RANKING'S
as of March 22, 2010 were nearly ready 4 a updatre on this :)
After four events in four days, the rankings see a bit movement (and we're a little late in posting it due to the Monday finish with Dream, which we normally wouldn't include but because of the time difference in Japan, we do.)
The theme is new young contenders emerging. Enough said.
Pound-for-pound
1. Anderson Silva
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. Fedor Emelianenko
4. B.J. Penn
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Mauricio Rua
7. Gegard Mousasi
8. Brock Lesnar
9. Jon Fitch
10. Jose Aldo
No changes.
Canadian pound-for-pound
1. Georges St. Pierre (St. Isidore, Que.)
2. Patrick Cote (Quebec City)
3. Sam Stout (London, Ont.)
4. Mark Bocek (Toronto)
5. Mark Hominick (Thamesford, Ont.)
6. Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg)
7. Jason MacDonald (Red Deer, Alta.)
8. Denis Kang (Vancouver)
9. T.J. Grant (Cole Harbour, N.S.)
10. Rory MacDonald (Kelowna, B.C.)
Jason MacDonald swapped places with an injured Denis Kang in the main event of W-1 MMA: Bad Blood Saturday -- and with his first-round submission of ex-UFC veteran Vernon White, he swaps places with Kang in the rankings. John Alessio was a winner in the co-main event, while Ryan Ford dominated yet another former UFC fighter, giving Canada two more contenders at 170 pounds. Don't know if either will get a chance to fight on June's UFC card in Vancouver, but if they do and someone on the above list stumbles, they'll have a chance to make the rankings.
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Frank Mir
4. Shane Carwin
5. Cain Velasquez
6. Junior Dos Santos
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Josh Barnett
Barnett finally fought again, and he promptly won again. But it was due in part to a low blow, so he's going to have to stay put at No. 10. (And please, no more complaints about his steroid suspension. Whether he deserves to be fighting again is irrelevant; he is, and he is a threat at heavyweight.)
But the bigger deal is 25-year-old Junior Dos Santos, who crushed Gabriel Gonzaga Sunday and moves up two spots. Take a look at Nos. 2-6 on the list -- now that's an impressive top 5 in the UFC, and a young group that could own the division for years to come. Meanwhile, Vladimir Matyushenko won his second straight since returning to the UFC. He may be old at 39, but that never stopped Randy Couture from contending.
Light heavyweight
1. Lyoto Machida
2. Mauricio Rua
3. Gegard Mousasi
4. Rashad Evans
5. Quinton Jackson
6. Thiago Silva
7. Forrest Griffin
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. Jon Jones
10. (tie) Rich Franklin
10. (tie) Randy Couture
Jon Jones, at just 22 years old, continues to impress, taking out veteran upon veteran (and we include Matt Hamill, even though that's technically a loss on Jones' record). He bursts into the rankings at No. 9. I was hesitant, but I moved Franklin and Couture into at tie for 10th spot. They'll likely settle that if and when they meet this summer (unless it's true that Tito Ortiz can't fight Chuck Liddell and one of these two has to).
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Chael Sonnen
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Demian Maia
6. Vitor Belfort
7. Jake Shields
8. Patrick Cote
9. Robbie Lawler
10. Jorge Santiago
No changes.
Welterweight
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Dan Hardy
5. Paulo Thiago
6. Josh Koscheck
7. Mike Swick
8. Paul Daley
9. Nick Diaz
10. Martin Kampmann
No changes.
Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn
2. Shinya Aoki
3. Kenny Florian
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Diego Sanchez
6. Gilbert Melendez
7. Gray Maynard
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Frank Edgar
10. Ben Henderson
Hansen lost his second in a row at the Dream show (albeit one of the three judges didn't see it that way). And that was at 145 pounds. With his future weight status up in the air and the fact he hasn't won in 20 months, say goodbye to Hellboy. And say hello to Ben Henderson at No. 10 -- I figure it's time the WEC 155-pound division got some love.
Featherweight
1. Jose Aldo
2. Mike Brown
3. Urijah Faber
4. Hatsu Hioki
5. Bibiano Fernandes
6. Wagnney Fabiano
7. Raphael Assuncao
8. Michihiro Omigawa
9. Josh Grispi
10. Manny Gamburyan
Fernandes successfully defended his Dream belt against a formidable opponent in Hansen and that bumps him up a couple spots. (Note: Fabiano's last win was his debut at 135 pounds and while it appears he's going to stay at that weight, we'll wait until his next fight before moving him.)
Bantamweight
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Miguel Torres
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Takeya Mizugaki
7. Masakatsu Ueda
8. Damacio Page
9. Rani Yahya
10. Will Ribeiro
After four events in four days, the rankings see a bit movement (and we're a little late in posting it due to the Monday finish with Dream, which we normally wouldn't include but because of the time difference in Japan, we do.)
The theme is new young contenders emerging. Enough said.
Pound-for-pound
1. Anderson Silva
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. Fedor Emelianenko
4. B.J. Penn
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Mauricio Rua
7. Gegard Mousasi
8. Brock Lesnar
9. Jon Fitch
10. Jose Aldo
No changes.
Canadian pound-for-pound
1. Georges St. Pierre (St. Isidore, Que.)
2. Patrick Cote (Quebec City)
3. Sam Stout (London, Ont.)
4. Mark Bocek (Toronto)
5. Mark Hominick (Thamesford, Ont.)
6. Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg)
7. Jason MacDonald (Red Deer, Alta.)
8. Denis Kang (Vancouver)
9. T.J. Grant (Cole Harbour, N.S.)
10. Rory MacDonald (Kelowna, B.C.)
Jason MacDonald swapped places with an injured Denis Kang in the main event of W-1 MMA: Bad Blood Saturday -- and with his first-round submission of ex-UFC veteran Vernon White, he swaps places with Kang in the rankings. John Alessio was a winner in the co-main event, while Ryan Ford dominated yet another former UFC fighter, giving Canada two more contenders at 170 pounds. Don't know if either will get a chance to fight on June's UFC card in Vancouver, but if they do and someone on the above list stumbles, they'll have a chance to make the rankings.
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Frank Mir
4. Shane Carwin
5. Cain Velasquez
6. Junior Dos Santos
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Josh Barnett
Barnett finally fought again, and he promptly won again. But it was due in part to a low blow, so he's going to have to stay put at No. 10. (And please, no more complaints about his steroid suspension. Whether he deserves to be fighting again is irrelevant; he is, and he is a threat at heavyweight.)
But the bigger deal is 25-year-old Junior Dos Santos, who crushed Gabriel Gonzaga Sunday and moves up two spots. Take a look at Nos. 2-6 on the list -- now that's an impressive top 5 in the UFC, and a young group that could own the division for years to come. Meanwhile, Vladimir Matyushenko won his second straight since returning to the UFC. He may be old at 39, but that never stopped Randy Couture from contending.
Light heavyweight
1. Lyoto Machida
2. Mauricio Rua
3. Gegard Mousasi
4. Rashad Evans
5. Quinton Jackson
6. Thiago Silva
7. Forrest Griffin
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. Jon Jones
10. (tie) Rich Franklin
10. (tie) Randy Couture
Jon Jones, at just 22 years old, continues to impress, taking out veteran upon veteran (and we include Matt Hamill, even though that's technically a loss on Jones' record). He bursts into the rankings at No. 9. I was hesitant, but I moved Franklin and Couture into at tie for 10th spot. They'll likely settle that if and when they meet this summer (unless it's true that Tito Ortiz can't fight Chuck Liddell and one of these two has to).
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Chael Sonnen
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Demian Maia
6. Vitor Belfort
7. Jake Shields
8. Patrick Cote
9. Robbie Lawler
10. Jorge Santiago
No changes.
Welterweight
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Dan Hardy
5. Paulo Thiago
6. Josh Koscheck
7. Mike Swick
8. Paul Daley
9. Nick Diaz
10. Martin Kampmann
No changes.
Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn
2. Shinya Aoki
3. Kenny Florian
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Diego Sanchez
6. Gilbert Melendez
7. Gray Maynard
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Frank Edgar
10. Ben Henderson
Hansen lost his second in a row at the Dream show (albeit one of the three judges didn't see it that way). And that was at 145 pounds. With his future weight status up in the air and the fact he hasn't won in 20 months, say goodbye to Hellboy. And say hello to Ben Henderson at No. 10 -- I figure it's time the WEC 155-pound division got some love.
Featherweight
1. Jose Aldo
2. Mike Brown
3. Urijah Faber
4. Hatsu Hioki
5. Bibiano Fernandes
6. Wagnney Fabiano
7. Raphael Assuncao
8. Michihiro Omigawa
9. Josh Grispi
10. Manny Gamburyan
Fernandes successfully defended his Dream belt against a formidable opponent in Hansen and that bumps him up a couple spots. (Note: Fabiano's last win was his debut at 135 pounds and while it appears he's going to stay at that weight, we'll wait until his next fight before moving him.)
Bantamweight
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Miguel Torres
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Takeya Mizugaki
7. Masakatsu Ueda
8. Damacio Page
9. Rani Yahya
10. Will Ribeiro
