes it look like another camera.

Picking up one of these in 1991 with the flash and a 50mm f/1.8 would cost you $765, or $1,536 today. There are not many found on eBay but if you want one of your own you can expect to get one for under $100

#9. Olympus IS-1

At number nine is the Olympus IS-1. A very strange-looking camera. Even stranger at the time because cameras like this marked the birth of the bridge model. A camera that included many of the manual and auto exposure modes of an SLR, but with a fixed lens like a point and shoot.

Because it didn’t fit into an already established category of camera, Olympus dared to make their own, calling it a ZLR, or Zoom Lens Reflex. This was absolutely a marketing gimmick, but it seemed to work. The IS-1 garnered a fair amount of attention.

In December 1990, Mike Stensvold conducted a thorough review in Petersen’s Photographic on the IS-1 and concluded that “The Olympus IS-1 comes closer than most to truly being a ‘camera for everybody.’ In point and shoot mode, it’s as simple to use as any camera in its class. It offers versatility to the more creative snap shooter and it’s got some advanced features found in few other such cameras, making it useful to more serious photographers, as well.”

Olympus’s goal was centered around the idea that this was a new concept camera and the wave of the future. This three-page ad, published in November 1990 encompasses that notion by posing the question: “Remember the first time you received a fax, talked on a cellular phone or heard a CD”?

In 1991 you could expect to pay $800, or $1,600 in today’s money. If you want to buy one used on eBay they are cheap as chips.

I actually did a very detailed history on this camera recently on an episode of my show This Old Camera, in case you want to learn everything there is to know about the Olympus IS-1.

#8. Nikon N8008

Coming in at number eight is the Nikon N8008, funny how that worked out. A consumer-level autofocus SLR with some impressive features for its time including a 1/8000th shutter speed and a flash sync speed of 1/250.

While many camera manufacturers of the time were abandoning their lens mounts from the days of manual focus SLRs, Nikon was staying true to their user base by creating a new autofocus system that could still take older manual focus lenses with a fair amount of compatibility.

Peter Burian conducted a field test and wrote about it in the Winter 1989 issue of Outdoor and & Travel Photography magazine.

“Though the N8008 is clearly an advanced and sophisticated piece of high-tech engineering, it is exceedingly user-friendly,” says Burian. “I predict that any photographer who can operate a digital watch or VCR will be familiar with the N8008 and its use within 30 minutes.”

Peter also says it handles like a dream but had a couple of hang-ups about its operation. He noted that although the N8008 is capable of continuous autofocus, he nailed more sharp images with the standard AF.

The advertising campaign for the N8008 bore the title: “The difficult is does automatically. The impossible takes a few more seconds.”

Here are a couple of examples from 1989.

This one with the ballerina touches on the matrix metering system, and rear curtain fill flash. “The point is,” says the ad, “highly creative pictures that used to be difficult to impossible for anyone less than a professional photographer are now within your grasp.”

The other ad sings a similar tune stating “Ordinary exposure control systems could be fooled by the dark black sky and overexpose the lighted skyline.”

A brand new N8008 with a 50mm f/1.4 would cost you $960 1991 dollars, or $1,928 today. This camera is an unsung hero in today’s film photography community and comes in at an incredibly low price of $70 or less with shipping, body only.

#7. Contax RTS III

At number seven is the Contax RTS III. In a time when autofocus was quickly becoming King, the people at Kyocera decided to make a more streamlined, more sophisticated manual focus SLR. The first thing that people will notice is that the RTS III uses Zeiss glass, known for its build quality and sharpness. But the thing that reviewers and adverting talked about the most was a feature called RTV, or Real Time Vacuum.

In a user report, published by Petersen’s Photographic in 1991 and written by Bill Hurter, it’s explained that the RTV system is engaged when the shutter fires, and sort of sucks the film back onto the pressure plate, creating a flatter image, thus creating a sharper image.

“Roll film in cassettes was a great breakthrough, but one of its problems has always been that film curls,” says Hurter. “It curls because it is rolled into a cassette. Also temperature and humidity affect the degree of curl. Contax engineers have shown film-plane flatness error to exist in current state-of-the-art SLRs to a degree of 20-30 microns in extreme cases. Further, the contention is that a 10 micron error in film plane flatness would cause a rear focus displacement of approximately 1 cm in an image shot at a distance of 3 meters with a Zeiss 85mm f/1.4.”

Basically, you don’t buy a Contax RTS III for quick focus, but superior focus.

A 1992 ad titled “See through the eyes of a genius” gives the reader a visual of what the RTV does to film flatness and showcases the Zeiss glass.

The price on an RTS III with a 50mm f/1.4 would set you back $3,630 in 1991, or about $7,300 today — a steep investment for a manual focus camera in a progressively autofocus world, but still not the most expensive manual focus camera on today’s list.

#6. Minolta Maxxum 9000

Number six is the Minolta Maxxum 9000. In January 1985, Minolta changed photography forever with the Maxxum 7000, and ten months later we were introduced to the 9000. While the 7000 was a model meant for the broadest audience possible, the 9000 geared itself toward the more serious amateur and professional.

In May 1986, Modern Photography had a very extensive look at the Maxxum 9000. Seeing how it compared to the 7000, which they noted that “Indeed its designers not only responded to virtually every criticism we made of the original 7000, they have also created one of the most sophisticated, comprehensive, internally complex and startlingly original SLR systems the world has ever seen.”

Popular Photography did their own field test in September 1986, praising the camera. But even when incredibly innovative, a camera is rarely perceived as perfect, and the Maxxum 9000 is no exception. Writer Bob Schwalberg had a few complaints for sure, including the average/spot metering setting didn’t have a lock on it, so a sleeve, or a strap or whatever would often change metering modes without him realizing it. Also the lack of lens selection.

“Almost two years after the launching of the Maxxum autofocusing camera system, Minolta’s AF lineup is heavy on zooms, but short on meat and potatoes workaday optics.”

At the time of review, they have nothing wider than 24mm, no 35mm, and not a single zoom in the 50-135mm range.

Advertising claimed the Minolta Maxxum 9000 to be “The World’s Most Sophisticated Camera” and encouraged you to “Ascend to the height of professionalism.” It seems in this ad, released in 1989, one of Bob’s issues was resolved, as I’m seeing a 16mm prime and a 35mm to what I presume to be 105mm lens.

With a 50mm f/1.7, a Maxxum 9000 would set you back $974 in 1991, or about $1,950 today.

#5. Leica R6

The Leica R6 comes in at number five. While many cameras take a leap forward from one version to the next, Leica actually took a step back, as quoted in a review by Jack Neubart in the fall 1990 issue of Outdoor and Travel Photography Magazine.

“Unlike the R5, the Leica R6 is principally mechanically governed. The R5 comes complete with several auto exposure modes, plus manual; but the R6 has only manual exposure control, with shutter speeds ranging from 1 second to 1/1000th of a second.”

Another review, in Outdoor Photographer’s October 1989 issue by Debra Davis sums up the purpose of the camera the best.

“In this day of electronic-laden auto-everything cameras, there is a new product on the market that stands apart from the rest. Welcome to the Leica R6. Designed to appeal to the photographer who wants mostly a mechanical, manual camera, the R6 shuns current trends and offers a back to basics approach to photography.”

This three-page special advertising section titled “The Shot of a Lifetime” features three Leica cameras including the R6. The main photo was taken during a Mount Everest climb with an R6 by photographer Warren Thompson.

“A camera which could be disabled by a failed, inexpensive battery would jeopardize the photographic mission,” says the ad.

The next page claims the R6 can withstand temperatures as low as -4F and as high as 140F.

Something that made me chuckle was this quote on page 2: “If Michelangelo were alive today, he wouldn’t be painting – he’d be using a Leica.”

I guess we’ll never know.

This Leica R6 ad titled: “Seduction” gives a really nice top-down look.

“You’re irresistibly drawn to it – seduced by the beauty, the precision, the mystique of legendary performance. Unlike mere ‘cameras,’ you don’t just hold a Leica, you caress it and feel the perfect balance, comfortable fit and smooth, positive operation – an extension of your hand, your eye and your art. You’ll be starting an affair with excellence that will last a lifetime whether you choose the manual R6, the electronic R5 or fast handling RE.”

Settle down there Leica.

During my research for other videos, I’ve come across quite a few Leica ads, and I have to say, many are like this one, and there’s a reason that some Leica owners have, shall we say, a superiority complex.

If you wanted to be seduced by this all manual beast, you better take out a second mortgage, because with a 50mm f/1.4 this Everest climber will cost $5,550 in 1991, or… wait for it… $11,147 in 2021 money. These days though, you can get one for a respectable $600 used. That Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4 will still choke your wallet though, at a cost of 1,200-1,800 bucks.

#4. Nikon F4s

Sliding in at number four is the Nikon F4s. I’m always curious to know the differences between models with slightly different names. In my top 35mm cameras of 1982 article, I was wondering what the big deal was between the Nikon F3 and F3HP, and the answer was, basically, the viewfinder.

Here I was again curious what the difference between the Nikon F4 and F4s was and the answer may amuse you: a battery pack. What makes an F4 an F4s is the MB-21 battery grip that takes six AA batteries and that is about it. You get a beefier camera and a slightly higher frames per second burst rate. With the MB-21, you can turn any F4 into an F4s. It’s a little sneaky on Nikon’s part, especially since it got its own advertising campaign.

Here are a couple of examples. The first here says “The Reasons” and brackets the ‘S’ and another example here it brackets the ‘es’ in Lenses. An odd choice. You’ll notice all the ads for the F4s include the battery grip because it has to.

Regardless, the Nikon F4 was a revolution for Nikon. They plunged into autofocus and while everyone else was remounting their cameras, Nikon stayed true to their user base by allowing older manual lenses on their newer autofocus cameras.

#3. Canon EOS-1

Getting the bronze medal for today’s top 10 is the other autofocus revolution flagship, the Canon EOS-1. Announced in 1989, the EOS-1 was not Canon’s first EF mount camera, but the first flagship model. As you can imagine, many FD mount Canon users were very upset that their cameras were antiquated overnight. History speaks for itself though and Canon survived the backlash.

The earliest ad I found was in September 1989’s issue of American Photographer, a colorful three-page ad, that would be one of a theme of ads with the suggestion, to quote “shoot it hot”.

“Live for photography. Eat Sleep and breathe it. Become a photograph.”

“Send the world your message…written in silver.”

I did a full history on the EOS-1 on my segment This Old Camera, in case you’re curious. After I released that video, my Patreon patrons and I were making “Shoot it Hot” jokes for weeks. It’s so incredibly cheesy and so very 90’s.

In September 1992, Camera & Darkroom magazine published: “A Quiet Revolution, A look at the Canon EOS Phenomenon,” by Mike Johnston.

Johnston took an in-depth look at Canon as a company, specifically their transition from FD mount to EOS, the controversy, and resulting innovations.

“When Canon introduced the EOS line in 1987, they immediately earned for themselves, among other things, a bad rap of sorts. The reason was the lens mount capability. The introduction of the new line was news; and the reaction from those heavily invested in expensive FD optics was swift, loud- and, to put it mildly, less than pleased.”

He would go on to say “even if you’re not a Canon photographer, it might be wise to keep your eye on them… if only to see which way the winds of change are blowing in the field of 35mm photography.”

A Canon EOS-1 with a 50mm f/1.8 would knock $1,939 out of your 90s Velcro wallet. Or about $3,900 today.

I paid $197 for the copy I have with an EF 28-105mm lens. It wasn’t in the best shape though, so expect to pay a little more.

#2. Leica M6

Obtaining silver for today’s countdown is the Leica M6. Is it any surprise that a Leica made it to the top 3?

A review by Debra Davis in the June 1991 issue of Outdoor Photographer explains the advantage of using a Leica quite well.

“The M6 allows the photographer to know what’s coming into the frame by displaying six distinct frame lines in the viewfinder window. These are projected in pairs corresponding to different focal length lenses for 28mm or 90mm, 35mm or 135mm, and 50mm or 75mm. The correct set automatically appears when you attach a lens and includes an area outside the frame line so you’ll be alert to something moving into the photo. In addition, you may manually select a different set of frame lines just by pressing a lever next to the lens. So without actually changing lenses, you can see and decide quickly, which lens to use for best composition.”

The ability to go unnoticed in a crowd is also touched on.

“The M6 is fast and silent, small and simple,” says Davis.

And here we go again with the melodrama, using the same ad theme as the R6, except this time it’s not Seduction, it’s …Obsession.

“It’s an almost unreasonable dedication to quality – meticulous attraction to detail, flawless mechanical precision, incredibly quick, quiet handling and optics that defy comparison – an obsession with perfection. It’s what sets Leica above mere “cameras” and accounts for their unchallenged reputation and unequaled value.”

If Jesus was alive today, he wouldn’t be a carpenter, he would be making Leicas.

Okay, I made that last part up, but it’s hard not to snicker at the hubris of it all. I will give Leica this, the commitment to only making small changes from model to model is impressive. Even as they transitioned to digital models, the design made very little change. You know that when you buy one, and ever feel like upgrading, you can do so knowing you won’t have a huge learning curve ahead of you.

The M6 might be second on the list, but it’s first in price. With a 50mm f/1.4, you can expect to pay $5,685 in 1991 cash, and just to give you a better idea of how much that is, in 1991, you could buy a used 1987 Dodge Omni for less, at a cost of just under $5,300. With inflation, an M6 was $11,418 in 2021 money. That is, just bonkers in my opinion. Especially when you consider that these days, you pay for the sensor in a high-end digital camera, but back then, everyone was using the same film.

Getting one on eBay is still going to be pricey. Body only is going to be three to four K.

#1. Olympus OM-4T

Coming in with the gold, is a camera you probably didn’t expect, the Olympus OM-4T. Maybe some of you did, as last time I made a list like this on the hottest of 1982, lots of you asked where the Olympus cameras were. The OM-1N came in at eleventh place in case you’re curious.

One of the features of the OM-4T that caught my eye while reading up on it was the ability to multi spot meter, as described in this review by Petersen’s Photographic writer Dan O’Neill in December 1986.

“Multi-spot metering is done by selecting different areas in the scene and metering each one with the press of the spot button. Up to eight spots can be metered and averaged by the OM-4T’s microcomputer.”

The other big deal with the OM-4T is the Full Syncro flash system. Basically, Olympus uses a focal plane shutter and that comes with its limits on how fast you can sync a flash to it. While many other manufacturers worked on a better shutter, Olympus just increased the duration of the flash system to properly gather all that light at quicker speeds. A focal-plane shutter has two curtains. A leading one and a trailing one, and at higher speeds the trailing curtain is already closing before the leading one has completed its cycle, so in the case of flash, you get an incomplete flash exposure.

Long story short, the OM-4T had a max flash sync speed of 1/2000, as promoted in an ad titled: “The first camera ever to break the light barrier.” They also called the multi spot meter function, “The most precise built-in meter in camera history.”

So what does the T stand for? According to David Brooks of Petersen’s Photographic, “the use of titanium for the bodies top and bottom plates. This exotic metal provides both lighter weight and greater strength to protect the camera’s internal circuitry to dedicate the new F-280 flash and integrate its special new capabilities into the OTF auto flash exposure control, auto-spot continuous light metering, and exposure automation.”

With a 50mm f/1.8 lens, the OM-4T will set you back $1,330 by 1991 standards, or just under $2,700 by today’s. These days you can expect to pay a respectable three to four hundred body only.

Conclusion

And that concludes today’s list. Thanks for reading and watching, and happy shooting!

About the author: Azriel Knight is a photographer and YouTuber based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find Knight’s photos and videos on his website, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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[jinnielovebot]

whatever sick ass marketing strat jyp thinks he’s tryna pull, it’s not working

im not gonna rant about jyp in this post bc im sure PLENTY of you have alreayd done that and trust me, i have too. lets just think about how emotionally crushing this must have been on the boys :(((

chan had to not only be told that he had to get better at EVERYTHING (srsly tho jyp what ht e fuck) but he had to watch 2 of his members get eliminated. as if jyp couldnt spell it out any clearer that he thought chan’s effort and hard work was for nothing. i cant even begin to imagine how hard this must be for him, thinking that he probably failed his team and that it’s all his fault.

woojin ahsdASDJKAS okay listne here BITHC woojin hasn’t been practicing for years upon years just for jyp to say “lmao ur not main vocal material” suck my ASS jyp if youre fucking looking for main vocal material in your company then i think its safe to say that you need to remove yourself from the music career then :) woojin literally helped other members out with their vocals and jyp has the balls to say hes not good enough wha theh fu cfdjgksvhf it hurts sm to see woojin look so disappointed in himself when he really shouldnt be ajdkdlsls

changbin literally had to see the 2 members of his group get eliminated. he looked so broken when felix got eliminated it actually fucking hurt my heart just to hit the unpause button and see him torn up when he was hugging felix. when he kept saying he was sorry to felix i almost lost it there was so much desperation and regret in his voice it was so painful to see him so broken and blaming himself for losing his group members

hyunjin, oh my god where do i even start idc if im sounding biased rn but this kid had to go through TWO elimination scares, both in the first mission and after the busking like how the FUCK do you think he feels rn?? im so torn knowing that hes probably scared that he’ll be next or that he’s not cut out for the team with all the (STUPID ASS) criticism he’s gotten from jyp ahsdkjadajsk i srsly hope he’s not losing confidence in himself :(((

jisung now has seen both woojin and jeongin at risk of elimination i swear to the lord his heart must be absolutely crushed right now. can you even imagine how guilty he must be feeling right now that he couldn’t help those two even THOUGH HE REALLY DID A SHIT TON like asdjhkASDAHSKJ

minho suffered through SO much unjustified criticism from jyp it scares me to think about how much confidence he must have lost because of it ajkd he worked his ass off improving his rap, dance, and vocals in such a short amount of time but jyp just tossed that all out the window and u know all those memes on tumblr abt minho whooping jyp in the future? that better happen soon for realsies :’)

jeongin has srsly been in fear of that disgusting crusty ass old snake man jyp ever since the first mission bc jyp is a blind ass cuck who thinks its cool to scare the living daylights out of jeongin. this poor kid has had to go through so much criticism throughout the show bc apparently jyp cant see that he’s actually IMPROVINGA SHIT TON and is still young asf so he still has time to learn. dhaskdjas i hope he regains his confidence and stands up to that crusty old man soon >:(((

seungmin, i thank rvery star in the sky that jyp has for the most part kept his grimy hands off of seungmin but i remember this onenficcking part i just cant rememebe r WHERE but he looked so crushed and it was all bc of the one and only snake

felix, i needa take a breather. you can’t fcking tell me that felix isn’t a hard worker. this boy who’s not even 18 yet freaking left his home miles and miles away with little knowledge about the language nor korea itself, all just for a shot at debuting under jyp. he poured all his blood sweat and tears just to practice his dancing for hours and hours, and when he wasn’t dancing, he was practicing korean for the few months that he was in korea. you can even fking SEE HOW HE WAS PRACTICING HIS PRONUNCIATION AND RAP FOR THE PERFORMANCE and yet jyp doesnt see that he basically just threw away all of felixs hard work and boy oh boy i cannot begin to imagine how felix felt being told he just wasnt good enough. idk someone probably gonna argue that “if he wants to debut he shoulda gotten better at korean” but see the flaw in YA LOGIC IS THAT he’s been there for very VERY few months. a language can take upwards of years to learn, yet hes been doing it every minute of every day over the span of 2-3 months and it’s not always about how good you are at something, it’s about how HARD you work to get there. it doesnt matter if he’s not perfect at korean or if he made mistakes in the choreo, it matters that he actually works really fucking hard to improve and jyp overlooked all of that with his ugly ass sunglasses

rant over congrats if you made it this far

#RANT #i put under cut bc i cussed a lot lMAO #IM SORRY #but im petty #gl if u read it #stray kids #not sad kids #did u get that jyp #allison.txt

[rktaeyong]

┋ chrysalis.

As soon as the casting notice is posted on the morning of the 20th, the news spreads like wildfire around the company. The whispers of “Baek Jiyoung CEO is debuting a new group!”spreads from one person to another, trainees and coaches alike, until there’s barely a soul who hasn’t heard what Sphere Entertainment plans to do before lunch break ends. Rumors abound about the concept, quickly exaggerated and easily argued over, until Park Heungsoo, one of the company’s vocal coaches, calls for attention in the middle of the bustling cafeteria. Once the room is quiet, he informs the group that all male trainees are to be called out by their trainers individually beginning after the lunch period. “Attendance for these meetings are mandatory,” he emphasizes loudly. “As they concern your future with the company, I advise you not to be late.”

True to his word, Park Heungsoo calls you to his office several hours later. Seated behind his desk, he greets you by name when you arrive and offers up a small smile. “As you might’ve already heard, our illustrious CEO intends to put together a new idol group. Luckily for you, you’ve already caught her eye as a possible member for it.” The trainer reaches for a paper on his desk which happens to be your company profile. He reads over the listed information with a critical eye before switching his attention back to you. “My question to you, Taeyong, is whether you’re interested in this opportunity and, if you are, where it is that you see yourself positioned in this group. Main singer? Or perhaps as a lead vocalist, or even as a dancer? Maybe even the leader?” Heungsoo places the paper aside, staring at you intently. “If you are interested in being in this group, know that I will immediately arrange to place you in a special training regimen to prepare you for the demands of this group. This may mean dancing lessons if you are lacking in that, or even singing lessons if I also want you to improve in that area.” Leaning back against his chair, Heungsoo nods towards the door. “Think over this proposition carefully and get back to me with an answer by the end of the week. You may go.”

for the past three months, taeyong has been thinking.

thinking about his future, his interpersonal relationships, his abilities as a dancer, as a performer – as a newfound singer. thinking about how his life has taken this wonderful and most welcomed turn from the monotony of retail life, how his life has taken to a different sort of rut – but in this rut, he feels more safe, more secure. he knows that at any moment’s notice, he could be dropped from the agency for the slightest slip-up. he knows that he could be stuck in the trainee dungeon for years on end with absolutely no hope for debut.

he knows that this is a risk. he knew since he signed his name on the dotted line.

he didn’t – rather, doesn’t – want to turn out like that. wasting his young life with empty promises, no definitive plans. he needed to know what life has in store for him, and to be only given uncertainty is mind-numbing.

that being said, he knows that he hasn’t been completely accustomed to this lifestyle. he knows that there are people within the company walls that deserve this opportunity. being a trainee for years is something that he’s not familiar with. but he knows people who fall under these circumstances – hong jonghyun has been quite honestly the face of sphere trainees. the sunbae of all sunbaes. the cream of the crop. if anyone deserves to debut, it’s him in taeyong’s opinion.

luna is another person whose talents deserve to go noticed by adoring fans all over the world – leadership, headstrong, fiercely true to herself. taeyong had respected her decision not to go onto royal survival – he knows that either her loyalty is with sphere or the people at sphere. he’s learned that they are two completely different things, especially from her.

in all honesty, taeyong thinks that every single one of his fellow sphere family trainees – all sunbaes, he adds – deserves this chance. they deserve to see the limelight.

but he didn’t – doesn’t – actually think of himself ready enough for this opportunity.

he’d been completely silent, completely obedient as he’s brought in for this special meeting. his heart drops when he hears that he basically just has to give a vocal confirmation by the end of the week for all the spoils of debuting. his mind races – why was he given this opportunity? of course, baek jiyoung sees some light in him that no one else saw. she had brought him under her wing when no one else wouldn’t, three months ago.

but that was the root of another problem – three months. three months is all his record can say for him. perhaps the idea of seniority over talent ghosted over him like a specter. he remembers hearing the words new idol group come straight from park heungsoo’s mouth. you’ve already caught her eye as a possible member.

he’s terrified.

immediately after, he remembers texting all of his friends for their opinions, for their own insight, for desperate advice – wondering whether or not they caught word of the audition to this group. he thought about jaehyun’s smile on that stage – how big and beaming it would be. how happy this would make him. he thought about ten, how much of an amazing dancer ( more so than he is, taeyong thinks ) he is and the horizons this would bring him. how much this would help with his self-confidence – to finally have him realize himself. he thought of johnny, and how, even though he’s not particularly fond of this lifestyle himself, his smile would go from ear to ear just to see all his friends out on stage. how he’s always been the silent but strong and level-headed supporter of everyone.

most of all, he thought of yuta. his opinion on yuta is unwavering – he loves him, with all his heart, and taeyong’s been the happiest he’s been in such a long time now that they’ve finally found each other again. yuta’s confidence is staggering, and his talents can shine a super bright light on every single black hole in the universe. if anyone deserves this opportunity, it’s him – it’s always been him. but taeyong realizes that sphere just isn’t in yuta’s cards – and while he’s disappointed, he’s absolutely sure that trc is his destiny. he doesn’t want to get in the way of that path – he wouldn’t let the love of his life make that mistake.

they all said the same thing – do it. do it because this is the opportunity of a lifetime. do it because you have the talents to back yourself up. do it because baek jiyoung herself saw something that deserved to be showcased.

for a while, taeyong’s unsure. he’s crossing the tight line of accepting and otherwise. experience on one hand, debuting in the other. seems like a trivial comparison, but to taeyong, it’s everything. his whole life depends on his decision now. he doesn’t know if he can wait for probably years for another opportunity, but he also doesn’t know whether or not he himself he’s ready for this.

he does some thinking. more thinking. how far he’s already come. how he has so much more to experience. how he has so many more items of business on his checklist. how much he loves everybody in his life and how much they care for him. how they see the flame within him when he himself can’t. how it all comes down to this –

“hello. i’ve done some thinking and… i... i definitely would like to be a part of this idol group, as one of the lead vocalists but mainly as a main dancer. if that’s okay. i just... want to thank you for such a wonderful opportunity. i won’t let anyone down, i promise. i plan to be as diligent and hard-working so you’ll all not regret this decision.”

he decides that it’s time for him to grow up. it’s time to suck it up, and take more risks. it’s time to for him to live instead of exist. 

#& SOLO ; #& SPHERE ; #rkhongjonghyun #rkluna #jaehyunrk #tenrk #rkjohnny #yutark #** tbh i would tag all of the sphere trainees #** b/c even if he hasn't officially meet everyone he's grateful for u okay #** THIS IS...... 993 WORDS #** did he do it??? read til the end to find out aksfjasf #** it also was supposed to be posted later but.. .. .. . i have school coming up so i wanted to get this out of thE WAY #submission #rksdcasting

[writingsubmissions]

2016 Year in Review

It's that time of year again - time for me to rank every UFC card of the year and hand out some year-end awards, because I'm insane. Basically, I try to rank these by sort of context-less fight quality - if I had to show someone one card this year who wasn't really a fan, which would provide the best fight action. So it's pretty much based off pacing and fun action, though there are some considerations for memorable moments or starpower, plus level of technical skill. So, to quote the dearly departed Mike Goldberg, HERE. WE GO. 41) UFC on Fox 18 - January 30, 2016 - Newark, New Jersey - Fox/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Woof. With the legalization of MMA in New York on the horizon, this figured to be UFC's last hurrah in Jersey, at least as sort of their hub in the Northeast, and...well, UFC had already moved onto New York, it seems like. This didn't look to be too great a card on paper, and it pretty much lived down to expectations - nothing here is too awful, but there's also just nothing to really recommend. There's some stuff that did set up things down the line - Jimmie Rivera and Wilson Reis got one-sided wins to establish themselves as contenders in their respective divisions, and Bryan Barberena knocked off golden boy Sage Northcutt to both establish Barberena as a tough out and Northcutt as a product of hype - but it's not like any of those were great fights. The one real sort of amusement is Ryan Bader achieving peak Ryan Bader once again in the main event - Bader has a history of choking in the big fight, and seemingly one win away from a title shot, he decided to shoot for an absolutely terrible takedown against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, stupidly go for a Kimura from the bottom, and then get knocked into unconsciousness in just 86 seconds for his trouble. So, yeah, that was your main event. Just a nothing happening show. Fights to Watch: Honestly, you're fine skipping the event entirely - the best fights are probably currently rising welterweight prospect Randy Brown making his UFC debut over Matt Dwyer, and Rivera's breakout win over Iuri Alcantara, but neither of those were A-plus action. There were also two neat finishes - Alexander Yakovlev surprisingly scored a solid knockout over George Sullivan, and in the co-main, Ben Rothwell shockingly became the first guy to tap out Josh Barnett with some weird guillotine variation he calls the "gogo choke." And then there's the two fights you can watch just for schadenfreude's sake, with Bader failing miserably in the main event and Northcutt getting tapped out. Yep. 40) UFC Fight Night 93 - September 3, 2016 - Hamburg, Germany - UFC Fight Pass Summary: This card happened. UFC's relationship with Germany has always been a strange one - when the company first expanded into Europe, the UK and Germany were the two big markets they targeted, which made sense, at least based off economics. The UK took off, since there was a talent base of guys like Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy, and the media accepted the sports with open arms, while Germany...not so much. The German fight scene is only now really starting to crank out decent fighters, and there was a huge media backlash against the sport, with sensationalist headlines about this being a bloodsport and such, straight of the mid-90's. But UFC's continued to run there despite little fan interest, and I can't really blame them, given that UFC hasn't really tried to give the country a big card - last year's show had a Joanna Jedrzejczyk title defense on top of an absolutely awful card, and this one wasn't much better, with a veteran heavyweight battle between Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski, some top light heavyweights, and then a whole lot of nothing. On the plus side, the Arlovski/Barnett fight wound up being a pretty good multi-round heavyweight fight, and Ryan Bader actually did the starching for one, destroying Ilir Latifi with a knee for a knockout, plus German MMA pioneer Peter Sobotta got a rousing one-sided win over Nicolas Dalby. On the negative side, everything else was completely unmemorable about this card. Fights to Watch: Honestly just the three things I just mentioned - Barnett/Arlovski was fun, and that Bader knockout was brutal. I'm not sure how great a watch the Sobotta fight is, since it's really just a one-sided beating, but it was at least an emotional moment to see a hometown favorite get a big win in surprising fashion. 39) UFC Fight Night 102 - December 9, 2016 - Albany, New York - UFC Fight Pass Summary: This card pretty much lived in infamy as soon as it happened - basically, as part of getting UFC legalizing MMA in New York, they promised so many events per year in the state, so they wound up putting on this extraneous card in Albany. They sort of half-assed put one together, but then proceeded to see most of the interesting stuff on the card fall apart thanks to injuries, so the result was probably the weakest domestic card in UFC history from a marquee standpoint. On the plus side, there was the chance on paper that on such a prospect-heavy card, someone would stand out, but the bad news was that nobody really did throughout the first half of the card, as things kicked off with five straight unimpressive decisions that sort of made your eyes glaze over. Things eventually did pick up a bit, particularly as the main card started - Gian Villante and Saparbek Safarov put on a fun brawl, Corey Anderson steamrolled Sean O'Connell, and freakish heavyweight prospect Francis Ngannou put on another frighteningly impressive performance. And then the main event happened. It was a weak main to begin with, with heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov squaring off, and for about eighteen minutes it was just Abdurakhimov stalling, wrestling, and just making it an awful fight so he didn't get killed by Lewis's knockout power. Lewis did eventually catch him, putting him away at the tail end of the fourth round, but the fight sucked and just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Fights to Watch: Tune in starting with Gerald Meerschart's submission over Joe Gigliotti and then get the hell out before the main event. There's some impressive performances - Randy Brown, Anderson, and Ngannou all look good, plus there's a solid fight between Ashley Yoder and Justine Kish, and the highlight is definitely that Villante/Safarov, as while Safarov is a completely trash brawler, Villante has enough defense lapses to make it a fun fight. Just, again, close out of the window before the main event comes on. 38) UFC Fight Night 100 - November 19, 2016 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: You know, it really says something to the consistency of the UFC product that a card this perfectly fine is this low - this was actually the second card of the day, as it started right after a Fight Pass event earlier in the afternoon from Belfast, and it didn't really drag at all. It's just that, well, this card is basically just six and a half hours of perfectly fine fights; nothing was too awful, but nothing's really worth going out of your way to see after the fact. And unlike some of the other cards in this range, the main event doesn't really cap things off, as it's pretty much just Ryan Bader putting a beating on an aged Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Just a bunch of solid fights. And that's okay. Fights to Watch: Honestly, everything on the card is pretty solid. The best fight is probably the co-main, pitting Thomas Almeida against Albert Morales in a bit of an Almeida showcase. Otherwise, it's just sort of letting a bunch of okay fights wash over you while you day drink or something. I don't know. 37) UFC Fight Night 86 - April 10, 2016 - Zagreb, Croatia - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: UFC sure picked a weird time to run Croatia - Mirko Cro Cop had just failed a drug test and fake retired, while the next-closest thing to a native son, Croatian-American Stipe Miocic, was busy challenging for the heavyweight title the next month. So UFC just sort of went with their usual strategy in Europe nowadays, and just threw whatever heavyweights they could find onto the card. The results were fun in places, with some brutal knockouts by Jared Cannonier and Derrick Lewis, plus some lighter-weight fighters, but the event's marred a bit by a fairly unmemorable main event, with Junior dos Santos getting back on track against Ben Rothwell, and the fact that when some of the fights dragged, they really dragged. Fights to Watch: It's a pretty clear delineation - just watch whatever fights ended in a finish. Derrick Lewis, Mairbek Taisumov, and Jared Cannonier all had brutal knockouts of their opponents, and Francis Ngannou put on a breakout performance in beating Curtis Blaydes's eye so badly that the doctor called the fight. And the other two finishes on the night, Alejandro Perez beating Ian Entwistle, and Damian Stasiak beating Filip Pejic, are quick enough sprints - though watching the Pejic loss is a bit depressing, since he was only one of two Croatian fighters on the card and lost rather handily. The decisions are all fairly missable. 36) UFC Fight Night 101 - November 26, 2016 - Melbourne, Australia - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: If it wasn't for the main event, this would be an easy call for the bottom of the list - UFC booked this card to be pretty much reliant on its top two fights, a slated double-header of top middleweights Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza, plus Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson, but when Rockhold got injured, Aussie favorite Whittaker and Brunson got the main event call, and the rest of the fight was just a mishmash of Australian vets and stuff from the scrapped Manila card a month prior. And while Australian fighters usually bring it, this was not that night, as it sort of a plodding night light on impressive performances (and in fact, just the opposite, as a lot of guys actually underperformed)...at least until we got to the absolutely ridiculous main event. Brunson just decided to go all-out looking for an impressive knockout to get some notice, and just charged at Whittaker throwing bombs the entire fight - sometimes he hit, and almost had Whittaker done, and sometimes Whittaker would play matador and be able to strike back. Anyway, it was an all-action fight before Whittaker put away Brunson for the best win of his career, and that's pretty much the only thing that redeemed this show. Fights to Watch: Again, the Whittaker/Brunson main event is the only real thing of note on the card. Other than that, well, the two debuting Australians, Alex Volkanovski and Tyson Pedro, were the only real impressive performers. Oh, and the continued adventures of "Judo" Dan Kelly, an aging Australian judoka who pretty much only gets by on toughness and dad strength at this point, as he continued his streak of just wading through the offense of more athletic opponents to just beat the piss out of them, in this case Chris Camozzi. His fights aren't really pretty to watch, but Dan Kelly's pretty great, because he somehow keeps pulling this off. 35) UFC Fight Night 87 - May 8, 2016 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Sort of the companion piece to the Croatia show ranked two spots below it, as UFC also decided to headline a mainland Europe card with a bunch of heavyweights, though, you know, at least in this case they had some Dutch fighters. The top few fights are fun ones - Alistair Overeem, Stefan Struve, and Germaine de Randamie all delivered one-sided knockouts for their home crowd, and Gunnar Nelson was able to get back on track with a win over Albert Tumenov. There's just not a ton going on before then - there's solid individual performances by fighters like Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Kyoji Horiguchi, but nothing you need to go out of your way to watch. Fights to Watch: Again, the top four fights are all fun and quick enough you can pretty much just go with that. Outside of that, the Kyoji Horiguchi/Neil Seery fight that headlined the Fight Pass portion of things was a fun fight that went to a decision, and everyone else is, for the most part, perfectly fine, but skippable. 34) UFC Fight Night 84 - February 27, 2016 - London, England - UFC Fight Pass Summary: Another one fight show, as terrible undercards continue to drag down a lot of these European shows. But that one fight is a doozy, as Michael Bisping got the biggest win of his career - well, for about three months - over former champ and all-time legend Anderson Silva in what was just a big, dumb, glorious battle. Bisping won the balance of the fight, as Silva was and is obviously diminished from his peak, but the Brazilian would show dangerous flashes, including a controversial near-knockout at the very tail end of the third round that just added to the spectacle. A solid capper to a show that was otherwise pretty much a whole bunch of nothing, save Scott Askham's brutal knockout of Chris Dempsey about halfway through the card. Fights to Watch: Really just the main event and that Askham KO are the only things worth watching. Other than that, the first two fights on the card are relatively quick finishes, so I guess you can go ahead and watch that, though, honestly, everything else is pretty skippable. 33) UFC 197 - April 23, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Oh, what could've been. Sort of the forgotten would-be big even of 2016, this was supposed to be the big Jones/Cormier card (well, for the first time), but with Cormier pulling out with a knee injury, we instead got all-time great Jon Jones in sort of a rusty sparring match against an overmatched Ovince St. Preux. The whole event just has sort of a flat feel, although there are some solid performances - Demetrious Johnson was finally able to just be in a co-main event showcase and ran through Henry Cejudo, plus this is where we got Yair Rodriguez's beautiful flying switch kick knockout of Andre Fili. Overall, though, a great percentage of the card is just decent, but missable. Fights to Watch: The Johnson fight might be the main thing to see, if only to see the best fighter in the world absolutely style on a top contender like few others can. Again, the Rodriguez knockout is awesome, as is Walt Harris's knockout of highly touted heavyweight prospect Cody East, if only for the schadenfreude thanks to East's history of domestic violence. The fight between Danny Roberts and Dominique Steele is also a fun one, even though others seemed to be higher on it than I was. 32) UFC 200 - July 9, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: So...UFC 200 kind of sucked, didn't it? It just seemed flat at the time, but it hasn't really aged well at all with the benefit of even six months of hindsight; looking back, especially after Ronda Rousey's recent media blackout, it seems kind of absurd they pulled the Conor McGregor/Nate Diaz rematch from this card, especially since this card really could've needed an epic main event. Though, in UFC's defense, Jon Jones/Daniel Cormier 2 did look like a suitable replacement, though Jones infamously got pulled from the card days before over what, huh, really did just wind up being tainted dick pills, huh. So, with UFC's first two plans falling apart, the main event wound up being Amanda Nunes running through Miesha Tate, who almost missed the weigh-ins herself, which would've scrapped that fight - and Nunes being the main event winner of UFC's most anticipated card in years (given what a landmark UFC 100 was) is no less weird even after she's beaten Rousey. So the big hook for the show wound up being Brock Lesnar coming back, with was most notable for him not being drug tested in the leadup to the fight, until he was, then him failing said drug tests and just making a whole shitshow of the thing as he took the money and run. So that fight was just fifteen minutes of wrestling, which followed fifteen minutes of wrestler as Cormier just took down surprising late replacement Anderson Silva...man, UFC 200 was just a weird-ass show, even with distance, though now that weirdness no longer masks over the fact that just nothing happened. Even what figured to be a sure bet for best action fight on the card, between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, instead wound up being a one-sided virtuoso performance by Aldo. Honestly, based off action, I could probably rank this even lower, but the early prelims had some quick finishes and there's something to be said for seeing a bunch of the highest level fighters in the sport, even if a lot of them didn't really do a whole hell of a lot. Fights to Watch: As far as the main card, I'd only recommend the opener, with Cain Velasquez blowing through Travis Browne in a reminder of how scary Velasquez can be when he's actually healthy, though it's also a reminder of how Velasquez is never actually healthy. Nunes blowing through Tate is also a fine enough watch that doesn't take long, and the rest of the top nine fights are just a whole bunch of unmemorable decisions. The first three fights on Fight Pass are worth watching, too, since you get three relatively quick knockouts - if I had to pick one, I'd have to pick Joe Lauzon's win over Diego Sanchez, since it might be the only time we see Sanchez's legendary chin get cracked so badly that the referee is actually forced to stop things. 31) UFC on Fox 20 - July 23, 2016 - Chicago, Illinois - Fox/UFC Fight Pass Summary: A fairly nothing Fox card, though it did feature one of many examples of UFC's plans going horribly wrong in 2016, as Holly Holm was pretty much given a showcase bout against Valentina Shevchenko in the main event, only for it to turn out that Shevchenko's a much better MMA fighter at this point in the game, and pretty much piece the former champ up en route to a win. Oh well. Past that, just a whole lot of fine stuff - Edson Barboza piecing up Gilbert Melendez, Francis Ngannou getting a showcase knockout, Eddie Wineland getting a big comeback win - but nothing too essential. Just a fine show that breezes by, and in this case, only have eleven fights is a bit of a blessing when it comes to this ranking. Fights to Watch: The best fight on the card was rather easily a deep undercard bout between Jason Knight and Jim Alers, as Knight rebounded from a nothing UFC debut to show off his full "Hick Diaz" repertoire en route to an action-heavy decision win. The two quick finishes to kick off the Fox card - Francis Ngannou over Bojan Mihajlovic and Felice Herrig over Kailin Curran - aren't really amazing or anything, but they're quick. Nothing on the card is too awful, but it's hard to recommend anything else - Eddie Wineland's comeback win over Frankie Saenz is solid, as are the top two fights on the card, but those are skippable unless you have a vested interest in the names involved. 30) UFC Fight Night 96 - October 1, 2016 - Portland, Oregon - Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports 2/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Appropriately enough, given it was in Portland, this FS1 card was most notable for just being a weird one. Three Brazilian fighters missed weight - John Lineker, Alex Oliveira, and Hacran Dias - and that played into one of the weirder co-main events of the year, between Oliveira and Will Brooks, as Oliveira just used his extra size to ragdoll Brooks and then make things chippy both before and after the fight, apparently thanks to some comments Brooks made after Oliveira missed weight. Anyway, this is a show with some clear highs - the main event between Lineker and John Dodson was awesome, and Mexico's Brandon Moreno making a late-notice debut and scoring a submission win over Louis Smolka was one of the more memorable upsets of the year - but there's just swaths of this card that are boring, so it's sort of hard to recommend watching the whole thing through. Fights to Watch: The Lineker/Dodson fight is the clear one to watch, since it's five rounds of two of the hardest hitters at bantamweight squaring off in a fascinating cat and mouse game, as the speedier, but more explosive Dodson just tries to stick and move against the more opportunistic Lineker. After that, the only fights you really need to see are Moreno's win over Smolka, and the charming post-fight interview that follows, and Nate Marquardt starching Tamdan McCrory for a pretty brutal knockout. There's some other solid fights on the card - Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos against Keita Nakamura, and Ion Cutelaba against Jonathan Wilson, among others - but there's also a lot of stinkers, so I'd say to just watch those three good fights and get out. 29) UFC Fight Night 92 - August 6, 2016 - Salt Lake City, Utah - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: A tale of two cards. If you jumbled the order of these fights around, this might actually be a much, much higher card, but after a pretty great undercard, this one fell off a cliff until the main event, as a pretty boring five fight stretch just killed all momentum until the headliner between Yair Rodriguez and Alex Caceres, which was more kung fu action movie than MMA fight, took place. It's kind of funny, too - on paper, the main card looked like a gimme as far as delivering six fights of good action, but instead we kicked things off with six pretty good fights, and then we all stared into the yawning void and wondered where our lives had gone wrong as decision after decision happened. But yeah, good main event. Fights to Watch: Well, start at the beginning and stop before you hit the main card, basically. After a fun bout between debuting heavyweights Justin Ledet and Chase Sherman, the Fight Pass headliner was probably the best fight on paper on the card, and wound up being the best one in practice, as Cub Swanson and Tatsuya Kawajiri had a pretty fun back and forth war. After that, we got three straight impressive knockouts (including Marcin Tybura's ridiculous head kick knockout of Viktor Pesta), and a pretty fun fight between hometown hero Court McGee and Dominique Steele. And then, five fights of crap, although the fight pitting the lanky Maryna Moroz against the short and squat Danielle Taylor was a bit of a weird shitshow. Anyway, from the main card, only watch the main event, as Yair Rodriguez and Alex Caceres basically just had a fight that looked more like a martial arts exhibition in places, as both gave into their propensity for ridiculously flashy single strikes. Fun stuff, though. 28) UFC Fight Night 88 - May 29, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: A perfectly fine card that never really dragged, buoyed by an excellent top two fights. The main event saw Cody Garbrandt knock out Thomas Almeida in a battle of undefeated prospects for what would be the first big win of the future bantamweight champ's career, and that came after a solid bout that saw Jeremy Stephens spoil the featherweight debut of former bantamweight champ Renan Barao. The middle is a little bit eh - a close fight between Lorenz Larkin and Jorge Masvidal is probably the best - but the show also kicks off with a bang, as we get a bloody heavyweight brawl between Adam Milstead and Chris De La Rocha, a big upset in a fun back and forth fight between Bryan Caraway and Aljamain Sterling, plus some brutal finishes by Jake Collier and Erik Koch. A perfectly fine show that portended some things to come, and a solid watch. Fights to Watch: Watch the first four fights, and skip to the last two is pretty much the way to go. Everything's more or less outlined above - the fun heavyweight brawl, the solid Caraway/Sterling fight, two finishes, and then go to the top two fights on the card for the best fight on the show and the best finish. 27) UFC Fight Night 95 - September 24, 2016 - Brasilia, Brazil - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Another in a run of perfectly fine FS1 cards (truth be told, this year there was very little separation between a lot of these cards in the lower half of this list), this one was the Cyborg show, as the Invicta featherweight champ drew a big rating despite fighting a complete unknown in Lina Lansberg. It was a one-sided beating - though Lansberg did manage to survive into the second round - and it capped a solid enough show with a few highlights, like Eric Spicely's upset win over Thiago Santos (the biggest per betting odds in UFC this year) and a fun brawl between Erick Silva and Luan Chagas. Again, yet another FS1 card where half the action is pretty fun, half is fairly forgettable, and there's a bunch of fun finishes throughout. Fights to Watch: The best overall fight on the card is that undercard bout between Silva and Chagas, as both guys pretty much care about offense first, with defense and strategy as afterthoughts. As far as other stuff, the most interesting is all relatively quick finishes - Vicente Luque scored an absolutely brutal knockout of Hector Urbina, and the back to back submissions by Godofredo Pepey and Eric Spicely to kick off the main card are solid ones. The Spicely one is especially neat to watch, with the knowledge now that he was pretty much only on the roster because the paperwork to cut him got forgotten admist the UFC purchase, and he was only thrown out there to loose. Whoops. Plus the Cyborg/Lansberg fight is fun, if only to see Cyborg do her thing, and if you're sick in the head, the Francisco Trinaldo/Paul Felder fight features one of the more brutal cuts in recent memory, so have at. 26) UFC Fight Night 83 - February 21, 2016 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Looking back, this is one of the dumber UFC main events of 2016, as Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira faced off pretty much only to do "Cowboy" versus "Cowboy". It was a one-sided Cerrone win, but it capped off a solid card that was low on starpower, but high on action, as seven of the thirteen bouts ended in finishes, and some of the others provided some pretty good action. A forgettable card, honestly, since performances by guys like Cerrone and Cody Garbrandt would get overshadowed later in the year, but a fun one, and hey, nothing really sucked on the card, which is sometimes half the battle. Fights to Watch: The four finishes on the main card are all worth watching, especially since they're quick affairs - plus you get stuff like Cerrone showing off his rarely-seen submission flashes, a solid Garbrandt knockout, and Chris Camozzi absolutely wrecking a past his prime Joe Riggs. Really all the bouts save the opener between Anthony Hamilton and Shamil Abdurakhimov and the Nathan Coy/Jonavin Webb fight are worth watching, but there's some other fun stuff - Oluwale Bamgbose's knockout and bizarre interview afterwards, plus the back and forth scrap turned bloodbath between Lauren Murphy and Kelly Faszholz, which was probably the best fight of the night. And Ashlee Evans-Smith and Marion Reneau may have had the best matchup of the year in terms of entrance music, with Evans-Smith coming out to riot grrrl classic "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill and Reneau, inexplicably, coming out to "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks. 25) UFC Fight Night 82 - February 6, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: UFC sort of made chicken salad out of chicken shit here, as this was initially supposed to be a pretty thin UFC 196 show, but after the slated heavyweight title rematch between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez fell apart, we found up getting a pretty solid FS1 card headlined by Stephen Thompson pretty much running through Johny Hendricks. Amusingly, that was the only fight from the slated pay-per-view main card that really delivered, as the rest of the top four bouts were all fairly blase affairs, but the undercard brought it - we got a fun comeback from veteran Mike Pyle against Sean Spencer, some vicious finishes thanks to guys like Misha Cirkunov and Diego Rivas, and the debut of Mickey Gall during the Fight Pass portion of things, as UFC set the whole CM Punk fiasco officially into motion. Fights to Watch: Most of the card is pretty watchable, save the second- and third-to-last fights on the card, as Roy Nelson/Jared Rosholt was as awful as every Rosholt fight is, and Ovince St. Preux against Rafael Feijao was just St. Preux getting injured early and still managing to dominate a flat Feijao in a sloppy fight. And skip the Josh Burkman/K.J. Noons fights too. Otherwise, there's a bunch of solid stuff - Diego Rivas scores a beautiful flying knee knockout over Noad Lahat, Justin Scoggins has a breakout performance over Ray Borg, Derrick Lewis does Derrick Lewis things, the fun Spencer fight, Thompson's breakout performance in the main event...all in all a pretty fun card, if only the top few fights hadn't been where it started to drag. 24) UFC Fight Night 94 - September 17, 2016 - Hidalgo, Texas - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: I'm still not really sure why UFC chose to run tiny Hidalgo, Texas, outside of its proximity to Mexico, but it wound up being a pretty fun card, even if it sort of got lost in one of those UFC overload periods where there was seemingly a FS1 card every week. The top three fights on the card all delivered - Michael Johnson starched Dustin Poirier in pretty quick fashion, Derek Brunson did the same to Uriah Hall (although that was a bit more controversial, though I don't blame the fight for being stopped since Hall dropped like a sack of potatoes), and Evan Dunham put on the best fight of the night against the debuting Rick Glenn. Add in the absolutely ridiculous Chas Skelly/Maximo Blanco fight, and an undercard full of Mexican fighters that pretty much always bring the action, and this is probably one of the more underrated outings of the year. Fights to Watch: Really, all of it's watchable, save the back to back decisions of Islam Makhachev over Chris Wade and Roan Carneiro over Kenny Robertson, both of which were fairly nothing happening. The two quick knockouts to top off the card are both solid, and that Skelly/Blanco fight is just one of the crazier things you'll see, as both guys decided to throw running flying kicks at each other to start the fight, winding up with Skelly somehow immediately choking out Blanco with a D'Arce. And really, everything else on the card save those two fights I mentioned is solid, with either a good finish or a solid performance. 23) UFC on Fox 21 - August 27, 2016 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Fox/UFC Fight Pass Summary: I don't really know why this show existed - UFC decided to add another Fox card to the slate with pretty much no notice, and then struggled to find enough fights to fill it out, but despite a complete lack of any name value on the undercard, it wound up being a fun show that breezes buy at just ten fights. After some prelims that were perfectly fine, despite, again, no name value - as much as I love Sam Alvey, he probably shouldn't be in the featured prelim of any card of note - the Fox card proper wound up delivering, giving us a pretty good Jim Miller/Joe Lauzon rematch, Paige VanZant kicking Bec Rawlings's head in, Anthony Pettis's debut (and, well, only fight) at featherweight in a fun one, and then Demian Maia showing the power of jiu jitsu by running through Carlos Condit. So, a solid, breezy affair, and nothing really sucked. Woo. Fights to Watch: You could probably just watch the main card - Pettis/Oliveira and Miller/Lauzon are both really good fights, plus you get what'll probably wind up being the best finish of Paige VanZant's career as well as Demian Maia putting on a BJJ clinic in the main event. But most of the undercard is solid, save the opening decision between Jeremy Kennedy and Alessandro Ricci - Felipe Silva and Chad Laprise both scored quick, brutal knockouts, plus the whole undercard caps off with the joy that is a Sam Alvey post-fight interview. 22) UFC Fight Night 89 - June 18, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports 2/UFC Fight Pass Summary: It took a while to get going, but UFC's debut in Ottawa wound up being a good one. It's kind of amusing, given all the technical analysis that goes on, and the amount of skill involved, when we get a fight like the best one on this card, as former hockey enforcer Steve Bosse and former football player Sean O'Connell just went out there and tore things up with a ridiculous three round brawl because, at the end of the day, we're pretty much all here for the violence. And that fight buoys a solid main card, with a Stephen Thompson/Rory MacDonald main event that may not be everyone's jam, plus standout performances from Donald Cerrone, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, and Joanne Calderwood. Add in some other solid stuff - Krzysztof Jotko's starching of Tamdan McCrory and a fun comeback by Joe Soto over Chris Beal - and it's a good card, although the Bosse/O'Connell fight pretty much moves this up a few spots by itself. Fights to Watch: Bosse/O'Connell is the fight, though you can really just skip the Fight Pass prelims and watch the rest and be alright, save a pretty nothing Jason Saggo/Leandro Silva fight. The Thompson/MacDonald affair is mostly a tense fight high on technique and low on action that may not be for everyone, but Donald Cerrone has his breakthrough performance at welterweight, Joanne Calderwood scored a brutal KO in a fight marred by a bunch of wardrobe issues that Valerie Letourneau was having, and the FS2 prelims are full of action. And hell, maybe even dip into the Fight Pass prelims for a bit, as the opening bout between Ali Bagautinov and Geane Herrera was a pretty fun affair as well. If you're a bit of masochist, the Elias Theodorou/Sam Alvey fight might be worth a bit of a watch, if only for Alvey's counter-attacking style being taken to the extreme with a frankly impressive dedication to inaction. 21) UFC Fight Night 99 - November 19, 2016 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - UFC Fight Pass Summary: Sort of a nothing show on paper, this was a solid example of one of those hidden gem cards - thirteen fights, no name value, but all of them more or less pretty solid for a show that provided a bunch of action and flew by thanks to the pacing on Fight Pass. The main event was a sort of thrown-together rematch that saw Gegard Mousasi quickly avenge a loss against Uriah Hall, and it capped off a whole bunch of good stuff - impressive debuts by UFC's first two Welsh fighters, and a pretty great moment with adopted Irishman and Conor McGregor teammate Artem Lobov, in sort of the hometown hero role, getting the biggest win of his career over Teruto Ishihara. Nothing'll really knock your socks off, but it's about five hours of really good action that rarely lags and just breezes on by. Fights to Watch: I'd say the only thing to go out of your way to skip would be the Amanda Cooper/Anna Elmose fight, otherwise everything else ranges from solid to pretty good. The most fun on the night is probably the opener, as Abdul Razak Alhassan and Charlie Ward just decided to throw bombs at each other until one of them went down, but there's a ton of other good stuff. UFC's first two fighters from Wales, Brett Johns, and Jack Marshman, each had impressive debuts - Johns in a virtuoso performance over Kwan Ho Kwak, while Marshman had a fun come-from-behind victory over Magnus Cedenblad. Plus we got some sweet submission work by Zak Cummings, heavyweight prospect Justin Ledet looking good, plus some showing out by Kyoji Horiguchi, Kevin Lee, and Mousasi in the main event. And then there's the Lobov fight - for all the flack that Lobov, sometimes rightfully, gets for only being in UFC thanks to his connections with McGregor, this was a career-best performance and it was really a pretty great scene, with the crowd, as well as McGregor in the front row, rooting him on and giving him a showcase moment in his adopted homeland. Sentimental stuff. 20) The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale - July 8, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: There was some solid action on the undercard (and some that, well, wasn't), but this is pretty much a one-fight show as far as this ranking is concerned, and that'd be the main event strawweight title fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha. McGregor/Diaz was almost surely the feud of the year, but Jedrzejczyk/Gadelha was probably the best based off of the pure hate the two seem to have for each other, and it just built and built over the course of a pretty solid TUF season. As soon as taping wrapped, the two had to be separated from each other at a press conference, and even after putting on one of the better fights of the year, it seems the rivalry is far from over - the two still seem to be at odds, and given that Gadelha is pretty clearly the second-best strawweight (and maybe female fighter, period) in the world, there's probably still a few more chapters to come. So yeah, the main event is great, plus there's some other solid performances, mostly in the form of a few quick knockouts by rising fighters like Doo Ho Choi and Joaquim Silva. Fights to Watch: Jedrzejczyk/Gadelha is the fight to watch, and as far as other stuff on the card, if it ends in a finish, it's probably worth seeing. Doo Ho Choi and Joaquim Silva both score brutal first-round knockouts, and Tatiana Suarez's win over Amanda Cooper is worth watching, if only because Suarez has the potential to be a future star at strawweight. Avoid the FS1 prelims, as there's pretty much a whole lot of nothing, but there's some fun weirdness at other points of the show - Jingliang Li's post-fight interview is something, as his charisma shines through even in Chinese as he starts shouting out Harley-Davidson, and there's some fun stuff in the Andrew Sanchez/Khalil Rountree fight. The fight is a whole bunch of nothing, since Sanchez exploits Rountree's complete lack of takedown defense and plays it safe, but there's some amusement to be had as Rountree, in the middle of being taken down once again, telling his mom, who is the front row, to stop yelling at him to get up. 19) UFC on Fox 19 - April 16, 2016 - Tampa, Florida - Fox/UFC Fight Pass Summary: This card is probably most remembered for all the stuff that fell through - Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson were supposed to square off before Machida was flagged by USADA, and Glover Teixeira, himself a replacement for Shogun Rua, wound up facing Rashad Evans in the main event after Tony Ferguson pulled out of the slated main event against Khabib Nurmagomedov - but it wound up being one of the better cards in the mold of having no one standout fight, but just a ton of really good action that breezed on by. The main event was actually probably a bit depressing, as Evans should looked shopworn as Teixeira more or less ran through him, but it capped off a night of solid action from top to bottom. Fights to Watch: Really, outside of Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira out-wrestling Oluwale Bamgbose, you can just sit back and watch the whole show. As far as highlights, I'm actually a fan of the pretty fun brawl between Raquel Pennington and Bethe Correia, as Pennington continued to improve and Correia remains a bit underrated thanks to her notoriety as sort of a punchline. Michael Chiesa's submission of Beneil Dariush is pretty amazing given Dariush's BJJ bonafides, and there's also some fun to be had in watching John Dodson absolutely run through Manny Gamburyan in his return to a full-time bantamweight. Santiago Ponzinibbio against Court McGee is a fun brawl, Khabib Nurmagomedov's return against Darrell Horcher is a solid watch, and the Rose Namajunas/Tecia Torres co-main event is a fun, razor-close fight - just a bunch of good stuff on this card. 18) UFC on Fox 22 - December 17, 2016 - Sacramento, California - Fox/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Pretty much the best card you'll find that's fairly decision-heavy, as pretty much all the fights provided pretty good action, and the main card was sort of the platonic ideal of a Fox show, with a focus on stories and personalities, even though the results of the big fights probably didn't go the way UFC management had hoped. The card was pretty much built around Paige VanZant thanks to her "Dancing With The Stars" notoriety, and instead of a showcase win over Michelle Waterson, Waterson instead submitted her so easily that it was probably the most damaging loss to VanZant's career, though, thankfully for management, Waterson is fairly marketable herself. And that came after the weirdness that was the Sage Northcutt/Mickey Gall co-main event, as CM Punk-killer Gall finally beat someone who has had a MMA fight before, and Northcutt finally showed a little bit of attitude. We also got Urijah Faber's retirement fight, which was a bit anti-climactic since he just went out and dominated Brad Pickett for fifteen minutes - as good an ending to a career as any, I suppose - and a bunch of solid action up and down the card. Fights to Watch: For the reasons listed above, watch the whole main card, since it also includes a pretty solid performance by Alan Jouban over Mike Perry. As far as the rest of the card, the one-two punch of Leslie Smith/Irene Aldana and Josh Emmett/Scott Holtzman were both pretty awesome fights, and after taking a while to get going, the later rounds of the Alex Morono/James Moontasri fight were pretty fun too. Scottish prospect Paul Craig also had a solid debut over Henrique da Silva, and Eddie Wineland continued his comeback with a sweet knockout of Takeya Mizugaki. Just skip the Aliev/Velickovic, Covington/Barberena, and Hirota/Miller fights, and everything's a pretty fun time. 17) The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale - December 3, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: The decision not to use that much talent off this season of TUF was pretty odd, given that it provided the best fights on the show in years, but UFC still came through with a pretty fun card built around Demetrious Johnson's biggest test in a while in Tim Elliott. Admittedly, for Johnson, being challenged means he lost the first round and then cruised to a victory, but it was still a fun fight that was a hell of a lot closer than anyone else thought it would be. And that came after a really fun fight between top flyweight contenders Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, a fun brawl between Jared Cannonier and Ion Cutelaba, and a resurgent performance by Sara McMann. Yet another really fun show that pretty much delivered action one fight after the other. (Well, except for one notable exception...) Fights to Watch: Well, I guess we might as well start with the weirdest fight of the year, Ryan Hall against Gray Maynard. I loved it and cackled wildly, as Hall just decided to refuse to engage completely, keeping Maynard at bay with kicks, and then whenever things got close, dropping to his back and daring Maynard to grapple, but I could understand why people hated it. I just love thinking outside the box and wierd MMA. In more traditional action, Johnson/Elliott is probably one of the better Mighty Mouse fights to watch, just to see him adjust, Cejudo/Benavidez is some solid technical fighting, while Cannonier/Cutelaba brings the action. Rob Font and Sara McMann also had career-best performances, and hell, pretty much every fight on the card is at least watchable. 16) UFC Fight Night 98 - November 5, 2016 - Mexico City, Mexico - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: UFC didn't really screw around with this card in Mexico City, loading it up pretty well despite it ostensibly only being a TUF Latin America finale, and it paid off, as pretty much every fight brought some solid action, despite concerns about the elevation in Mexico City slowing fighters down. Things capped off with an excellent five-round fight between Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos that ostensibly crowned Ferguson as top lightweight contender before Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor happened, and really, it was just excellent performances up and down the card, whether it be top contenders or just local favorites who live up to the increasingly apparent stereotype of Mexican fighters as aggressive overachievers who care little about defense. Fights to Watch: The main event's one to watch, with Ferguson getting the win over dos Anjos in close, but clear fashion in a back-and-forth fight. The Fight Pass prelims are skippable, but after that you can pretty much recommend everything - Douglas D'Silva and Henry Briones spark off a fun brawl, and Joe Soto gets the rare heel hook submission in pretty impressive fashion. Plus you get top prospect Alexa Grasso's showcase UFC debut, a pretty fun and quick TUF Latin America finale, a solid comeback win by Ricardo Lamas, and most surprising of all, a suddenly vintage Diego Sanchez prospect over highly touted newcomer Marcin Held. Just a bunch of really fun fights. 15) UFC 201 - July 30, 2016 - Atlanta, Georgia - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 2/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Sort of a sneaky fun show here, as this really felt like a hangover from the crazy UFC 200 weekend, but instead delivered some pretty fun action, even if the sudden end of Robbie Lawler's excellent reign as welterweight champ was a bit of a downer to end on. Just a bunch of really good action here - the co-main between Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Rose Namajunas was fun, Jake Ellenberger got a career-saving KO, and even the worst fight on the main card, the flyweight opener between Ryan Benoit and Fredy Serrano, sort of made up for it with sheer weirdness, as both guys have unorthodox, if limited, games. Add in some brutal knockouts in the prelims, and this is a solid watch pretty much the whole way through. Fights to Watch: The Michael Graves/Bojan Velickovic draw is the only fight I'd really recommend skipping, although the Jorge Masvidal/Ross Pearson fight is a bit hard to watch as Pearson gets obviously concussed. Of the other four undercard fights, three are over in the first round and the other might be the best knockout on the show, with Nikita Krylov head kicking Ed Herman, so that's all stuff you should watch. And again, the main card's really good - you get three really fun decisions of varying degrees of skill and two more quick finishes, so all in all it's a pretty easy watch. 14) UFC 207 - December 30, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: It drags in spots, but this is a card pretty much buoyed by its top two fights, as Amanda Nunes sends Ronda Rousey's career completely off the rails in shockingly quick and brutal fashion, and Cody Garbrandt has one of the more amazing breakout performances you'll ever see in completely dominating Dominick Cruz at his own game for five rounds en route to a bantamweight title win. Other than that, the action's pretty much solid save a fairly brutal Dong Hyun Kim/Tarec Saffiedine fight, you get some solid finishes earlier in the card, and the whole thing just sort of flies by at just ten fights. Fights to Watch: Again, the top two are what you need to go out of your way to see, since the Nunes/Rousey fight is a historic blowout and Garbrandt/Cruz is just some amazing technical wizardry. Other than that, Alex Garcia's absolutely brutal knockout of Mike Pyle is the only thing you should really seek out, but again, the whole card sort of breezes by. 13) UFC Fight Night 85 - March 19, 2016 - Brisbane, Australia - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: When UFC runs cards in Australia, the fights usually bring it more often than not, as Australian fighters are often offensively-minded and the crowds usually bring it. And this one was pretty much the ideal, as after a bit of a slow start, we just got action fight after action fight. Mark Hunt obliterated Frank Mir in the main event, which came after an absolutely insane fight between Neil Magny and Hector Lombard where each guy seemingly finished the fight multiple times, and that came after two huge comeback wins from local favorites at varying ends of the aging curve, Aussie prodigy Jake Matthews and four-time Olympic judoka Dan Kelly. Add in some other solid action in the fights before it, and the fact that at worst, some of the fights were skippable rather than actively bad, and this was yet another solid watch of a card from down under. Fights to Watch: Really, just skip the first three fights, since they're probably the worst three on the card, and lay back and watch from there - the worst thing on the main card is probably the Bec Rawlings/Seohee Ham fight, and even that's a solid scrap. Plus you get to see the joy that is Rin Nakai, who's just so freaking weird in terms of her fighting style and, well, everything around her, in her last UFC fight against Leslie Smith. Everything else is either quick, brutal finishes or ridiculous comebacks late in fights, so it's really just an excellent watch. 12) UFC 195 - January 2, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Well, 2016 got off to a hell of a start in UFC. With a lot of top guys on the shelf after loading up December of 2015, UFC just decided to put together an all-action card, with welterweight warriors extraordinaire Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit along with a bunch of other finishers. And after a slow start, things pretty much popped off as expected, with some dynamic finishes, a fun Albert Tumenov/Lorenz Larkin bout, and, oh yeah, Lawler/Condit itself, which was probably the most epic war in a Robbie Lawler title reign that seemed filled with epic wars and was immediately one of the best fights of the year. That fight was good enough that, honestly, all a card had to do was not suck to get this high a ranking, and most of the fights brought it, so here we are. Fights to Watch: Skip the first six fights and just start with Michael McDonald's beautiful escape to a submission over Masanori Kanehara, then sit back and watch a fun main card. Abel Trujillo and Brian Ortega both get solid submissions, Tumenov/Larkin is a solid striking match, Stipe Miocic punches his ticket to a heavyweight title shot (and also punches Andrei Arlovski's fight), and then you get the Lawler/Condit war. Great stuff, and one of a few examples this year where UFC shows they can still throw an excellent action card together when they feel like it. 11) UFC 203 - September 10, 2016 - Cleveland, Ohio - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: With only ten fights, this wound up being a really fun show that moved quickly, led by a big hometown moment for Cleveland native Stipe Miocic, who was able to defend his heavyweight title in a crazy main event over Alistair Overeem. It was just a back and forth round of big heavyweight dumbness, which capped off a weird few fights - the co-main saw Fabricio Werdum pretty much go out of his way to dick around en route to a win over Travis Browne after Browne called timeout due to a dislocated finger (which you, uh, can't do), and that fight came after CM Punk/Mickey Gall, which was...well, it sure was something. Add in a solid win by Jimmie Rivera over Urijah Faber in the fight that finally knocked Faber out of title contention, and Jessica Andrade establishing herself as a strawweight contender with a win over Joanne Calderwood, and you have a really solid main card. And the undercard was fine enough, too, giving us some solid finishes as well as a weird and ugly Bethe Correia/Jessica Eye fight. Fights to Watch: Really, you just need to watch the main card - you'll get some solid fights, some weird moments that only happen in MMA, and whatever the hell the CM Punk fight was. It's all good action, and pretty much the platonic ideal of a mid-tier UFC card, and given that it's half the show, well, there you go. 10) UFC 204 - October 8, 2016 - Manchester, England - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: This card was much maligned when it was announced, since the main event, with Michael Bisping defending his middleweight title against Dan Henderson, was more Michael Bisping Revenge Fantasy Camp than actual title match, but the card wound up being pretty great, with a bunch of finishes and moving at a brisk pace, given that UFC chose to run it from 11 PM to about 5 AM local time in order to accommodate North American viewers. Really, after a pretty blah opening fight, it was all action fight after action fight, with nine straight finishes leading into that Bisping/Henderson championship tilt, which saw Bisping win a decision, although he came close to once again getting knocked the hell out by Henderson a few times. Just some fun stuff, and given the rankings of some other events on this list, it showed that when UFC bothers to load up a European card, the results can be quite fun. Fights to Watch: Just skip the Santos/Martins fight that starts things off and take it from there, honestly. Perry/Roberts is a ridiculous back and forth brawl, then it's just a whole bunch of quick finishes and standout performances until that main event, which is a ridiculous bit of high-stakes drama in between two veterans. Just watch (almost) all of it. 9) UFC Fight Night 90 - July 7, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - UFC Fight Pass Summary: It's a funny one this, as with all the hype around UFC 200 weekend, the best card wound up being this one, the Fight Pass card on Thursday, which also provided the best moment, Eddie Alvarez's upset title win over Rafael dos Anjos. It was one of a few times this year where someone who had spent their years working their way up the moment scored a huge title upset in an emotional moment, and it capped off what was just an excellent show that provided all action. The first five fights all ended via submission, all the decisions were pretty fun in one way or another, just a really solid action card topped off by one of the most memorable upsets of the year. Fights to Watch: The whole thing, honestly. The only real skippable fight is the co-main between Derrick Lewis and Roy Nelson, but even that has its moments of absurdity, like Lewis pretty much deadlifting Nelson off of him at one point in order to get off the mat. Alvarez's win over dos Anjos is an all-time moment, and really, everything else is good - Jouban/Muhammad may be the best fight of the night, and Birchak/Lopes and Makdessi/Baghdad are both solid back-and-forth fights. And everything besides that has a pretty impressive finish. Just a really great action show. 8) UFC 198 - May 14, 2016 - Curitiba, Brazil - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: This really felt like the end of an era in Brazilian MMA, as with the exception of Anderson Silva, who was pulled from the show a few days prior with appendicitis, you had pretty much every major legend in Brazilian MMA here for one of UFC's few major stadium shows. And they got a hell of a card, even if the end result didn't go nearly as planned, with hometown hero and heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum getting stopped in the first round by Stipe Miocic. Other than that, it was pretty much a good night for Brazilian legends - Vitor Belfort lost, but it was to countryman Jacare Souze, and guys like Demian Maia, Shogun Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira all turned back the clock to various degrees (well, Maia's always been awesome) to score victories. Add in the UFC debut of Cris Cyborg, and one of the more underrated great fights of the year between Francisco Trinaldo and Yancy Medeiros, and if this was sort of the big sendoff to this generation of elite Brazilian fighters, it was a hell of a way to go out. Fights to Watch: This is another one where you can just watch the whole card - when one of the more boring fights is between consistent action fighters John Lineker and Rob Font, you know you're doing something right. Trinaldo/Medeiros is the easy best fight on the card, but there's a bunch of good stuff - Nogueira's win against Patrick Cummins was a pleasant surprise, and Demian Maia got to put on another BJJ clinic against Matt Brown. The Cyborg debut is fun, Jacare beating up Vitor is fun in its own right, and Miocic's knockout of Werdum is a good one, even if the Curitiba faithful probably wouldn't agree. 7) UFC Fight Night 81 - January 17, 2016 - Boston, Massachusetts - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Well, it was a fun tradition while it lasted, as UFC ran Boston over Martin Luther King weekend for two straight years - the first, in 2015, gave us Conor McGregor taking over the city and getting a win over Dennis Siver, and this one saw what really is one of the more ridiculous personal achievements in recent sports history, as Dominick Cruz basically came back from four and a half years on the shelf and came back, looking as good as ever, to beat T.J. Dillashaw for the bantamweight title in a technical masterpiece. And while the rest of the main card lagged just a bit - Eddie Alvarez's win over Anthony Pettis was probably the safest performance of his career - the undercard more than made up for it, with seven out of nine finishes and a really fun decision between local products Charles Rosa and Kyle Bochniak. Just a bunch of really good action, capped off by one of the highest-level fights you'll find. Fights to Watch: The opener between Francimar Barroso and Elvis Mutapcic is the only thing I'd say to skip, though you can also do without that Alvarez/Pettis co-main event. The rest of the undercard was pretty much all action - Rosa/Bochniak was a fun brawl, plus you get some fun finishes like Ed Herman destroying Tim Boetsch with a knee and Patrick Cote embracing his Canadian roots and basically going all hockey fight on Ben Saunders. And even the main card isn't so bad - Francisco Trinaldo had an impressive performance over Ross Pearson, and there's just the weird shitshow that is Travis Browne repeatedly poking Matt Mitrione in the eye and getting away for it as Mitrione's face goes all elephant man. And then there's that main event, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but is just an amazing example of how technical the sport can be at the top. 6) UFC 196 - March 5, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Dominick Cruz's comeback was the first big thing of 2016 in UFC, but this was the night the year went completely off the rails and basically told us that things would be very different going forward. This was initially supposed to be McGregor challenging for Rafael dos Anjos's lightweight title, but with dos Anjos getting hurt about two weeks beforehand, UFC went ahead and put McGregor against Nate Diaz in a (theoretically) one-off welterweight fight, setting a precedent that basically threw all their promotional rules out the window and fully established that it's stars, not titles or rankings, that take precedence when it comes to matchmaking. And then things got really nuts when, after a fun back and forth round and a half, Diaz wound up tapping out McGregor for the huge upset, temporarily setting fire to McGregor's aura as unbeatable champ, cashing in on years of persona-building with one of the best post-fight interviews of all time, and just upending a few different divisions as well as UFC's direction as a whole. Just...ridiculous, seismic stuff from the moment it was announced until the end of the fight, a reminder of how crazy and unpredictable this sport can be, and the fact that the fight was great made it all the better. And that was after another crazy result in the co-main, as Holly Holm decided to cash in on a title defense rather than wait for Ronda Rousey, and after winning most of four rounds, got taken down and choked unconscious by Miesha Tate. Whoops. While that temporarily hurt the idea of a Rousey/Holm title rematch, the thought at the time was that this might have been a blessing in disguise, allowing for both a huge Rousey/Holm rematch and a huge Rousey/Tate title fight, but, well, none of that went exactly as planned either. And while the rest of the main card was fairly unmemorable, the undercard had its highlights - the final nails in the coffin for the prospect status of Brandon Thatch and Erick Silva, the latter of which lost via brutal knockout, and the debut on the main stage for Teruto Ishihara, who knocked out Julian Erosa to open the show and told us all exactly how much he loves his...women. Fights to Watch: The main card drags a bit leading up to the two title fights, but you can just watch the whole thing, if only to see Amanda Nunes look mortal and see for yourself if you thought Tom Lawlor was robbed against Corey Anderson. Honestly, even the bulk of the women's title fight drags a bit, as it's either Holm picking apart Tate at a distance or Tate outclassing Holm on the ground, though the final takedown and submission was one of the highlights of the year. Past that, everything's pretty excellent, with the Nordine Taleb knockout and Ishihara's interview among the best things outside of the main event, which is still just a ridiculous scene. 5) UFC 205 - November 12, 2016 - New York, New York - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: It's still weird to type "New York, New York", even though it's finally happened - after years of trying, MMA finally got legalized in New York, and UFC didn't really mess around when stacking this card up - even though it lost two big fights (Kelvin Gastelum/Donald Cerrone and Rashad Evans/Tim Kennedy) the week of, what was left over was still the best collection of talent on any UFC card pretty much ever. It didn't have the one amazing fight to put things over the top, though Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson fighting to a draw in the welterweight title fight was close, but few events have really felt this epic, and the historic nature of the main event, Conor McGregor becoming the first concurrent two-division champ in UFC history, fit right into that atmosphere. This was really the event UFC 200 should've been - three title fights, the two already mentioned plus an excellent tilt between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Yoel Romero's vicious knee on Chris Weidman, and Khabib Nurmagomedov's dominant performance both in the cage and on the mic - this was just a card filled with huge moments and, amazingly, the level of debut that was actually worth the wait when it came to Madison Square Garden: Fights to Watch: This is another one where you can just watch the whole thing, although the first two fights and the Miesha Tate/Raquel Pennington fight are skippable (the latter thanks to Tate's flat performance, somewhat explained by her retiring in the cage afterwards.) Past that, it's all big fights and big moments, as even the FS1 prelims featured two knockouts, a vintage Frankie Edgar performance to get a comeback win over Jeremy Stephens, and one of my favorite moments of the year, as Khabib Nurmagomedov laid an insanely vicious beat down on Michael Johnson before turning all of MSG against him by calling out McGregor and calling him a chicken. And then the main card has that absolutely brutal flying knee knockout by Romero, three title fights that all live up to the hype in various manners - it's really something that should be experienced, since again, in terms of talent, it's probably the best UFC card of all time. 4) UFC 202 - August 20, 2016 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: The biggest UFC pay-per-view of all time, at least when it comes to getting people's money. After the insanity of McGregor/Diaz I, things only built, with McGregor publicly feuding with the company before finally getting his rematch, and things exploding into a can-throwing incident at a press conference that captured everyone's imagination. And thankfully, the card delivered, particularly the McGregor/Diaz rematch, as the Irishman completely retooled his game, so this time around wound up being an epic five-round war that, when combined with the scale, should rightfully go down as one of the biggest UFC fights of all time. And that followed five fights of pure violence, as we got five straight knockouts, including Anthony Johnson starching Glover Teixeira in just thirteen seconds, Cody Garbrandt punching his ticket to a title shot over Takeya Mizugaki, and even less memorable things like Tim Means bloodying up and dominating newcomer Sabah Homasi. Add in some lower-card fights that ranged from perfectly fine to pretty good, and this show amazingly lived up to the hype, given the amount of hype. Fights to Watch: The back-to-back fights of Artem Lobov/Chris Avila and Raquel Pennington/Elizabeth Phillips are skippable - Pennington/Phillips is just an ugly slog, while Lobov/Avila only existed because of each guy's connection to the main eventers and just wasn't a UFC-level fight, but everything else is worth watching. Everything else ends in a finish except for the main event, and given that the main event is probably the biggest fight in UFC history, well, watch that too. 3) UFC Fight Night 91 - July 13, 2016 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: One of the fun parts about watching an unhealthy amount of UFC is that, at least once a year, one of these random FS1 shows will just pop off and give the world a whole bunch of ridiculous action. Last year it was the Henderson/Boetsch card from New Orleans, and this time around, it was this card from Sioux Falls, South Dakota of all places, which took place four days after UFC 200 weekend and then proceeded to top almost everything from those three cards. The main event of John Lineker/Michael McDonald and the co-main of Tony Ferguson taking on the debuting Lando Vannata is pretty much the best double-header you'll see at the top of a UFC card, as the main was a ridiculous spring and Vannata turned out to give Ferguson a way bigger challenge than anyone expected. Add in a bunch of other finishes and fun action, and this is pretty much the best case for when you're tuning into a TV card, and a fun, relatively quick watch. Fights to Watch: This is another one where you can just watch the whole thing, but the Chookagian/Murphy and Holtzman/Pfister fights can be skipped if need be, and even the Omielanczuk/Oleinik fight, even though I sort of liked its weird, trashy heavyweight grappling. Past that it's all action - Rani Yahya against Matthew Lopez is a great grappling-based contest, Sam Alvey busts out a sweet ten-fingered guillotine against Eric Spicely, Louis Smolka against Ben Nguyen is a fun sprint, and then those awesome top two fights - this was a good one. Well, obviously, given the ranking. 2) UFC 206 - December 10, 2016 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: Well, that all worked out. What looked to be a huge show in Toronto was looking like a bit of a disaster heading into it - there were rumors swirling of a GSP comeback fight that never materialized, and the slated main between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson fell apart after a Cormier injury, so what was left was Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway squaring off for a more or less fake interim featherweight belt, and some solid action fights. And, well, despite the lack of starpower, things coalesced to give us one of the best pay-per-views in UFC history. Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi put on one of the craziest back-and-forth fights in UFC history, that got followed up by another awesome fight between Donald Cerrone and Matt Brown, and by then, the crowd was so spoiled that they were even booing a pretty fun main event. Add in two solid fights to open the main card, some good prospect performances on the undercard, including a beautiful wheel kick knockout by Lando Vannata on John Makdessi, and you have, well, one of the best cards of the year. Fights to Watch: The Rustam Khabilov/Jason Saggo fight is skippable, and the Valerie Letourneau/Viviane Pereira fight is aggressively bad (a rarity on a card this good), but other than that, watch everything. The Vannata KO is the clear highlight of the prelims, and the main event is just five fights ranging from pretty good to some of the most awesome violence you'll ever see. 1) UFC 199 - June 4, 2016 - Los Angeles, California - Pay-Per-View/Fox Sports 1/UFC Fight Pass Summary: It's kind of funny. With all the looking forward to UFC 200, the joke was that nobody wanted to be the guy on UFC 199, because you'd be just missing out on that big payday. And, well, UFC 200 wound up being sort of a fiasco, and UFC 199 wound up being MMA at its best, with some of the best fights of the year, a bunch of ridiculous violence, a ton of emotion, and just a lot of the weird starmaking stuff that happens when the sport is at its peak. Things got off to the best start I can remember in years, as a half-full LA Forum witnessed Polo Reyes and "The Other" Dong Hyun Kim wage a ridiculous war at about 3:15 local time, as each guy just threw bombs at the other and worried about defense later. From there, we got a bit of a cooldown period, but once it was on to FS1, the action picked back up - Alex Caceres had a resurgent performance against Cole Miller, and then we got three brutal knockouts that would portend what was to come. Jesus, this pay-per-view card - Dustin Poirier starched Bobby Green in a fun scrap to kick things off, and then we got a hugely emotional moment, with Temecula native and MMA legend Dan Henderson getting the last win of his career at age 45, scoring a huge upset over Hector Lombard with an absolutely brutal elbow upside the head. It figured to be Henderson's retirement fight, but, well, after the main event, things changed a bit. From there, we got a Max Holloway/Ricardo Lamas fight that got crazy near the end, as Holloway decided to forget about his lead in the fight and just decide to throw down, the last fight in the trilogy between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber (who teased retirement after the fight himself), and then one of the most memorable upsets in MMA history in the main event. Michael Bisping had fallen just short of a title shot for years, and his win over Anderson Silva in London a few months prior looked to be sort of his reward for a solid career as probably the best UFC fighter to never fight for the title. But an injury to Chris Weidman opened up a spot here, and Bisping was the best guy available, despite getting run through by Luke Rockhold about eighteen months prior. I didn't really see how Bisping had a chance, and I don't believe I was alone, given Rockhold's physical advantages and Bisping's lack of fight-ending ability, but the British MMA pioneer went out and did the damn thing, scoring one of the unlikeliest knockouts you'll see and taking home the belt in the first round. Just ridiculous drama, and an all-time great MMA moment, with Bisping celebrating with his family inside the cage, and going out of his way to try, for once, not to be an asshole. And hell, even the outside the cage stuff on this show was great - this was the night where UFC announced Brock Lesnar's comeback, as well as the signing of the Nate Diaz/Conor McGregor rematch (complete with Diaz in attendance, getting one of the biggest cheers of the night). Just a massive, wonderful show Fights to Watch: You can skip the rest of the Fight Pass prelims after the Reyes/Kim fight (though you may just need the time to recover), and then after that, it's all awesome. An awesome show. Awesome. Submission of the Year: 1) Miesha Tate vs. Holly Holm - UFC 196/March 5 2) Ben Rothwell vs. Josh Barnett - UFC on Fox 18/January 30 3) Michael McDonald vs. Masanori Kanehara - UFC 195/January 2 4) Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush - UFC on Fox 19/April 16 5) Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor - UFC 196/March 5 6) Zak Cummings vs. Alexander Yakovlev - UFC Fight Night 99/November 19 7) Gilbert Burns vs. Lukasz Sajewski - UFC Fight Night 90/July 7 8) Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Hamilton - UFC Fight Night 102/December 9 9) Iuri Alcantara vs. Brad Pickett - UFC 204/October 8 10) Randy Brown vs. Erick Montano - UFC Fight Night 94/September 17 Knockout of the Year: 1) Lando Vannata vs. John Makdessi - UFC 206/December 10 2) Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard - UFC 199/June 4 3) Yair Rodriguez vs. Andre Fili - UFC 197/April 23 4) Stipe Miocic vs. Fabricio Werdum - UFC 198/May 14 5) Scott Askham vs. Chris Dempsey - UFC Fight Night 84/February 27 6) Beneil Dariush vs. James Vick - UFC 199/June 4 7) Marcin Tybura vs. Viktor Pesta - UFC Fight Night 92/August 6 8) Nikita Krylov vs. Ed Herman - UFC 201/July 30 9) Alberto Mina vs. Mike Pyle - UFC Fight Night 90/July 7 10) Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown - UFC 206/December 10 Fight of the Year: 1) Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit - UFC 195/January 2 2) Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi - UFC 206/December 10 3) Polo Reyes vs. Dong Hyun Kim - UFC 199/June 4 4) Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz - UFC 202/August 20 5) Dominick Cruz vs. T.J. Dillashaw - UFC Fight Night 81/January 17 6) Steve Bosse vs. Sean O'Connell - UFC Fight Night 89/June 18 7) Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha - The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale/July 8 8) Tony Ferguson vs. Lando Vannata - UFC Fight Night 91/July 13 9) Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown - UFC 206/December 10 10) John Lineker vs. Michael McDonald - UFC Fight Night 91/July 13

#ufc #mma #2016 #year in review