The Week in Rankings
The past week more than made up for the lull in MMA action over the holidays, as three major events went down in the books. In Japan, Sengoku closed the year out with the ‘Soul of Fight’ on December 30th, and K-1 rang in the new year with the annual ‘Dynamite!!’ event on the 31st. State-side, the UFC made 2011 official with ‘UFC 125: Resolution’. As a result, a few of our divisional rankings in the current update look like someone took an eggbeater to them (thank our reader Chromium for the apt analogy).
Here is how some of this weekend’s events affected the FightMatrix rankings:
UFC 125: Resolution (or lack thereof?)
As the UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar took on Gray Maynard – the man responsible for the sole loss on Edgar’s record – the final WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis watched patiently. Pettis was tentatively slated to face the winner of Saturday’s bout in a title unification match some time in 2011. It looks like he may be waiting a while longer: Maynard brutally battered Edgar in the first round but was not able to put him away, and Edgar rallied for the remainder of the fight, resulting in an unlikely split draw on the scorecards. Edgar retains his title and his #1 ranking, though he slips a spot to #5 on the Division Dominance list, while Maynard rises 2 spots to #2 LW. Meanwhile the back-log of contenders grows deeper as Clay Guida makes his way into the Top 10 with a second round submission victory over former Pride FC champion Takanori Gomi. Gomi falls to #13 LW.
Notable
This is the second time a UFC title bout is judged a draw – and the first one was also in the lightweight division, when BJ Penn fought Caol Uno to a draw for then vacant title at UFC 41 in 2003. Back then, the UFC’s entire lightweight division was dismantled as a result of the draw, relegating 155 lbs and under MMA to Japan for many years. Things could not be more different today, with over sixty active lightweights on the UFC roster, and several legit contenders for the title.
Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
Friday, October 3rd 2025: PFL Champions Series 2: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 | |||
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Last Fight Date: 7/19/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#13 HW] Denis Goltsov Last 5: NC L W W W | Last Fight Date: 11/29/2024 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#21 MW] Impa Kasanganay Last 5: W W W W W | ||
Friday, October 3rd 2025: PFL Champions Series 2: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 | |||
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Last Fight Date: 1/25/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#14 LW] Paul Hughes Last 5: W W NC W W | Last Fight Date: 5/10/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#51 LW] Bruno Miranda Last 5: W W W L W | ||
Saturday, November 8th 2025: Dynamite MMA 4 - Nov. 8 | |||
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Last Fight Date: 9/20/2024 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [#2 W105] Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira Last 5: W L L W L | Last Fight Date: 4/04/2025 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [#12 W105] Taynara Silva Last 5: W W L L L |
Featured Fighters
[#3 FW] | ![]() |   | [#19 FW] | ![]() |
[#2 LW] | ![]() |   | [#1 LW] | ![]() |
[#90 WW] | ![]() |   | [#18 LW] | ![]() |
[NR] | ![]() |   | [#1 MW] | ![]() |
[NR] | ![]() |   | [#4 LW] | ![]() |


UFC 125: How they stack up
Main Card (PayPerView)
UFC/FightMatrix Lightweight Championship
[#1] Frankie Edgar (C) vs. [#4] Gray Maynard
Middleweight
[#41] Brian Stann vs. [#12] Chris Leben
Light Heavyweight
[#12] Thiago Silva vs. [#24] Brandon Vera
Welterweight
[#27] Dong Hyun Kim vs. [#25] Nate Diaz
Lightweight
[#9] Takanori Gomi vs. [#12] Clay Guida
Televised Prelims (ION TV)
Lightweight
[#46] Jeremy Stephens vs. [#64 WW] Marcus Davis
Featherweight
[#185 LW] Dustin Poirier vs. [#13] Josh Grispi
Middleweight
[*] Brad Tavares vs. [#244 WW] Phil Baroni
Untelevised Prelims
Featherweight
[#33] Diego Nunes vs. [#11] Mike Thomas Brown
Welterweight
[#108] Greg Soto vs. [#41] Daniel Roberts
Lightweight
[#20] Antonio McKee vs. [#49] Jacob Volkmann

Worst Heavyweight in the UFC?
In a recent interview with MMAFighting.com, UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle was asked which opponent he’d like to face next, after suffering a first-round TKO loss to Stefan Struve at UFC 124.
His response: “I’d like to have the worst heavyweight in the UFC,” McCorkle said. “Unless that’s me, I’d like to have the second worst heavyweight in the UFC.”
With the announcement of McCorkle vs. Christian Morecraft being scheduled for UFC Fight Night 24, Sean may have just gotten his wish.
Here’s what the bottom of the UFC’s heavyweight division looks like according to our rankings:
Rank [Overall] | Fighter | Record | Points | |
25 [122] |
![]() Last Fight: 12/11/2010 [UFC] |
10-1-0 |
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26 [127] | ![]() Last Fight: 8/07/2010 [UFC] |
6-1-0 |
|
|
27 [139] |
![]() Last Fight: 9/25/2010 [UFC] |
5-7-0 |
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|
28 [142] |
![]() Last Fight: 5/08/2010 [UFC] |
4-2-0 |
|
|
29 [143] |
![]() Last Fight: 2/06/2010 [UFC] |
3-1-0 |
|
|
30 [155] |
![]() Last Fight: 4/10/2010 [UFC] |
6-6-0 |
|
|
31 [196] |
![]() Last Fight: 2/20/2010 [UFC] |
10-6-0 |
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Keep in mind that the bottom four on this list are no longer eligible for the dubious honor of the “worst UFC heavyweight”: Kimbo Slice, Rolles Gracie, and Mostapha Al-Turk have all been released from the organization following their most recent losses, while Anthony Perosh will be dropping down to 205 lbs when he takes on Tom Blackledge at UFC 127.
Technically this makes the Pride veteran and K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 champion Mark Hunt the bottom rung of the ladder. Hunt’s spot on the UFC roster remains unclear: the only reason he was offered a fight after having been stopped in his previous five bouts was an outstanding contractual obligation stemming from Zuffa’s buyout of Pride FC. There has been no word from the UFC brass as to whether he will get another chance in the organization after losing his first fight. Anyhow, in the context of finding an opponent for Sean McCorkle, Hunt is not an option as it was McCorkle who defeated Hunt in both men’s UFC debut.
Of course, this leaves us with Christian Morecraft. Ask, and you shall receive.

UFC’s New & Improved Lightweight Division
Last week, I promised to make ‘The Week in Rankings’ column a weekly feature. Without any major events taking place since our last update, there is not much to report on this week. We did a maintenance realease that caused some minor fluctuations mostly due to data clean-up; other than that things have been quiet in MMA this past holiday week.
Since there has been no major ranking changes to discuss, instead lets take a look at the UFC’s recently expanded lightweight division. The 155 lbs weight class has got a recent influx of new blood from the UFC/WEC merger. The division is further bolstered by the additions of Antonio McKee and Willamy Freire, and the welterweight veteran Marcus Davis making a move to the lower weight class.
Here are some of the upcoming matchups we can look forward to:
UFC 125, 1/1/2011
- [#1] Frankie Edgar (C) vs. [#4] Gray Maynard for the UFC & FightMatrix Lightweight Championship
- [#12] Clay Guida vs. [#9] Takanori Gomi
- [#20] Antonio McKee vs. [#49] Jacob Volkmann
- [#46] Jeremy Stephens vs. [#64 WW] Marcus Davis
UFC Fight Night 23 (UFC Fight For The Troops 2), 1/22/2011
- [#21] Evan Dunham vs. [#38] Melving Guillard
- [#48] Cole Miller vs. [#58] Matt Wiman
- [#54] Willemy Freire vs. [#204] Waylon Lowe
- [#18] Yves Edwards vs. [#160] Cody McKenzie
UFC 126, 2/5/2011
- [#44] Sam Stout vs. [#70] Paul Kelly
- [#187] Gabe Ruedigger vs. [#116] Paul Taylor
UFC 127, 2/27/2011
- [#7] George Sotiropoulos vs. [#40] Denis Siver
- [#83] Maciej Jewtuszko vs. [NR] Curt Warburton
- [#64] Spencer Fischer vs. [#96] Ross Pearson
UFC on Versus 3, 3/3/2011
- [#47] Shane Roller vs. [#82] Thiago Tavares
UFC 128, 3/19/2011
- [#27] Gleison Tibau vs. [#28] Curt Pellegrino
- [#122] Edson Barboza vs. [#149] Anthony Njokuani
Date TBA
- [#14] Antony Pettis (C/WEC) vs. winner of Edgar/Maynard (C/UFC) for the title unification.
Keep reading for a combined ranking of the UFC’s lightweight division.
Keep Reading
MMA Rankings Updated: 12/23/2010
Notable Info
- A mini-update prior to the holidays, just to tie up loose ends.
How improved records can affect computerized rankings
Just a quick comment regarding this topic. Before reading on, please understand that with each ranking update, we re-analyze the entire database bout history from the earliest, to the most recent. This allows us to take advantage of data improvements, past and present.
After compiling some recently excavated Brazilian fights from the past several years, courtesy of Sherdog, Jussier “Formiga” da Silva rose back up to #1 in the Flyweight division. Before his win against Kojima, we thought he was 2-0 and very few had even heard of him. He sure wasn’t in our Top 25 (now Top 50) Flyweight rankings. Not even close.
Now, we believe he was 5-0 prior to that fight, and if we were to generate pre-fight rankings for their July 2009 fight with the data we currently have, Formiga would be respectably ranked at #11 in the division.
Supposedly, there are still two or three wins missing from his record. Just imagine how many wins are missing from his opponents’ records, and their opponents’ records? Just one more thing to consider when viewing our rankings.
The Week in Rankings
I would like to introduce what I hope to make a weekly feature on FightMatrix.com: The Week in Rankings – an overview of some of the major happenings in the MMA world over the past week, and how they affected the FightMatrix rankings.
WEC 53
Of course the story of the week was the WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis. On the verge of being folded into the UFC, WEC delivered one final event, packed with two title bouts and a number of lightweight and bantamweight bouts on the undercard. For many of the fighters on the card, the outcome of their fight would determine whether they get a spot on the UCF roster, especially in the crowded lightweight division.
Bantamweight champion Dominic Cruz shut down and overwhelmed Scott Jorgensen for five rounds, en route to a unanimous 50-45 decision. Jorgensen hung in there but couldn’t find an answer for Dominic’s reach, movement, and speed. With the win, Cruz defended his WEC title one last time, and became the first UFC bantamweight champion. He retains his #1 ranking, and rises 3 spots to #6 on the Division Dominance list. Jorgensen falls 1 spot to #7 BW.
In the main event, challenger Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis sealed the close, back-and-forth fight in the last minute of the final round with an unbelievable off-the-cage-wall flying headkick. The kick knocked down reigning champion Benson Henderson, but failed to put him away. It did however weight the scales in favor of Pettis, who won a unanimous decision, becoming the final WEC lightweight champion and earning a shot at the UFC title. Pettis rises 25 spots to #14 LW with the win. Henderson falls 13 spots to #25.
In other televised fights, two former IFL lightweight standouts both lost their bouts, as Kamal Shalorus earned a split decision in a close contest with Bart Palaszewski, while Donald Cerrone stopped Chris Horodecki with a triangle choke. Cerrone jumps 7 spots to #39 LW, and wants to fight #48 Cole Miller next. Kamal Shalorus rises 14 spots to #57. Palaszewski falls 5 spots to #63, and Horodecki 22 spots to #172. Though Horodecki holds two controversial split decision wins over Palaszewski in the IFL, Bart has been more successful in the WEC and is much more likely to get a shot at the UFC. Another rematch between these two would also make for a fun fight to show on Spike TV.

WEC 53: How they stack up
WEC Lightweight Championship
[#12] (C) Benson Henderson vs. [#39] Anthony Pettis
WEC/FightMatrix Bantamweight Championship
[#1] (C) Dominick Cruz vs. [#6] Scott Jorgensen
Lightweight
[#46] Donald Cerrone vs. [#150] Chris Horodecki
Lightweight
[#58] Bart Palaszewski vs. [#71] Kamal Shalorus
Lightweight
[NR] Danny Downes vs. [#121] Tiequan Zhang
Lightweight
[#63] Shane Roller vs. [#88] Jamie Varner
Bantamweight
[#92 FW] Ivan Menjivar vs. [#33] Brad Pickett
Bantamweight
[#95] Ken Stone vs. [#15] Eddie Wineland
Lightweight
[#112] Danny Castillo vs. [#162] Will Kerr
Lightweight
[#77] Yuri Alcantara vs. [#45] Ricardo Lamas
Bantamweight
[#40 FW] Renan Barao vs. [#51] Chris Cariaso
GSP moves up the All-Time ranks
With his latest victory, GSP moves up to #5 on the Absolute All-Time Rankings. He is also within striking distance of Hughes with regards to the #1 Welterweight position. Another 12-18 months at the top should see GSP displacing Hughes on that list.
The only other jump on the mid-month update was Jussier da Silva moving up the Flyweight list. Thanks to some new (old) records from Brazil, he jumped from #10 to #7.
MMA Rankings Updated: 12/12/2010
Notable Info
- Some old bout maintenance accompanied these updates, so there will be some fluctuations throughout.

UFC 124: How they stack up
UFC Welterweight Championship
[#1] Georges St. Pierre vs. [#5] Josh Koscheck
Heavyweight
[#69] Sean McCorkle vs. [#41] Stefan Struve
Lightweight
[#8] Jim Miller vs. [#53] Charles Oliveira
Lightweight
[#124] Mac Danzig vs. [#19] Joe Stevenson
Welterweight
[#11] Thiago Alves vs. [#50] John Howard
Lightweight
[#57] Mark Bocek vs. [#81 WW] Dustin Hazelett
Middleweight
[#57] Joe Doerksen vs. [#26] Dan Miller
Welterweight
[#148] Sean Pierson vs. [#60] Matt Riddle
Middleweight
[#133] Jesse Bongfeldt vs. [#84] Rafael Natal
Welterweight
[#26] Ricardo Almeida vs. [#36] T.J. Grant
Lightweight
[*] Pat Audinwood vs. [#193] John Makdessi