Heavyweight
[#1] Fedor Emelianenko vs. [#5] Andrei Arlovski

Heavyweight
[#6] Josh Barnett vs. [#30] Gilbert Yvel

Light Heavyweight
[#12] Sokoudjou vs. [#13] Renato Sobral

Middleweight
[#15] Vitor Belfort vs. [#20] Matt Lindland

Lightweight
[#40] Dan Lauzon vs. [#100] Bobby Green

Heavyweight
[#43] Paul Buentello vs. [#180] Kirill Sidelnikov

Light Heavyweight
[#16] Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. [#17] Vladimir Matyushenko

Welterweight
[#12] Jay Hieron vs. [#140] Jason High

Featherweight
[#8 BW] Bao Quach vs. [#29] LC Davis

Featherweight
[#32 BW] Antonio Duarte vs. [#52 BW] Albert Rios

Welterweight
[#33] Brett Cooper vs. [#206] Patrick Speight

Ranking Notes: Gray font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.

 Notable Info

• Ratings updated with recent shows from UFC, Shooto, and others.

Other interesting notes…

• Rich Franklin proves that he belongs near the top of the Light Heavyweight division, nearly taking a decision from Dan Henderson.  Henderson re-enters Light Heavy at #5, while Franklin drops to #6.
• In a disappointing performance against Coleman, Rua re-enters Light Heavy at #8.  Coleman enters the list just outside of the Top 20.
• Martin Kampmann makes a successful debut at Welterweight, entering at #23.  Though, in the UFC, there’s a tough road to climb to the top of the Welterweight division.
• Although he is the Shooto Flyweight champion, Shinichi Kojima nearly lost the top spot at Flyweight with a draw against (4-4-2) Jess Taitano.  Taitano shoots back into the Top 10, where he was before we discovered and entered some unreported losses on his record.

Light Heavyweight
[#3 MW] Dan Henderson vs. [#5] Rich Franklin

Light Heavyweight
[NR] Mauricio Rua vs. [NR] Mark Coleman

Middleweight
[#18] Denis Kang vs. [#43] Alan Belcher

Welterweight
[#22] Marcus Davis vs. [#26] Chris Lytle

Middleweight
[#37] Rousimar Palhares vs. [#59] Jeremy Horn

Welterweight
[#34 MW] Martin Kampmann vs. [#123] Alexandre Barros

Light Heavyweight
[#34] Eric Schafer vs. [#60] Antonio Mendes

Light Heavyweight
[NR] Tomasz Drwal vs. [#134] Ivan Serati

Welterweight
[#162 MW] John Hathaway vs. [#300] Thomas Egan

Lightweight
[#210] Dennis Siver vs. [*] Nate Mohr

Ranking Notes:  Rankings are projected when a fighter is fighting in a new weight class.  Gray font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.

Notable Info

• Ratings updated with recent shows from M-1, Ring of Fire, and others.
• Inserted some previously missing older shows.

Notable Info

• Ratings updated with recent shows from Sengoku and others.

Other interesting notes…

• Higher ranked fighters Satoru Kitaoka, and Jorge Santiago strengthen their positions with big wins over Takanori Gomi, and Kazuo Misaki respectively.
• Alexis Vila, former Cuban wrestling champion, is now properly placed in the Flyweight division.  His point total allows him to debut at #11 in the rankings.

Notable Info

• Ratings updated with recent shows from UFC and K-1, as well as some minor shows.

Other interesting notes…

• Frank Mir’s win shakes up the Heavyweight division as he shoots up to #2, while Nogueira drops to #4.
• The Griffin/Evans and Jackson/Silva results create a strange scenario at the top of the Light Heavyweight division.  Evans takes the top spot, while Jackson’s win was enough to keep him at #2.  Griffin drops to #3.  Is Jackson/Evans next?
• A similar situation happened at Lightweight, with Aoki submitting Alvarez, which was unexpected considering Hansen-Alvarez and Hansen-Aoki.

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
[#1] Forrest Griffin vs. [#4] Rashad Evans

UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship
[#2] Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. [#26] Frank Mir

Light Heavyweight
[#2] Quinton Jackson vs. [#5] Wanderlei Silva

Middleweight
[#39] Mike Massenzio vs. [#175] C.B. Dollaway

Heavyweight
[#12] Cheick Kongo vs. [#86] Mustafa al Turk

Middleweight
[#15] Yushin Okami vs. [#25] Dean Lister

Light Heavyweight
[#29] Matt Hamill vs. [#42] Reese Andy

Welterweight
[#22] Brad Blackburn vs. [#27] Ryo Chonan

Welterweight
[#114] Dan Evensen vs. [#200] Pat Barry

 Ranking Notes:  Rankings are projected when a fighter is fighting in a new weight class.  Gray font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.

Notable Info

• Mainly a maintenance update.  There was a show from DEEP and some other bout updates, but mainly just a pre-UFC 92 refresh.

Last week I examined the top fighters in the UFC’s lightweight division.  As mentioned, UFC has abandoned the weight class for several years, allowing other MMA organizations to step up and fill the void.  Even though the lightweights are back in the UFC in a major way, it is K-1’s Dream promotion that boasts the most top fighters on their roster: four out of the Top 10, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking.  The other major player in the division is World Victory Road – a Japanese promotion that rose from the ashes of Pride FC.

With three major lightweight showdowns coming up in the next month (Hansen vs. Calvancante and Aoki vs. Alvarez on K-1’s year-end extravaganza, as well as Gomi vs. Kitaoka in WVR on January 4th), this is a good time to take a look at the ten top lightweights outside of the UFC.

Keep Reading

The next two updates will take place on Wednesday, December 24, 2008, and on Wednesday, December 31, 2008.

To say that it has been a rough ride for the UFC’s 155 lbs division would be a bit of an understatement.  The trouble began when the first champion of the weight class Jens Pulver left the organization in 2002 amidst a contract dispute.  The UFC held a four-man tournament to crown a new champion, but failed to come up with a definitive winner when BJ Penn fought Caol Uno to a draw in the finals.  And so the division was completely dismantled as the Zuffa-owned promotion was struggling financially at the time.

Fast forward to 2006: after the success of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality series boosted UFC’s popularity and momentum, the organization decided to reinstate the lightweight division and crowned a new champion with a matchup between Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk.  But the troubles were not over – after Sherk’s very first title defense, Sean as well as the challenger Hermes Franca both tested positive for banned anabolics and were suspended by the California State Athletic Commission.  With the title once again vacated, BJ Penn defeated Joe Stevenson then Sean Sherk in back-to-back bouts, staking his claim as the new lightweight king.  However with Penn now set to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, the lightweight championship may once again be placed on hold if Penn wins.

All these tribulations left the division weakened: according to the latest Fightmatrix.com rankings, only 4 of the Top 10 and 8 of the Top 20 lightweights in the world compete in the UFC’s Octagon.    But don’t let the lack of top-ranked fighters fool you; this is a very deep division beyond the Top 20, with over 30 ranked fighters competing in UFC at 155 lbs.  Here is a closer look at the UFC’s 20 highest ranked lightweights.

Keep Reading

I noticed we had some incomplete and missing results from the weekend, so I decided to re-run the ratings update!

Notable Info

• New rankings reflect changes due to shows from the previous week and weekend, including those from Shooto, UFC, KOTC, Adrenaline, and many others.

Other interesting notes…

• More action on the Flyweight list, as the two winners of the 114 and 123lb Shooto rookie tournament enter at #16, and #17 respectively.
• The UFC’s Jim Miller, winner of 8 straight, makes a surprising entry into the Lightweight Top 10 at #8.
• Pat Miletich pulled off a mild upset over fellow veteran Thomas Denny.  However, Miletich is still far away from being ranked.
• Wilson Gouveia’s impressive win over Jason MacDonald propels him 13 spots, up to #16 in the Middleweight division.  Can he actually make 185 again?
• Justin McCully re-enters the Top 40 of the Heavyweight division with a win over Eddie Sanchez.
• Jeff Monson took a unanimous decision over Ricco Rodriguez on Saturday.  He is now the #17 ranked Heavyweight.

Notable Info

• New rankings reflect changes due to shows from the previous week and weekend, including those from Pancrase, WEC, GCM, and many others.
• Note: I only have partial results from some shows.

Other interesting notes…

• I always get excited when I see new Flyweights entering the Top 25.  Sad, I know.  Last week we had one, and this week we have two!  Isao Hirose came out of nowhere and enters at #10, while Jucie Formiga gets positioned at #22 with only his 2nd win.  Its a weak division, what can I say?
• Bantamweight and Featherweight saw a ton of movement.  Make sure you check those lists out.
• Tito Ortiz is on the slide, as he lost a position and now sits at #14 in the Light Heavyweight division.
• Stefan Struve (16-2) keeps inching up the Heavyweight division slowly, and he’s now at #46.  Maybe this guy can score a big fight so we can see if he’s worthy of being in the Top 50.

 Notable Info

• New rankings reflect changes due to shows from the previous week and weekend, including those from Shooto, Phoenix Fight, ZST, M-1, KOTC, and others.

Other interesting notes…

• Randy Couture drops to #5 in the Heavyweight division.
• Megumi Fujii is the new queen of the Women’s Open rankings due to Tara LaRosa’s inactivity.
• Takashi Nakakura steps into the crowded Top 20 of the Lightweight division with a win this weekend, improving his record to 11-2-1.
• Also at Lightweight, undefeated Rory McDonald scored a win over Clay French, which bumps him into the Top 100 at #65.
• Former Welterweight, Drew Fickett stepped down to the Lightweight division with a win, but is still ranked outside of the Top 100.
• With the weekend’s Shooto show comes an interesting potential match-up in the Featherweight division between Hatsu Hioki and Takeshi Inoue, who are in a virtual tie with one another.  The decisive winner of that match-up would (at this time) be a clear #3 in the division.
• Jared McMahan gets his 10th win, moving to 10-0-1.  He is now #22 in the Bantamweight division and on a similar career path to that of Abel Cullum, who lost valiantly to Wilson Reis earlier this year.
• A rare new entry into the Flyweight Top 25 was made by Atsushi Takeuchi, who scored a win over a decent opponent.