Notable Info
- Rankings updated with effects from recent shows and some previously missing older shows.
Tracking the progress of The Ultimate Fighter 3 contestants – Part I
After a very busy summer for MMA fans, there has been a temporary lull in major events. As the UFC and Spike TV are getting ready to launch the eighth season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality series (premiering on September 17th), it is a good time to take a look back at the contestants of Season 3 and see how their fighting careers have progressed after the show.
The third season of ‘TUF’ featured lightheavyweight & middleweight contestants, and was coached by Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. The show focused heavily on the ongoing feud between coaches, sometimes at the expense of screen time for fighters. The talent level on this season was rather weak compared to seasons 1 and 2: not a single fighter from season 3 is currently ranked in the Top 10 in any weight class. I will examine the lightheavyweight class first, and look at the middleweights next week.
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 | ||
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| 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 | ||
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| 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 | ||
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| 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
| [#5 FW] | Rajabali Shaidullaev | [#49 LW] | Mikuru Asakura | |
| [#1 FW] |  Alexander Volkanovski | [#29 FW] | Ren Hiramoto | |
| [#1 WW] | Islam Makhachev | [#7 FW] | A.J. McKee | |
| [#96 FW] | Tommy McMillen | [#4 FW] | Movsar Evloev | |
| [#16 FW] | Kyoma Akimoto | [#2 LW] |  Ilia Topuria |
MMA Rankings Updated: 8/25/08
Notable Info
- Added recent shows from ZST, WVR, and minor organizations.
- Added older shows which were missing (yet again).
MMA Rankings Updated: 8/17/08
Notable Info
- Recent shows added, including DEEP: Gladiator, ShoXC, Pure Combat, etc.
- Older shows added to database.
- Bug fix regarding the placement of streaking early career fighters.
Early update this week as I’m leaving town, but its a somewhat dead weekend.
August Archives Updated
Fightmatrix.com MMA rankings archive has been updated with the rankings as of August 4, 2008.
Top Middleweights outside of UFC
Recently I took a look at the top fighters in the UFC’s middleweight division. Let’s now examine the top middleweights competing in other MMA promotions throughout the world. This is one of the most scattered weight classes in MMA, even though the UFC maintains a lead with the most top fighters at 185 lbs, which will only strengthen if Zuffa merges the WEC & UFC middleweight divisions as has been rumored. Nevertheless, there are plenty of top-level fighters competing in various organizations, with Japan’s Dream coming the closes to giving UFC a run for its money. Here are the top 15 middleweights outside of the UFC, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking:
Pacquiao/DLH not meant to be. 30% not enough for Manny.
They agreed on weight (147) and the glove size (8 oz), but could not come together on the money. Oscar offered a 70-30 split, while Pacquiao wouldn’t take less than 40%.
The fact of the matter is, people pay to see De La Hoya. In his match-up with Mayweather, the combined purse was just over $75 million, with Mayweather receiving approximately 1/3rd of the total amount.
De La Hoya’s draw is in my opinion, finally beginning to wain, but this will likely be his final bout. And although Pacquiao’s popularity is apparent in the western and southwestern areas of the United States, the pay-per-view amount would likely not reach the 2.4 million buys that De La Hoya and Mayweather did. Still, it was probably a safe bet that it would challenge 1.5 million buys, which would still net Pacquiao well over $15 million at 30% of the share.
At that kind of money, what’s 10%? Realistically, Pacquiao could not earn anywhere close to that fighting someone else (excluding Hatton in England). My bet, is that Pacquiao and his team were overly concerned with the height and reach advantages held by De La Hoya.
MMA Rankings Updated: 8/11/08
Notable Info
- Rankings updated with effects from recent shows, most notably, UFC 87.
UFC 87 Review
UFC 87 ‘Seek and Destroy’ was the organization’s debut event in Minneapolis, Minn. and featured the showdown for the welterweight title between champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Jon Fitch. The undercard was highlighted by Brock Lesnar making his second UFC appearance against the veteran Heath Herring, as well as a much anticipated lightweight matchup between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta.
Jason MacDonald vs Demian Maia (185 lbs)
In the first round, MacDonald quickly gets a takedown then gets caught in Maia’s triangle. He escapes and gets Maia’s back, attempts a rear naked choke but Maia is able to escape as well. MacDonald works ground and pound from the top; towards the end of the round Maia gets MacDonald’s back and threatens an RNC of his own.
MacDonald does enough to win the first round, but the next two is all Maia as he gets takedown early in both rounds and works MacDonald on the ground, mounting him and constantly threatening submissions. MacDonald survives until the middle of the third round, when he finally gets caught in an RNC he can’t escape and is forced to tap.
The aftermath: MacDonald put up a good fight and will likely remain in the lower half of UFC’s middleweight division. Maia shows a great display of grappling against a very game opponent, and is only a fight or two away from a title shot should he keep winning.
Fight grade: 4/5
UFC’s Middleweight Division
In 2002, the reigning UFC middleweight champion Murillo Bustamante left the organization in the midst of a contract dispute, throwing the 185-lbs weight class into disarray. UFC did not crown a new champion until 2005, when Evan Tanner defeated David Terrell at UFC 51 for the vacant belt. Tanner then lost the belt to Rich Franklin in his very first defense; Franklin held on to the title for over a year before succumbing to the current 185-lbs and P4P king, Anderson Silva.
The three-year long title hiatus really hurt the UFC’s middleweight division: in contrast to 170-lbs and 205-lbs where they are the home for the overwhelming majority of the top fighters, at 185 UFC only holds 3 of the Top 5, 4 of the Top 10, and and 10 of the Top 20 fighters in the world, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking. Here is an in-depth look at the top middleweights in the UFC:
The Champion: [#1] Anderson Silva
MMA Record: 22-4 (7-0 UFC)
Last bout: Defeated James Irvin by KO at UFC ‘Silva vs. Irvin’ (205-lbs bout)
Next bout: A title defense against Patrick Cote at UFC 90
After a disappointing run in Pride FC, with submission losses to Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva went on to win the Cage Rage middleweight title, then arrived in UFC, making his debut against Chris Leben in the main event of an Ultimate Fight Night. Silva made short work of Leben, and received and immediate title shot, knocking out the champion Rich Franklin in under three minutes. He has since reigned over the middleweight division with an iron fist, winning five more bouts – and stopping every opponent within two rounds. After a brief foray into the lightheavyweight division, Silva will return to defend his middleweight crown against Patrick Cote at UFC 90 – a matchup that Silva is heavily favored to win, just like he would be against any other middleweight in today’s fight scene.