MMA Rankings: Jones Is #1, Team Alpha Male Holds Two Of Top Three Spots, Pyle, Koch & Freire Enter Top 10
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UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones went down just as many predicted it would, with the young Turk “Bones” taking out Rua with strikes in the third round. Jon Jones is your new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, sliding from #4 to #1 in the Light Heavyweight Rankings in the process. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua slides from #1 to #5.
In the other light heavyweight bout of the evening, Luiz Cane stopped Eliot Marshall, jumping from #37 to #24. Marshall fell from #35 to #63 and might have squandered his second Octagon opportunity.
In the night’s feature fight, former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber outlasted former WEC Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland. Faber gains ground in the top five, moving from #4 to #3 in the Bantamweight Rankings while Wineland slips from #8 to #11.
In an unaired prelim fight, #2-ranked bantamweight Joseph Benavidez held his position with a decision win over Ian Loveland, who actually gained ground from #32 to #31 simply for making it to the 15 minute mark with a highly ranked fighter.
At middleweight, former King of Pancrase and UFC Middleweight Championship contender Nate Marquardt held steady at #12 in the Middleweight Rankings with a decision win over Dan Miller. Miller also stayed put, albeit at #29.
In the only other fight at 185 pounds, Nick Catone jumped from #83 to #55 with a win over unranked Costantinos Philippou.
Several lightweight bouts with top 20 implications went largely overlooked leading into UFC 128; Jim Miller kept his #5 Lightweight Ranking with a win over Kamal Shalorus, who hung tight at #39. Kurt Pellegrino slipped further away from title contention with a loss to Gleison Tibau and the fighters traded spots afterward, with Tibau jumping to #15 and Pellegrino falling to #22. In the only other action at 155#, unranked Edson Barboza took out Anthony Njokuani, who fell from #68 to #85.
The card’s lone heavyweight matchup featured PRIDE standout Mirko Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub. The one-time NFLer took out “Cro Cop,” climbing from #23 to #14 in the Heavyweight Rankings while Filipovic fell from #32 to #45.
Mike Pyle cracked the top 10 with his win over Ricardo Almeida, moving from #15 to #10 in the Welterweight Rankings. Almeida fell from #18 to #26.
And in the card’s only featherweight fight, Erik Koch made a statement by finishing Raphael Assuncao and jumping from #17 to #7 in the Featherweight Rankings. Assuncao crashed from #25 to #47 following the loss.
In Concho, Okla., Bellator 37 featured the opening round of its season four featherweight tournament. Former tournament finalist Patricio Freire stopped Georgi Karakhanyan, leaping from #20 to #10 in the Featherweight Rankings. Karakhanyan fell from #33 to #53
Wilson Reis held steady at #23 after finishing IFL vet Zac George, who enters the rankings at #103. Daniel Straus actually slipped one spot, from #19 to #20, after defeating unranked Nazareno Malegarie, because he was leapfrogged by Freire.
On the local undercard, UFC vet Jake Rosholt gained ground from #108 to #74 in the Middleweight Rankings with a quick stoppage win over unranked John Bryant and UFC vet Roli Delgado vaulted from #69 to #29 Featherweight Rankings with a win over WEC vet Jameel Massouh, who crashed from #14 to #34 in the Bantamweight Rankings) following the loss.
In Europe, Golden Glory held a semifinal bout in its United Glory World Series, where one-time UFC fighter and WEC vet John Alessio suffered a first round knockout loss to Siyar Bahadurzada. Alessio fell from #27 to #44 in the Welterweight Rankings and probably lost any chance of scoring the Zuffa contract he’s been seeking in the near future. Strikeforce hopeful Bahardurzada, who typically competes at 185 pounds, jumped from #21 to #11 in the Middleweight Rankings. Hopefully with Zuffa’s help, Strikeforce can get the Afghan wrecking machine fighting stateside, where he needs to be. Lord knows both Strikeforce and the UFC could make use of a dynamic, world-class striker who can fight at welter or middleweight.
To the east, Poland’s premier league KSW featured a catchweight bout between Mamed Khalidov and James Irvin. Khalidov finished Irvin quickly with an armbar but didn’t benefit, holding on at #48 in the Middleweight Rankings. Irvin, for his part, didn’t suffer from the loss except for probably earning himself another suspension from the CSAC for fighting internationally after pissing hot for steroids. Irvin stayed put at #94 in the Light Heavyweight Rankings.
The other notable on the card, Sokoudjou, climbed from #83 to #60 at 205 pounds with a win over unranked Jan Blachowicz.
Go here for full results.
In Australia, UFC vet Shane Nelson took on Australian vet Jai Bradney at Nitro 2: Throwdown. All fights on the card were entered into our database as part of our continued efforts to generate rankings that reflect the depth and breadth of the international fight game.
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