09 rankings

These are my first rankings of 09, remember this is based on overall achievement weighing the last 3 fights and the last 18 months over anything else. Any comments are always appreciated.

Heavyweight

1 Fedor Emilianenko
Fedor has been dominant over his entire career. He Has been the top fighter at heavyweight for years though this new generation of top heavyweights led by UFC Champ Brock Lesnar will attempt in 09 to challenge his unquestioned throne. A fight with Arlovski in january will answer alot of questions about where both fighters stack up in the division

2 Frank Mir
Many would consider this ranking allittle high after one humongous win. Take into account that he is the only fighter ever to finish Noguiera, that he is the only fighter in the top 10 with 3 wins over current top 10 fighters. Most have Mir currently ranked behind either Barnett and Arlovski both, but besides the fact that niether fighter has beaten a top fighter in years, Barnett’s only legit top 10 win came against Noguiera and was eventually avenged. Since then Barnett’s only legit win came against an aged Pedro Rizzo.

3 Andre Arlovski
AA has not impressed me lately but with wins over Nelson, Rothwell, Werdum and Obrien AA has been more consistant than the rest of the heavyweight field. Many feel his next fight in affliction will be his last. I for one hope he works on his takedown defense before stepping up to the superior wrestlers in the UFC.

4 Josh Barnett
Probably the most overated fighter in the heavyweight division. other than his win over Noguiera that has sense been avenged Barnett’s only top 10 win came against Couture and was then stripped away when he tested positive for steroids. Barnett once again cast a shadow of doubt on his legitimacy when he accepted a fight with Gilbert Yvel and turned down a fight with Andre Arlovski.

5 Brock Lesnar
His record stands glaringly to create doubt in your mind. but as many fighters have proven its not your record that is fighting n the ring. Against Randy Couture, probably the best heavyweight in UFC history, Brock looked like a dominant top 5 heavyweight. A fight with Mir looming on the horizon the winner will have a valid arguement about who truly is the number 1 heavyweight today.

6 Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera
Legendary; unquestionable. human; definetly. this was proven by Frank Mir who landed a straight left at will and dropped the seemingly unstoppable Nog. A fight with Couture in the future could show us which fighter may have more miles left on thier engine yet.

7 Randy Couture
The legend met a younger much much bigger version of himself in Brock and lost. But Randy isn’t quite ready to hang it up and before Brock landed his killshot Randy looked good. lets hope that his continuing fighting will help not hurt the legendary fighter.

8 Tim Sylvia
All of his losses have come to top fighters, but he has accumulated a nice amount of losses in his last few fights. A prolonged absence from combat coupled with a currently losing record could knock Sylvia’s status off the pinnacle forever.

9 Junior Dos Santos
A ko victory over Fabricio Werdum puts Junior above other fighters that have lost to the BJJ expert, but a loss in his next fight opens the door for Overeem, Sergei, Aleks and Werdum to regain their spots in the top 10.

10 Gabriel Gonzaga
After KOing Crocop in collosal fashion it seems as though Gabe was on a slide. In November he showed that he has recovered. After back to back losses to top fighters Gabe has rebounded by demolishing 2 fighters in the first round including a life wrattling KO of Josh Hendricks.

Lightheavyweight

1 Rashad Evans
Adding Forrest Griffin to his list of victims, Sugar demonstrated his lethal ground and pound again. a fight with Rampage is on the horizon. Lets see how long we can have an undefeated champion.

2 Quinton Jackson
Rampage is definetly still in the building. After a close loss to Forrest it seemed like Rampage had lost his mind. Whether he had or not is irrelevant, what is relevant is that he knocked Wanderlei’s head into the audience and Knocked himself into the top contender spot.

3 Forrest Griffin
A loss to top 5, and previously undefeated Rashad is nothing to hang your head about. But what is disapointing is how it seemed like Forrest was dominating the stand up before he was decimated on the ground by Rashad. he should look to lock up his guard for a future fight with Sugar.

4 Lyoto Machida
Every ranking after 3 seems the toughest. Machida though having only one unquestioned top win under his belt is also undefeated and has looked perplexing to defeat. A win over currently unbeaten Thiago Silva could put him in a title eliminator in the near future.

5 Kieth Jardine
A win over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera slide Kieth this high mostly do to the complete destruction of the other top heavyweights. after the 17th Henderson, possibly Franklin and most likely Shogun will be taking over these positions. But Keith has a fight coming up very soon that could either cement or destroy his chances at being a top 10 heavyweight staple.

6 Luiz Cane
Also having more to do with the defeat of so many top heavyweights then Cane’s actual resume, the undefeated Brazillian has looked almost untouchable as he has run through all competition including Soukoudjou like a buzz saw.

7 Chuck Liddell
At one time the unquestioned best light heavyweight on the planet and most famous UFC fighter in the world, Chuck now seems to be on the downswing of his career. A possible rematch with Wanderlei or Jardine seem to sit in front of him. Perhaps retirement sitting just beyond that.

8 Wanderlei Silva
Other than his win over Jardine, the Axe-murderer has looked like a shell of his once violently dominant self. A possible fight with CHuck and retirement seem to be waiting for him.

9 Thiago Silva
Another product of the seeming thinning UFC lightheavyweight division, THiago has looked good as an undefeated fighter but has yet to defeat any fighter of real note, that could change if he could defeat Lyoto this month.

10 Vladimir Matsyushenko
The Janitor has been sweeping up competition in the IFL and now has a now thickening pool of Affliction 205ers to try to clean of the map. first of his custodial duties though comes in the form of former PRIDE challenger and brother of legendary heavyweight, Rogerio Nogueira.

Middleweight

1 Anderson Silva
His win over Cote was lack luster but don’t take away from the fact that he is riding a 2 year 9 fight winning streak spanning 3 organizations and is currently 1 win away from breaking the long held record of Royce Gracie for consecutive octagon wins. In that span all but 2 of his octagon wins came against top 10 fighters and all but 2 were title fights. This may be the most impressive streak in the sports history.

2 Rich Franklin
Still have 3 months until being removed from the rankings a win over Henderson would toss him into the top of the lightheavyweight list. Franklin has only lost to 1 man at Middleweight and currently has beaten 3 fighters that were ranked in the top 10 at the time of their fight. A win over Henderson could also set up a fight with Michael Bisping in  a Franklin return to 185 fight

3 Yushin Okami
All he does is win. other than Anderson, Okami might have the most impressive streak of any Middleweight out there right now. Wins over Alan Belcher, Dean Lister, Jason Mcdonald, Evan Tanner and Mike Swick place Okami’s resume slightly ahead of the non UFC middleweights

4 Jorge Santiago
So the comparison will be made between Lawler and Mousasi. Lawler’s most impressive victory came over Trigg a fighter that defeated Misaki ad Miller. Mousasi’s victory came over Kang a fighter with a victory over Gono. In my mind Jorge’s record over the last two year is steller wins over Prangely, Semenov, Horn, Nakamura, Sasaki, and now Misaki. he is riding a 9 fight winning streak. I think if you look at their actual resume’s its hard not to see how Jorge is ranked above Mousasi and Lawler.

5 Nate Marquardt
his only hiccups over the last few years have come to Silva and Lietes a fight he won but because of point deductions and being dropped in the first came out on the wrong side of a losing score. Marquardt rebounded though by demolishing the only fighter to beat Thales and keep himself on track for a future ramatch with the champ.

6 Thales Lietes
1 loss and a win over Nate Marquardt makes you a top 10 fighter. With a submission win over Mcfedries, Lietes is next up for Anderson. If he can keep the fight on the ground he just might win.

7 Robbie Lawler
The facination with Lawler as a top 2 or 3 middleweight is ridiculous. especially with arguably his biggest win being equalled by Benji Radach. A win over Trigg made him worthy ofa  top 10 spot but beating Scott Smith and Falaniko Vitale does not a top 5 middleweight make.

8 Gerard Mousasi
Gerard is the flavor of the month for sure. and deservedly so. he has submitted one demsional strikers and KOed one demensional ground fighters. But a fight with Akiyama, Misaki, Santiago may prove that this guy is likely alittle overated.

9 Dan Henderson
Hollywood has looked beatable at 205 but at Middleweight he may verywell hold the secret to defeating Anderson Silva. And a win over Franklin would earn him a shot at Bisping and likely a title shot to follow if he could win.

10Chael Sonnen
A win over 1 time undefeated and top Middleweight Paulo Filho earns Sonnen a spot in the top 10 and a fight with Damien Maia, also undefeated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert. the difference? Maia hasn’t lost his fucking mind.

Welterweight
1 St Pierre
2 Alves
3 Fitch
4 Koscheck
5 Shields
6 Sanchez
7 Parysian
8 Condit
9 Hughes
10 Serra

Lightweight

1 BJ Penn
top talent mixed with new found dedication proven by destruction of 2 top 10 lightweight contenders equals the number 1 fighter in the weight class. Though there are many fighters with impressive resumes outside the UFC its hard to see how strictly 1 demensional ground fighters could defeat a fighter known for his take down defense, great ground game and possibly the best boxing in mma.

2 Shinya Aoki
Aoki after his submission win over Alvarez proves that he is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best non UFC light weight in the world. Though his butt sliding tactic looked silly it cannot be doubted when he got ahold of the super aggressive Alvarez and forced him to tap in the first round.  the final fight in the trilogy with Hansen should be next on Aoki’s agenda.

3 Eddie Alvarez
A loss to Aoki does not make him a loser but invites questions about Alverez’ ground game. could he keep the fight standing against UFC fighters and could he keep from getting submitted by other top ground fighters. Hopefully future fights of his will answer that question

4 Sean Sherk
Tyson Griffen was just another victim of the muscle Shark as he won the contreversial decision to once again place himself in the conversation as a top light weight. Florian is undoubtedly waiting for his title shot but perhaps a fight with Sherk could prove that Kenny is truly ready for BJ. If not a fight with Edgar could keep Sherk busy until a possible fight with the winner of Stevenson Sanchez.

5 Joachim Hansen
Cannot forget the DREAM champ though i consider myself in the camp that believes he would not defeat the best wrestlers in the UFC. That said though he did defeat Aoki, Almost stopped Alvarez and still has an unavenged win over Gomi. In a division so fractured through 3 companies its hard not to rank a fighter with that resume in the top 5.

6 Kenny Florian
Arguably the 2nd best lightweight in the world right now Florian has been on a reign of terror in the UFC. Forcing the UFC to realize that its possible he might be the best competition for BJ Penn.

7 JZ Calvancante
JZ seemed to be the obvious choice to defeat hansen. then Hansen  pulled out with injury. hopefully a fight with Hansen will be in the immediate future.

8 Frank Edgar
An impressive run continues for the kid from jersey, the hiccup against Maynard was all but forgotten after a dominating win over Hermes Franca a one time top 10 lightweight.

9 Gray Maynard
Undefeated, and possibly the best wrestler in his division. Gray seems poised to make a run similar to Spartan wrestler Evans. A possible fight with ultra hot Jim Miller who himself could appear in these rankings seems like a great way to prove Gray has overcome the submission weakness that caused his TUF loss to Nate Diaz.

10 Satoru Kitaoka
Kit’s win over Gomi and a nice Sengoku tournament win gets the ground specialist into the top 10 for now. But a loss would probably banish him bakc into obscurity.

Featherweight rankings
1 Brown
2 Garcia
3 Faber
4 Fabiano
5 Mishima
6 Hioki
7 Imanari
8 Hominick
9 Assuncao
10 Pulver

~ by martinwil on January 5, 2009.