Several major MMA events took place in the past week: Bellator FC kicked off a new season with the first round of a welterweight tournament, and a new broadcast partner in MTV2. Strikeforce lightheavyweight and women’s bantamweight titles were put on the line, and UFC checked in with a third installment in the “UFC Live on Versus” series. I will also briefly cover UFC 127, the results of which were reflected in the previous ranking update.
Controversy on Versus
In the main event of ‘UFC Live 3’, a bloodied and swollen Diego Sanchez had his hand raised in a questionable unanimous decision win over Martin Kampmann. All three judges scored the bout 29-28 Sanchez, apparently choosing Diego’s relentless aggression over Martin’s effective counter-striking and takedown defense. Sanchez rises three spots to #9 WW, while Kampmann falls to #10.
In the middleweight division, UFC newcomer Chris Weidman made his debut on two weeks notice and with only 4 MMA bouts under his belt, and performed admirably in his decision win over Alessio Sakara. Weidman makes a huge jump in the rankings – 101 spots up to #22 MW, while Sakara falls to #30. In other middleweight bouts, Mark Munoz and Rousimar Palhares enter the Top 20: Munoz with a first-round TKO of C.B. Dollaway, and Palhares with a trademark heel hook submission over David Branch in an untelevised bout. Dollaway and Branch fall to #44 and #47, respectively.
WEC lightweights Shane Roller and Danny Castillo made a splash in their UFC debut and earned a Top 50 ranking, as Roller knocked out Thiago Tavares and Castillo outworked Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson to a unanimous decision. In both cases, the loser’s spot on the UFC roster may be in jeopardy: this marks the third consecutive loss for the Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight winner Stevenson, and Tavares has been very inconsistent and plagued by injuries throughout his UFC career; a tough spot to be in for the ultra-competitive lightweight division.
Notable
Nearly a year after losing the WEC bantamweight title to Dominic Cruz in his very first defense, former champion [#4] Brian Bowles returned to action in a rematch with [#64] Damacio Page, putting Page to sleep with a guillotine choke at 3:30 of the first round – an outcome identical to their previous bout, down to the second. Both fighters’ rankings remain unchanged.
[#6 W125] 
[#5 FW] 
[#16 FW] 
[#6 HW] 
