Fight Matrix Program: Bellator 120 (05-17-2014)
Light Heavyweight (205)
[#13] Quinton Jackson (34-11-0, -254) vs. [#15] Muhammed Lawal (12-3-0, +206)
Quinton Jackson is the All-Time #4 ranked Light Heavyweight and #16 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Quinton Jackson (2-1-0)
2014-02-28: W vs. [#88LHW] Christian MPumbu (18-6-1) via KO (Punches) in 4:34 of round 1
2013-11-15: W vs. [#32LHW] Joey Beltran (15-10-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:59 of round 1
2013-01-26: L vs. [#6LHW] Glover Teixeira (22-3-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Last 3 Fights: Muhammed Lawal (2-1-0)
2014-02-28: W vs. [#22LHW] Mikhail Zayats (22-8-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2013-11-02: L vs. [#10LHW] Emanuel Newton (23-7-1) via UD (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
2013-07-31: W vs. [#34LHW] Jacob Noe (12-3-0) via TKO (Retirement) in 2:51 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Quinton Jackson 78, Muhammed Lawal 78
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)
[#7] Michael Chandler (12-1-0, -868) vs. [#18] Will Brooks (13-1-0, +595)
Michael Chandler is the All-Time #17 ranked Lightweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Michael Chandler (2-1-0)
2013-11-02: L vs. [#6LW] Eddie Alvarez (25-3-0) via SD (47-48, 48-47, 47-48)
2013-07-31: W vs. [#52LW] David Rickels (15-3-0) via KO (Punches) in 0:44 of round 1
2013-01-17: W vs. [#27WW] Rick Hawn (18-3-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 3:07 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Will Brooks (3-0-0)
2013-11-22: W vs. [#40LW] Alexander Sarnavskiy (26-2-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
2013-10-25: W vs. [#83LW] Saad Awad (15-6-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2013-09-27: W vs. [#97LW] John Alessio (35-17-0) via UD (30-25, 30-26, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Michael Chandler 196, Will Brooks 176
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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Light Heavyweight (205)
[#8MW] Alexander Shlemenko (50-7-0, -488) vs. [*] Tito Ortiz (17-11-1, +370)
Tito Ortiz is the All-Time #9 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Alexander Shlemenko (3-0-0)
2014-03-28: W vs. [#52MW] Brennan Ward (9-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 1:22 of round 2
2013-11-22: W vs. [#31MW] Doug Marshall (18-7-0) via KO (Punch to the Body) in 4:28 of round 1
2013-09-07: W vs. [#27MW] Brett Cooper (20-9-0) via UD (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Last 3 Fights: Tito Ortiz (0-3-0)
2012-07-07: L vs. [*] Forrest Griffin (19-7-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2011-12-10: L vs. [*] Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-5-0) via TKO (Punches and Elbows to the Body) in 3:15 of round 1
2011-08-06: L vs. [#2LHW] Rashad Evans (21-3-1) via TKO (Knee to the Body and Punches) in 4:48 of round 2
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Alexander Shlemenko 50, Tito Ortiz 679
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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Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Saturday, March 14th 2026: Pancrase - 361 | |||
 [#4 SW] Yuta Miyazawa | [#9 SW] Kanji Funada | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/09/2025 [Pancrase] Last Opponent: [#33 SW] Tateo Iino Last 5: W W L W W | Last Fight Date: 4/27/2025 [Pancrase] Last Opponent: [#52 SW] Takafumi Ato Last 5: W W W W W | ||
| Friday, March 6th 2026: RIZIN 52 | |||
| [#5 W105] Saori Oshima | [#11 W105] Keito Oyama | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#1 W105] Seika Izawa Last 5: W L L W L | Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [NR] Bo Mi Lee Last 5: L W W W W | ||
| Sunday, March 8th 2026: Deep Osaka Impact 2026 1st Round | |||
| [#7 W105] Moeri Suda | [#10 W105] Namiko Kawabata | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/15/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#5 W105] Saori Oshima Last 5: W W W W L | Last Fight Date: 5/25/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#36 W105] Honoka Shigeta Last 5: L L L W W | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#5 LW] |  Justin Gaethje | [#11 LW] |  Paddy Pimblett | |
| [#1 LW] |  Ilia Topuria | [#2 LW] |  Arman Tsarukyan | |
| [#1 WW] |  Islam Makhachev | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [#1 FW] |  Alexander Volkanovski | [#7 LW] |  Benoit St. Denis | |
| [NR] | Khabib Nurmagomedov | [#1 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev |
Average Age by Division by Ranking (in Years)
| Division | Top 10 | #11-50 | Outside Top 50 |
Unranked Active |
| Heavyweight | 34.5 | 32.1 | 33.0 | 33.5 |
| Light Heavyweight | 32.9 | 33.0 | 30.8 | 31.4 |
| Middleweight | 34.0 | 30.6 | 30.4 | 30.3 |
| Welterweight | 31.1 | 31.6 | 30.0 | 29.2 |
| Lightweight | 29.7 | 29.4 | 29.7 | 28.8 |
| Featherweight | 28.9 | 30.0 | 28.4 | 28.4 |
| Bantamweight | 31.4 | 28.9 | 28.4 | 27.5 |
| Flyweight | 29.6 | 28.6 | 29.0 | 27.6 |
| Strawweight | 32.6 | N/A | N/A | 30.4 |
The above table shows the average age for fighters in the category spread as of May 14, 2014. Only male fighters with known birthdays were considered. The trend supports some “common knowledge” in that.
- People tend to gain weight as they get older.
- A fighter’s prime is in the late 20’s to early 30’s.
Does it support the: “Age isn’t as much of a factor in the heavier divisions as it is in the lighter divisions” thought? I’m not sure. If this was the case, I’d expect higher ranked fighters to be younger than their unranked counterparts. But their are two issues with this — it takes accomplishments to gain a higher ranking which takes time AND an older fighter is more likely to retire or change divisions.
We see a little bit of noise at Feather and Bantam, likely because the UFC recently opened these up and some of the older heads at divisions above have trickled down. Strawweight appears to an outlier, but I suspect this division is a last ditch effort for some older Asian Flyweights to extend their careers as it is such a terribly weak division.
All-Time MMA Rankings: The Best Fighters Who Never Fought in Japan or USA
In case you didn’t know, we feature career-long All-Time MMA Rankings. Using monthly snapshots as fuel (that we refresh every month), we derive Top 25s for each division, Women and Absolute. We also have a Peak Divisional Dominance list, but this is quite different as it looks at absolute peak, relative to the state of the division at that sliver of time.
We stop each list at Top 25, partially because every list has to stop somewhere, but mostly because we really don’t want to get into arguments as to why #74 is ranked higher than #76 — the list can get quite noisy once you get beyond the Top 25…. where things become really tight.
Two weeks ago, we took a look at the highest ranking fighters of all-time who never fought in the UFC, WEC, or any organization eventually acquired by ZUFFA. In this list, we take a look at fighters who never fought in a pro, non-exhibition match in Japan or the USA. We had to dig awfully low for this.
Fighters are listed with their career records and all-time rankings:
5. Maxim Tarasov (18-4 | Light Heavy: #51 | Absolute: #505)
Behind Jimmo by a hair, at both Absolute and Light Heavyweight, Tarasov can be considered sort of a pioneer at 205. We have three more wins for him than Sherdog does, but who knows if they actually happened and under what ruleset.
Fight Odds: Brown vs Silva
Let me start off by saying that I don’t bet on MMA fights. Mixed Martial Arts is often an unpredictable sport. With so many different ways to win, a fight can be over in a blink of an eye, and a fighter who was dominating early might find himself on the canvass staring at the arena lights and wondering what happened. The unpredictability is a big part of what makes MMA fun to watch… but not so much to bet on. Even when you’re absolutely certain that your guy (or girl) will win, fights often happen to go the distance. At which point you might as well flip a coin, at least that what is seems like the judges do sometimes, judging by how many bizarre decisions and inconsistent scorecards they turn in. On top of that, the bookies who set the betting odds do this stuff for a living and don’t like losing money, so you have to assume that the odds-makers kind of know what they’re doing. Taking all that into consideration, it ‘s not easy to make money betting on fights. In fact you may just be better off trying your luck at GameVillage Bingo, or spending some time here.
That said, every now and then a fight comes along where the betting odds just don’t seem to mesh with the reality. And I believe that the welterweight match up between Matt Brown and Erick Silva, coming up this Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Cincinnati, is one of those fights. [#11] Matt Brown holds a significant rating advantage over [#26] Erick Silva. The official UFC rankings concur (with Brown at #7 and Silva #14). Brown is on a six-win streak, five of those T/KO stoppages inside of two rounds. Silva on the other hand has been alternating wins and losses in his UFC fights, and suffered a brutal KO courtesy of Dong Hyun Kim prior to his most recent win over Takenori Sato. While losses to Kim and Jon Fitch are nothing to be ashamed of, the list of opponents that Brown defeated is more impressive than Silva’s. And Brown is far more experienced in the UFC Octagon. And yet, all major sports betting sites have Erick Silva as a 2-1 favorite over Brown, with odds as high as (-250) Silva and (+206) Brown.
Fight Matrix Program: UFC Fight Night – Brown vs. Silva (05-10-2014)
Welterweight (170)
[#11] Matt Brown (18-11-0, +185) vs. [#26] Erick Silva (16-4-0, -228)
Last 3 Fights: Matt Brown (3-0-0)
2013-08-17: W vs. [#17WW] Mike Pyle (26-9-1) via KO (Punches) in 0:29 of round 1
2013-04-20: W vs. [#24WW] Jordan Mein (28-9-0) via TKO (Elbows) in 1:00 of round 2
2012-12-08: W vs. [*] Mike Swick (15-5-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:31 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Erick Silva (2-1-0)
2014-02-15: W vs. [#134WW] Takenori Sato (17-9-7) via KO (Punches) in 0:52 of round 1
2013-10-09: L vs. [#8WW] Dong Hyun Kim (19-2-1) via KO (Punch) in 3:01 of round 2
2013-06-08: W vs. [#34WW] Jason High (18-4-0) via Submission (Reverse Triangle Armbar) in 1:11 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Matt Brown 266, Erick Silva 84
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 1 win(s) against common opposition.
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Middleweight (185)
[#18] Costas Philippou (12-4-0, +185) vs. [#25] Lorenz Larkin (14-2-0, -226)
Last 3 Fights: Costas Philippou (1-2-0)
2014-01-15: L vs. [#6MW] Luke Rockhold (12-2-0) via KO (Kick to the Body) in 2:31 of round 1
2013-09-21: L vs. [#12MW] Francis Carmont (22-8-0) via UD (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
2012-12-29: W vs. [#17MW] Tim Boetsch (17-7-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:11 of round 3
Last 3 Fights: Lorenz Larkin (1-2-0)
2014-01-15: L vs. [#23MW] Brad Tavares (12-2-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2013-11-06: W vs. [#33MW] Chris Camozzi (19-7-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
2013-04-20: L vs. [#12MW] Francis Carmont (22-8-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Costas Philippou 115, Lorenz Larkin 115
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)
[#76] Daron Cruickshank (14-4-0, +258) vs. [#105] Erik Koch (14-3-0, -329)
Last 3 Fights: Daron Cruickshank (2-1-0)
2014-01-25: W vs. [#258LW] Mike Rio (9-4-0) via TKO (Wheel Kick and Punches) in 4:56 of round 2
2013-11-09: L vs. [#55LW] Adriano Martins (25-7-0) via Submission (Straight Armbar) in 2:49 of round 2
2013-07-27: W vs. [#57LW] Yves Edwards (42-20-1) via SD (27-30, 30-27, 30-27)
Last 3 Fights: Erik Koch (1-2-0)
2014-02-22: W vs. [#274LW] Rafaello Oliveira (16-8-0) via TKO (Punches) in 1:24 of round 1
2013-08-31: L vs. [#8FW] Dustin Poirier (16-3-0) via UD (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
2013-01-26: L vs. [#10FW] Ricardo Lamas (13-3-0) via TKO (Elbows) in 2:32 of round 2
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Daron Cruickshank 105, Erik Koch 77
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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All-Time MMA Rankings: The Best Non-ZUFFA Fighters in History
In case you didn’t know, we feature career-long All-Time MMA Rankings. Using monthly snapshots as fuel (that we refresh every month), we derive Top 25s for each division, Women and Absolute. We also have a Peak Divisional Dominance list, but this is quite different as it looks at absolute peak, relative to the state of the division at that sliver of time.
We stop each list at Top 25, partially because every list has to stop somewhere, but mostly because we really don’t want to get into arguments as to why #74 is ranked higher than #76 — the list can get quite noisy once you get beyond the Top 25…. where things become really tight.
In any case, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 5 highest-ranking Absolute fighters that never fought in the UFC or any organization that ZUFFA has acquired… and here we go.
Fighters are listed with their career records and all-time rankings:
5. Bibiano Fernandes (16-3 | Bantam: #8 | Feather: #23 | Absolute: #82)
Quite possibly the best fighter in recent history steering clear of the states along with Shinya Aoki, Fernandes has actually made the Top 25 in two divisions within our All-Time MMA Rankings. As these have traditionally been weaker divisions, he is far from the Top 25 within the Absolute list.
Fight Matrix Program: UFC 172 (04-26-2014)
Light Heavyweight Championship (205)
[#1/#4DD/#1P4P] Jon Jones (19-1-0, -526) vs. [#6] Glover Teixeira (22-2-0, +387)
Jon Jones is the All-Time #1 ranked Light Heavyweight and #11 ranked Absolute fighter.
Glover Teixeira is the All-Time #25 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Jon Jones (3-0-0)
2013-09-21: W vs. [#4LHW] Alexander Gustafsson (16-2-0) via UD (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
2013-04-27: W vs. [#8LHW] Chael Sonnen (28-14-1) via TKO (Elbows and Punches) in 4:33 of round 1
2012-09-22: W vs. [#3MW/#9DD] Vitor Belfort (24-10-0) via Submission (Keylock) in 0:54 of round 4
Last 3 Fights: Glover Teixeira (3-0-0)
2013-09-04: W vs. [#12LHW] Ryan Bader (16-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:55 of round 1
2013-05-25: W vs. [#20LHW] James Te Huna (16-7-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 2:38 of round 1
2013-01-26: W vs. [#14LHW] Quinton Jackson (34-11-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Jon Jones 217, Glover Teixeira 234
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 2 win(s) against common opposition.
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Light Heavyweight (205)
[#3] Phil Davis (12-1-0, -214) vs. [#13] Anthony Johnson (16-4-0, +175)
Phil Davis is the All-Time #20 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Phil Davis (3-0-0)
2013-08-03: W vs. [#2MW/#8DD/#7P4P] Lyoto Machida (21-4-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2013-04-27: W vs. [#41LHW] Vinny Magalhaes (10-7-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
2012-10-13: W vs. [#156LHW] Wagner Prado (9-2-0) via Submission (Anaconda Choke) in 4:29 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Anthony Johnson (3-0-0)
2014-01-18: W vs. [#29LHW] Mike Kyle (20-11-1) via KO (Punches) in 2:03 of round 1
2013-03-23: W vs. [#16HW+] Andrei Arlovski (21-10-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2012-11-03: W vs. [#40HW+] D.J. Linderman (16-7-0) via KO (Punch) in 3:58 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Phil Davis 266, Anthony Johnson 98
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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Middleweight (185)
[#6] Luke Rockhold (11-2-0, -823) vs. [#17] Tim Boetsch (17-6-0, +548)
Luke Rockhold is the All-Time #16 ranked Middleweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Luke Rockhold (2-1-0)
2014-01-15: W vs. [#18MW] Costas Philippou (12-4-0) via KO (Kick to the Body) in 2:31 of round 1
2013-05-18: L vs. [#3MW/#9DD] Vitor Belfort (24-10-0) via KO (Spinning Heel Kick and Punches) in 2:32 of round 1
2012-07-14: W vs. [#7MW] Tim Kennedy (18-4-0) via UD (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Last 3 Fights: Tim Boetsch (1-2-0)
2013-10-19: W vs. [#28MW] C.B. Dollaway (14-5-0) via SD (30-26, 27-29, 30-26)
2013-07-06: L vs. [#9MW] Mark Munoz (13-4-0) via UD (30-26, 29-28, 30-27)
2012-12-29: L vs. [#18MW] Costas Philippou (12-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:11 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Luke Rockhold 101, Tim Boetsch 189
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Luke Rockhold leads 1-0
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Khabib Nurmagomedov Wrestling a Bear
A video of young boys wrestling a bear surfaced in December. One of the boys was rumored to be the undefeated UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov. Recently, Khabib confirmed that he is the boy in the video:
This is just awesome. Confirms my feelings that Nurmagomedov is the next lightweight champion.
Here’s a hilarious review of his bear-wrestling technique (before it was confirmed to be Khabib): My Outrage Over Video of Young Boy Wrestling Bear
TUF Nations Finale: Fighter Payouts
It’s become customary for MMA news sites to report fighter payouts after major events. Unfortunately, only a handful of US state athletic commissions publish the salary info. For international events, or in US states which do not report fighter payouts, the salary info is not available. This doesn’t stop folks from still reporting fighter payouts – except since they lack the actual info for the event, they report the last known payout for each fighter.
This can be fairly accurate in some cases, and extremely outdated in others. While the websites that publish this info typically include a disclaimer stating that the payouts are estimated (see http://mma-manifesto.com/root/ufc-fighter-salary-database-root/tuf-nations-finale-bisping-vs-kennedy-fighter-purses-attendance-gate.html), what they do not mention is how recent the last reported salary info is for each fighter.
This of course is an important factor – a UFC fighter whose last payout was officially reported two years and several fights ago is not likely to be still on the same salary. For example, MMA-Manifesto is reporting a payout of $8,000 for Kyle Noke. This is based on his last reported payout at TUF 11 Finale – almost 4 years ago! The base salary of 8K to show, 8K to win has been the standard for entry level TUF contestants in their first UFC fight; however Noke has amassed a record of 4-2 in the Octagon prior to fighting Cote. UFC contracts are typically structured so that fighter pay goes up with wins, and Noke almost certainly received a new – and more lucrative – contract when he was picked to be a coach on TUF Nations. So it’s very likely that his actual purse for this fight was far above 8K.
For other fighters, it’s impossible to find any official payout info. Take Ryan Jimmo: with a 2-2 record in the UFC, all four of his previous fights took place in jurisdictions which do not report salary info. Again, it’s highly unlikely that he is still at the 8K base pay level, four fights and two wins into his contract.
Keeping this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of payouts for the TUF Nations Finale card, while including the source of last officially reported payout for each fighter: