When taking a look at all of the major ranking sites, there is one fighter ranked very highly by the others, whom we are pretty harsh on — and that is Michael Bisping.

On Sherdog’s most recent ranking, he is ranked #4 in the Middleweight division.  They are not alone, as the USA Today meta-rankings (of which we are a part of) have him just one notch lower, at #5.  On FightMatrix, he is currently at #14.

Now, I’m not just defending the system here — I truly believe that these sites are overrating Michael Bisping.  Let’s take a look at his performances from the past 3.5 years and the current ranking of those opponents.

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With this latest release, we updated a piece of the methodology that computes the division dominance list used for our current rankings.

The entire basis of how the list is compiled remains identical, with the exception that the “contenders” that are used as the sample size for comparison will be scaled based upon the size of the division.  We believe this more accurately represents divisional depth and will more appropriately reward fighters who have elevated themselves to the top of the deeper and more competitive divisions.

If you are interested, you can follow the evolution of brainstorming that led to this change here in our forum.

Notable Info

• With his recent retirement, Fedor will only remain in the current rankings for one more week.  Upon the next update, he will be dropped.
• A minor modification was made to distribute a small division dominance penalty to any #1 ranked fighters with only one recent win in their currently listed division.  The gap between an equation and a “pound-for-pound” list is hopefully now lessened.

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• Women Strawweight expanded from 15 to 20.

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• Jose Aldo finally displaced Urijah Faber as the top Featherweight in history.  This may fluctuate a time or two, but Aldo should eventually hold this position moving forward.
• Junior dos Santos moves up the Heavyweight ladder, as he swaps spots with Frank Mir, taking #7.  Cain Velazquez also moves up one spot, to displace the venerable pioneer Bas Rutten at #9.  JDS should move into #6 very shortly, as the new crop of Heavyweights are moving past the old guard.
• Martin Kampmann surges into the Welterweight list at #18, with his stunning victory over #23 Ellenberger, who himself drops a spot to make room.
• Mark Munoz is the latest to claim the #25 spot at Middleweight.  Although this may seem premature, he is now 7-1 in the UFC Middleweight division, with his only loss, a split decision to #7 Yushin Okami.  He also holds a win over #11 Maia.
• Tara LaRosa retakes the top position in the Women’s list with Fujii’s second loss (which she deserved to win) in the states.  As Fujii and #3 Tsuji fade, the chance to lockup the top spot, at least temporarily, is completely in LaRosa’s hands.  She needs to face quality opposition.

With Georges St. Pierre’s late-July inactivity removal from the rankings looming and nothing scheduled for Carlos Condit, a rare situation could have a non-UFC champion ranked at #1 in the division.  Despite Condit’s split decision win over Ellenberger nearly three years ago, a dominant win for Ellenberger on Friday will seal this as a certainty, as he will pass Condit in the rankings.

This will create a three-headed dragon at the top of the division that may take quite a bit of time to unwind, depending on how long St. Pierre sits out of action.  With time, we could have a similar situation in the Bantamweight division, thanks to the weakening ACLs that we’ve been seeing lately in professional sports.