Fight Matrix

FightMatrix Program: DREAM (12-31-2011)

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Jason

Heavyweight (265)
[#12] Fedor Emelianenko (32-4-0) vs. [#45LHW] Satoshi Ishii (4-1-1)
Fedor Emelianenko is the All-Time #1 ranked Heavyweight and #3 ranked Absolute fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Fedor Emelianenko (1-2-0)
2011-11-20: W vs. [#36HW+] Jeff Monson (43-13-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2011-07-30: L vs. [#2LHW/#8DD] Dan Henderson (29-8-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:12 of round 1
2011-02-12: L vs. [#10HW+] Antonio Silva (16-3-0) via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in 5:00 of round 2

Last 3 Fights: Satoshi Ishii (2-0-1)
2011-09-14: D vs. [#61LHW] Paulo Filho (22-4-2) via Draw in 5:00 of round 3
2010-12-31: W vs. [#282HW+] Jerome Le Banner (3-2-0) via UD ()
2010-11-08: W vs. [#672MW] Katsuyori Shibata (4-11-1) via Technical Submission (Kimura) in 3:30 of round 1

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Fedor Emelianenko 41, Satoshi Ishii 108
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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Welterweight (170)
[#80] Ryo Chonan (20-12-0) vs. [#106] Hayato Sakurai (35-12-2)
Hayato Sakurai is the All-Time #12 ranked Welterweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Ryo Chonan (2-1-0)
2011-10-29: W vs. [#1167WW] Naoki Samukawa (1-1-0) via UD ()
2011-06-24: W vs. [#192WW] Shigetoshi Iwase (11-14-3) via KO (Punch) in 4:45 of round 1
2010-12-30: L vs. [#95WW] Taisuke Okuno (11-6-2) via KO (Punch) in 0:19 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Hayato Sakurai (0-3-0)
2010-12-31: L vs. [#33WW] Jason High (15-3-0) via SD ()
2010-05-29: L vs. [#2WW] Nick Diaz (26-7-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 3:54 of round 1
2009-12-31: L vs. [*] Akihiro Gono (32-16-7) via Submission (Armbar) in 3:56 of round 2

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Ryo Chonan 63, Hayato Sakurai 365
Previous Match-up Record: Ryo Chonan leads 1-0-0
Wins Against Common Opposition: Ryo Chonan leads 2-1
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Lightweight (155)
[#6] Shinya Aoki (29-5-0) vs. [#33] Satoru Kitaoka (29-10-9)
Shinya Aoki is the All-Time #4 ranked Lightweight and #23 ranked Absolute fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Shinya Aoki (3-0-0)
2011-09-24: W vs. [#206LW] Rob McCullough (19-8-0) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 4:57 of round 1
2011-05-29: W vs. [#170WW] Rich Clementi (41-21-1) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 2:17 of round 2
2011-04-09: W vs. [#81LW] Lyle Beerbohm (15-2-0) via Submission (Neck Crank) in 1:33 of round 1

Last 3 Fights: Satoru Kitaoka (3-0-0)
2011-09-24: W vs. [#99LW] Willamy Freire (19-5-0) via SD ()
2011-04-22: W vs. [#240LW] Jutaro Nakao (23-17-4) via UD ()
2010-10-03: W vs. [#51LW] Kuniyoshi Hironaka (19-8-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:22 of round 2

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Shinya Aoki 98, Satoru Kitaoka 98
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 3 win(s) against common opposition.
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FightMatrix Program: UFC 141 (12-30-2011)

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Jason

Heavyweight (265)
[#3] Brock Lesnar (5-2-0) vs. [#4] Alistair Overeem (35-11-0)
Brock Lesnar is the All-Time #11 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Alistair Overeem is the All-Time #21 ranked Heavyweight fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Brock Lesnar (2-1-0)
2010-10-23: L vs. [#2HW+] Cain Velasquez (9-1-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:12 of round 1
2010-07-03: W vs. [#9HW+] Shane Carwin (12-2-0) via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) in 2:19 of round 2
2009-07-11: W vs. [#5HW+] Frank Mir (16-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 1:48 of round 2

Last 3 Fights: Alistair Overeem (3-0-0)
2011-06-18: W vs. [#7HW+] Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
2010-12-31: W vs. [#68HW+] Todd Duffee (6-2-0) via KO (Punches) in 0:19 of round 1
2010-05-15: W vs. [#22HW+] Brett Rogers (11-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:40 of round 1

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Brock Lesnar 433, Alistair Overeem 195
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] Donald Cerrone (17-3-0) vs. [#11] Nate Diaz (14-7-0)

Last 3 Fights: Donald Cerrone (3-0-0)
2011-10-29: W vs. [#20LW] Dennis Siver (19-8-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:22 of round 1
2011-08-14: W vs. [#104LW] Charles Oliveira (14-2-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:01 of round 1
2011-06-11: W vs. [#208LW] Vagner Rocha (7-2-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Last 3 Fights: Nate Diaz (1-2-0)
2011-09-24: W vs. [#43LW] Takanori Gomi (32-8-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 4:27 of round 1
2011-04-30: L vs. [#12WW] Rory MacDonald (12-1-0) via UD (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
2011-01-01: L vs. [#30WW] Dong Hyun Kim (14-1-1) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Donald Cerrone 62, Nate Diaz 97
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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Welterweight (170)
[#4] Jon Fitch (23-3-1) vs. [#25] Johny Hendricks (11-1-0)
Jon Fitch is the All-Time #3 ranked Welterweight and #19 ranked Absolute fighter.

Last 3 Fights: Jon Fitch (2-0-1)
2011-02-27: D vs. [#7WW] BJ Penn (16-8-2) via Draw (Majority) in 5:00 of round 3
2010-08-07: W vs. [#19WW] Thiago Alves (19-8-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2010-03-27: W vs. [#46WW] Ben Saunders (12-4-2) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Last 3 Fights: Johny Hendricks (2-1-0)
2011-08-06: W vs. [#26WW] Mike Pierce (13-4-0) via SD (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
2011-03-26: W vs. [#82WW] TJ Waldburger (14-6-0) via TKO (Punches) in 1:35 of round 1
2010-12-04: L vs. [#23WW] Rick Story (13-5-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Days Since Last Pro Fight: Jon Fitch 306, Johny Hendricks 146
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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Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)

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: [#37 W125] Ariane Lipski da Silva
Last 5: W W L W W

Thursday, December 31st 2026: Rizin FF New Years Eve Event

[#5 FW] Rajabali Shaidullaev

[#16 FW] Kyoma Akimoto

Last Fight Date: 9/10/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#7 FW] A.J. McKee
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 8/11/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#25 FW] Kleber Koike Erbst
Last 5: W W W W W

Saturday, November 14th 2026: Professional Fighters League PFL Returns to Dubai: Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy

[#6 HW] Vadim Nemkov

[#16 HW] Sergey Bilostenniy

Last Fight Date: 12/13/2025 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#20 HW] Renan Ferreira
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 5/02/2026 [PFL]
Last Opponent: [#20 HW] Renan Ferreira
Last 5: W W L W W

Featured Fighters

[#49 LW]	Mikuru Asakura	[#5 FW]	Rajabali Shaidullaev
[#1 WW]	Islam Makhachev	[#1 FW]	Alexander Volkanovski
[#29 FW]	Ren Hiramoto	[#96 FW]	Tommy McMillen
[#33 LW]	Akbar Abdullaev	[#1 FLW]	Joshua Van
[#2 LW]	Ilia Topuria	[#4 FW]	Movsar Evloev

FightMatrix Awards: Men’s Fighters of the Year (2011)

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Jason

In the FightMatrix world, “fighter of the year” is determined by rank strength, divisional strength, and performances within the calendar year.

3rd Place: Frankie Edgar

Edgar, being the only #1 ranked fighter to fight the #2 fighter twice (even though it was the same guy, Maynard), successfully defended his championship on each occasion, with the second being a very resounding KO4.

2nd Place: Anderson Silva

2011 was a somewhat quiet year for Anderson, other than the “front kick to the face” that he laid on Belfort. Remaining at the top of the sport and dominantly defending his title twice without problem, locked Anderson into the #2 position.

1st Place: Jon Jones

Was there any doubt here? Three title fights, beating three of the top 5 Light Heavyweights in history. He’s skyrocketing up the All-Time rankings and should find himself in this company very soon.

Honorable Mentions

Dominick Cruz – He beat Faber, who is likely the best fighter in history south of Lightweight. Cruz, along with Aldo, are both gunning for the aforementioned mythical title.

Georges St. Pierre – Though he beat a true #1 contender in Shields, his standing is hurt by the fact that he only managed one fight in 2011.

Jose Aldo – Two title defenses, but two workmanlike decisions in which he badly gassed against Hominick, who was struck down by one punch in his next fight.

Junior dos Santos – Took down the mighty, although inactive, Cain Velasquez to gain the Heavyweight crown. His other win was against the seemingly spent Shane Carwin.

Dan Henderson – If you’re going for style points, it’s hard to argue against Henderson. Knocked out Feijao, made another dent in Skynet, and went “life or death” with Shogun.

FightMatrix Awards: Women’s Fighters of the Year (2011)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Jason

In the FightMatrix world, “fighter of the year” is determined by rank strength, divisional strength, and performances within the calendar year.

3rd Place: Miesha Tate

Winning one of the select few women’s titles that matter, Tate only fought one time within 2011 — though that one fight was enough to score her a 3rd place slot on the year.

2nd Place: Cristiane Santos

She remained the top woman in the sport, although like Tate, she also only fought once. Her win, a 0:16 knockout over Yamanaka, the #1 contender who also saw time on the division dominance list, coupled with holding the top spot in the entire sport, was enough to edge out Tate for 2nd place.

1st Place: Naho Sugiyama

Probably not the popular choice in the largely US-based MMA world, but when you look at the real data, it’s hard to argue against this selection. Although fighting in perhaps the weakest division in women’s MMA (though our lowest division runs up to 110lb), Sugiyama went 4-0 on the year, winning the JEWELS GP in this division. Three of her four wins were over fighters currently ranked in the Top 4. In what was a weak MMA year for this gender, Sugiyama gets a lot of love from the FightMatrix system.

Honorable Mention: Sarah Kaufman

Stat of the Day: Avenging Losses

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Jason

Only three fighters in history have 20 or more wins and have avenged all of their losses.

Gilbert Melendez is the only fighter with 20 wins to avenge both of his losses once (total_loss-avenged_loss = 0).

Georges St. Pierre avenged both of his two losses, but later beat Hughes twice (-1). He is the only 20 win fighter to drive the point home and end up with a net difference of less than 0.

Miku Matsumoto had an interesting journey onto this list. She lost to Misaki Takimoto twice, then went on to beat her twice. She also avenged losses to Lisa Ward and Carina Damm (0).

Bas Rutten almost made the cut. He lost four times, twice to Ken Shamrock, both of which he did not avenge. Though he did return to beat Funaki once and Frank Shamrock twice (+1).

Yuka Tsuji (sort of) backdoors her way into the discussion. She avenged her early loss to Ana Michelle Tavares, but later lost to Mei Yamaguchi. Though, she did hold a prior win over Yamaguchi. There may likely be other instances of this as well.

FightMatrix Awards: Comeback Fighter of the Year (2011)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Jason

Admittedly, selecting a comeback fighter of the year depends on a few factors, some of which are subjective. Certainly, the math and data points are available to filter down to a select few possibilities before proceeding with the actual selection of the winner of said award. Luckily, for 2011, the choice is pretty obvious.

The 2011 Comeback Fighter of the Year is: Shinichi Kojima

After suffering a decision loss to Jussier da Silva and losing his #1 Flyweight ranking, Kojima tore his ACL and suffered a 25 month layoff. Kojima returned in August 2011 and took decision wins over Masaaki Sugawara and Kiyotaka Shimizu, propelling Kojima back up to #4 in the division.

Honorable Mentions: Ed Herman, Michal Materla

FightMatrix Awards: Most Noteworthy Match of Year (2011)

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Jason

To the FightMatrix system, the most noteworthy match is based on cumulative rank strength accompanied by divisional strength.

In 2011, the most “noteworthy” match was: Frankie Edgar KO(4) Gray Maynard.

This saw the #1 versus the #2, for the most important championship in the deepest division (at least by number of competitors). The only other #1 vs. #2 in 2011 (in the men’s — at least) was the first match between Edgar and Maynard.

FightMatrix Awards: Most Improved Fighter of the Year (2011)

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Jason

The FightMatrix Most Improved Fighter of the Year for 2011 is: Michael Chandler

Chandler, who was unranked at the end of 2010, skyrocketed all the way up to #5 in the Lightweight division, with wins over highly ranked fighters such as Patricky Freire and Eddie Alvarez. After going 4-0 in 2011, his career record stands at a perfect 9-0.

Honorable Mention: Robert Peralta

MMA Rankings Updated: 12-21-2011

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Jason

Notable Info

This is strictly a maintenance update to get some small shows and fixes in before the holidays. Our next release will come in the first days of 2012. This inaugural 2012 release will also include community adjustments made in reaction to 2011 observations. Once again, the Japanese community proved itself to be overrated, as did the Brazilian community, albeit at a much lesser level.

FightMatrix Awards: Point-Based Upset of the Year (2011)

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Jason

With upsets of the year, we use pre-bout point totals and also put some exclusions into play — both fighters cannot be suffering from any inactivity penalty and the losing fighter must have a respectable rank — within the top 20. We also do the math two ways; proportional raw point difference and net point difference normalized by division.

Using both equations, the upset of the year was Robert Peralta SD(3) Hiroyuki Takaya

Honorable Mention: Jake Ellenberger KO(1) Jake Shields

Had this taken into account the actual outcome (Split vs. KO), you could certainly argue for these placements to be flip-flopped.