Fight Matrix

UFC 94: How they stack up

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Jason

Welterweight
[#1] Georges St. Pierre vs. [#1 LW] B.J. Penn

Light Heavyweight
[#4] Lyoto Machida vs. [#14] Thiago Silva

Light Heavyweight
[NR] Stephan Bonnar vs. [#57] Jon Jones

Welterweight
[#11] Karo Parisyan vs. [#45] Dong Hyun Kim

Lightweight
[#18] Clay Guida vs. [#28] Nathan Diaz

Welterweight
[#4] Jon Fitch vs. [#15] Akihiro Gono

Lightweight
[#102] Thiago Tavares vs. [#215] Manvel Gamburyan

Welterweight
[#20] Chris Wilson vs. [#130] John Howard

Heavyweight
[#43] Jake O’Brien vs. [#92] Christian Wellisch

Welterweight
[#500] Matt Arroyo vs. [NR] Dan Cramer

Ranking Notes: Gray font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.

Fightmatrix.com Website Redesigned

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Oleg

The new look of Fightmatrix.com is just the first of many improvements we will be making in 2009! Please bear with us as we iron out the minor kinks in the new site, and let us know in our forum what you think of the new design!

Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)

Friday, August 15th 2025: PFL World Tournament 9: 2025 Finals

[#9 W125] Liz Carmouche

[#13 W125] Jena Bishop

Last Fight Date: 6/20/2025 [Professional Fighters League]
Last Opponent: [#23 W125] Elora Dana
Last 5: W W L W W

Last Fight Date: 6/20/2025 [Professional Fighters League]
Last Opponent: [#30 W125] Ekaterina Shakalova
Last 5: W L L W W

Sunday, July 27th 2025: Super RIZIN 4

[#1 W105] Seika Izawa

[#27 W105] Yu Jin Shin

Last Fight Date: 12/31/2024 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#166 W115] Lucia Apdelgarim
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 12/29/2024 [Road Fighting Championship]
Last Opponent: [NR] Seo Young Park
Last 5: W W W W NC

Friday, August 1st 2025: PFL World Tournament 8: 2025 Finals

[#8 FW] Jesus Pinedo

[#26 FW] Movlid Khaybulaev

Last Fight Date: 6/12/2025 [Professional Fighters League]
Last Opponent: [#23 FW] Gabriel Braga
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 6/12/2025 [Professional Fighters League]
Last Opponent: [#134 FW] Tae Kyun Kim
Last 5: W W W W W

Featured Fighters

[#2 LW]	Ilia Topuria	[#3 FLW]	Joshua Van
[#4 LW]	Charles Oliveira	[#1 LW]	Islam Makhachev
[#12 LW]	Paddy Pimblett	[NR]	Conor McGregor
[#1 FLW]	Alexandre Pantoja	[#26 BW]	Felipe Lima
[NR]	Jon Jones	[NR]	Khabib Nurmagomedov

WEC 38 Review

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Oleg

Only a day after the impressive Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning’ event, the fans were treated to another MMA show: WEC 38, broadcast live from San Diego, featured the WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner defending his title against Donald Cerrone in the main event. The other big matchup on the card was the rematch between the former featherweight champion Urijah Faber and the UFC veteran and former champion Jens Pulver.

Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez (145 lbs)

In the first televised bout, both featherweights came out swinging from the opening bell. Aldo quickly took control of the bout with crisp punches and body kicks. Perez fired back with combinations of his own but was outgunned by Aldo. As Perez stepped forward, Aldo fired a knee up the middle that knocked Perez on his back. Aldo jumped on top of Perez for a quick TKO finish.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning’ Review

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Oleg

Affliction’s second MMA event revolved around the headlining bout: a return to action by the top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, in a long awaited matchup with former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski. The main event was scheduled to be a five-round title bout, with Fedor’s dubious WAMMA title belt on the line. The remainder of the card was filled with names familiar to most long time MMA fans, including Josh Barnett taking on Gilbert Yvel in a matchup that was touted to produce the next challenger to the winner of the Emelianenko-Arlovski bout. Also of note was the presence of Tito Ortiz, in the role of a color commentator.

The broadcast began with a bout that had a last-minute substitution, as Bobby Green stepped in on a day’s notice to replace the injured Chris Horodecki:

Bobby Green vs. Dan Lauzon (155 lbs)

A little-known fighter, Bobby Green had a chance to make a big impression in this bout, but came out with mixed results. Green took the fight to the more experienced Lauzon, winning the striking exchanges and scrambling well on takedown attempts. However an errant kick to the groin caused a halt to the action. Lauzon took his time to recover – and the foul was repeated two more times in the round: first a knee then a glancing kick both landing to the groin area. Two points were deducted from Green by the ref Herb Dean after the third low blow, and the fans grew restless watching Lauzon massage his injured crotch for the third time. Green did not use any kicks or knees after the final restart to avoid a disqualification. After a scramble Lauzon was finally able to achieve a dominant position on the ground, and took Green’s back sinking in a rear naked choke. Green tapped out with only seconds left in the round.

Fight Grade: 5 3/5 2 point deduction for the low blows

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MMA Rankings Updated: 1/26/09

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Jason

Notable Info

Ratings updated with recent shows from Affliction, WEC, Extreme Challenge, Beast of the East, ZST, and others.

Affliction 2: How they stack up

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Jason

Heavyweight
[#1] Fedor Emelianenko vs. [#5] Andrei Arlovski

Heavyweight
[#6] Josh Barnett vs. [#30] Gilbert Yvel

Light Heavyweight
[#12] Sokoudjou vs. [#13] Renato Sobral

Middleweight
[#15] Vitor Belfort vs. [#20] Matt Lindland

Lightweight
[#40] Dan Lauzon vs. [#100] Bobby Green

Heavyweight
[#43] Paul Buentello vs. [#180] Kirill Sidelnikov

Light Heavyweight
[#16] Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. [#17] Vladimir Matyushenko

Welterweight
[#12] Jay Hieron vs. [#140] Jason High

Featherweight
[#8 BW] Bao Quach vs. [#29] LC Davis

Featherweight
[#32 BW] Antonio Duarte vs. [#52 BW] Albert Rios

Welterweight
[#33] Brett Cooper vs. [#206] Patrick Speight

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UFC 93 Review

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Oleg

UFC 93 took place in Dublin, Ireland; and as it has been the case with many of the overseas UFC events, it did not feature a very strong card. In the main event, Rich Franklin took on Dan Henderson for a chance to coach the upcoming season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ opposite of Michael Bisping. Strangely enough, the Franklin-Henderson fight was at 205 lbs, despite the fact that the winner would face Bisping at 185.

The co-main event was a rematch between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Mark Coleman – both men making a return to action after a long layoff. The only other notable bouts on the card were the UFC debut of Denis Kang (facing Alan Belcher) and a bout between two gatekeepers of the welterweight division – Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle. Let’s see how it all turned out:

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MMA Rankings Updated: 1/18/09

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Jason

Notable Info

Ratings updated with recent shows from UFC, Shooto, and others.

Other interesting notes…

Rich Franklin proves that he belongs near the top of the Light Heavyweight division, nearly taking a decision from Dan Henderson. Henderson re-enters Light Heavy at #5, while Franklin drops to #6.
In a disappointing performance against Coleman, Rua re-enters Light Heavy at #8. Coleman enters the list just outside of the Top 20.
Martin Kampmann makes a successful debut at Welterweight, entering at #23. Though, in the UFC, there’s a tough road to climb to the top of the Welterweight division.
Although he is the Shooto Flyweight champion, Shinichi Kojima nearly lost the top spot at Flyweight with a draw against (4-4-2) Jess Taitano. Taitano shoots back into the Top 10, where he was before we discovered and entered some unreported losses on his record.

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UFC 93: How they stack up

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Jason

Light Heavyweight
[#3 MW] Dan Henderson vs. [#5] Rich Franklin

Light Heavyweight
[NR] Mauricio Rua vs. [NR] Mark Coleman

Middleweight
[#18] Denis Kang vs. [#43] Alan Belcher

Welterweight
[#22] Marcus Davis vs. [#26] Chris Lytle

Middleweight
[#37] Rousimar Palhares vs. [#59] Jeremy Horn

Welterweight
[#34 MW] Martin Kampmann vs. [#123] Alexandre Barros

Light Heavyweight
[#34] Eric Schafer vs. [#60] Antonio Mendes

Light Heavyweight
[NR] Tomasz Drwal vs. [#134] Ivan Serati

Welterweight
[#162 MW] John Hathaway vs. [#300] Thomas Egan

Lightweight
[#210] Dennis Siver vs. [*] Nate Mohr

Ranking Notes: Rankings are projected when a fighter is fighting in a new weight class. Gray font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.

MMA Rankings Updated: 1/11/09

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Jason

Notable Info

Ratings updated with recent shows from M-1, Ring of Fire, and others.
Inserted some previously missing older shows.

UFC 93 & 94: Three A vs C matches

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Jason

Looking ahead to next weekend’s UFC 93 card, I discovered two instances of “A vs C” matches that fit the same guidelines as those I analyzed in last week’s study.

Denis Kang (A) beat Marvin Eastman (B) on 10/25/2008
Marvin Eastman (B) beat Alan Belcher (C) on 9/24/2005
Denis Kang (A) ??? Alan Belcher (C) on 1/17/2009

Marcus Davis (A) beat Shonie Carter (B) on 12/13/2006
Shonie Carter (B) beat Chris Lytle (C) on 9/24/2000
Marcus Davis (A) ??? Chris Lytle (C) on 1/17/2009

Although there was a large timegap between A/B and B/C (especially in the Davis/Lytle group), A has a higher rating in each of the UFC 93 matches. You have to feel good about Kang and Davis winning their respective matches.

UFC 94 has one of these matches, and it is the main event.

Georges St. Pierre (A) beat Matt Hughes (B) on 12/29/2007
Matt Hughes (B) beat BJ Penn (C) on 9/23/2006
Georges St. Pierre (A) ??? BJ Penn (C) on 1/31/2009

As is the case with the previously mentioned matches, St. Pierre carries a higher rating than Penn. Even though Hughes beat GSP, and Penn beat Hughes, their most recent rematches are what matter the most.

MMA Rankings Updated: 1/4/09

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Jason

Notable Info

Ratings updated with recent shows from Sengoku and others.

Other interesting notes…

Higher ranked fighters Satoru Kitaoka, and Jorge Santiago strengthen their positions with big wins over Takanori Gomi, and Kazuo Misaki respectively.
Alexis Vila, former Cuban wrestling champion, is now properly placed in the Flyweight division. His point total allows him to debut at #11 in the rankings.

If A beats B and B beats C, will A beat C?

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Jason

It’s an interesting subject that probably comes up more in boxing than in MMA, but it’s definitely more intriguing in the MMA world due to the large variance in styles. I ran the analysis with all mixed martial arts bouts that we have on record (over 68,000).

So how often does A beat C? First, let’s acknowledge the potential issues in analyzing this statistic.

One problem is that sometimes these A/B, B/C, and A/C bouts take place multiple times, with varying results. Another problem lies in the timing of said bouts. So I laid out some guidelines.

A/B and B/C must both take place before A/C. This is an obvious one.
The most recent A/B and B/C results before A/C are acknowledged. In other words, if A beat B five years before A/C, but A lost to B three months ago in their most recent bout before A/C, then this chain won’t be included in the analysis.
If multiple A/C results are available and all guidelines are met, then all A/Cs will be counted.

In the end, A prevailed over C at a 71% success rate (2988 of 4210).

When all three bouts occur within a 3 year window, the success rate improves to 72.3% (2144 of 2967).

Within a 2 year window, 73% (1590 of 2179).

18 months, 74.2% (1211 of 1633).

12 months, 75.2% (732 of 974).

9 months, 77.5% (488 of 630).

6 months, 80.9% (262 of 324).

3 months, 85.6% (77 of 90).

Sample Analysis: Cheick Kongo

Cheick Kongo (A) beat Andre Tete (B) on 6/10/2001
Andre Tete (B) beat Dave Dagliesh (C) on 12/1/2002
Cheick Kongo (A) beat Dave Dagliesh (C) on 12/11/2005

Cheick Kongo (A) beat Christian Wellisch (B) on 8/26/2006
Christian Wellisch (B) beat Dan Evensen (C) on 4/1/2006
Cheick Kongo (A) beat Dan Evensen (C) on 8/9/2008

Cheick Kongo (A) beat Mirko Filipovic (B) on 9/8/2007
Mirko Filipovic (B) beat Heath Herring (C) on 6/8/2003
Cheick Kongo (A) failed to beat Heath Herring (C) on 3/1/2008

Thanks to ltokuda, one of our readers, for the idea!

MMA Rankings Updated: 12/31/08

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Jason

Notable Info

Ratings updated with recent shows from UFC and K-1, as well as some minor shows.

Other interesting notes…

Frank Mir’s win shakes up the Heavyweight division as he shoots up to #2, while Nogueira drops to #4.
The Griffin/Evans and Jackson/Silva results create a strange scenario at the top of the Light Heavyweight division. Evans takes the top spot, while Jackson’s win was enough to keep him at #2. Griffin drops to #3. Is Jackson/Evans next?
A similar situation happened at Lightweight, with Aoki submitting Alvarez, which was unexpected considering Hansen-Alvarez and Hansen-Aoki.

UFC 92 Review

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Oleg

Traditionally the UFC has always had a stellar lineup for their end-of-year show, and this year was no different. With the lightheavyweight title on the line in the main event, the interim heavyweight title defended in the co-main, and the third installation of the Wanderlei Silva-Quinton Jackson series, ‘The Ultimate 2008’ had plenty of hype going into the show.

Cheik Kongo vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (HW)

In the first televised bout, the UFC newcomer Al-Turk started out attempting to exchange strikes with Kongo, until Cheik caught a kick and threw Al-Turk to the canvas. After getting up, Al-Turk went for the takedown but was thwarted, then landed a knee to Kongo’s groin from a clinch. After a break for Cheik to recover, the fighters went back to clinch and Kongo retaliated with a knee to the groin of Al-Turk. When the fight restarted again, Kongo came out aggressive and dropped Al-Turk then following him down, pounding away with elbows and punches that split Al-Turk’s forehead wide open and caused the referee to stop the bout, giving Kongo the TKO victory.

Fight grade: 4/5 3/5 (1 point deduction for low blows)

Aftermath: Nut shots aside, a good performance for Kongo that should place him in the top tier of contenders for the winner of the heavyweight championship mini-tournament. He is perhaps one win away from a title shot. Al-Turk does not impress in his debut; look for him on the televisual undercard of a UK UFC event some time in 2009.

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