Fight Matrix

Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Jason

Back Story

Those of you who watched this bout may not have been thrilled by it, unless you understood and appreciated the historical significance. The bout featured two future hall-of-famers who are universally recognized champions, squaring off in a bout for all of the marbles at light heavyweight.

Bernard Hopkins, 43, the former universally recognized middleweight (160) champion, enters the bout as the universally recognized light heavyweight (175) champion and as one of the top 5 boxers in the world. After holding world titles in the Middleweight division for more then a decade, dispatching of all comers, including fellow hall-of-famers Oscar De La Hoya, and Felix Trinidad, he was written off after losing two questionable decisions against Jermain Taylor in 2005.
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UFC 83 Review

Posted on April 20, 2008 by Oleg

The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event held in Canada, UFC 83 was headlined by the long-awaited rematch between the current welterweight champion Matt Serra and the interim champion Georges St. Pierre. The card also featured six middleweight bouts (though only three of them were televised), and two Ultimate Fighter tournament winners making a debut at a new weight class: Mac Danzig at 155 lbs, and Michael Bisping at 185.

Mark Bocek vs Mac Danzig

Bocek surprised Danzig in the first round, getting a takedown and working from Danzig’s guard and half-guard from most of the round. Danzig reversed position towards the end, but it was not enough to win the round.

Danzig dropped Bocek with a knee to the chin early in the second. Danzig dominated the round both on the ground and standing, damaging Bocek with elbows and punches and taking his back at one point.

Bocek looked tired and had many small cuts on his face as the third round began. Danzig continued his assault and opened up a gashing cut over Bocek’s left eye. Referee Yves Lavigne stopped the action to check the cut, but allowed the bout to continue. Danzig got a takedown, mounted and took Bocek’s back, forcing a tapout with a rear naked choke.

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Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)

Thursday, December 31st 2026: Rizin FF Super Rizin 6: Shiwasu no Owarinagoya Gekokujo Matsuri

[#1 W105] Natalia Kuziutina

[#4 W105] Saori Oshima

Last Fight Date: 9/10/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#17 W105] Rena Kubota
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 7/18/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation]
Last Opponent: [#12 W105] Ye Ji Lee
Last 5: L W L W W

Sunday, December 13th 2026: Deep - 135 Impact

[#3 SW] Sukai China

[#4 SW] Jo Arai

Last Fight Date: 5/04/2026 [DEEP]
Last Opponent: [#6 SW] Sora Sugiyama
Last 5: W W W W W

Last Fight Date: 9/13/2026 [DEEP]
Last Opponent: [#24 SW] Daichi Kitakata
Last 5: L L W L W

Sunday, December 13th 2026: Deep Tokyo Impact 2026 6th Round

[#6 SW] Sora Sugiyama

[#10 SW] Goal Makino

Last Fight Date: 9/20/2026 [DEEP]
Last Opponent: [NR] Musashi Musashi
Last 5: W W W L W

Last Fight Date: 9/06/2026 [DEEP]
Last Opponent: [#43 SW] Toshiya Takashima
Last 5: W W W W W

Featured Fighters

[#5 HW]	Josh Hokit	[#1 HW]	Ciryl Gane
[#6 W135]	Amanda Nunes	[#53 MW]	Yousri Belgaroui
[#14 WW]	Uros Medic	[#82 FLW]	Bilal Hasan
[#32 LW]	Chris Duncan	[#1 WW]	Islam Makhachev
[#85 LW]	Jim Miller	[#1 W135]	Kayla Harrison

MMA Rankings Updated: 4/20/08

Posted on April 20, 2008 by Jason

Notable Info

Results from various recent cards have been added to the database. Notable recent cards include those from UFC, Bodog, KOTC, and CageWarriors.
Some historical bouts added to database.

As a result of UFC 83, Georges St. Pierre is now #1 on the Division Dominance list!

Best of the Rest: Top Light Heavyweights outside of UFC

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Oleg

Last week, we examined the top light heavyweight fighters who are currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As mentioned, the UFC has the 205 lbs division in a tight chokehold; according to our ranking, sixteen of the Top 20 active light heavyweights call the Octagon their home.

With the UFC so heavily invested in the division, no other MMA promotion has been able to put together a competitive stable of light heavyweights. Still, there are a few fighters not locked into Zuffa contracts who have the skills and talent to give the UFC’s best a run for their money, and the name recognition to pique the interest of MMA fans. With Tito Ortiz claiming he is on the way out of the UFC as well, there may be an opportunity here for another promotion – if they are able to sign most of these fighters.

Here is a look at the six of the Top 20 light heavyweights outside of the UFC:

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Next rankings update scheduled for 4/20/08

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Jason

The next rankings update will occur on 4/20/08. This will undoubtedly be a big update, so make sure to check us out!

MMA Rankings Updated: 4/13/08

Posted on April 13, 2008 by Jason

Notable Info

Rating code updated to v1.17b. Corrected bug related to transition between quality performance penalties and inactive penalties, in the event where a fighter qualifies for both.
Database updated with recent shows. Most notable changes result from the YAMMA show. Note: Could not grab the Cage Rage 4/12 results as they were not readily available. This happens pretty often, but just figured I’d mention it as we have some Cage Rage fans that visit.

A look at the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Oleg

When Zuffa – the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship – purchased and subsequently dismantled Pride Fighting Championship in 2007, MMA fans worldwide expected that majority of the best fighters in the world will be consolidated under the UFC banner. So far, the results have been decidedly mixed. While three out of five UFC title belts are held by former Pride FC fighters, the heavyweight division is still as much in shambles as it was two years ago, and a number of middleweight (185 lbs) contenders are scattered throughout various organizations. In the lightweight division, Marcus Aurelio is the only Pride competitor who has stepped inside the UFC Octagon to date.

The only place where Zuffa had an undeniable success of consolidating the top talent is MMA’s marquee division – the light heavyweights (205 lbs). Not only is UFC the home to the undisputed champion of the world at 205, they also employ all of the Top 5, 9 of the Top 10, and 14 of the Top 20 LHW fighters, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking.

This would be a great time for the UFC to hold a Gran Prix-style tournament. Alas, Zuffa brass are staunchly opposed to the tournament format. Fortunately for the fans, we get the next best thing to a tourney: except for Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, all of the UFC’s top light heavyweights are slated to step into the Octagon over the course of the next few events.

Here is a closer look at what is coming up for the warriors of the light heavyweight division:

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Intermediate Update Launched: 4/9/08

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Jason

There are several important changes to take into account before viewing this update.

Notable Info

Rating code updated to v1.17.
Code Change: Removal of quality performance exemptions for those who are stopped in recognized title bouts.
Code Change: Acceleration of fighters who have early career trends of decisively beating higher-ranked fighters without quantifiable weakness in results.
Ranking Page Change: Fighters are now ranked if they have a bout in the previous 450 days (was 1 calendar year). Calculation-wise, this only has an impact on the division dominance list. However, for this update, it had no impact whatsoever.
Ranking Page Change: Those in the inactivity penalty stage will now have mauve colored last bout information.
Bouts added to database. Total count is now approximately 48,200 professional bouts.

The reason for the code changes was a result of some former champions hanging onto higher positions than they deserved, and proven fighters being beaten by barnstorming “up and comers”. These were perceived problems and were able to be isolated via programming logic.

As a result, this stirred up two controversial results. Tim Sylvia and Wanderlei Silva both dropped out of their respective Top 10 lists. We would be happy to discuss these instances in our forum.

Archive Update

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Oleg

The historical rankings archive has been updated with the rankings as of April 3rd, 2008.

Intermediate Update planned for 4/9/08

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Jason

Notable Info

Code update to 1.16. Expanded on prediction-based launching. Assisted the elevation of fighters who continually and decisively beat higher-rated fighters without quantifiable weakness in outcome. This is a relatively minor change.
Matt Serra and Ricardo Arona will have been inactive for more than one calendar year, and will be dropped from the rankings until they have another bout.
Addition of a few minor shows.