This Upcoming Weekend: Bellator 43

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Jonathan

Bellator Fighting Championships 43
May 7, 2011
First Council Casino,
Newkirk, Oklahoma, United States

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Finals
Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#10] Jay Hieron (21 – 4 – 0) vs. [#49] Rick Hawn (11 – 0 – 0)

Middlweight (185 lbs)
[#37] Bryan Baker (14 – 2 – 0) vs. [#100] Joe Riggs (34 – 12 – 0)

Bantamweight (135 lbs)
[#44FW] Chase Beebe (17 – 7 – 0) vs. [#41] Jose Vega (9 – 4 – 0)

~~Heavyweight (265 lbs)~~
~~[#34] Neil Grove (10 – 3 – 1) vs. [#207] Zak Jensen (10 – 6 – 0)~~ (Grove pulled out of the fight)

Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#195] Ron Sparks (6 – 0 – 0) vs. [*] Vince Lucero (19 – 19 – 1)

Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#328] David Rickles (7 – 0 – 0) vs. [*] Rich Bouphanouvong (1 – 3 – 0)

Middleweight (185 lbs)
[#210] John Bryant (5 – 4 – 0) vs. [*] George Burton (1 – 0 – 0)

Welterweight? (170 lbs)
[*] Mike Schatz (3 – 3 – 0) vs. [*] Michael Osborn (3 – 3 – 0)

Interesting matchmaking note:
[#41] Jose Vega (9 – 4 – 0) vs. [#44FW ] Chase Beebe (17 – 7 – 0) Only 3 spots separate these two fighters in the Fightmatrix rankings. Nice matchmaking by Bellator on this one!

Weekend Review: UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields (Preliminary Bouts)

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Jonathan

UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields
April 30, 2011

Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Preliminary Bouts

Welterweight (170 lbs)
21 year old Rory MacDonald (11 – 1 – 0) defeated Nate Diaz (13 – 7 – 0) by unanimous decision. MacDonald wowed the Canadian crowd with three belly to back suplexes in the third round against the visibly smaller Diaz. All told, MacDonald finished 7 of 10 takedown attempts, while Diaz did not complete 1 of his 7 takedown attempts. Other than the 1st round, Diaz looked like he had little to offer in this bout. He looked out-sized, out-struck and out grappled against the Canadian prospect. MacDonald, who bounds 32 spots up the ranks from [#60] to [#28], should look to put some wins together and face the always dangerous [#22] Chris Lytle or fellow prospect [#34] John Hathaway next. Diaz, who has lost 5 of his last 8 (2 in a row at welterweight), falls 13 spots from [#28] to [#41]. His next fight will be an absolute must win to stay in the promotion. He should look to rebound against [#40] Brian Foster (should he be able to compete following his brain hemorrhage that forced him out of his bout with [#86] Sean Pierson) or [#38] Claude Patrick.

Welterweight (170 lbs)
Jake Ellenberger (24 – 5 – 0) defeated Sean Pierson (11 – 5 – 0) by KO due to a punch at 2:42 into round 1. Ellenberger, who took the fight on 16 days notice when [#40] Brian Foster had to pull out due to brain hemorrhage, made short work of Pierson with a counter left hook that sent the Toronto native crashing to the mat. Ellenberger followed up with punches on the ground on Pierson’s prone body, forcing the ref to stop the fight. Ellenberger, who moves up 1 spot from [#17] to [#16], would benefit hugely from a victory over fellow winner on the night [#28] Rory MacDonald if they were to fight next. Ellenberger is on a 4 fight win streak, 3 by stoppage. Pierson gained considerable momentum by defeating prospect [#94] Matt Riddle at UFC 124 in December 2010, and he needs a victory to have a hope of gaining this momentum back. A bout with [#80] DaMarques Johnson would determine which fighter will move onward and upward.

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The Ultimate Fighter 13 – Episode 6 Results

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Oleg

In Episode 6, Clay Harvison learned that the finger injury he suffered during his fight with Michael Bowman is a dislocation and not a fracture. Therefore, Harvison will be able to continue in the competition.

Meanwhile, Junior Dos Santos’ assistant coach Lew Polley, who butted heads with Santos the entire season, was fired from the team by Junior for visiting the fighters’ house on his own.

The six and seventh opening round fights took place in this episode, with Team Lesnar and Team Dos Santos splitting the wins: Team Lesnar’s Tony Ferguson defeated Justin Edwards in the first round with a knockout due to an upkick, and Team Dos Santos’ Zachary Davis submitted Chuck O’Neil with a triangle choke (also in the first round).

The current win tally is 4 Team Dos Santos, 3 Team Lesnar.

For the remaining wild-card spot, Chuck O’Neil will face Javier Torres in a second chance matchup.

Here’s who remains:
(all rankings are approximated as-of the show’s taping, and not necessarily reflecting the fighters’ current rankings)

[#113] Anthony Ferguson
episode 6: moved on to quarter-finals with a first round TKO (upkick) win over Justin Edwards

~~[#182] Justin Edwards~~
episode 3: alternate taking place of Keon Caldwell
episode 6: lost to Anthony Ferguson by TKO (upkick)

~~[#179] Myles Jury~~
episode 1: forced to withdraw due to an injury

[#200] Ryan McGillivray
episode 3: moved on to quarter-finals with a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) over Len Bentley

[#247 LW] Ramsey Nijem
episode 4: moved on to quarter-finals with a second round submission (rear naked choke) win over Charlie Rader

[#289] Chuck O’Neil
episode 1: alternate taking place of Miles Jury
episode 6: lost to Zachary Davis with a first round submission (triangle choke). Brought back for the wild card fight with Javier Torres

~~[#321] Charlie Rader~~
episode 4: lost to Ramsey Nijem with a second round submission (rear naked choke).

[#364] Shamar Bailey
episode 1: moved on to quarter-finals with a 20-18 unanimous decision win over Nordin Asrih

[#387] Clay Harvison
episode 5: defeated Michael Bowman with a unanimous decision (20-18)

[#441] Chris Cope
episode 2: moved on to quarter-finals with a 29-28 overtime unanimous decision win over Javier Torres

~~[#475] Len Bentley~~
episode 3: lost a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) to Ryan McGillivray

~~[NR] Nordin Asrih~~
episode 1: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Shamar Bailey

~~[NR] Michael Bowman~~
episode 5: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Clay Harvison

~~[NR] Keon Caldwell~~
episode 2: withdrew from competition

[NR] Zachary Davis
episode 6: moved on to quarter-finals with a first round submission (triangle choke) win over Chuck O’Neil

[NR] Javier Torres
episode 2: lost an overtime unanimous decision (29-28) to Chris Cope
episode 6: brought back for a wild card fight with Chuck O’Neil

All-Time Ranking Lists Expanded to Top 20

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Jason

Weekend Review: UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields (The Main Card)

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Jonathan

UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields
April 30, 2011

Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

UFC Welterweight Championship

Welterweight (170 lbs)
Welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre (22 – 2 – 0) handed Jake Shields (26 – 5 – 1) his first defeat in 15 fights and 5 1/2 years via unanimous decision. St. Pierre, who has gone to decisions in 5 of his last 6, sustained an eye injury during the 2nd round (according to him in the post fight interview). St. Pierre also stated that he was surprised with the striking acumen that Shields brought to the fight. Shields certainly exceeded expectations in the striking department, bloodying GSP’s face and coming out looking less worse for wear. Shields tried a few times to get the fight to the ground, but GSP stuffed the feeble takedown attempts and kept the 25 minute contest on the feet. GSP used his jabs, as well as frequent spinning back kicks to vex Shields during much of the bout. GSP, who said he could not see out of his left eye following the bout, did not answer questions about who he believes he should fight in the future. The superfight between GSP and [#1MW] [#1DD] Anderson Silva always looms on the horizon. However, since Anderson will be facing [#3MW] Yushin Okami at UFC Rio in August, it looks like that fight would not happen until late 2011 at the earliest. In the meanwhile, the time seems just right to make a fight between GSP and red hot Strikeforce welterweight champ [#3] Nick Diaz. Jake Shields should face the winner of the upcoming [#12] Thiago Alves/[#23] Rick Story bout, or perhaps [#6]Josh Koscheck. Both GSP and Shields hold their rankings at [#1] and [#2], respectively. GSP moves up 1 spot from [#3DD] to [#2DD] in the Division Dominance rankings. Previously ranked at [#9DD], Shields falls off the Division Dominance “Top 10.” GSP, who has not lost in 4 years, extends his winning streak to 9.

UFC Featherweight Championship

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MMA All-Time Rankings Updated: 5/2/2011

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Jason

Notable Info

After overtaking Matt Hughes last month in the Welterweight list, GSP moves over Hughes in the Absolute list and is now positioned at #3, behind only Fedor and Anderson.
With Liddell retiring, the tumblers are falling into place as to who will hold the #1 spot at Light Heavyweight. Wanderlei has taken the #1 spot for now and will probably hold onto it for a long time.
Filho (who lost again this weekend at LHW – BTW), falls to #4 at Middleweight. A similar situation that dropped Liddell out of #1 at LHW occurred here. The All-Time calculations are usually “late” in their response to divisional movement and retirements, simply due to their nature.

EDIT: There will be a re-release within the coming days to address two recently discovered mathematical issues.

MMA Rankings Updated: 5/1/2011

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Jason

Interesting Matchups – UFC 129

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Jonathan

On the upcoming UFC 129 card this weekend, we will see two bouts with fighters extremely close in the rankings facing each other. The first fight is:

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
[#29] Vladimir Matyushenko (25 – 5 – 0) vs. [#33] Jason Brilz (18 – 3 – 1)

But even more interesting is this prelim bout:

Featherweight (145 lbs)
[#78] Yves Jabouin (15 – 6 – 0) vs. [#79] Pablo Garza (9 – 1 – 0)

With these two fighters ranked literally one spot away from each other, it looks like UFC matchmaker Joe Silva (or Sean Shelby) may have been perusing the FightMatrix rankings upon deciding on this bout! Hey, dream big or don’t dream at all.

The Ultimate Fighter 13 – Episode 5 Results

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Oleg

In the fifth opening round fight, Team Lesnar’s Clay Harvison defeated Team Dos Santos’ Michael Bowman by unanimous decision. However, it was revelead post-fight that Harvison suffered a severe fracture of his pinky finger, which will likely force him out of the competition.

The current win tally is 3 Team Dos Santos, 2 Team Lesnar.

Here’s who remains:
(all rankings are approximated as-of the show’s taping, and not necessarily reflecting the fighters’ current rankings)

[#113] Anthony Ferguson

[#182] Justin Edwards
episode 3: alternate taking place of Keon Caldwell

~~[#179] Myles Jury~~
episode 1: forced to withdraw due to an injury

[#200] Ryan McGillivray
episode 3: moved on to quarter-finals with a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) over Len Bentley

[#247 LW] Ramsey Nijem
episode 4: moved on to quarter-finals with a second round submission (rear naked choke) win over Charlie Rader

[#289] Chuck O’Neil
episode 1: alternate taking place of Miles Jury

~~[#321] Charlie Rader~~
episode 4: lost to Ramsey Nijem with a second round submission (rear naked choke).

[#364] Shamar Bailey
episode 1: moved on to quarter-finals with a 20-18 unanimous decision win over Nordin Asrih

~~[#387] Clay Harvison~~
episode 5: defeated Michael Bowman with a unanimous decision (20-18); forced to withdraw from competition with a broken finger

[#441] Chris Cope
episode 2: moved on to quarter-finals with a 29-28 overtime unanimous decision win over Javier Torres

~~[#475] Len Bentley~~
episode 3:lost a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) to Ryan McGillivray

~~[NR] Nordin Asrih~~
episode 1: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Shamar Bailey

~~[NR] Michael Bowman~~
episode 5: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Clay Harvison

~~[NR] Keon Caldwell~~
episode 2: withdrew from competition

[NR] Zachary Davis

~~[NR] Javier Torres~~
episode 2: lost an overtime unanimous decision (29-28) to Chris Cope

Weekend Preview: UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Jonathan

Ultimate Fighting Championships 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields

April 30, 2011

Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

UFC Welterweight Championship

Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#1] [#3DD] Georges St. Pierre (21 – 2 – 0) vs. [#2] [#9DD] Jake Shields (26 – 4 – 1)

Two of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport in Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields will clash this Saturday night. St. Pierre comes into the fight on an 8 fight win streak, 5 by decision. St. Pierre has been criticized in the past for not being a finisher, yet he remains a thoroughly dominant fighter. His last loss came by way of a TKO (punches) at the hands of [#24] Matt Serra at UFC 69 back in April 2007. St. Pierre lost the title that night in what was considered one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. 1 year and 3 victories later, St. Pierre rectified his 2nd career loss by winning the welterweight title back from Matt Serra via TKO (knees to the body) at UFC 83 in April 2008. He went on to win 5 victories over top 10 competition, effectively cleaning out the division. Enter Jake Shields. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion comes into this fight riding an amazing 15 fight win streak (8 by stoppage). Shields, who has also been criticized for having a rather prosaic and underwhelming fighting style himself, did not impress very much in his UFC debut. After winning a contentious split decision over [#11] Martin Kampmann back at UFC 121 in October 2010, Shields was immediately thrust into the title picture because of his past accomplishments outside of the promotion. Both men are adept on the ground, with Shields possibly having a slight submission grappling advantage on paper. However, St. Pierre clearly has the wrestling as well as the boxing/stand up advantage. St. Pierre will most likely be able to dictate where this fight goes. Most expect St. Pierre to continue his march, but Shields does have a grapplers chance. A victory for Shields would propel him to the pinnacle of the welterweight division, as well as the division dominance rankings.

UFC Featherweight Championship

Featherweight (145 lbs)
[#1] [#4DD] Jose Aldo (18 – 1 – 0) vs. [#14] Mark Hominick (20 – 8 – 0)

Reigning featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo will make his first UFC featherweight title defense as well as his UFC debut this Saturday against Mark Hominick. Aldo, who is on an 11 fight win streak (7 by T/KO), most recently knocked out [#10] Manny Gamburyan in September 2010 at WEC 51. Aldo won the WEC featherweight title from [#25] Mike Brown at WEC 44 back in November of 2009. He made two successful title defenses against [#3BW] Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan before the WEC merged with the UFC in January of 2011. Aldo is seen as one of the most violent, dynamic fighters today. Hominick is on a 5 fight winning streak, 4 by stoppage. He most recently earned a title shot by TKOing [#61] George Roop in his 3rd promotional appearance (1st appearance at featherweight) at “UFC Fight for the Troops 2” in January 2011. Hominick is a very game opponent who has been on a hot streak lately. He has the ability to hurt his opponents standing or on the ground. The problem for Hominick is that Jose Aldo most likely does everything he does better. Hominick is a savvy veteran who will have to call on all his past experiences in order to stand a chance against the pound for pound ranked Aldo.

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Odd Ranking Change of the week

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Jason

If you’ve got a really keen eye, or have stumbled upon our new “Fighter Search” feature that includes ousted fighters along with the primary reason as to why, you may have noticed this:

That’s not a bug. Two fighters named Yutaka Ueda, both fighting in the Lightweight division, were ousted from the rankings this week. One was due to inactivity, and the other was due to a loss on the Shooto card.

Now that’s something you’ll probably never see again.

This Past Weekend: Bellator 42

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Jonathan

Bellator Fighting Championships 42
April 23, 2011

Lucky Star Casino,
Concho, Oklahoma, United States

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
Richard Hale (17 – 3 – 1) defeated D.J. Linderman (9 – 2 – 0) by split decision. The bout was back and forth on the feet much of the time. The fight tipped in favor of Hale when he fell into mount on top of Linderman in the 3rd round. The larger Hale was able to switch between mount and back control as Linderman struggled to break free. Hale jumps 16 spots up from [#51] to [#35]. Hale is on a 4 fight win streak, and is 8-1-1 in his last 10. He will face [#42] Christian M’Pumbu in the finals of the season 4 light heavyweight tournament. Linderman drops 9 spots from [#29] to [#38]. Linderman was on a 4 fight win streak prior to this loss.

Featherweight (145 lbs)
British prospect Ronnie Mann (19 – 2 – 1) defeated Josh Arocho (6 – 10 – 0) by unanimous decision. Mann used superior striking and grappling to outclass Arocho in virtually every aspect of the fight. Arocho would not be finished, and fought valiantly until the closing bell. Mann, who is on a 3 fight win streak and is 8-1 in his last 9 fights, jumps 21 spots up from, [#84 ] to [#63]. Look to see Mann in the upcoming featherweight tournament. Arocho, who was ranked at [#406LW], falls off the rankings. Arocho is 1-4 in his last 5.

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
Christian M’Pumbu (17 – 3 – 1) defeated Tim Carpenter (7 – 1 – 0) by TKO due to punches at 2:08 of the 1st round. M’Pumbu, who is on a 2 fight win streak and is 6-1 in his last 7, moves up 7 spots from [#49] to [#42]. M’Pumbu struck early and often, using his reach to effectively counterstrike . M’Pumbu will meet [#35] Richard Hale in the finals of the season 4 light heavyweight tournament. Carpenter drops 22 spots from [#114] to [#136].

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MMA Rankings Updated: 4/25/2011

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Jason

Notable Info

New rankings to be posted at about 10:15AM Eastern. I allowed another 24 hours or so for late results to funnel in, but it didn’t seem to help matters much.

This Upcoming Weekend: Bellator 42, Saturday on MTV2

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Jonathan

Bellator Fighting Championships 42
April 23, 2011
Lucky Star Casino,
Concho, Oklahoma, United States

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals
Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
[#29] D.J. Linderman (9 – 1 – 0) vs. [#51] Richard Hale (16 – 3 – 1)

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
[#49] Christian M’Pumbu (16 – 3 – 1) vs. [#114] Tim Carpenter (7 – 0 – 0)

Other Bouts

Featherweight (145 lbs)
[#84] Ronnie Mann (18 – 2 – 1) vs. [#406LW] Josh Arocho (6 – 9 – 0)

Bantamweight (135 lbs)
[#69] Luiz Alberto Nogueira (10 – 1 – 0) vs. [*] Jerod Spoon (5 – 1 – 1)

Middleweight (185 lbs)
[#70] Jared Hess (10 – 2 – 1) vs. [*] Chris Bell (10 – 3 – 0)

Bantamweight (135 lbs)
[#22FLY] Shane Howell (9 – 7 – 0) vs. [#145] Mark Oshiro (12 – 3 – 0)

Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#66] Mark Holata (10 – 2 – 0) vs. [*] Chris Guillen (13 – 12 – 0)

Featherweight (145 lbs)
[*] Owen Evinger (6 – 0 – 0) vs. [*] Brandon Shelton (16 – 5 – 0)

The Ultimate Fighter 13 – Episode 4 Results

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Oleg

In the fourth opening round fight, Team Dos Santos’ Ramsey Nijem defeated Team Lesnar’s Charlie Rader by tapout due to a rear naked choke in the second round, advancing to the quarter-finals.

The current win tally is 3 Team Dos Santos, 1 Team Lesnar.

Here’s who remains:

[#113] Anthony Ferguson

[#182] Justin Edwards
episode 3: alternate taking place of Keon Caldwell

~~[#179] Myles Jury~~
episode 1: forced to withdraw due to an injury

[#200] Ryan McGillivray
episode 3: moved on to quarter-finals with a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) over Len Bentley

[#247 LW] Ramsey Nijem
episode 4: moved on to quarter-finals with a second round submission (rear naked choke) win over Charlie Rader

[#289] Chuck O’Neil
episode 1: alternate taking place of Miles Jury

~~[#321] Charlie Rader~~
episode 4: lost to Ramsey Nijem with a second round submission (rear naked choke).

[#364] Shamar Bailey
episode 1: moved on to quarter-finals with a 20-18 unanimous decision win over Nordin Asrih

[#387] Clay Harvison

[#441] Chris Cope
episode 2: moved on to quarter-finals with a 29-28 overtime unanimous decision win over Javier Torres

~~[#475] Len Bentley~~
episode 3:lost a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) to Ryan McGillivray

~~[NR] Nordin Asrih~~
episode 1: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Shamar Bailey

[NR] Michael Bowman

~~[NR] Keon Caldwell~~
episode 2: withdrew from competition

[NR] Zachary Davis

~~[NR] Javier Torres~~
episode 2: lost an overtime unanimous decision (29-28) to Chris Cope