Ranking Debate: Mike Russow (with Polls)
Recently, Sherdog updated their rankings again and I was quite surprised to see Mike Russow at #10 in the Heavyweight rankings. I thought I was dreaming last month when I saw him in their Top 10, but now I know that it’s for real. A dream it was not.
It’s quite common to see human polled subjective rankings seemingly “grab” a fighter at random to slide into an open final spot. After all, Russow didn’t get into the Top 10 via some big win, nor did he accomplish a ranking boost due to a loss (see: Michael Bisping). For Russow, it was Carwin’s inactivity-fueled ejection from the list that let Russow mysteriously slide into the #10 position.
Middleweight Fights I’d Like to See
The middleweight division has been in the spotlight as of late, with both the UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and his Strikeforce counterpart Luke Rockhold making successful title defenses this month, and Chris Weidman emerging as a possible contender to the UFC gold. Another high profile bout is coming up this weekend as Hector Lombard takes on Tim Boetsch at UFC 149, and a bout between [#12] Brian Stann and [#13] Michael Bisping has been slated for UFC 152.
Here are fifteen other middleweight matchups I would like to see in UFC and Strikeforce:
[#2] Chael Sonnen vs [#25] Wanderlei Silva
While Sonnen remains the #2 middleweight, going 0-2 against the champion sends him to the back of the proverbial line when it comes to title contention. Given the animosity which exists between Chael and Wanderlei Silva, this should make for some epic smack talk and an entertaining matchup without title implications.
[#3] Chris Weidman vs the winner of [#6] Hector Lombard / [#9] Tim Boetsch
After an impressive win over Mark Munoz, Weidman is pushing for a shot at the champion. However it is not likely that Anderson will fight again this year, and sitting on the bench waiting for a title shot will do no favors to Weidman’s career. Pit Weidman against Lombard or Boetsch and you have a legitimate #1 contender for Anderson Silva’s next fight.
[#4] Luke Rockhold vs [#20] Lorenz Larkin
It’s dificult to find a true contender on Strikeforce’s anemic roster. Luke Rockhold expressed interest in rematching Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, and Roger Gracie is quickly moving up the rankings. However I believe Souza and Gracie are better off fighting each other next. Rockhold should instead take on Lorenz Larkin, who made an solid divisional debut with a unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler.
[#5] Vitor Belfort vs [#7] Alan Belcher
Alan Belcher looked like a monster since returning to action from an injury layoff, finishing Jason MacDonald and Rousimar Palhares in the first round. Vitor Belfort also racked up two first-round stoppages over Yoshihiro Akiyama and Anthony Johnson since suffering a knockout courtesy of Anderson Silva. Guaranteed fireworks, and a win will move one of these middlweights into the title picture.
[#8] Rich Franklin vs [#46] Cung Le
Former champion Rich Franklin was as scrappy and resilient as ever in his return to the middleweight division, and spoke of making one last run at the title. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) for ‘Ace’, a third matchup with Anderson Silva remains an impossibly tough sell even 5 years after they last met in the Octagon. For now Franklin is relegated to big-name, low-significance ‘superfights’. He was slated to meet Cung Le in his most recent fight before injuries forced card changes. With both guys coming off hard-fought victories, this remains an intriguing matchup.
Ranking Debate: Michael Bisping (FOLLOW-UP)
So, we ran the polls for a few days and the results are as follows. By the way, in case you missed the original post, it is here.
- The majority think that Michael Bisping’s FightMatrix ranking is a little harsh, but that it is more accurate than the #4 that Sherdog gives him. Although I didn’t give voters an option to say we overrated Bisping, 34% agreed with a ranking outside of the Top 10, and another 54% agreed that though our ranking was a bit too harsh, Sherdog’s was too kind. Only 12% thought that Sherdog was close or dead on. Given the results, I think the overall “happy medium” may be the #10 position.
- At a ratio of 3:1, voters think Hector Lombard should be higher-ranked than Bisping. Furthermore, almost 90% believe that Bisping’s ranking would suffer, were it not for the visibility of the UFC. I think this speaks to the intelligence of our readers — well done.
I hope to make this type of blog post a more frequent occurrence on our site. Although we strive for accuracy and consistency, our rankings will never completely agree with the overall consensus, and that’s fine — it is expected. In all mathematical systems there are outliers and this isn’t always necessarily a bad thing. The system can’t see bad decisions and fluke occurrences, but it also cannot see the imaginary things — like hype.
Objectively, using only real outcomes, Bisping is barely a Top 15 fighter. Though, in a purely subjective system, giving him additional credit for his close UD loss to Sonnen and boosting him up a few spots is something I’m not necessarily opposed to. I am opposed to ranking him in the Top 5 though, in any type of system.
Ranking Debate: Michael Bisping (with Polls)
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.
MMA Rankings Updated: 06/27/2012
Notable Info
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.
MMA Rankings Updated: 06/24/2012
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.
MMA Rankings Updated: 06/17/2012
Notable Info
- Women Strawweight expanded from 15 to 20.