Passing the Guard: Mixed Martial Arts Power Rankings August 2012

 

 

Music to listen to:  Born Under Punches (live) by The Talking Heads

 

No better way to get back into the rhythm of The Sports Inquirer than a Mixed Martial Arts Power Rankings.

 

Heavyweights

 

1) Junior Dos Santos

2) Cain Velasquez

3)  Alistair Overeem

4)  Fabricio Werdum

5)  Daniel Cormier

 

Outside looking in:  Frank Mir, Josh Barnett

 

Thoughts:  Dos Santos is the king of the mountain.  The nixed fight between Dos Santos and Overeem would have tremendously interesting because Overeem’s kickboxing skills would negate and potentially surpass the Brazilian’s boxing skills.  However, Dos Santos’ ground skills surpass the Dutchman’s by a wide margin.  Velasquez’s wrestling would present trouble as well for anybody else in the heavyweight division and his speed along with elite stamina present problems as well.  I’ve enjoyed seeing Werdum’s evolving stand-up skills and his knockout of Mike Russow at UFC has shown this to take place.  However, he’s not ready to surpass the top-three on my list.  Respect to Cormier for winning the Strikeforce Grand Prix by gutting out an impressive win over Barnett.

 

Light Heavyweight

 

1)  Jon Jones

2) Dan Henderson

3)  Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

4)  Rashad Evans

5)  Lyoto Machida

 

Outside looking in:  Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson, Ryan Bader

 

Thoughts:  Jones is clearly the top guy in the division and is one victory away from cleaning out arguably the most competitive division in all of sports before he turns 26 years old.  I said back in 2009 after Jones defeated Stephan Bonner at UFC 94 that Jones would be the UFC light heavy champion in 2012.  I was off by two years and still surprised by his domination.  Old school fans like me will always have a soft spot for guys from long-time fight camps like Team Quest but even I didn’t expect the revival of Henderson’s career the past few fights, especially after he was dropped by the UFC.  I was at the Strikeforce: Nashville event where Henderson was beaten cleanly by Jake Shields and thought it may be time for Hendo to retire.  He’s the second-best fighter in the division and has the skill set to make the fight against Jones interesting.  After that, I took Rua over Evans because the latter fighter disappointed me in his effort against Jones and I think the Brazilian would win.  I’m very interested in seeing how Rua looks against Brandon Vera on Aug. 4.   I could see some people placing Gustafsson Davis or even Bader in the number-five slot in my rankings but I like Machida’s experience against other elite fighters over the other three younger guys.

 

Middleweight:

 

1)  Anderson Silva

…that is all

 

Just kidding, here’s the rest of my top-five

2)  Chael Sonnen

3)  Chris Weidman

4)  Michael Bisping

5)  Mark Munoz

 

Outside looking in:  Tim Boetsch, Vitor Belfort

 

Thoughts:  I actually thought Sonnen looked good in the first round in his rematch against Silva but darn it if I didn’t know that fight was over when he missed that spinning back elbow in round two.  He’s still the second-best fighter in the division.  As for the rest of the list, you can pick a name from a hat and make an argument for any of the other guys.  Weidman gets the nod for beating Munoz easily and I think he would win a hypothetical matchup against Bisping.

 

Welterweight:

 

1)  Georges St. Pierre

2)  Carlos Condit

3)  Nick Diaz

4)  Johny Hendricks

5)  Martin Kampmann

 

Outside looking in:  Jon Fitch, Jake Ellenberger

 

Thoughts:  Save your Jon Fitch talk…he almost didn’t make the list at all.  I REALLY, REALLY wanted to place Diaz ahead of Condit but the New Mexico native did win the fight by decision and I could see the argument made for either man.  I will always show love to Stockton, the 209 and will never be scared, homie, but as a journalist, I have to show no bias and Condit is an outstanding fighter in his own right.  Back in 2008, when I saw Hendricks make his WEC debut and beat Justin Haskins, I predicted that he would be a champion…anyway, the Oklahoma State-product is making a major climb within the division and is most likely a win over Kampmann away from earning a title shot.

 

Lightweight:

1) Benson Henderson

2) Frankie Edgar

3)  Gray Maynard

4)  Gilbert Melendez

5)  Nate Diaz

 

Outside looking in: Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis

 

Thoughts: I thought Henderson won his fight against Edgar easily and deserves to be at the top of the rankings.  Edgar has developed into an interesting case because he’s the smallest guy in the group but is arguably the top wrestler and the fastest guy in the division, in relation to hand speed.  Therefore, he gets the nod over the rest of the guys even though if Edgar stepped into the ring against Melendez and even Diaz, the New Jersey-native would be a favorite but not by much.

Featherweight/Bantamweight:

I’m combining both for brevity, the fact that you see fighters in both weights fluctuate between the divisions and darn it, this is entertainment fun…

 

1)  Jose Aldo

2)  Dominick Cruz

3)  Renan Barao

4)  Urijah Faber

5)  Pat Curran/Chad Mendez

 

 

 

Thoughts:  Yes, I cheated by placing Curran and Mendez in a tie, debate me and make a case for either guy.  I also have Aldo as the top guy because even if each guy fought at a catch-weight like 140, he would be the superior fighter against all of those guys.  Barao is going to be a major test for Cruz when that fight happens.  Faber seems to be stuck in no-mans land since his last three losses have been to the top three guys in the rankings.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?