Since June has come and gone, it marks the halfway point of the year and with that comes some analysis on what we've seen so far.   As a change of pace, I thought I’d take a look at some of the best fights, events and finishes of 2010 thus far.   These are all my own opinions and if you feel I neglected something or ranked something too high, I'd be happy to hear from you on the Insanity Message Boards.

Top 5 Events of 2010

5. UFC 109: Relentless

-Randy Couture submits Mark Coleman to a Rear Naked Choke in the second round in a fan friendly fight.   Post fight, Mark Coleman says "Fuck You Tito!" as Tito Ortiz was apparently heckling Coleman.   Coleman is released by the UFC following the fight.

-Chael Sonnen defeats Nate Marquardt convincingly by Unanimous Decision in a fight that earns Fight of the Night Honors.   Chael earns himself an eventual title match with Anderson Silva with the win and survives a nasty cut during the match.

-Paulo Thiago submits Mike Swick, after dropping him with a punch, with a very impressive and seldom seen Brabo Choke.

-Matt Serra knocks out Frank Trigg in the first round and sends him out of the UFC with the loss.

-Phil Davis makes his debut in the UFC with a Unanimous Decision victory over Brian Stann in a fight that was on the undercard but made television.

4.   UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velasquez

-Cain's destruction of the legend, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, and eventual TKO victory in just over two minutes.

-Wanderlei Silva getting back to his winning ways in an impressive and fun to watch, three round Decision over Michael "The Count" Bisping.

-George Sotiropoulous dominating Joe Stevenson and winning a decision in his own backyard.

-Ryan Bader's Knockout in the third round against Keith Jardine.

-Cro Cop stopping late replacement and hometown boy, Anthony Perosh at the end of the second round due to a cut.

-Krzysztof Soszynski "defeats" Stephan Bonnar due to an accidental and illegal head but that stops the fight due to a cut to Bonnar.   The two would eventually have a rematch, a fantastic scrap in which Bonnar won by TKO in the second round.

-Chris "Light's Out" Lytle submits Brian Foster to a knee bar in the first round after getting clipped a couple of times standing.

3. UFC 113: Machida vs Shogun 2

- Shogun leaves no questions in his rematch with Lyoto Machida by knocking out the undefeated champion in the first round and claiming UFC gold for the first time.

-Josh Koscheck earns himself a shot at UFC welterweight champion, GSP with a Unanimous Decision victory over Paul Daley.   The fight is actually rather boring with Koscheck holding down Daley for the majority of the fight.   After the fight, Paul Daley cheap shots Koscheck with a left hand and gets himself banned for life from the UFC.

-Kimbo Slice loses to Matt Mitrione and loses his job with the UFC.

-Patrick Cote makes his return to the UFC after over a year out due to injuries.   Despite fighting in his hometown, Cote falls victim to a Pedigree and is submitted with a Rear Naked Choke.

-Marcus Davis knocks out Jonathan Goulet in the second round.

-Joe Doerksen returns to the UFC and has a come from behind in the second round to submit Tom Lawlor to a Rear Naked Choke.

Jeremy Stephens defeats Sam Stout by split decision in the Fight of the Night.

2. UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin

-Despite having his arm broken, Rich Franklin knocks out Chuck Liddell in the final stages of the first round.   This is considered Chuck's swan song but only time will tell if he ever does fight again.

-Mirko Cro Cop surprises everyone with a rear naked choke submission on Pat Barry during the third round in a fight that Cro Cop was losing on his feet.

-Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald have a real fun fight that MacDonald wins the first two rounds, only to have Condit come out in the third round and dominate Rory wherever the fight went.   Condit stops MacDonald with only seconds to go in the fight which wins Fight of the Night Honors.

-Evan Dunham wins a controversial split decision over Tyson Griffin.   The only thing controversial was that he was awarded the fight by split decision as he won every round and had his way with his former training partner for 15 minutes straight.

1. WEC 48: Aldo vs Faber

-Jose Aldo destroys the legs of Urijah Faber for a full five rounds on route to a Unanimous Decision victory and WEC Featherweight title defense in the night’s main event.   Urijah survives the fight despite needing to be carried back to his corner between rounds.

-Benson Henderson successfully defends his WEC Lightweight Championship with a quick Guillotine submission in the first round of a rematch with Donald Cerrone in which the first contest was considered one of the best fights of 2009.

-Manny Gamburyan makes quick work of former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown by knocking him out due to punches in the first round.   Manny earns himself a title match with Jose Aldo next.

-Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia wins a split decision over "The Korean Zombie" Chang Sung Jung in perhaps the best fight in the last couple of years.   This was the last fight leading into the Pay Per View and was placed on Spike TV where it gained a whack load of fans as the contest continued.   This fight is best compared to Bonnar vs Griffin 1 and is a must see.

Top 5 Knockouts of 2010

5. Mike Russow over Todd Duffee

4. Paul Daley over Dustin Hazelett

3. Shane Carwin over Frank Mir

2. Shogun over Machida

1. Robbie Lawler over Melvin Manhoef

Top 5 Submissions of 2010

5. Joseph Benavidez vs Guillotine choke over Miguel Torres

4. Chris Lytle by Knee bar over Brian Foster

3. Fabricio Werdum by Triangle Choke over Fedor Emelianenko

2. Roussimar Palhares by Heel Hook over Tomasz Drwal

1. Paulo Thiago by Brabo Choke over Mike "Quick" Swick

Honorable mention goes to Kenny Florian vs Takanori Gomi and Martin Kapmann vs Jacob Volkmann.

Best Fight

5. Gilbert Melendez vs Josh "The Punk" Thomson

4.   Benson Henderson vs Jamie Varner

3. Yves Jaboiun vs Mark Hominick- Hominick was the favorite being that he was fighting in Canada.   Fast paced fight that went all over the place.   Hominick had Jaboiun in trouble but was soon dropped with a big shot that almost ended Hominick's night.   Hominick was able to mount Yves and reign down unanswered punches in the second round to get a big victory when the referee stepped in to stop it.

2. Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald- Great fight with a hot crowd and a big comeback.   MacDonald was able to take down Condit when needed and push the pace until the third round began.   Condit came out punishing MacDonald anytime he got close and pummeling him when Rory was on the ground.   Big comeback for Condit and one real good fight.

1. Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs "The Korean Zombie" Chang Sung Jung- Both guys threw wild punches and neither really cared enough to block the others shots.   Technically, this one was rather sloppy but both en came out swinging for the fences and this was easily the most fun I’ve had watching a fight in the last couple of years.

Biggest Upset of 2010

5. John Hathaway over Diego Nightmare Sanchez by Unanimous Decision

4. Manny Gamburyan over Mike Thomas Brown by TKO in the first round

3. Jake Shields over Dan Henderson by Unanimous Decision

2. Frankie Edgar over BJ Penn by Unanimous Decision

1. Fabricio Werdum submits Fedor Emelianenko to a Triangle Choke in the first round.

Honorable mention to Joseph Benavidez vs Miguel Torres and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos vs Marius Zaromskis.

Worst Judge's Decision/Referee Screw Up

5. Lyle Beerbohm defeats Vitor Ribeiro by Split Decision

4. Aaron Simpson defeats Tom Lawlor by Split Decision

3. Antonio Rogerio "Lil Nog" Nogueira defeats Jason Brilz by split decision.

2. Matt Wiman defeats Mac Danzig by submission to a Guilltoine Choke.

1. Jamie Varner/Kamal Shalorus goes to a Draw.

Best Comeback In A Fight

5. Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson-

4. Cro Cop vs Pat Barry-

3. Mike Russow vs Todd Duffee-

2. Robbie Lawler vs Melvin Manhoef-

1. Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald-

Honorable mention to Nick Diaz vs Marius Zaromskis and Joe Doerksen vs Tom Lawlor.

I think it's unfair to do a Fighter of the Year at this point since there's still time for many people to make ground in this category.   People like Cain Velasquez, GSP, Jose Aldo, Anderson Silva, Jake Shields and Brock Lesnar have all only fought once this year but could easily be contenders with another high profile win or two.   Other strong candidates would be Rashad Evans, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Benson Henderson, Junior Dos Santos, Ben Askren, King Mo, Martin Kampmann, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Chris Leben.   At the end of the year we'll all have an idea as to who the rightful winner is.

The rest of the year looks to have started very promising with one of the best cards of all time in UFC 116: Lesnar vs Carwin which had some great fights and finishes.   The next six months should be very entertaining with some high profile fights in the likes of Lesnar vs Cain, Nog vs Mir 2, GSP vs Koscheck 2, BJ vs Edgar 2, Benavidez vs Cruz and many more.   Only time will tell whether the final six months will be as good but we are definitely off to a great start.