FYI – We’ll likely have a mid-week update to accommodate the UFC show on Wednesday night.
Current MMA Rankings Updated (08-18-2013)
Notable Info
- Travis Browne finally realizes his potential by removing Alistair Overeem from his senses. As a result, he moves up to #6 in the HW+ rankings.
- Also at Heavyweight, Steve Mocco improves to 3-0 and jumps into the Top 100 at #82 by beating Lew Polley, who gained some infamy by showing up at 237lbs for a 205lb fight on August 9th. Perhaps gluttony got the best of Polley again, as he gained another 18lb in 7 days — weighing in at 255lb for the Mocco fight! James Toney, eat your heart out… but no seconds.
- Chael Sonnen found the Top 10, this time at Light Heavyweight with a first-round submission of Mauricio Rua. This puts Sonnen at #8 and Rua at #11.
- Mike Thomas Brown plummets down the Featherweight rankings at the hands of Steven Siler. Now sitting at #65, a re-retirement seems eminent.
- Pedro Munhoz‘s win over Jeff Curran made our All-Time Unusual Decisions list. Although Munhoz received 50-45 and 49-46 scores, Curran managed a 48-47 in his favor. Subsequently, Jeff Curran retired and is apparently abandoning his Flyweight run — this fight was at Bantamweight.
Current MMA Rankings Updated (08-11-2013)
Notable Info
- Tyrone Spong gets a relatively easy unanimous decision win against solid fighter Angel DeAnda. As a result, Spong debuts in the LHW rankings at #75.
- Also in the LHW rankings, we see a familiar name — Kalib Starnes, who appears to be having a bit of a career renaissance. His last win was at HW, with this most recent one being at LHW — both of which combine to get him a #55 rank in the LHW division.
- Another resurgence takes place at Lightweight, with the appearance of “JZ” Cavalcante in the Top 50, at #47. With a (perhaps quick) stoppage of Tyson Griffin, he essentially erased his poor 2012 — though it will take a lot to get him over the hump of Gaethje who is now a Top 20 fighter.
- #124 ranked Featherweight, Julio Cesar Neves, improves his record to 26-0-0, with a Capoeira kick KO over unranked Dener “Chuleta”, who falls to 9-5.
- The Strawweight division loses its longtime figurehead, Rambaa Somdet, as he took his first fight with PXC and will look to continue at Flyweight. He debuts at Flyweight with a win, way down at #41.
- Hiroko Yamanaka announces her retirement and the Women’s Featherweight division loses yet another ranked fighter. The unheralded Agnieszka Sobczyk (2-1) slides in at #15.
Fight Matrix Program: World Series of Fighting 4 (08-10-2013)
Light Heavyweight (205)
[#46] Angel DeAnda (11-2-0, +926) vs. [#315] Tyrone Spong (1-0-0, -1200)
Last 3 Fights: Angel DeAnda (3-0-0)
2012-11-15: W vs. [#62LHW] Anthony Ruiz (30-18-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:39 of round 3
2012-09-07: W vs. [#402LHW] Drew Montgomery (12-6-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:30 of round 1
2012-04-21: W vs. [*] Kawika Morton (4-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:04 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Tyrone Spong (1-0-0)
2012-11-03: W vs. [#517HW+] Travis Bartlett (5-4-0) via KO (Punch) in 3:15 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Angel DeAnda 268, Tyrone Spong 280
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Lightweight (155)
[#47] Tyson Griffin (16-6-0, -265) vs. [#116] Gesias Cavalcante (17-7-1, +235)
Gesias Cavalcante is the All-Time #16 ranked Lightweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Tyson Griffin (2-1-0)
2012-11-02: W vs. [#93LW] Efrain Escudero (19-7-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
2011-10-29: L vs. [#45FW] Bart Palaszewski (36-17-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:45 of round 1
2011-06-26: W vs. [#17FW] Manny Gamburyan (12-7-0) via MD (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)
Last 3 Fights: Gesias Cavalcante (1-2-0)
2013-03-23: L vs. [#18LW] Justin Gaethje (9-0-0) via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in 2:27 of round 1
2012-11-03: W vs. [#407LW] T.J. OBrien (18-7-0) via Submission (Heel Hook) in 1:03 of round 1
2012-06-30: L vs. [#57LW] Luis Palomino (21-8-0) via KO (Punches) in 1:41 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Tyson Griffin 281, Gesias Cavalcante 140
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Gesias Cavalcante leads 1-0
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Heavyweight (265)
[#52] Dave Huckaba (20-5-0, +225) vs. [*] Ray Sefo (2-1-0, -253)
Last 3 Fights: Dave Huckaba (3-0-0)
2013-01-18: W vs. [#526HW+] Carter Williams (4-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:00 of round 2
2012-10-20: W vs. [#122HW+] Carl Seumanutafa (8-4-0) via KO (Punch) in 4:35 of round 1
2012-05-26: W vs. [#327HW+] Rob Jackson (5-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:30 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Ray Sefo (2-1-0)
2011-02-12: L vs. [#206HW+] Valentijn Overeem (30-29-0) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 1:37 of round 1
2009-09-25: W vs. [*] Kevin Jordan (11-9-0) via Submission (Knee Injury) in 0:24 of round 2
2005-07-06: W vs. [*] Min Soo Kim (3-7-0) via KO (Head Kick) in 0:30 of round 2
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Dave Huckaba 204, Ray Sefo 910
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Keep Reading
Fight Matrix & Sherdog (Man vs. Machine) Rankings Compared: Middleweight
Middleweight
| Rank | Fight Matrix | Diff | Diff | Sherdog |
| 1 | Chris Weidman | = | = | Chris Weidman |
| 2 | Anderson Silva | = | = | Anderson Silva |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort | = | = | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Yushin Okami | = | = | Yushin Okami |
| 5 | Hector Lombard | Next 5 | -3 | Michael Bisping |
| 6 | Ronaldo Souza | -3 | -1 | Mark Munoz |
| 7 | Mark Munoz | +1 | -2 | Luke Rockhold |
| 8 | Michael Bisping | +3 | Next 5 | Costas Philippou |
| 9 | Luke Rockhold | +2 | +3 | Ronaldo Souza |
| 10 | Mamed Khalidov | = | = | Mamed Khalidov |
| Next 5 | Costas Philippou Tim Kennedy Alexander Shlemenko Thales Leites Cung Le |
Tim Boetsch Francis Carmont Tim Kennedy Hector Lombard Alexander Shlemenko |
Contrary to the prior two divisions we looked at, Middleweight shows some considerable differences. Also, the table just got a lot harder to read.
Fight Matrix & Sherdog (Man vs. Machine) Rankings Compared: Light Heavyweight
Light Heavyweight
| Rank | Fight Matrix | Diff | Sherdog |
| 1 | Jon Jones | = | Jon Jones |
| 2 | Phil Davis | -1 | Rashad Evans |
| 3 | Lyoto Machida | -1 | Phil Davis |
| 4 | Rashad Evans | +2 | Lyoto Machida |
| 5 | Dan Henderson | = | Dan Henderson |
| 6 | Alexander Gustaffson | = | Alexander Gustaffson |
| 7 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | = | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira |
| 8 | Mauricio Rua | = | Mauricio Rua |
| 9 | Glover Teixeira | = | Glover Teixeira |
| 10 | Ryan Bader | = | Ryan Bader |
| Next 5 | Gegard Mousasi Emanuel Newton Quinton Jackson Anthony Johnson Chael Sonnen |
Gegard Mousasi Emanuel Newton James Te Huna Thiago Silva Attila Vegh |
The two rankings again are eerily similar, with the first notable difference being Rashad Evans. But what a mess it is, overall.
Fight Matrix & Sherdog (Man vs. Machine) Rankings Compared: Heavyweight
Sherdog, one of the most, if not THE most respected MMA web site on the Internet has produced Top 10 rankings for quite sometime. I thought I would take a look at their latest Top 10s and compare the differences between the fights they rank and the ones we rank, including some commentary.
Heavyweight
| Rank | Fight Matrix | Diff | Sherdog |
| 1 | Cain Velasquez | = | Cain Velasquez |
| 2 | Junior dos Santos | = | Junior dos Santos |
| 3 | Daniel Cormier | -1 | Fabricio Werdum |
| 4 | Antonio Silva | -1 | Daniel Cormier |
| 5 | Fabricio Werdum | +2 | Antonio Silva |
| 6 | Alistair Overeem | = | Alistair Overeem |
| 7 | Frank Mir | = | Frank Mir |
| 8 | Mark Hunt | Next 5 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |
| 9 | Josh Barnett | = | Josh Barnett |
| 10 | Stipe Miocic | = | Stipe Miocic |
| Next 5 | Travis Browne Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Roy Nelson Stefan Struve Alexander Volkov |
Travis Browne Gabriel Gonzaga Mark Hunt Roy Nelson Stefan Struve |
The two rankings are eerily similar, with the first notable difference being Fabricio Werdum.
Fighter Focus: Robert Neal (#86 HW – 2-0-0, 250lb)
[#86 HW] 
Robert Neal (2-0-0)
- 28 years old, 6’0″ 250lb, Georgia, USA.
- Both professional wins by (T)KO.
- In only his 2nd professional fight, TKO’d [#113 HW] Mike Wessel in 13 seconds!
(The freeze-frame above shows Wessel, not Neal)
This early-career Heavyweight is looking for fights — he’s ready to put his undefeated record and Top 100 Fight Matrix ranking on the line.
If you are interesting in featuring Robert Neal on one of your contacts, please Email contact_group@fightmatrix.com and provide more details.
Current MMA Rankings Updated (07-23-2013)
Notable Info
- This is an intermediate update for testing purposes.
Upcoming Division Dominance Change
With the next rankings update, we will be making a slight tweak to our division dominance routine that will observe interference caused by division jumpers and help situations in which fighters gain most of their points in a strong division, then move to a weaker division — most recently seen at Women’s Featherweight with Marloes Coenen.
Hopefully, this will edge the methodology just a bit closer to a traditional “pound-for-pound” ranking, but it will remain unique in nature. Due to the strength of Men’s MMA across the board, this will have very little effect. However, the Women’s list will be moderately affected by this alteration.