The Sports Inquirer

Music to listen to: Death and Rebirth by Mexicans with Guns

Time for an updated MMA Division Rankings post

Heavyweight:

1) Cain Velasquez (9-0)

2) Junior dos Santos (13-1)

3) Alistair Overeem (35-11, 1 NC)

4) Brock Lesnar (5-2)

5) Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1)

Also in consideration: Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Antonio Silva

Thoughts:  These rankings will probably stay the same for the next four months because none of the fighters in this group will probably fight until November.  Velasquez and dos Santos are scheduled to battle that month in San Jose, Calif.  Overeem defeated Werdum in an underwhelming performance for both men in June.  Overeem earned the deserved decision victory but for him to elevate himself to the top of the division, he needed to finish Werdum.  It would have helped the Dutchman if his opponent that night didn’t make consistent attempts to lure him into the guard on the ground.  We all knew that Werdum was going to avoid standing with Overeem, and that was a wise move against the reigning K-1 Grand Prix champion, but his passive style cost him a decision victory.  Lesnar is dealing with medical issues and will not be back until 2012 but I still think he’s a better fighter than Werdum at this moment.

 

Light heavyweight:

1) Jon Jones (13-1)

2) Rashad Evans (15-1-1)

3) Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5)

4) Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-8)

5) Lyoto Machida (17-2)

Also in consideration: Phil Davis, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin

Thoughts:  It seems that all five of the men in the actual rankings for this division have a history or will about to start something with each man.  Jones has gone from winning the UFC title away from Rua, who owns wins over Rampage and won the belt himself from Machida, to being scheduled to fight his former “teammate” in Rashad Evans, who has a contentious relationship with Rampage, even after he won their fight and also lost his belt to Machida a while ago, to claiming that his hand was injured and not being able to defend his title against Evans to now getting medical reports saying that he can now have his first title defense against Jackson at UFC 135 in September.  I hope you caught all of that.  If I add the fact that Davis faces Evans and Griffin gets Rua in August and Henderson’s next fight is against arguably the best heavyweight of all-time even though he CURRENTLY holds Strikeforce’s light heavy title, would that be too confusing?

 

Middleweight:

1) Anderson Silva (30-4)

2) Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)

3) Yushin Okami (26-5)

4) Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (14-2, 1 NC)

5) Nate Marquardt (31-10-2)

Also in consideration: Mark Munoz, Brian Stann and Damian Maia

Thoughts:  Silva fights Okami in Brazil in August and Jacare defends his Strikeforce belt against Luke Rockhold in September but the intrigue is with the other men in the top-five.  Both Sonnen and Marquardt have been suspended for having failed medical tests.  Sonnen’s failure was after his fight with Silva while Marquardt didn’t even make it to his fight with Rick Story before being disciplined.  I still think that as of this moment, Sonnen is the second-best middleweight in the world based on his performance against Silva and owning a victory over Marquardt himself.  However, if Okami performs well against Silva or even if Jacare or Marquardt find themselves with their hand raised soon, Sonnen will be dropped harshly in my rankings.

 

Welterweight:

1) Georges St. Pierre (22-2)

2) Nick Diaz (25-7, 1 NC)

3) Jon Fitch (23-3-1)

4) Jake Shields (26-5-1)

5) Carlos Condit (27-5)

Also in consideration: Josh Koscheck, Charlie Brennenman, B.J. Penn

Thoughts:  Some may critique having Diaz ahead of primary UFC fighters such as Koscheck, Fitch, Condit and even Shields but I think that the Stockton, Ca. native’s ability to fight in his guard as well as elite boxing skills make him the second-best fighter in the division.  Will that  be enough to get past St. Pierre in October?  Condit enters the top-five after an impressive win over Dong Hyun Kim on Saturday.  The former WEC welterweight champ is making a case to be the next in line to fight for the UFC crown as well.

 

Lightweight:

1) Frankie Edgar (13-1-1)

2) Gray Maynard (10-0-1, 1 NC)

3) Gilbert Melendez (19-2)

4) Eddie Alvarez (22-2)

5) Shinya Aoki (28-5, 1 NC)

Also in consideration: Jim Miller, Clay Guida, Anthony Pettis

Thoughts:  Edgar and Maynard will eventually fight again to settle that score, but the intrigue is in the rest of my top-five.  Hardcore MMA fans have been calling for a Melendez-Alvarez bout for years but seeing how Alvarez insists on not fighting under the Zuffa brand and staying in Bellator, this fight may not happen in the near future.  I also know that Aoki beat Alvarez three years ago but in the summer of 2011, I would give the edge to Alvarez.  Pettis had a chance to crack the top-five but his loss to Guida prevented him from gaining this honor.

 

Featherweight:

1) Jose Aldo (19-1)

2) Chad Mendes (10-0)

3) Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2)

4) Kenny Florian (14-5)

5) Marion Sandro (18-2)

Also in consideration: Joe Warren, Diego Nunes, Tyson Griffin

Thoughts: Aldo received a stiff contest from Hominick in April but retained his UFC title and the top spot in the division.  While many thought that Mendes would be next in line for a shot against Aldo, he’s going to be facing Rani Yahya at UFC 133.  I’m excited to finally see Hioki fighting stateside for the UFC soon.  I think if he earns one victory, maybe two, the former Shooto title holder may get a chance to add a UFC belt to his collection.  It also looks like Florian may be the next opponent for Aldo in October which would be unfortunate because Mendes  has done more in the division but Florian is the bigger name showing that politics takes place in all sports, even MMA.

 

Bantamweight: 

1) Dominick Cruz (18-1)

2) Joseph Benavidez (14-2)

3) Urijah Faber (25-5)

4) Scott Jorgensen (12-4)

5) Brian Bowles (10-1)

Also in consideration: Demetrious Johnson, Migiel Torres, Takeya Mizugaki

Thoughts:  Cruz solidified his spot at the top of the rankings by his victory over Faber on Saturday.  If they rematched in the near future, I don’t think anyone would oppose to the rubber match between the two fighters.  Benavidez is an excellent fighter but has already lost twice to Cruz so the chances of him fighting for the title are slim.  Bowles and Jorgensen have both won their last fights so they have good momentum.  Unfortunately for many long-time MMA fans, popular fighter Torres is not even currently a top-fighter in the division that he dominated for years, which was evident in his loss to Johnson in May.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?