This was a monster year for MMA. There can be no denying that combat sports have reclaimed their spot in the sports mainstream. The biggest MMA stories of 2007 were talked about at water coolers across the nation. Here are 10 of them.

UFC buys PRIDE Fighting Championships, marking end of an era in Japan
Quinton Jackson upsets Chuck Liddell for UFC Light Heavyweight title
Randy Couture comes out of retirement to beat Tim Sylvia for Heavyweight title
Randy Couture attempts to sever ties with UFC, citing low payouts
Fedor Emilianenko spurns UFC, competes for BodogFight and M-1 Global
Chuck Liddell beats Wanderlei Silva in long-awaited (and classic) bout
Mark Cuban invests in MMA, debuts HDNet Fights
Brock Lesnar wins K-1 debut, signs with UFC
Keith Jardine stuns Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin upsets  at UFC 76
K-1’s Dynamite!! USA flops miserably in front of papered Los Angeles crowd.

Tired of the usual rock’em and sock’em man scraps? Probably not. But why not check out some real animal instinct when it comes to a fight? So without further adieu: A real UFC cat fight video for ya.

On Oct. 11, Randy Couture decided to leave the UFC and drop his heavyweight title. The UFC has other ideas; president Dana White said last week that Couture “retired,” but is still the champ and remains under contract for two more fights.

The reason the two sides are in dispute is a third party: Fedor Emelianenko. The top-ranked heavyweight in the world by Sherdog rebuffed the UFC’s advances and signed a six-bout deal with M-1 Global, based in his native Russia. The contract is not exclusive, but it does contain an intriguing clause: if UFC offers Emelianenko a shot at Couture, M-1 Global has to offer Couture $1 million more for the same fight.

Will White swallow his pride and allow Emelianenko to face Couture without an exclusive UFC contract? Will Couture give up an extra million to make it happen in the octagon? The MMA world waits with bated breath.