GLOBAL-MMA Rankings (Outside UFC) - March 2013

Heavyweight
1.  Sergei Kharitonov (DREAM)
2.  Kenny Garner (M-1 Global Champion)
3.  Alexander Volkov (Bellator Champion)
4.  Damian Grabowski (Bellator)
5.  Magomed Malikov (M-1 Global)
6.  Jeff Monson (M-1 Global)
7.  Richard Hale (Bellator)
8.  Thiago Santos (Bellator)
9.  Andrei Arlovski (WSOF)
10. Mike Russow (Free Agent)

Other Contenders: Shamil Abdurahimov (ADFC), Guram Gugenishvili (M-1 Global), Levan Razmadze (Free Agent), Soa Palelei (AFC), Vitaly Minakov (Bellator)

Light Heavyweight
1.  Emanuel Newton (Bellator)  
2.  Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (Bellator)
3.  Jan Blachowicz (KSW Champion)
4.  Attila Vegh (Bellator Champion)
5.  Travis Wiuff (Bellator)
6.  Mikhail Zayats (Bellator)
7.  Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (DEEP Champion)
8.  Anthony Johnson (WSOF)
9.  Christian M’Pumbu (Bellator)
10. Vladimir Matyushenko (Free Agent)

Other Contenders: Renato Sobral (Bellator), Raphael Davis (Bellator), Tomasz Narkun (M-1 Global), Moise Rimbon (Instinct MMA), Viktor Nemkov (M-1 Global)

Middleweight
1.  Alexander Shlemenko (Bellator Champion)
2.  Mamed Khalidov (KSW)
3.  Antonio Neto (AFC)
4.  Michal Materla (KSW Champion)
5.  Maiquel Falcao (Bellator)
6.  Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (Bellator)
7.  Ramazan Emeev (M-1 Global Champion)
8.  Mario Miranda (M-1 Global)
9.  Arthur Guseinov (M-1 Global)
10. Bruno Santos (Bellator)

Other Contenders: Doug Marshall (Bellator), Vitor Vianna (Bellator), Thales Leites (WSOF), Dan Cramer (Bellator), Brian Rogers (Bellator)

Welterweight
1.  Ben Askren (Bellator Champion)
2.  Rashid Magomedov (M-1 Global Champion)
3.  Douglas Lima (Bellator)
4.  Jon Fitch (Free Agent)
5.  Yasubey Enomoto (M-1 Global)
6.  Paul Daley (Bellator)
7.  Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura (Legend FC)
8.  Shamil Zavurov (Bellator)
9.  Akihiro Murayama (Pancrase)
10. Takenori Sato (Pancrase Champion)

Other Contenders: Andrey Koreshkov (Bellator), Karl Amoussou (Bellator), Aslambek Saidov (KSW Champion), Jay Hieron (Free Agent), Fabricio Monteiro (ONE FC)

Lightweight
1.  Michael Chandler (Bellator Champion)
2.  Eddie Alvarez (Bellator)
3.  Shinya Aoki (ONE FC)
4.  Musa Khamanaev (M-1 Global Champion)  
5.  Kotetsu Boku (ONE FC Champion)
6.  Rick Hawn (Bellator)
7.  Daniel Weichel (M-1 Global)
8.  Antonio McKee (DREAM)
9.  Naoyuki Kotani (ZST Champion)
10. Saad Awad (Bellator)

Other Contenders: David Rickels (Bellator), Jadamba Narantungalag (Legend FC Champion), Will Brooks (Bellator), Lloyd Woodard (Bellator), Paul Sass (Free Agent)

Featherweight
1.  Pat Curran (Bellator Champion)
2.  Georgi Karakhanyan (DREAM)
3.  Hiroyuki Takaya (DREAM)
4.  Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM)
5.  Patricio Freire (Bellator)
6.  Diego Nunes (Free Agent)
7.  Daniel Straus (Bellator)
8.  Marlon Sandro (Bellator)
9.  Kazunori Yokota (DEEP Champion)
10. Honorio Banario (ONE FC Champion)

Other Contenders: Marat Gafurov (M-1 Global Champion), Shahbulat Shamhalaev (Bellator), Kazuyuki Miyata (DEEP), Doo Ho Choi (DEEP), Rad Martinez (Bellator)

Bantamweight
1.  Bibiano Fernandes (ONE FC)
2.  Tyson Nam (WSOF)
3.  Eduardo Dantas (Bellator Champion)
4.  Soo Chul Kim (ONE FC Champion)
5.  Masakatsu Ueda (ONE FC)
6.  Joe Warren (Bellator)  
7.  Marcos Galvao (Bellator)
8.  Anthony Leone (Bellator)
9.  Zach Makovsky (Free Agent)
10. Luis Alberto Nogueira (Bellator)

Other Contenders: Marlon Moraes (WSOF), Miguel Torres (WSOF), Kevin Belingon (ONE FC), Ed West (Bellator), Travis Marx (Bellator)

Flyweight
1.  Darrell Montague (Free Agent)
2.  Mikihito Yamagami (Shooto Strawweight Champion)
3.  Mitsuhisa Sunabe (Pancrase Junior Flyweight Champion)
4.  Mamoru Yamaguchi (Shooto)
5.  Junji Ito (Shooto)
6.  Shinichi "BJ" Kojima (Shooto)
7.  Yuki Shojo (Shooto)
8.  Ryuichi Miki (Shooto)
9.  Haruo Ochi (Shooto)
10. Kiyotaka Shimizu (Pancrase Super Flyweight Champion)

Other Contenders: Jose Maria Tome (Shooto Brazil), Kentaro Watanabe (Shooto), Alexandre Pantoja (Shooto Brazil), Will Campuzano (Legacy FC Champion), Joshua Sampo (CFA Champion)

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GLOBAL-MMA Ranking Update Summary (March 2013)

Akihiro Murayama: Akihiro Murayama earned a unanimous decision victory over Yuta Nakamura at Pancrase – 245 on 03 February 2013.  The victory did not affect Murayama’s ranking in the welterweight division.

Diego Nunes: UFC featherweight contender, Diego Nunes, was released from the UFC as confirmed on 03 February 2013.  Nunes is now ranked at number 6 in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Wagnney Fabiano was removed from the rankings.

Joe Warren: Joe Warren was moved from the featherweight division to number 7 ranked in the bantamweight division.  Shahbulat Shamhalaev returned to the featherweight contenders list due to the removal of Joe Warren.  Rodolfo Marques Diniz was removed from the bantamweight rankings due to the entrance of Joe Warren.  

Marlon Sandro: Marlon Sandro returned to the Bellator cage at the Bellator MMA event on 07 February 2013 where he earned a majority decision victory against Akop Stepanyan.  Sandro will move on to the Bellator Season 8 featherweight tournament semifinals.  Sandro moved up one spot in the GLOBAL-MMA featherweight rankings to number 7 with the victory.

Alexander Shlemenko: The current best active Russian fighter in the world and the top GLOBAL-MMA middleweight, Alexander Shlemenko, earned the vacant Bellator middleweight title in impressive fashion by finishing top 5 ranked challenger, Maiquel Falcao, at the Bellator MMA event on 07 February 2013.  Falcao came out strong taking the first round before Shlemenko met him head-on in the second blasting the Brazilian with brutal body shots to the liver on the feet and on the ground before finishing him off with two clean shots on the chin to put the lights out.  Shlemenko remains at the top of the GLOBAL-MMA middleweight rankings while Falcao dropped one spot to number 6 due to the defeat.  

Doug Marshall: Doug “The Rhino” Marshall finished Andreas Spang with a walkoff KO in the first round from a vicious punch at Bellator 89 on 14 February 2013.  Marshall will move on to the Bellator middleweight tournament semifinals with the KO victory.  Marshall entered the GLOBAL-MMA middleweight contenders list with the victory as Andreas Spang was removed from the rankings.

Dan Cramer: Dan Cramer earned a unanimous decision victory over Brian Rogers at Bellator 89 to move on to the Bellator middleweight tournament semifinals.  Cramer entered the middleweight contenders list with the victory.  Brian Rogers was dropped from the rankings following the defeat.

Eduardo Dantas: Bellator bantamweight champion and top 3 ranked fighter, Eduardo Dantas, successfully defended his title by finishing his mentor Marcos Galvao in the second round at Bellator 89.  Dantas landed an uppercut on his long time teammate flooring him to the mat where he finished with a flurry of punches.  Dantas remains ranked at number 3 as Marcos Galvao dropped to number 7 in the rankings due to the KO defeat.

Doo Ho Choi: Doo Ho Choi moved up one spot in the featherweight contenders list after finishing Tatsunao Nagakura in the second round at DEEP – 61 Impact on 16 February 2013.

Jon Fitch: Highly ranked UFC welterweight contender, Jon Fitch, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Fitch is now ranked at number 4 in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Lyman Good was removed from the rankings.

Mike Russow: UFC heavyweight contender, Mike Russow, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Russow is now ranked at number 10 in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Rolles Gracie was removed from the rankings.

Vladimir Matyushenko: UFC light heavyweight contender, Vladimir Matyushenko, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Matyushenko is now ranked at number 10 in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Mark Godbeer was removed from the rankings.

Jay Hieron: UFC welterweight contender, Jay Hieron, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Hieron is now ranked in the contenders list in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Myung Ho Bae was removed from the rankings.

Paul Sass: UFC lightweight contender, Paul Sass, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Sass is now ranked in the contenders list in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Marcin Held was removed from the rankings.

Jacob Volkmann: UFC lightweight contender, Jacob Volkmann, was released from the UFC as reported on 20 February 2013.  Volkmann is now ranked in the contenders list in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings.  Satoru Kitaoka was removed from the rankings.

Travis Marx: Travis Marx earned a unanimous decision victory over Chase Beebe at Bellator 90 on 21 February 2013 to maintain his spot in the bantamweight contenders list.

Mikhail Zayats: Mikhail Zayats continued his winning streak by finishing Jacob Noe at Bellator 90 with an armbar submission in the first round.  The victory earned Zayats a spot in the Bellator light heavyweight tournament finals and a spot at number 6 in the GLOBAL-MMA light heavyweight rankings.

Douglas Lima: Douglas Lima maintained his spot in the welterweight top 3 by finishing off Bryan Baker via knockout from punches in the first round at Bellator 90.  Lima will move into the Bellator welterweight tournament finals to take on Ben Saunders in a rematch.

Emanual Newton: The light heavyweight division has a new king, as Emanuel Newton earned the top spot by finishing Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal with a spinning back fist in the first round at Bellator 90.  The knockout victory is an early candidate for both knockout of the year and upset of the year.  The victory not only earned Newton a top spot in the division, “The Hardcore Kid” will also move on to the Bellator light heavyweight tournament finals where he will meet Mikhail Zayats in a fight that promises to be fireworks from the opening bell.  Maxim Grishin was removed from the light heavyweight rankings due to the entrance of Newton.

Shahbulat Shamhalaev: Shahbulat Shamhalaev knocked out Rad Martinez in the second round at Bellator 90 in the Bellator featherweight tournament finals.  Shamhalaev will fight for the Bellator featherweight title against the winner of Bellator champion Pat Curran and Daniel Straus.  Shamhalaev moved to the top of the featherweight contenders list while Martinez fell a few spots toward the bottom of the list.

Paul Daley: Top ten welterweight Paul Daley finished Patrick Vallee with a flying knee in the second round at CC 16 on 23 February 2013.  The victory did not affect Daley’s ranking position.  

Magomed Sultanakhmedov: Former M-1 Global middleweight champion, top 5 ranked, Magomed Sultanakhmedov has not fought in nearly two years and is reportedly retired as of 24 February 2013.  Sultanakhmedov was removed from the rankings.  Brian Rogers returned to the middleweight rankings following the removal of Sultanakhmedov.

Daniel Weichel: Daniel Weichel defeated Artiom Damkovsky at M-1 Challenge 37 on 27 February 2013 to maintain his spot in the lightweight top 10.

Musa Khamanaev: Musa Khamanaev successfully defended his M-1 Global lightweight title by earning a unanimous decision victory over Niko Puhakka at M-1 Challenge 37.  Musa maintained his spot in the lightweight top 5 due to the successful title defense.

Ed West: Ed West took one step up the bantamweight contenders list with a beautiful second round head kick knockout over Joshua Montoya at Bellator 91 on 28 February 2013.

David Rickels: David Rickels earned a unanimous decision victory over Jason Fischer in the Bellator lightweight tournament semifinals at Bellator 91.  Rickels maintained his spot in the lightweight contenders list with the victory.

Saad Awad: Saad Awad finished top 10 ranked Will Brooks with a flurry of punches in just 43 seconds of the first round at Bellator 91.  Awad entered the lightweight top 10 with the victory and will move on to the Bellator lightweight tournament finals to take on David Rickels.  Brooks dropped to the contenders list following the defeat.  The entrance of Awad bumped ranking new comer Jacob Volkmann out of the rankings.

Attila Vegh: Attila Vegh earned the Bellator light heavyweight title by earning a unanimous decision victory over Christian M’Pumbu at Bellator 91.  Vegh maintained his position in the light heavyweight rankings with the victory as M’Pumbu fell 3 spots to number 9 in the rankings following his second straight defeat.

* A number of other top ranked fighters won fights against fighters ranked lower than them which did not alter their ranking status.  

** Ranked Fighters Removed from All Previous Rankings Dating Back to February 2012:

Heavyweight: Tony Lopez, Blagoi Ivanov, Fedor Emelianenko (Retired), Cole Konrad (Retired), Brett Rogers, Eric Prindle, Todd Duffee (UFC), Alexei Kudin, Aleksander Emelianenko (Retired), Rolles Gracie

Light Heavyweight: Glover Texeira (UFC), D.J. Linderman, Marcus Vanttinen, Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce), Jimi Manuwa (UFC), Vinny Magalhaes (UFC), Roger Hollett (UFC), Richard Hale (Division Change), Mark Godbeer, Maxim Grishin

Middleweight: Nate Marquardt (Strikeforce), Giva Santana, Bryan Baker, Hector Lombard (UFC), Andrei Semenov, Jorge Santiago (Strikeforce), Anthony Johnson (Division Change), Ryuta Sakurai, Magomed Sultanakhmedov (Retired)

Welterweight: Ben Saunders, Gael Grimaud, Bryan Baker, Yuya Shirai, Marius Zaromskis, Alexander Yakovlev, Lyman Good, Myung Ho Bae

Lightweight: Franciso Trinaldo (UFC), Ricardo Tirloni, Koji Oishi, Mizuto Hirota (Strikeforce), Mairbek Taisumov, Isao Kobayashi, Zorobabel Moreira, Alexander Sarnavskiy, Rich Clementi, Patricky Freire, Katsunori Kikuno, Marcin Held, Satoru Kitaoka

Featherweight: Ronnie Mann, Mike Corey, Wilson Reis, Joachim Hansen, Mike Richman, Yusuke Kawanago, Takeshi Inoue, Joe Warren (Division Change), Wagnney Fabiano

Bantamweight: Hiroshi Nakamura, Masakazu Imanari, Leandro Issa, Hideo Tokoro, Yusup Saadulaev, Antonio Banuelos, Wagnney Fabiano (Division Change), Alexis Vila, Rodolfo Marques Diniz

Flyweight: Rambaa Somdet, Taiyo Nakahara, Rey Docyogen

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GLOBAL-MMA Ranking Rules

*This ranking system includes fighters that are not under exclusive contract to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

*Top level fighters that leave the UFC may be ranked in subsequent rankings.

*Fighters that sign exclusively to the UFC will be removed from the rankings.

*Rankings are based on a fighter's overall career results and recent performance.

*A fighter will be ranked number one if he defeats the number one ranked fighter in the weight division except under certain rare circumstances where the number two ranked fighter clearly deserves to move into the number one ranking position.  

*Victories over highly ranked fighters and losses against non-ranked opponents have a larger effect on the fighters ranking position.

*A fighter will not necessarily take the place of his opponent in the rankings after a victory or a loss.

* A fighter can move up a maximum of two spots with impressive victories over a fighter ranked below him; however, there is no limit if the fighter earned a title with the victory.

* An unranked newly crowned champion who earned a title in a major league MMA promotion can enter the top ten even with a victory over an unranked fighter.

*A fighter will drop in the rankings if he does not fight regularly against high level competition.

*A top ten ranked fighter can become ranked in another weight division after one or more wins in his new weight class.

*A fighter can be ranked in two different weight divisions.

*Champions and fighters from prominent promotions will have an advantage over champions and fighters from promotions with lesser competition.

*A fighter will be removed from the rankings if he does not fight for two years.

*Fighters that are signed to multiple promotions will have their promotions listed based on the following criteria: 1) championship held in a promotion, 2) predominant promotion the fighter fights in, 3) promotion
last fought in.

*Rankings will be updated every month.

Below are stats that show the number of fighters per promotion that are ranked in the GLOBAL-MMA top 10.

GLOBAL-MMA Top 10 Rankings Promotional Statistics:

1. Bellator - 31 Fighters Ranked in the Top 10
2. M-1 Global - 10
3. ONE FC - 7
4. Shooto - 6
5. Free Agents - 6
6. DREAM - 5
7. Pancrase - 4
8. WSOF - 3
9. KSW - 3
10. DEEP - 2
11. AFC - 1
12. Legend FC - 1
13. ZST - 1

So for the 80 fighters listed, 12 promotions (plus 6 free agents) have fighters ranked in the GLOBAL-MMA top 10.

I totally forgot lol still doesn't feel like March. Regardless, I did a check and the Flyweight rankings would've stayed the same anyways as most movement was on my watch-list.

A lot of stuff ahead for the division though. Atsushi Yamamoto has a chance to make a splash and DEEP's flyweight division became stacked overnight with additions of Tatsumitsu Wada, Takafumi Otsuka, Yusaku Nakamura, and Makoto Kamaya.

wekka wrote:I totally forgot lol still doesn't feel like March. Regardless, I did a check and the Flyweight rankings would've stayed the same anyways as most movement was on my watch-list.

A lot of stuff ahead for the division though. Atsushi Yamamoto has a chance to make a splash and DEEP's flyweight division became stacked overnight with additions of Tatsumitsu Wada, Takafumi Otsuka, Yusaku Nakamura, and Makoto Kamaya.

That's cool. I checked them over before posting and didn't see any changes needed. A couple of the guys listed had wins in February against un-ranked opponents but really nothing to cause a change.

It will be cool to see some of these DEEP guys in the future rankings.

ksw needs to lend Khalidov for a Bellator tourney I know he'd make to shlemenko. That would be a epic main event.

PRIDE NEVER DIE wrote:ksw needs to lend Khalidov for a Bellator tourney I know he'd make to shlemenko. That would be a epic main event.

I agree. I would love to see that or bring Shlemenko into the KSW ring against Khalidov. Either way. I really hope they make this fight happen. KSW was really working for the Lombard fight before he left to the UFC but now this is the fight that needs to happen.

Volkman would have been in the contenders list but he got bumped out when Awad took out Brooks on Thursday to enter the rankings.

Looks perfect, Fitch at #4, Russow #10, Vlad #10. Maybe Diego Nunes is a bit too high.

cd....great job as always...

im going to say a few suggestions....

-imo rumble johnson is top 5 at lhw, and his coming fight vs arlovski at hw should not change his ranking at all....

-monson and aa should be higher at hw....imo above malikov....the gp will determine alot next month...

-fitch is an official wsof fighter...

-antonio mckee could be on his way out the top 10...maybe jacob volkmann should have been there or at least in the contenders...

-tyson steele should be a contender at ww...

-marlon moraes was ranked last few months he hasnt loss why is he out of the top 10...he beat miguel torres and now faces tyson nam...wow, this one i dont like i think moraes deserves better

great job as always, keep it up just a few suggestions from another perspective...cd great job!!!!

PRIDE FC wrote:Looks perfect, Fitch at #4, Russow #10, Vlad #10. Maybe Diego Nunes is a bit too high.

Thanks Johan. Yeah, Nunes was a tough one to place. He has some good wins but some recent losses as well. We'll should see how he does outside the UFC soon.

MR.WILLIE wrote:cd....great job as always...

im going to say a few suggestions....

-imo rumble johnson is top 5 at lhw, and his coming fight vs arlovski at hw should not change his ranking at all....

-monson and aa should be higher at hw....imo above malikov....the gp will determine alot next month...

-fitch is an official wsof fighter...

-antonio mckee could be on his way out the top 10...maybe jacob volkmann should have been there or at least in the contenders...

-tyson steele should be a contender at ww...

-marlon moraes was ranked last few months he hasnt loss why is he out of the top 10...he beat miguel torres and now faces tyson nam...wow, this one i dont like i think moraes deserves better

great job as always, keep it up just a few suggestions from another perspective...cd great job!!!!

Thanks Willie. Great suggestions. Responses below:

- Rumble is def. a great LHW...I hope he continues to fight in this weight class. He has two fights in this division and his HW fight will not change his LHW ranking as you mentioned. If he were to permanently move to HW then he would be ranked there or if he plans to fight in both divisions he can be ranked in both but I do not believe those are his plans unless he takes out AA impressively. Hopefully he has another LHW fight soon so he can climb up the list.

- The M-1 HW GP will definitely change these rankings around. Can't wait for it. Malikov's earlier big win over Aleks had him ranked high. If AA beats Rumble he could move up two spots to number 7. Malikov, Garner, and Monson have some tough tests coming up in the GP so they could be moving around soon.

- Just added WSOF to Fitch on my PC where I keep the rankings updated based on this. I try to stay on top of all the org. official signings but sometimes they slip so I appreciate the input when this happens. I also changed Grabowski to free agent since he is no longer with Bellator.

- Yeah, McKee could be getting passed up soon unless he gets some big wins. I had Volkman in the contenders right behind Sass but Awad's entrance from his win over Will Brooks bumped Volkman out. I felt Volkman should be behind Sass due to his recent loss to him. He could get back in with wins in WSOF or if some else is dropped. I have him at the very top of the list to get into the rankings contenders list.

- I have Tyson Steele listed on my PC at WW. I added him right after his win over Gregor Gracie so he is on the cusp of getting added.

- Moraes was ranked at number 9. He got pushed down to 10 when Anthony Leone beat then top 4 ranked Zach Makovsky. He got pushed down the list one more notch to the contenders list when Joe Warren officially moved to BW.

Thanks for all the input. I appreciate it.

When will Josh Barnett be ranked?

CD and wekka here are some questions for you on the underground http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum.posts&thread=2142468&forum=1&page=1&pc=12

People do not understand the reasoning for.the.flyweights at all :/

Its not bias when the the flyweight division has been far more.established in Japan for years now. They've had a higher level of competition because that's where the best fought. Only recently, has elsewhere shown improvement at 125 and below. It has nothing to so with bias as much as it has to do.with depth and strength of opposition, which the rest of the world is finally catching up in.

Exactly but look at the people it's coming from...

I've seen it said on sherdog too.

Great job btw.

It´s a good idea to wait until the former zuffa fighters have a fight in another promotion before we rank them. This way there will be less confusion.

This is one of the times I have to disagree.

I know that this has been discussed, and we've been over it, but I don't agree with Newton as #1 at LHW. I know that the rational is that he beat King Mo, who was the #1, so automatically he becomes #1, but I've mentioned before how I don't think this is right. #1 is not the same as being a champion. We do not have titlists. This is just a ranking list.

I would say that both Mo and Newton should be moved down several notches. Newton is clearly not the best LHW in the world. He deserves an upward ranking for his big victory, and he will have a chance to test his worth more soon. But, he is not the #1 fighter in the world.

Like I've said, if you want to argue that beating the top guy proves a guy's high worth, well it goes the other way too. Losing to a lower ranked guy proves some disworth. When a high ranked fighter loses to a low ranked fighter, the low ranked fighter shouldn't simply capture the higher ranked fighter's rank, they should both move closer together. Newton deserves to be ranked ahead of Mo. But, he doesn't deserve to be in the #1 spot. I wouldn't put him any higher than 3, myself, with Mo one spot behind him.

PRIDE FC wrote:When will Josh Barnett be ranked?

After it is confirmed that he isn't signed with UFC. I think it would be jumping the gun at this point because he could get a top offer he is still not happy with and end up signing with the UFC.

PRIDE FC wrote:CD and wekka here are some questions for you on the underground http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum.posts&thread=2142468&forum=1&page=1&pc=12

I never really post there but may stop in.

wekka wrote:People do not understand the reasoning for.the.flyweights at all :/

Its not bias when the the flyweight division has been far more.established in Japan for years now. They've had a higher level of competition because that's where the best fought. Only recently, has elsewhere shown improvement at 125 and below. It has nothing to so with bias as much as it has to do.with depth and strength of opposition, which the rest of the world is finally catching up in.

Yup, this is spot on. Great job with the rankings wekka.

Junkyard Log wrote:Exactly but look at the people it's coming from...

I've seen it said on sherdog too.

Exactly

PRIDE FC wrote:It´s a good idea to wait until the former zuffa fighters have a fight in another promotion before we rank them. This way there will be less confusion.

If they are cut and become free agents I think it is good to list them immediately. Barnett is not technically cut and he could still resign with Zuffa. Rampage has a matching clause with UFC so it would be jumping the gun posting these guys only but the rest make sense to post right after they are officially released from contract.

nodogoshi wrote:This is one of the times I have to disagree.

I know that this has been discussed, and we've been over it, but I don't agree with Newton as #1 at LHW. I know that the rational is that he beat King Mo, who was the #1, so automatically he becomes #1, but I've mentioned before how I don't think this is right. #1 is not the same as being a champion. We do not have titlists. This is just a ranking list.

I would say that both Mo and Newton should be moved down several notches. Newton is clearly not the best LHW in the world. He deserves an upward ranking for his big victory, and he will have a chance to test his worth more soon. But, he is not the #1 fighter in the world.

Like I've said, if you want to argue that beating the top guy proves a guy's high worth, well it goes the other way too. Losing to a lower ranked guy proves some disworth. When a high ranked fighter loses to a low ranked fighter, the low ranked fighter shouldn't simply capture the higher ranked fighter's rank, they should both move closer together. Newton deserves to be ranked ahead of Mo. But, he doesn't deserve to be in the #1 spot. I wouldn't put him any higher than 3, myself, with Mo one spot behind him.

This is just how rankings work though in combat sports. Mo was clearly the number 1 LHW and he was finished in the first round. If there was a title it would have been taken and the top spot given to the guy that beat him. It should be really rare where only the number 2 fighter would take this spot.

If a fighter loses to an unranked fighter it does usually have a big effect on the ranking and the guy that won jumps ahead of him but usually moves down a bit on the ladder. In Mo's case though, I thought it was best to keep him above Jan and Vegh.

Thanks for the positive feedback.
These people will get their wishes soon too lol. Kentaro Watanabe hasn't been very active lately, so unless he gets a fight soon, he'll be dropped in favor of Dileno Lopes if he's victorious.