At FIGHT! Magazine, we believe there is a need for a completely objective and unbiased ranking system for fighters to replace the myriad of subjective rankings that have become skewed, in many instances, by fighter popularity. In an effort to address this issue FIGHT! Magazine brings you its computerized rankings system which takes into account a fighters strength of opponent, strength of performance, and frequency of activity. Let’s see how things shook out after UFC on Versus 1 and Dream.13.
(Jon Jones is solidly in our Top 10 at 205#.)
Jon Jones was already a top-15 light heavyweight (#15 actually) but crushing Brandon Vera helped him crack the Top 10 at #9. Vera slipped from #20 to #27. In heavyweight action, Junior Dos Santos held on to his #7 ranking with a KO victory over Gabriel Gonzaga who moves down two spots from #23 to #25. Cheick Kongo rebounded from his loss to Frank Mir by finishing Paul Buentello and moved from #25 to #15 in FIGHT!’s Heavyweight Rankings. Buentello dropped from #30 to #37.
James Irvin actually entered the Light Heavyweight Rankings at #31. If he fights again at 185 pounds we will re-assign him as a middleweight. Alessio Sakara moves from #27 to #14 with his win over Irvin. John Howard’s knockout of unranked Daniel Roberts was impressive to the eye but not our Rankings Supercomputer – Howard holds fast at #15 in our Welterweight Rankings.
Clay Guida made a move back towards contention, rising from #37 to #28 in our Lightweight Rankings with his submission victory over Shannon Gugerty, who dropped from #58 to #71. Welterweight Mike Pierce jumped seven spots, from #38 to #31, with his win over unranked Julio Paulino. Jason Brilz slid into the top 25 at light heavyweight – #28 to #23 – with his win over Eric Schafer, who also moved five spots, from #32 to #37.
TUF prospect Eliot Marshall drops from #22 to #25 at 205 pounds while wily veteran Vladimir Matyushenko moves from #24 to #20. At the bottom of the card, Chase Gormley, Brendan Schaub, and Darren Elkins remain unranked because they have yet to accumulate three eligible fights, and veteran Duane Ludwig enters the lightweight poll at #107.
(Bibiano Fernandes has the #1 spot in a stranglehold.)
Over Tokyo way, Bibiano Fernandes held onto his Dream Featherweight Champion belt and his #1 ranking with a split decision win over Joachim Hansen, who slipped from #11 to #14 at lightweight. If he continues to fight at 139 pounds we’ll reassign him to our Featherweight Rankings. Josh Barnett held on to his #4 ranking in our rankings and “Mighty Mo” actually moved up a spot with the loss, from #33 to #32. KJ Noons moves into our lightweight rankings at #26 with his win over Andre Amade, who sits tight at #88.
Welterweight/middleweight journeyman Ryo Chonan moves from #60 to #32 with his win over Andrews Nakahara, who drops from #24 to #47 in our Middleweight Rankings.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka drops from #29 at welterweight with his loss to unranked Kikuno Katsunori and inexplicably, Ikuhisa Minowama and Jimmy Ambriz’s rankings were unaffected by Minowaman’s victory – they remain #9 at middleweight and #59 at heavyweight, respectively.
FIGHT! Fans: What do you think of the rankings?
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