Fight Matrix

Biggest Risers in Current MMA Rankings Update (05-22-2016)

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Richard Mann

Fight Matrix updates the Current MMA Rankings once a week. As the deepest and most inclusive ranking system in the sport, fights all over the globe can have a major impact on the rankings. Let’s take a look at the biggest risers in the divisional rankings. The number in parenthesis is the number of spots that the fighter moved up from the last issued rankings. For the purpose of this article, fighters who were unranked in the previous ranking iteration are excluded.

Welterweight
Emil Weber Meek #9 (205)
In the most astounding upset of the weekend, Meek scored a first-round finish over Rousimar Palhares. Palhares came into the bout as the highest ranked fighter not signed to the UFC or Bellator. On the other hand, Meek was ranked 214th. With the victory, Meek moves all the way up to ninth, while Palhares fell to 11th.

Heavyweight
Adam Wieczorek #131 (74)
Wieczorek moved up 74 ranking spots with a victory over Zoumana Cisse under the Professional MMA League banner. With the victory, the Polish fighter’s record improved to 7-1. He has not lost since falling to recent UFC signee Marcin Tybura in his second professional fight in 2011.

Light Heavyweight
Przemyslaw Mysiala #96 (92)
You might remember Mysiala from his one-fight stint in Bellator back in 2013. He was Muhammed Lawal’s first opponent in the promotion and lost via knockout in the first round. Since then, Mysiala has gone 3-1-1 including back-to-back victories over Ryan White and Marcin Zontek. Following his victory over Zontek at last weekend’s Fight Exclusive Night 12 “Feel the Force” Mysiala moved up 92 spots and into the light heavyweight top 100.
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Current MMA Rankings Updated (05-22-2016)

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Jason

Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)

Thursday, September 10th 2026: Super RIZIN 5: Naniwa No Chou Fukkatsu Matsuri

[#5 FW] A.J. McKee

[#6 FW] Rajabali Shaidullaev

Last Fight Date: 6/27/2026 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#20 FW] Salamat Isbulaev
Last 5: W L W W W

Last Fight Date: 4/12/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#248 FW] Yuta Kubo
Last 5: W W W W W

Thursday, September 10th 2026: Super RIZIN 5: Naniwa No Chou Fukkatsu Matsuri

[#1 W105] Natalia Kuziutina

[#16 W105] Rena Kubota

Last Fight Date: 4/12/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#9 W105] Ayaka Hamasaki
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 12/31/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#2 W105] Seika Izawa
Last 5: W L W W L

Friday, October 16th 2026: Professional Fighters League PFL Chicago 2: Carmouche vs. Bishop 2

[#6 W125] Liz Carmouche

[#14 W125] Jena Bishop

Last Fight Date: 6/27/2026 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#15 W125] Viviane Araujo
Last 5: L W W W W

Last Fight Date: 6/27/2026 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#38 W125] Ariane Lipski da Silva
Last 5: W W L W W

Featured Fighters

[#1 WW]	Islam Makhachev	[#191 WW]	Namo Fazil
[NR]	Khabib Nurmagomedov	[#1 FW]	Alexander Volkanovski
[#2 LW]	Ilia Topuria	[#3 WW]	Carlos Prates
[#56 WW]	Kaik Brito	[NR]	Georges St. Pierre
[NR]	Jon Jones	[#3 LW]	Charles Oliveira

Vitor Belfort Vs. Ronaldo Souza

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Ked Becker

Very Strange!

That’s all I can say.

Before the fight between Ronaldo Souza and Vitor Belfort I pretty much accepted that unless the Belfort’s performance against Chris Weidman was a gigantic fluke, Belfort has very little chance against grappling master Ronaldo Souza.

Chris Weidman took Belfort down easily with a simple double leg take down pretty early in the fight, quickly moved to half-guard and proceeded to hammer Belfort to oblivion. Belfort didn’t seriously try to escape the position, didn’t hip-escape or try to hold Weidman down. Didn’t really show any grappling skills, as if he didn’t even train for that – and that’s when he was fighting a wrestler. He even tried to punch Weidman from the bottom – the kind of tactic you’d see in the early days of MMA employed by absolute novices to grappling, who thought they had a chance of doing damage this way.

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Breakdown of “Common” W-L-D Records

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Jason

Currently, we have record of 99,038 fighters with at least one win and/or one draw and/or one loss. No contests are ignored for this statistic.

60,747 of them haven’t fought in at least three years. Out of those:

Win	Loss	Draw	Count	Perc
0	1	0	24,007	39.52%
1	0	0	8,894	14.64%
0	2	0	4,381	7.21%
1	1	0	4,169	6.86%
1	2	0	1,742	2.87%
2	0	0	1,430	2.35%
2	1	0	1,373	2.26%
0	3	0	1,197	1.97%
2	2	0	836	1.38%

Nearly 40% of professional MMA fighters, fight once, lose, then never fight again.

More to come..

The Unanswered Questions that Linger Around ‘Cyborg’ Justino’s UFC Debut

Posted on May 18, 2016 by A. J. Riot

Saturday night turned into the biggest winning moment for Cris “Cyborg” Justino after many of her fans had patiently waited for her UFC debut. Her exceptional skills clearly reflected most online MMA betting odds as the favorite fighter between the two. Her hometown fans in Curitiba, Brazil cheered jubilantly as she delivered swift, powerful and dominant kicks and punches to demolish her opponent, Leslie Smith after 81 seconds of punishment. However, the victory over a former training partner at UFC 198 did not answer the most vital question of the bout: Can “Cyborg” lose more weight to make 135 lbs and qualify for the bantamweight division? With a win to loss ratio of 16-1, Justino is currently the 145-pound Invicta champion and the ex-Strikeforce champion.

Some of the big names in WMMA did not grace the occasion, including Ronda Rousey, the former UFC bantamweight titleholder; Miesha Tate, the current champion; or even the “Rousey conqueror” Holly Holm, who defeated the former champ in March to claim the belt which she lost to Tate in her first title defense. However, Justino showed her lack of interest in shifting to bantamweight. During her post-bout interview, she said that her mission is to defend her belt as the Invicta titleholder and eventually fight in UFC’s catch-weight category.

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Biggest Risers in Current MMA Rankings Update (05-15-2016)

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Richard Mann

Heavyweight
Daniil Arepyev #182 (38)
Lukasz Parobiec #203 (38)

Arepyev moved up 38 spots after earning credit for his April 30 victory over Denis Komkin. The Russian fighter is now 5-0 with five stoppage wins.

Parobiec earned his new ranking in somewhat unusual fashion. He earned a disqualification victory over Tom Aspinall on the BAMMA 25 undercard after receiving illegal downward elbows. The Berserkers Team representative is now 12-5 and 2-0 under the BAMMA banner.

Light Heavyweight
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira #15 (13)
There was not a lot of activity in the light heavyweight division. However, Nogueira made the most of his opportunity. On the same night that the promotion announced his brother’s entry into the UFC Hall of Fame, he scored a first-round knockout over Patrick Cummins. Per BestFightOdds.com, Nogueira had gotten as high as a +186 underdog in the lead up to the fight, and he had not tasted a victory in over three years.
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Current & All-Time MMA Rankings Updated (05-15-2016)

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Jason

Silva to miss UFC 198 after having his gallbladder removed

Posted on May 12, 2016 by A. J. Riot

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva recently underwent surgery and is currently resting comfortably as he recovers from the procedure. The surgery, which was to remove his gallbladder, forced Silva out of the upcoming UFC 198 in which he was supposed to fight Uriah Hall. Since the fight has been cancelled, online MMA betting odds for the fight have been removed. According to his doctors, Silva should be able to leave the hospital on Friday.

Leading up to his fight against Hall, Silva felt fine. But on Monday and Tuesday he started experiencing some abdominal pain, which forced him to go to the hospital. During his first trip to the hospital, the doctors could not detect anything out of the ordinary, after going back home and still being in pain, his physician recommended that he sees a specialist who eventually noticed he had an inflamed gallbladder.

The doctor recommended that Silva undergo surgery to relieve the pain, which he decided to do. Silva’s return to the octagon won’t be determined until after the doctors give him clearance to resume training. Having to pull out of UFC 198 was very disappointing for Silva, who had been hoping to get back to his winning ways in front of his fans in Brazil, where the Pay-Per-View event is being held.

Silva, who has been trying to mount a comeback since he lost his belt to Chris Weidman, has been unable to do so due to a series of setbacks. In his rematch with Weidman, Silva broke his leg when Weidman checked Anderson’s low kick, which forced him to miss an extended amount of time while he recovered from the gruesome injury. After a year off to heal his leg, Silva defeated Nick Diaz, but the decision was overturned because he tested positive for steroids after the fight. After the Diaz fight, Silva was suspended for a year, then attempted another comeback against Michael Bisping.

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Examining ONE Championship’s Talent Pool

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Richard Mann

ONE Championship launched in 2011 with the goal of “featuring the best Asian fighters.” To date, the promotion has hosted 41 events in nine different countries and will make its debut in Thailand later this month. Despite impressive growth and expansion, at times the level of competition seems relatively stagnant. Is this the case?

To examine the talent level in ONE Championship, let’s review all 41 events in company history. For each event, let’s average the Quarterly Generated Historical Ranking of each participant and repeat the process with the fighters’ Highest Quarterly Ranking. These two composite event rankings will gives us an idea of the level of competition from both a contemporary and historical perspective. If a fighter was not ranked, they were assigned a rank of 600, which equals the lowest possible ranking in the current system.

Average Contemporary and High Fighter Ranking Per Event (ONE Championship)

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Fight Matrix Program: UFC 198 (05-14-2016)

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Jason

Heavyweight Championship (265)
[#1/#6DD/#6P4P] Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1, -158) vs. [#4] Stipe Miocic (14-2-0, +132)
Fabricio Werdum is the All-Time #3 ranked Heavyweight and #15 ranked Absolute fighter.
Stipe Miocic is the All-Time #21 ranked Heavyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Fabricio Werdum (3-0-0)
2015-06-13: W vs. [#3HW+] Cain Velasquez (13-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 2:13 of round 3
2014-11-15: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Knee and Punches) in 2:27 of round 2
2014-04-19: W vs. [#8HW+] Travis Browne (18-3-1) via UD (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)

Last 3 Fights: Stipe Miocic (2-1-0)
2016-01-02: W vs. [#7HW+] Andrei Arlovski (25-12-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:54 of round 1
2015-05-10: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Punches) in 2:47 of round 5
2014-12-13: L vs. [#5HW+] Junior dos Santos (18-4-0) via UD (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Fabricio Werdum 336, Stipe Miocic 133
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 4 win(s) against common opposition.
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Middleweight (185)
[#4] Vitor Belfort (25-11-0, +249) vs. [#5] Ronaldo Souza (22-4-0, -312)
Ronaldo Souza is the All-Time #8 ranked Middleweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Vitor Belfort (2-1-0)
2015-11-07: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:07 of round 1
2015-05-23: L vs. [#2MW/#5DD/#10P4P] Chris Weidman (13-1-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:53 of round 1
2013-11-09: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Head Kick) in 1:17 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Ronaldo Souza (2-1-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#3MW] Yoel Romero (11-1-0) via SD (29-28, 29-27, 28-29)
2015-04-18: W vs. [#27MW] Chris Camozzi (23-10-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 2:33 of round 1
2014-09-05: W vs. [#6MW] Gegard Mousasi (38-6-2) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:30 of round 3

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Vitor Belfort 189, Ronaldo Souza 154
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Vitor Belfort leads 2-1
.

Women Featherweight (140)
[#1/#4DD/#2P4P] Cristiane Justino (15-1-0, -1527) vs. [#13BW] Leslie Smith (8-6-1, +815)
Cristiane Justino is the All-Time #2 ranked Women’s fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Cristiane Justino (3-0-0)
2016-01-16: W vs. [#12FW] Daria Ibragimova (9-2-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:58 of round 1
2015-07-09: W vs. [#8FW] Faith Van Duin (5-2-0) via TKO (Knee to the Body and Punches) in 0:45 of round 1
2015-02-27: W vs. [#4FW] Charmaine Tweet (9-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:46 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Leslie Smith (2-1-0)
2016-03-19: W vs. [#31BW] Rin Nakai (16-2-1) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
2014-11-15: L vs. [#11BW] Jessica Eye (11-4-0) via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in 1:30 of round 2
2014-07-16: W vs. [#53BW] Jessamyn Duke (3-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:24 of round 1

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Cristiane Justino 119, Leslie Smith 56
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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Current MMA Rankings Updated (05-08-2016)

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Jason

Fight Matrix Program: UFC Fight Night 87 – Overeem vs. Arlovski (05-08-2015)

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Jason

Heavyweight (265)
[#4] Alistair Overeem (40-14-0, -223) vs. [#7] Andrei Arlovski (25-11-0, +182)
Alistair Overeem is the All-Time #15 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Andrei Arlovski is the All-Time #10 ranked Heavyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Alistair Overeem (3-0-0)
2015-12-19: W vs. [#5HW+] Junior dos Santos (18-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:43 of round 2
2015-03-14: W vs. [#13HW+] Roy Nelson (21-12-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2014-12-13: W vs. [#32HW+] Stefan Struve (26-8-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:13 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Andrei Arlovski (2-1-0)
2016-01-02: L vs. [#3HW+] Stipe Miocic (14-2-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:54 of round 1
2015-09-05: W vs. [#10HW+] Frank Mir (18-11-0) via UD (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
2015-05-23: W vs. [#8HW+] Travis Browne (18-3-1) via TKO (Punches) in 4:41 of round 1

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Alistair Overeem 141, Andrei Arlovski 127
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Andrei Arlovski leads 9-8
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Heavyweight (265)
[#11] Antonio Silva (19-8-1, +163) vs. [#32] Stefan Struve (26-8-0, -195)
Antonio Silva is the All-Time #20 ranked Heavyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Antonio Silva (1-2-0)
2015-11-14: L vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Punches) in 3:41 of round 1
2015-08-01: W vs. [*] Soa Palelei (22-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:41 of round 2
2015-02-22: L vs. [#10HW+] Frank Mir (18-11-0) via KO (Elbows) in 1:40 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Stefan Struve (1-2-0)
2015-11-14: L vs. [#23HW+] Jared Rosholt (14-3-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2015-08-01: W vs. [*] Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-10-1) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2014-12-13: L vs. [#4HW+] Alistair Overeem (40-14-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:13 of round 1

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Antonio Silva 176, Stefan Struve 176
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Antonio Silva leads 2-0
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Welterweight (170)
[#21] Albert Tumenov (17-2-0, -177) vs. [#24] Gunnar Nelson (14-2-1, +149)

Last 3 Fights: Albert Tumenov (3-0-0)
2016-01-02: W vs. [#26WW] Lorenz Larkin (16-5-0) via SD (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
2015-10-03: W vs. [#76WW] Alan Jouban (13-4-0) via TKO (Head Kick and Punches) in 2:55 of round 1
2015-01-24: W vs. [*] Nicholas Musoke (13-4-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Last 3 Fights: Gunnar Nelson (1-2-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#7WW] Demian Maia (22-6-0) via UD (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
2015-07-11: W vs. [#110WW] Brandon Thatch (11-4-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:54 of round 1
2014-10-04: L vs. [*] Rick Story (18-8-0) via SD (50-44, 47-48, 49-46)

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Albert Tumenov 127, Gunnar Nelson 148
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 Updated (05-02-2016)

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Jason

Current MMA Rankings Updated (05-01-2016)

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Jason

UFC 200: Shenanigans

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Oleg

A brief preface: I wrote this blog last night, and before I could publish it this morning, UFC announced that Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier light-heavyweight title unification bout will be the new main event for UFC 200, which really makes this a moot post. Apparently Jones did not suffer any severe injuries in his fight against Ovince St. Preux, and Cormier feels that he will also be fully recovered in time to train and fight Jones at 200. So the question has been answered before I had the chance to ask.

—

Back in 2009, the Ultimate Fighting Championship hyped UFC 100 as a landmark event, putting on two championship bouts featuring the promotion’s two of the most popular fighters at the time: Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre. Headlined by the big names and backed up by a solid undercard, UFC 100 brought in a whopping 1.6 million Pay-Per-View (PPV) buys, a record that remains unbroken to this day. Needless to say, the fans as well as the UFC staff both have high expectations for another big-number event in UFC 200. Everyone was curious to find out who will be performing on the ‘big show’, and eventually a nice fight card came together on paper. Headlined by a rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, there were also two title fights scheduled for the event: Frankie Edgar taking on Jose Aldo for the interim featherweight title (the real title still technically held by McGregor), and Miesha Tate defending her new bantamweight crown against Amanda Nunes. The remainder of the card also seemed very promising, all the way down to the Fight Pass prelims, and there are plenty of opportunities to place a bet on UFC 200 if you’re a gambling type. Unfortunately, last week shenanigans began as the scheduled main event fell apart – seemingly for no apparent reason. I wonder if any sports books are taking bets on what will ultimately end up as the headlining bout of this event. Here are our most likely options:

[#2 FW] Conor McGregor vs [#2 LW] Nate Diaz

It all started with a cryptic tweet from Conor McGregor claiming that he is retiring from the sport. Speculation has run wild on the reasons behind this statement. Was it a negotiating ploy to get more money for the fight? Was McGregor shook up by a recent death of a fighter following an MMA bout in Ireland, which Conor witnessed from the ringside? Did he already make enough money in his short career to live out the rest of his life comfortably and not have to worry about potential broken limbs, brain damage, or worse? As it turns out, none of the above. The point of contention between McGregor and Zuffa was a pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas, which McGregor refused to attend, as he feels it would disrupt his training camp in Iceland. With neither side willing to budge, UFC has pulled McGregor off the card, and started looking for a replacement opponent for Diaz. Few days later, McGregor tweeted that the fight is back on, but this was disputed by Dana. Nick Diaz also has not remained silent: first he claimed that he will retire along with McGregor, then it was something along the lines of “I don’t want to fight anyone but McGregor, in fact I really don’t want to fight at all, but I will fight whomever UFC puts in front of me”. Most recently, Diaz announced that the fight is off and he is going on vacation. I don’t know who to believe here, but can’t shake the feeling that this is all just a strange manner to generate more hype for the fight- let a few weeks pass, and perhaps all parties will come to an agreement and the fight will be back on. Should the fight go ahead, the betting odds for UFC 200 cannot predict a winner from McGregor and Diaz.

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