Best of the half-year of MMA in pictures

2011 is only half over, but there's been enough craziness in MMA to fill a decade. Take a look through the best of images so far this year to see reminders of Tito Ortiz's resurgence, Steven Seagal's effect on two fights, the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and a whole lot of blood.

All pictures by Tracy Lee.

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Recall: Yamaha FJR1300

Yamaha is recalling 9,850 units of its FJR1300 motorcycle manufactured between February 2006 & March 2009. This recall is due to a ground joint connector in the wiring harness that could overheat and become deformed, and thus possibly cause an intermittent ground wire connection. Should the electrical system become improperly grounded, then the ignition system, or other electrical components, could malfunction, which could cause the motor to stall. Accordingly, Yamaha dealers will install an additional ...

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Tito?s career is on the line, who?s giving him a shot against Bader?

The chips are stacked against Tito Ortiz. Last week, the 36-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champ revealed that he had to beg Zuffa management for one more shot after his loss to Matt Hamill at UFC 121 in October.

The UFC relented but didn't give him an easy mark. Up next is 28-year-old, top 10 light heavyweight Ryan Bader. Essentially a younger, more complete version of Tito.

On this week's MMA Insiders show, HDNet analyst Frank Trigg and Yahoo! Sports' Kevin joined ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas to talk about Ortiz's chances in the fight and what he'll do if he loses.

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UFC 132 openers: Njokuani shreds Winner on the feet ? Hougland, Bowles and Simpson also victors

LAS VEGAS - In what could've been his final fight with the UFC, Anthony Njokuani came up with a clutch effort.

The Nigerian-born muay thai specialist got back on the winning track by dominating Andre Winner in a 15-minute standup battle. Njokuani lit up Winner in the first round on his way to a unanimous decision win, 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27. The victory ensures Njokuani keeps his job with the UFC.

"I have a newborn son (Kai) now and it's really opened up my eyes and made me focus harder. I go in the gym every day and try to watch tape and improve on what I've done wrong in other fights. I'm trying to do the little things well. I keep my hands up, I move my head more. I think that showed tonight," said Njokuani.

Njokuani (14-5, 1-1 UFC) came in a loser in three-of-four. His last fight was a tight decision loss against Edson Barboza. He had to make sure the judges saw it his way tonight.

Njokuani came out with a blistering pace using leg kicks and counterpunches to really throw Winner off his game. With 1:15 left in the first, the Brit got a little sloppy when he tried to come inside. Njokuani rocked him with a right uppercut and a short left. Winner backed up, but his legs didn't cooperate. His plant leg was jello. Winner retreated to the cage where he absorbed 30-plus knees and punches. Referee Yves Lavigne showed a lot of self-control in allowing the fight to continue and Winner (11-6-1, 2-4 UFC) made it out of the round. Two of three judges scored it a 10-8 round for Njokuani.

"I thought he was gonna be (knocked) out there in the first round. He survived and proved that he's a tough dude," said Njokuani.

Winner, the runner up on Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter," has now lost three straight. He's got some of the quickest hands in the lightweight division, but too often he's a slow starter. Njokuani's length hurt him from the start.

"It took too long for me to get going tonight. I was too tense and didn't use my range. He was a good puncher, but I spar with guys like Paul Daley so I'm use to hard shots," Winner said. "Anthony was just better tonight in all aspects. He's a great technician."

Simpson roughs up Tavares in battle of dirty boxing

Brad Tavares can definitely hang with a top wrestler, but that wasn't enough to lock up a win against veteran Aaron Simpson.

Tavares stayed off his back, but couldn't consistently create space to make good on a striking advantage. Simpson, 36, worked the fight to the cage for most of the 15 minutes and rolled to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three cards.

"I'm going to be honest. I didn't think I was at my best tonight. Brad is very talented and he has very flexible hips. Some guys at 185 are easy to hold down and maneuver. He felt heavy and was strong and made it a tough fight," Simpson said. "This win is something to build off of. I have such good training with guys like Seth Baczynski, Robbie Lawler, CB (Dolloway) and (Ryan) Bader. It truly made the difference in there."

According to FightMetric, Simpson was good on just 2-of-15 takedown attempts, but outlanded Tavares 127-41.

Simpson (9-2, 6-2 UFC) opened with a solid first round. The former Arizona State wrestler couldn't get it to the ground, but was able to land the harder shots in side.

In the second, Tavares (7-1, 2-1 UFC) got off to quick start with a left hook that briefly put Simpson on his rear end, but the wrestler was able to clinch and move it to the cage. The fighters traded knees and punches from the clinch over the next two and half minutes. Tavares picked Simpson off the ground and scored a huge slam. Again Simpson refused to freak out, won the scramble and threatened for choke with head control for the next minute. It was more of the same in the final round with Simpson winning the inside exchanges.

"I'm disappointed I lost the fight. I just spoke with my coaches and know I did some things wrong," said the 23-year-old Tavares. "I'm not going to hang my head for long. I actually wish my gym was open tomorrow. I'm ready to get back in there and fix some things."

Less than aggressive Bowles gets by Mizugaki

Brian Bowles began the slow climb back to the top of the 135-pound tonight by taking out the very tough Takeya Mizugaki.

Bowles, the former WEC bantamweight champ, battling back from a myriad of hand injuries, got the unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27. Bowles is now 2-0 in the UFC. He scored his first victory with the big boy promotion over Damacio Page.

Tonight wasn't easy for Bowles, who used a cautious approach to beat the Japanese veteran to the punch on most occasions in the first. In the second and third, Bowles (10-1, 2-0 UFC) used his grappling to win over the judges.

A native of Georgia, Bowles crushed Mizugaki (14-6-2, 1-1 UFC) with a big right at the 2:02 mark of the second. Mizugaki went down in a heap, Bowles jumped on top and eventually took his back. Mizugaki was in deep trouble. Bowles had a tight body triangle and began working for the choke. Mizugaki must have some super strong hands because hand battled with Bowles the rest of the way and never found himself in serious danger of being choked.

In the final round, Mizugaki fought without a sense of urgency. He allowed Bowles to take his back standing and then jump on top of him. With Mizugaki leaning against the cage, Bowles remained on his back for nearly four minutes.

Update: Bowles told UFC.com that he felt like he broke his right hand in the second. That certainly explains why his punch output was down to just 111 punches thrown.

In fight No. 1, Jeff Hougland and Donny Walker engaged in a back and forth battle. Hougland took a unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. It was the UFC debut for both fighters.

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Siver edges Wiman in a tight decision, loser storms out of the building

LAS VEGAS - Matt Wiman was convinced he'd won the fight and so was much of the crowd in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but that's not the way the judges saw it. Denis Siver did enough in the first and third rounds to take a unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards, in bout No. 3 on the UFC 132 pay-per-view.

When the decision was announced Wiman ripped his hand away from the referee, stormed out of the cage and actually left the building. Wiman (13-6, 7-4 UFC) eventually came back after walking around the parking lot.

"I did a lot of damage. Maybe he got the decision because he threw more punches, but they weren't effective. Effective striking and grappling is what they say and he didn't have that at all," said Wiman.

The numbers backed up the judges. FightMetric said Siver outlanded Wiman 128-34. In the third round, while Wiman was 2-of-5 on takedowns, Siver had a strike advantage of 47-6. Over the 15 minutes, Wiman was good 5-of-16 takedown attempts.

It had to be the second round that convinced Wiman he'd rolled to the victory. Wiman dominated Siver on the ground. He got him down with 3:50 left in the round and blasted away. A nasty left elbow busted open Siver's forehead and he bled like a stuck pig for the next few minutes. Siver never got back to his feet.

The first round was one the more tightly contested stanzas of the night. It went back and forth as Siver threw with vicious intent. He landed the better shots on the feet showed off some good takedown defense. Apparently, Wiman didn't press on the gas pedal enough in the final round. He scored a couple of takedowns, but didn't inflict the same damage he did in the second.

For Siver (19-7, 8-4 UFC) to escape with a win was huge. Because of a his slugging style, the Russian fighting out Germany, is a  promotion and fan favorite.

"I'm glad to win this fight. It was a very hard fight. My striking was a little bit better. My takedown defense was a little bit better. Altogether, I was just a little bit better tonight. Again, it was a very tough fight," said Siver.

After starting off his career in the UFC at 1-3, Siver has ripped off wins in eight-of-nine. He's also won four straight.

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