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Comprehensive Top 15 Rankings Of Each Division
****LHW RANKINGS NOW ADDED****
HW:
1. Fedor Emelianenko - Undisputable.
2. Mirko "Cro-Cop" Filipovic - The only other logical person who could be placed ahead of Cro-Cop is Nog. However, after the loss to Hunt, Cro-Cop has re-established himself and been on a tear lately. The strongest argument for his placing over Nogueira is the fact hat he has beaten Barnett 3x (2, if you don't count the freak injury), and has even finished him convincingly in their last meeting. Nogueira is 1-1 with Barnett.
3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - After his recent victory over Barnett, Rodrigo solidifies himself as the last component in the Fedor-Mirko-Big Nog triumverate of dominance.
4. Josh Barnett - His ranking is also undisputable because there is simply no one else who deserves this spot. Barnett may have lost against both Cro-Cop and Nog, but the simple fact that he has fought some amazing competition and managed to win (against Big Nog), is a testament to his ability.
5. Randy Couture - This is debatable, however, it is probably also the most logical. Sylvia had a solid lock on this spot, and even challenged Barnett for his ranking. However, Couture completely and utterly dominated Sylvia, AND has actually fought at HW before and had success, so you cannot simply write it off as a BJ Penn beating Matt Hughes or Nick Diaz beating Gomi situation. Randy Couture is a proven HW, so that is why I do not hesitate to give him Sylvia's former spot after defeating him.
6. Fabricio Werdum - Has been very impressive, even though he is 3-2 in his last 5 fights. His only losses were decisions against top fighters in Nog and Kharitonov. He just defeated Aleksander and has wins over top competitors in Jon Olav Einemo and Alistair Overeem. The HW division is in disarray right now, with a lot of A-B-C situations, but Werdum's win over Aleks secures his spot.
7. Brandon Vera - Funny how everyone automatically forgets that Brandon Vera fights in the HW division once he leaves the UFC. The guy has definitely proved himself, and with wins over Mir, Eilers, and especially Assuerio Silva, he proves that he has what it takes to compete at the top level.
8. Tim Sylvia - After his lost to Couture, his stock has significantly dropped. But despite the haters and naysayers rejoicing, Tim Slyvia has not dropped off the face of the planet, nor the Top 10 rankings. He lost to Couture convincingly, yes, but luckily for him due to the HW ranking's complete disarray, he can make claim to the 8th spot. This spot could conceivably belong to Aleksander Emelianenko, but Sylvia's overall recent credentials are more impressive than Aleks. Both Sylvia and Aleks are coming off losses, but Sylvia before that had beaten Arlovski 2x, Monson, and Assuero Silva, whereas Aleks had beaten Kharitonov and Nastula, and lost to Barnett.
9. Aleksander Emelianenko - Recently lost to Werdum, but before that KO'ed Sergei Kharitonov.
10. Sergei Kharitonov - The only reason I rank him above Arlovski is because despite them having a similar W/L pattern, his overall competition has been higher. His win over Werdum before the 2 losses gives him an edge over Arlovski, IMO, despite both their recent wins being unimpressive.
11. Andrei Arlovski - This spot could easily belong to Hunt, but since Arlovski losses belong only to Sylvia as of late, I give him the edge.
12. Mark Hunt - Hunt has beaten Cro-Cop, which is highly impressive, but it is a fight he is tailored to win. If Hunt and Cro-Cop 10 times, Hunt would win the majority, unless Cro-Cop suddenly learned takedowns. Hunt just matches up against Cro-Cop all too well. Equally skilled striker with a better chin. His losses over Barnett and Emelianenko don't exactly destroy his reputation, but he is still relatively unproven. The win over Cro-Cop is what is keeping him here.
13. Roman Zentsov - You may think this is insane, having a guy who is 15-10 in the Top 15, but think about it. The HW division is in shambles past the Top 10 right now. With the Kharitonov-Werdum-Aleks triangle and Sylvia's loss to Couture, there is simply a lack of competitors past the Top 10. Zentsov is 6-0 in his last 6 fights, and has KO's over credible opponents like Ibragim Magomedov, Gilbert Yvel, and Pedro Rizzo.
14. Jake O'Brien - Again, a lack of competitors. His win over Herring gives him this spot.
15. Gabriel Gonzaga - Ditto. Although you can argue that Zentsov, Gonzaga, and O'Brien are all interchangeable.
Also, you can stick Fujita or Coleman into any of the last 3 spots, and it could be understandable.
LHW
1. Chuck Liddell: STOP AND READ BEFORE YOU RESPOND TO THIS. As everyone knows, there are only two candidates for the number 1 LHW in the world. It's between Chuck and Shogun. I'll attempt to explain my reasoning. It's undeniable that Liddell and Shogun have beaten the best competition their respective organizations have to offer. Chuck, however, is the reigning LHW champion of the world for the UFC (and really, undisputedly so now that Silva has been put down), whereas Shogun is only the LHW GP Tournament Champion. I'm not trying to diminish Shogun's GP win, since it is almost, if not just as impressive as Chuck holding a title. Now, let's compare the two. Chuck has wins over LHW's Vitor Belfort, Randy Couture 2x, Tito Ortiz 2x, Jeremy Horn, Babalu Sobral 2x, Alistair Overeem, and Vernon Tiger White. Shogun has wins over Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem 2x, Rampage Jackson, Lil Nog, Nakamura, and Kevin Randleman. Since they've both beaten Overeem, those wins cancel out. I'm going to take Chuck beating Couture as equivalent of Shogun beating Arona, and Chuck beating Ortiz as equivalent to Shogun beating Lil Nog. Now, Chuck has lost to Rampage, whereas Shogun beat Rampage, and conversely, Shogun has lost to Babalu, whereas Chuck beat Babalu. So let us cancel out those wins. That leaves us with what? Chuck's wins over Horn and White, and Shogun's wins over Nakamura and Randleman. NOW, at first glance, it seems clear that the Randleman and Nakamura wins are more impressive. But think about it, Chuck was the FIRST person to KO Horn in 94 fights. Shogun decisioned Nakamura and beat a Randleman that had lost 6 of his last 8. Counting all the wins individually, Chuck has wins over 7 solid LHW's, while Shogun has wins over 6. Chuck also finished all of his opponents except Belfort, while Shogun decisioned Lil Nog and Nakamura. It's undoubted that Chuck has been the more dominant of the two. HOWEVER, if you count only since, say 2005, then Shogun has been MUCH busier, having all of his big name wins since then, whereas Chuck only has his first Couture win and on since then. To be honest, there are great points as to why both should be # 1, but if I had to choose (and I did), I would choose Chuck, simply because A) He is the reigning champ, and B) He has been more dominant against his opposition.
2. Shogun - Read above.
3. Dan Henderson - Fucking A it was hard to do this, but I had to grit my teeth and bear it. The biggest problem here, is that with Henderson beating Silva, it created a HUGE A-B-C dilemma between himself, Silva, and Arona. Silva and Hendo are now 1-1, Arona and Silva are now 1-1, but Arona has beaten Hendo. You see the problem here? TECHNICALLY, Arona COULD be ahead of Hendo, but given that it was a close decision that many felt was unfair, and added with the fact that Hendo KO'ed Silva whereas Arona decisioned him, I give Dan the edge. In any case, again, this is not a BJ Penn beating Matt Hughes situation, since Hendo has fought at LHW before, and in fact did in his last fight, where he beat Belfort. His most recent LHW fight before that was against Nakamura, in which he won by a freak injury Nakamura acquired. In any case, he did just KO Silva quite convincingly, so there you have it.
4. Ricardo Arona - Why do I have him above Silva? Well, because they are 1-1 against each other, and when he beat Silva it was unanimous and quite clear, while when Silva beat him it was a close split decision verdict. Also, Arona recently beat Overeem, while Silva's most recent LHW win was against...you have it, Arona, back in 2005. Also, Arona is 1-0 against Henderson, while Silva is now sadly 1-1.
5. Wanderelei Silva - Why, WHY did both Silva AND Lil Nog have to lose? It COMPLETELY FUCKED the LHW rankings. Silva stays here because, DESPITE a recent bad streak, he has ONLY lost at LHW to Hendo and Arona. Of course, he avenged that Arona loss. With Nog, Babalu, and Nakamura all losing, there are no competitors to take the middle spots.
6. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - Anyone ranking Sokoudjou above Nogueira, or moving Nogueira anywhere past 6 is a nuthugger. The fight lasted 23 seconds, for pete's sake, let's GIVE Nogueira the benefit of the doubt and say he was just caught. This is one of the only two fighters (the other being his brother) who have finished Dan Henderson. Until Sokoudjou beats or preforms impressively against another top fighter, his win means next to nothing in the rankings other than diminishing Nogueira's status.
7. Quinton Rampage Jackson - People say he hasn't been the same ever since "finding religion" and losing to Silva. People talk about how he has preformed unimpressively lately. Why? Because he is going to decision against fighters like MATT LINDLAND? Come on, who the fuck do you know that could finish Matt Lindland the way he has been fighting lately? Despite what people say, Rampage FINISHED a HW in Hirotaka Yokoi and Marvin Eastman, and has only lost to Shogun as of late.
8. Tito Ortiz - Again, a lack of proven contenders for ranking. Ortiz has only lost to Liddell, and although not the greatest of wins, has victories over Shamrock 2x, Griffin, and Belfort. As it stands, that's enough to give him the 8th spot.
9. Kazuhiro Nakamura - A lot of people discredit Nakamura, but the truth of the matter is, he's fought the best of the world since he started his MMA career. Recently lost to Shogun via decision, which is nothing to be ashamed of, and has wins over decent competition in Galbraith, Santos, and Yakao. However, go back a little further and he has wins over Vovchanchyn, Kondo, and Randleman.
10. Rashad Evans - A rising star that people either seem to hate or love. To be honest with you, the guy looks damn near invincible right now. His strongest attribute was always his explosive wrestling ability, but people forgot that he had great hand speed and boxing as well. His only knock was that he could not finish his opponents. Well, he shut up the naysayers by KO'ing tough LHW Jason Lambert. Then, he showed that he is ever improving by KO'ing Sean Salmon with a high kick. Now, Salmon is not exactly an earth-shattering with, but the manner of his win is what raises his stock. That, and the fact that Lambert just KO'ed formerly ranked Renato Babalu Sobral, and his KO over Lambert becomes that much more impressive as well.
11. Jason Lambert - His win over Babalu has skyrocketed him back into contention. However, he's also got great wins over fighters like Brandon Lee Hinkle, Travis Wiuff, and Terry Martin as of late, and has only lost to Rashad Evans.
12. Keith Jardine - An impressive win over posterboy Forrest Griffin and a lack of competition can get you quite far in today's LHW division.
13. Ryoto Machida - Read above, but switch posterboy with journeymen and Forrest Griffin with Sam Hoger and Vernon Tiger White.
I will decline from ranking the 14-15th spots, because honestly, who is there to rank? The LHW division in MMA went from one of THE most talent-heavy divisions to, quite possibly, the shallowest. Consider it the new HW division. Sure, there's Sokoudjou with his one win, Bisping with his unbeaten record, and Overeem and Babalu with their strings of losses, but what's the point?
MW:
1. Anderson Silva - Although there are a LOT of people who can make claims for this spot, I see Anderson Silva as the most logical candidate. He is the UFC MW champ, so that HAS to count for something. He destroyed Rich Franklin and has just beaten Travis Lutter impressively, so no matter what, he is definitely at least Top 3. The other people who could make claims for this spot are Dan Henderson, Paulo Filho, and to a lesser extent Matt Lindland. Henderson has lost recently, and Filho and Lindland do not hold belts.
2. Dan Henderson - Why do I have Henderson behind Silva? Because despite both of them being 185 champs in the two biggest organizations in the world, HENDERSON HAS LOST, to Misaki. This is the biggest reason for my placing Silva over him. Had he not lost to Misaki, I would rank him above Silva. Also, MANY PEOPLE consider Henderson # 1 SOLELY because he KO'ed Silva. Despite inclination, it does NOT make any sense to rank someone for a win in a DIFFERENT weight class, no matter HOW impressive it is. The duality of Henderson fighting at 2 weights causes people to lump his accomplishments together as a whole, instead of more logically taking them for what they are worth in their respective division. Even with the Misaki loss, I would not be against a ranking with Henderson above Silva.
3. Paulo Filho - Although he is ranked # 3, does not mean he could not BE # 1. Again, the ONLY reasons Silva and Henderson are above him are their titles. Filho actually has the more impressive wins, and I actually believe he would beat both Henderson and Silva. But until he does, or gets one of the belts, he's stuck at 3.
4. Matt Lindland - Another guy who is highly capable of being # 1 or 2, but isn't simply because of lack of opportunity to fight for the belts. Lindland has been on a tear at MW, beating guys like Weir, Lutter, Doerksen, Schembri, Horn, and Newton. I actually believe in terms of accomplishments, he and Filho are even, so I could understand him being in Filho's spot.
5. Frank Trigg - A lot of people might consider this too abrupt, but not when you analyze it. Trigg has two fights at MW, but already he has beaten two of the top fighters. He destroyed Mayhem Miller, and defeated Misaki. So who really could make a claim over him? He just beat Misaki, and by beating Misaki, he holds TWO WINS over TWO GUYS that beat Kang.
6. Kazuo Misaki - I'm going to get flack for this, but again THINK IT THROUGH, Mizaki holds a win over Kang, the only person that could concievably take his spot here. Now, understandably, Misaki just recently lost to Trigg and Filho, so that weakens his hold here. Really, it is a matter of preference. Kang overall has been more successful in his last fights, but Misaki holds the win over him. T
7. Denis Kang - Easily could be above Misaki, as I mentioned. Has more impressive wins at MW than Franklin.
8. Rich Franklin - A lot of people discredited Franklin after losing to Anderson Silva, but those people are idiots. Franklin is STILL one of the top fighters in the game, and showed that he is no Chris Leben or Ed Herman by destroying Jason MacDonald.
9. Nathan Marquardt - Ever since coming to the UFC, Marquardt has really solidified himself at MW. Defeated Ivan Salaverry, although umpressively, and beat the always game Joe Doerksen. Well see where he's at after he fights Anderson Silva. Although, if he beats Silva, it would just shift Henderson, Filho, and Lindland up, rather than place Marquardt at # 1.
10. Akihiro Gono - This is where the rankings get clouded. There are a lot of viable
contenders from here on out, and it is no where near as clear as the Top 9. However, Gono's got the most impressive overall record recently. He's only lost to Henderson and Kang, and has beaten tough, tough fighters like Lombard, Mousasi, Kondo, Crosley Gracie, Acacio, and McKenzie. His sheer number of wins against solid competition give him the edge over the others.
11. Amar Suloev - Suloev's only two losses recently are against the # 3 and # 6/7 guys. He's got the impressive wins over Lister, Okami, and Bustamante, as well.
12. Mike Swick - His win against Loiseau raised stock significantly, but looking back on it now, Loiseau has been on a horrible losing streak ever since the Franklin loss. Given the win however, with victories over decent competition such as Riggs and Vigneault.
13. Robbie Lawler - After that flying knee KO of Joey Villasenor, Robbie pretty much placed himself back into the MW picture. He's also KO'ed Vitale twice, and recently TKO'ed the credible Eduardo Pamplona.
14. Yushin Okami - Okami's been on quite a tear since coming to the UFC, and really, is about on par with Swick. His only disadvantage is he does not have a win over a big name like Swick does. Still, he's beaten solid competition in Starnes and most notably, Belcher.
15. Martin Kampmann - The guy is highly impressive. Defeated good competition like striker Crafton Wallace, then undefeated hot prospect Thales Leites, and hard hitting Drew McFedries. Has showed a fantastic all-around game, as well.
Other guys who could make a claim after the Top 9-10-ish spots are Ivan Salaverry, Melvin Manhoef, Phil Baroni, Mayhem Miller, Joey Villasenor, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Horn would be able to contend too, if he weren't retired. Discuss.
WW:
1. Georges St. Pierre - Undisputable.
2. Matt Hughes - Really the only candidate who can be placed here. Has only ever lost to BJ Penn and GSP, and is 1-1 with both of them.
3. Diego Sanchez - This is going to offend some people, but when you think about it, Sanchez has surpassed Penn in terms of accomplishment. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Penn fan, but nuthuggery can only go so far. Penn's only fought 4 times at WW (5 if you count the Rodrigo Gracie fight, but I believe that was at 185?), and is 2-2 in the process. GRANTED, Penn's only lost to # 1 and 2 respectively, and beat # 2, its his only claim to fame at WW. Sanchez, on the other hand, has beaten Top 10 (current and former) fighters in Diaz, Parysian, and Riggs.
4. BJ Penn - Honestly, I love Penn, but strictly win wise, he does not deserve to be here. However, its his individual fights and preformances that keep him in the Top 5. While his only wins at WW are against Matt Hughes and Duane Ludwig, in both his losses, he was winning against the # 1 and 2 fighters in the world at WW. It really boils down to how much you value preformances in losses and potential against tangible wins.
5. Jon Fitch - There's gonna be some debate about who deserves to be here, him or Karo, but when you look at the overall scheme, Fitch has defeated the better fighters. Take their last 5 fights for example. In that duration, Fitch is 5-0 and has beaten Fioravanti, Hironaka, Alves, Burkman, and Larson, for a combined opponent record of 46-7.
6. Karo Parisyan - Conversely, Karo is 4-1 in his last 5 fights, with a combined opponent record of 94-27. HOWEVER, only count his wins, and his combined opponent record is 78-27. Fitch has a better overall opponent ratio, AND he has fought (beaten) better opponents. Add that with the fact that he has not lost while Karo has, and I've got Fitch one spot above Parisyan. However, I would not be too disgruntled at anyone who had it vice versa.
7. Josh Koscheck - The guy is 5-1 in his last 6, and has beaten some tough veterans. His only loss is akin to Penn's losses in that he was preforming impressively and winning the fight until the end. He has more wins that Aoki, although the 2 fighters Aoki has beaten are slightly better than anyone Koscheck has defeated, but not by much. Still, Koscheck's sheer number of quality wins puts him above Aoki in my eyes.
8. Shinya Aoki - If he were more active at WW, he would probably be even higher, but since he is concentrating on Pride's LW division, he only fights sporadically at WW. Still, I rank him above Alves despite being less active because around the same timeframe, he is 3-0 with wins over Akira Kikuchi 2x and Kuniyoshi Hironaka, whereas Alves is 4-2.
9. Thiago Alves - The guy is a beast at this weight, and the fact that Fitch TKO'ed him is a testament to Fitch. In any case, Alves has beaten nothing but quality opponents since coming to the UFC. Wins over proven fighters like Alessio, Chalangov, DeSouza, and Noble cement his status in the Top 10.
10. Jake Shields - The argument could be made that Kikuchi deserves to be here over Shields since he holds a recent win over Jake, but I think that is canceled out by the fact that Kikuchi is 2-2 in his last 4, whereas Shields is 4-0, and Shields is also 1-1 with Kikuchi. Again, it comes down to almost preference, so Kikuchi could easily be placed here.
11. Akira Kikuchi - Has 2 recent losses to Aoki, but other than that has not lost for quite some time. Wins over decent competition such as Jhun, Kunioku, and Inoue give him the nod. After Kikuchi, the picture becomes blown wide open a bunch of people who could contend for the last spots.
12. Josh Burkman - Again, his only loss at WW is against Top 5 fighter Jon Fitch, and he's beaten quality fighters in Fickett and Neer.
13. Drew Fickett - Losses to Parisyan and Burkman, but wins over Neer, Pelligrino and most notably Koscheck provide him with a spot.
14. Kuniyoshi Hironaka - TKO'ed Verissimo and holds a win over Nick Diaz. Has only lost to Aoki and Fitch.
15. Eddie Alvarez - Has impressively KO'ed Derrick Noble and Aaron Riley. Still a mite unproven, but has looked damn good so far. Could be above Hironaka.
The WW picture after Kikuchi is such a mess that it is almost beyond ranking after that point. No matter who you rank, they would've lost to someone who has lost to someone who beat them. I can throw around names Chris Wilson, Nick Thompson, Satoru Kitaoka, Carlos Condit, that could fit into the last 3 spots.
LW:
1. Takanori Gomi - Ever since Diaz beat Gomi, the # 1 spot at LW has come under heavy fire. Who deserves it? I've heard Sakurai, Gomi, and Diaz as the viable contenders. Why do I put Gomi here when Diaz clearly beat him? Here's why: DIAZ HAS ONE FIGHT AT LW. Even though he beat Gomi, there's just no substantial reason to rank him at # 1. Had Diaz fought at LW before and done well, I would not hesitant to have him replace Gomi. Heck, as long as Diaz fights a Top 5-15 guy and beats them in his next fight, I will rank him at # 1. There is just NOT enough evidence yet for Diaz at LW to justify ranking him first. Sure, he's done great at WW, and all logic would dictate that if you can hang at the top levels of WW, then you should be able to dominate at LW, but these sort of intangible variables and deductions cannot be asserted into a ranking system. Consider this hypothetical situation: What if Justin Eilers came down from HW and KO'ed Silva (prior to Silva losing to Henderson and Cro-Cop), would you then rank Eilers as the # 1 LHW? Certainly not, because that fight alone is not enought to deduce his ability at LHW. You need at least one more fight. And this is what I'm saying for Diaz. Gomi is TAILOR-MADE for Diaz to beat when you think about it. Diaz has superior reach, superior height and size, a monster chin, and a vastly superior ground game.
2. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai - Sakurai has been a mainstay at the # 2 spot ever since he lost to Gomi in the LW GP finals. A lot of people are saying that Sakurai is now the # 1 fighter since Gomi lost to Diaz, but I don't see it that way. Sakurai convincingly lost to Gomi (although the fight was close) by a vicious KO, so he will always have that mark against him when being ranked against Gomi.
3. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribiero - From the 3rd to the 5th spots in the rankings, there is some disparity that really boils down to preference. Any of the 3 guys could reasonably be ahead of each other, moreso Aoki than Diaz, however. In any case, I chose Ribiero because he simply has more fights at LW than both Aoki and Diaz. And his win ratio is insane. Aoki recently has beaten overall better competition because of his win over Hansen, but you must recall that Ribiero also has a win over Hansen. Also, ever since losing to Kawajiri, Ribiero has been on a rampage, pretty must mowing through a ton of tough opponents, defeating guys like Chris Brennan, Eiji Mitsuoka, Daisuke Nakamura, Gerald Strebendt, Jean Silva, Tatsuji Kato, and Abdul Mohammed.
4. Shinya Aoki - Ever since joining Pride's 160 lb division Aoki has seemed unstoppable. Has only has 3 fights at the weight, but won all 3 impressively by submitting top-notch opponents in French, Black, and Hansen for a combined opponent record of 46-9. IN THREE FIGHTS!.
5. Nick Diaz - His one claim to fame is that he dismantled Gomi. But hell, it's enough, especially since Gomi was/is the # 1 LW fighter in the world. Diaz has all the tools and potential to beat anyone at LW, but he needs at least one more fight before we crown him. At any rate, a win that impressive over the # 1 guy at least deserves you a spot in the Top 10, and since mostly all the other fighters are still unproven (in terms of number of quality wins), or have lost recently, Diaz takes the 5th spot.
6. Gilbert Melendez - He's on the opposite end of the track of Aoki competitively, as they are the two emerging stars of the LW class (aside form Diaz) in Pride. However, while Melendez has fought just as tough of competition as Aoki, he has not been as impressive, decisioning all 3 of his opponents whereas Aoki has finished his. Still, wins over Clay Guida, previously undefeated Obiya, and especially Kawajiri assure that he is the next big thing.
7. Hermes Franca - Anyone who denies Franca's solidification in the Top 10 are either deluding themselves or stuck in the past. It's true, Hermes had a rough 2005, but that was more than a year ago. Ever since 2006, Franca has reinvented himself. He is 8-0 since then, and has finished ALL OF HIS OPPONENTS. Look at his list of victims: Toby Amada, Brandon Olsen, Joe Jordan, Jamie Varner, and Nathan Diaz all finished by submission, and Gabe Ruedigar, Ryan Schultz, and Spencer Fisher all finished by KO. In Varner, Diaz, Schultz, Ruedigar, and Fisher only, his opponents win/loss ratio was 56-12 before he beat them.
8. Joe Stevenson - Stevenson's only had two fights at LW, but he has definitely fought top competition. Not only that, but he's finished both opponents. Also, Stevenson was originally a LW before TUF. Finishes over Yves Edwards nd Dokonjonosuke Mishima are enough to place him at 8.
8. Joachim Hansen - I'm still not 100% sure that Hansen deserves this spot over Calvancanti, but I'll leave him here for now. Discounting the Kawajiri DQ, Hansen is 6-2 since 2005. Highly impressive considering the level of competition he's fought. KO's over Azeredo, Imanari, Uno, and wins over Edwards and Ireland. He's only "really" lost to the # 2 and 3/4 guys.
9. Gesias Calvancanti - Not a lot of people know about Calvancanti, but the guy is a beast. He recently won the K-1 Hero's LW GP, defeating Hidehiko Monma, Hiroyuki Takaya, Rani Yahya, and Caol Uno in the process. Hansen holds a win over Calvancanti, but that "win," for any of you who have watched it, was rather controversial, and was only a decision that was early on in Calvancanti's career. Still, Calvancanti's biggest "name" win is Uno, and Hansen beat Uno as well, just more impressively.
10. Tatsuya Kawajiri - I might get some flak for putting Kawajiri this low, but honestly, it's the only way it could've worked out. Hansen and Kawajiri are really in the same position, both having lost to rising stars in Aoki and Melendez respectively, and both being in limbo because they've lost to the # 1 and 2. Kawajiri has beaten decent opposition, but the fact that Hansen has fought and won recently while Kawajiri has yet to fight after the Melendez loss prompts me to put him behind Hansen. As for Cavalcanti being ahead of Kawajiri, I put him there because he is is something like 6-0 in his last fights while Kawajiri is 4-2. However, Kawajiri has fought the overall tougher competition, so they really are interchangeable.
11. Sean Sherk - That's right, Sherk is not a Top 10 LW. For God's sake, he only has 1 fight at LW, and it was a DECISION win against KENNY FLORIAN! Come on, people. Sherk was a monster at WW, so again, I'm sure everyone thinks that he will be a monster at LW, and honestly, he PROBABLY WILL. But I PROBABLY won't die while writing this, but we can NOT KNOW FOR SURE until it happens. Like Diaz, Sherk needs more fights before you can assess him. But unlike Diaz, Sherk did not FINISH the # 1 LW fighter in the world. Hell, he didn't even BEAT a Top 20 LW. I am giving Sherk a lot of leeway here because of his title, which at this point, is really just a paper crown.
12. Mitsuhiro Ishida - Was all the rage before being KO'ed by Gomi. However, Ishida is still a solid LW who has some impressive wins, most notably his victory over Aurelio. To be truthful, both Ishida and Aurelio could be placed above Sherk, and I wouldn't argue with it. Sherk is undefeated at LW because he's only had 1 fight, while Aurelio and Ishida are coming off losses.
13. Din Thomas - At this point, the rankings are all subjective. Everyone's lost to someone else, who has beaten someone else who lost to them. Dinyero's got wins over Guida and Clementi, and has looked very sharp.
14. Josh Thomson - Beat good fighters in Nam Phan and Bang Ludwig, and a decent fighter in Harris Sarrimento. Dropped a decision to Guida though, who Din beat. I have him over Guida because Guida has dropped 3 of his last 5.
15. Marcus Aurelio - How soon we are forgotten. Aurelio shocked the world with his win over Gomi, but if that situation showed anything it is that one win does not a fighter make. Since then, Aurelio has dropped decisions to both Ishida and Gomi.
Honestly, after the 10th's spot, there's way too many variables for my rankings to be comprehensive. I just tried to get to 15. There are guys like Joe Lauzon, Frank Edgar, Mike Thomas Brown, and Mark Hominick who all have 1 substantial win over big name fighters and little else, and then there are fighters like Fisher, Guillard, and Guida who are solid fighters who have either lost recently or not proven themselves.
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And on the 8th day, Man created God
Last edited by Zakuraba : 03-23-2007 at 12:00 AM.
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