GLOBAL-MMA Rankings (Outside UFC) - February 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. Shamil Abdurahimov (ADFC)

Other Contenders: Guram Gugenishvili (M-1 Global), Levan Razmadze (Free Agent), Soa Palelei (AFC), Vitaly Minakov (Bellator), Rolles Gracie (ONE FC)

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

Other Contenders: Tomasz Narkun (M-1 Global), Moise Rimbon (Instinct MMA), Viktor Nemkov (M-1 Global), Maxim Grishin (M-1 Global), Mark Godbeer (BAMMA)

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

Other Contenders: Bruno Santos (Bellator), Andreas Spang (Bellator), Brian Rogers (Bellator), Vitor Vianna (Bellator), Thales Leites (WSOF)

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

Other Contenders: Karl Amoussou (Bellator), Aslambek Saidov (KSW Champion), Fabricio Monteiro (ONE FC), Myung Ho Bae (Legend FC Champion), Lyman Good (Bellator)

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. Will Brooks (Bellator)
10. Naoyuki Kotani (ZST Champion)

Other Contenders: David Rickels (Bellator), Jadamba Narantungalag (Legend FC Champion), Lloyd Woodard (Bellator), Satoru Kitaoka (DREAM), Marcin Held (Bellator)

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

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

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

Other Contenders: Miguel Torres (WSOF), Kevin Belingon (ONE FC), Travis Marx (Bellator), Ed West (Bellator), Rodolfo Marques Diniz (WSOF)

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 (February 2013)

Pat Curran: Pat Curran retained his Bellator featherweight title by defeating top 5 ranked Patricio “Pit Bull” Freire by split decision at Bellator 85 on 17 January 2013. Based on the change in the ranking rules, Pat Curran is now the top fighter in the featherweight division. Freire maintained his ranking position with the close decision loss.

Mikhail Zayats: Russian light heavyweight contender, Mikhail Zayats, finished veteran fighter Renato “Babalu” Sobral with a flurry of punches in the first round at Bellator 85. The victory earned Zayats a spot in the Bellator light heavyweight tournament semi-finals and a spot at number 8 in the GLOBAL-MMA rankings. “Babalu” fell just one spot, to number 9, following the defeat.

Michael Chandler: Bellator lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, defended his crown in impressive fashion at Bellator 85 by finishing Rick Hawn with a rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Based on the change in the ranking rules, Michael Chandler is now the top fighter in the lightweight division. An eagerly awaited rematch with Eddie Alvarez will be looming for the champion if Alvarez’s contract disputes with Bellator can be resolved. Rick Hawn fell just one spot following the submission loss to the new GLOBAL-MMA lightweight king.

Alexis Vila: Alexis Vila fell victim to a guillotine choke submission applied by Joshua Sampo at CFA 9 on 19 January 2013. This was Vila’s inaugural fight in the flyweight division. Vila was removed from the bantamweight division contenders list following this loss and the change in division. WSOF star bantamweight, Rodolfo Marques Diniz, returned to the bantamweight contenders list following the removal of Vila.

Douglas Lima: Douglas Lima returned to the Bellator MMA cage on 24 January 2013 at the Bellator Welterweight World Championship event taking out Russian welterweight, Michail Tsarev, with crippling leg kicks in the second round. Lima chopped Tsarev down with precision shots to the leg forcing the referee to call a halt to the bout as Tsarev could hardly stand. The victory moved Lima into the semi-finals of the Bellator welterweight tournament. Lima remains ranked at number 3 in the welterweight division.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: Light heavyweight ruler, “King Mo,” made his debut in the Bellator cage at the Bellator Welterweight World Championship event in the quarterfinals of the Bellator light heavyweight tournament. “King Mo” made easy work of Polish fighter Przemyslaw Mysiala finishing him with punches in the first round. “King Mo” remains at the top of the GLOBAL-MMA light heavyweight rankings.

Ben Askren: Ben Askren held onto to his top spot in the welterweight rankings by finishing Karl Amoussou at the Bellator Welterweight World Championship event. Askren dominated Amoussou on the ground throughout the fight with a volume of punches and elbows to retain his Bellator welterweight title. Top 10 ranked Andrey Koreshkov is next in line for a crack at the top ranked Bellator welterweight champion. Karl Amoussou dropped two spots into the contenders list following the defeat.

Will Brooks: Will Brooks has quickly gone from unknown prospect to top ten lightweight in less than one month. On New Year’s Eve in Japan Brooks finished Kitaoka in impressive fashion and at the Bellator Lightweight Championship event on 31 January 2012, Brooks edged out previously ranked lightweight contender, Ricardo Tirloni, by unanimous decision. Brooks will move on to the Bellator lightweight tournament semi-finals and has now entered the GLOBAL-MMA top ten.

David Rickels: David Rickels outpointed previous top 10 ranked lightweight Lloyd Woodard on all judges’ score cards at the Bellator Lightweight Championship event. Rickels entered the GLOBAL-MMA lightweight contenders list and will move on to the Bellator lightweight tournament semi-finals. Lloyd Woodard had now dropped 3 of his last 4 fights although the fights have been against some of the division’s best. Woodard fell to the contenders list due to the defeat. Katsunori Kikuno was removed from the rankings following the entrance of Rickels.

Honorio Banario: ONE FC crowned their inaugural featherweight champion, Philippine fighter Honorio Banario. Banario finished Eric Kelly with a well placed left hook to earn the crown at ONE FC Return of Warriors on 02 February 2013. Banario now holds titles with two promotions under the ONE FC Network in ONE FC and URCC. Banario cracked into the GLOBAL-MMA top ten featherweight rankings with the TKO victory. Shahbulat Shamhalaev was removed from the rankings following the entrance of Banario.

* 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)

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)

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

Welterweight: Ben Saunders, Gael Grimaud, Bryan Baker, Jay Hieron, Yuya Shirai, Marius Zaromskis, Alexander Yakovlev

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

Featherweight: Ronnie Mann, Mike Corey, Wilson Reis, Joachim Hansen, Mike Richman, Yusuke Kawanago, Takeshi Inoue, Shahbulat Shamhalaev

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

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.

There was a change to the ranking rules this month that will allow the number 2 fighter to take the number 1 spot under certain rare circumstances.

The new rule states:

"*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."

Chandler and Curran are now ranked number 1 in their divisions.

Also, all references to Strikeforce were removed.

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

So for the 80 fighters listed, 13 promotions (plus 2 free agents) have fighters ranked in the GLOBAL-MMA top 10.

Curran and Chandler deserve the #1 spots so this is much better.

PRIDE FC wrote:Curran and Chandler deserve the #1 spots so this is much better.

Yeah, I agree. There will be rare occasions like this to make an exception to the rule which is now written into our G-MMA rules.

I like the change, imo works better this way.

PRIDE NEVER DIE wrote:I like the change, imo works better this way.

Yeah, it seems like nearly everyone is for this. It does make sense to have this exception on rare occasions.

Rankings are up on Sherdog this month:

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/showthread.php?p=79283837&posted=1#post79283837

^Nice, like someone said Sergei needs a big win to stay at top.

PRIDE FC wrote:^Nice, like someone said Sergei needs a big win to stay at top.

For sure. Wish he would go into the M-1 GP.

Very good list but Patricio is a better fighter than Georgi Karakhanyan, his only recent loss was a split decision vs Curran (#1) and he also had a finish vs Karakhanyan not so long ago and fought better oposition like Straus and Wilson Reis.

bolsheet wrote:Very good list but Patricio is a better fighter than Georgi Karakhanyan, his only recent loss was a split decision vs Curran (#1) and he also had a finish vs Karakhanyan not so long ago and fought better oposition like Straus and Wilson Reis.

The reason Georgi is 2 was due to his win over previous number 1 ranked Takaya. The rankings are mainly based on who you defeat and where their ranking position is especially in the top 3 spots. Georgi was around 6 or 7 before that huge win.

Glad people understand my reasoning for Kojima staying behind Mamoru and Shimizum behind Sunabe.

wekka wrote:Glad people understand my reasoning for Kojima staying behind Mamoru and Shimizum behind Sunabe.

I thought you might give Kojima the nod over Mamoru do to his past win over him and his win over top 15 Rey D. yesterday but he would have had to jump over Ito as well.

CDF47 wrote:

wekka wrote:Glad people understand my reasoning for Kojima staying behind Mamoru and Shimizum behind Sunabe.

I thought you might give Kojima the nod over Mamoru do to his past win over him and his win over top 15 Rey D. yesterday but he would have had to jump over Ito as well.

His loss to Jo really crippled his chances of making a jump without more wins inside the top ten. If Yamaguchi doesn't fight anyone soon enough and Kojima beats an Ochi, then he has definitely earned a higher spot.

wekka wrote:

CDF47 wrote:

wekka wrote:Glad people understand my reasoning for Kojima staying behind Mamoru and Shimizum behind Sunabe.

I thought you might give Kojima the nod over Mamoru do to his past win over him and his win over top 15 Rey D. yesterday but he would have had to jump over Ito as well.

His loss to Jo really crippled his chances of making a jump without more wins inside the top ten. If Yamaguchi doesn't fight anyone soon enough and Kojima beats an Ochi, then he has definitely earned a higher spot.

Yeah, that loss against 6-6 Jo did hurt him a bit. He is top contender now for ONE FC flyweight title. Do you know who they might match him up with for the belt?

I don't really know of any other flyweights they could use. Their other three notable flyweights are either not nearly ready for a jump in competition or they're coming off of a lose.

They could sign guys like Urushitani, Allamurad Karayev, or Ali Cali though

^Yeah, I was thinking the same. They need to bring someone new in. Urushitani would be perfect IMO.

cd great job my friend...

MR.WILLIE wrote:cd great job my friend...

Thank you sir. Chandler and Curran at the top!

Barnett will soon be #1

PRIDE FC wrote:Barnett will soon be #1

That's the way it's looking. Waiting to see who he signs with. Some good options out there for him with GLORY/DREAM, ONE FC, and Bellator.

Rampage could be in the rankings as well soon. Where would you rank Rampage at LHW?

Where would you rank the incoming released UFC fighters?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship this week released 16 fighters from its roster, including world-ranked welterweight Jon Fitch.

Also released was heavyweight Mike Russow; light heavyweights Vladimir Matyushenko and Wagner Prado; welterweights Jay Hieron, Che Mills, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf and Simeon Thoresen; lightweights Terry Etim, C.J. Keith, Paul Sass and Jacob Volkmann; featherweight Josh Grispi; bantamweight Motonobu Tezuka; and flyweight Ulysses Gomez.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Cuts-Jon-Fitch-Jacob-Volkmann-Jay-Hieron-16-Fighters-Released-in-Total-50283

CDF47 wrote:Where would you rank the incoming released UFC fighters?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship this week released 16 fighters from its roster, including world-ranked welterweight Jon Fitch.

Also released was heavyweight Mike Russow; light heavyweights Vladimir Matyushenko and Wagner Prado; welterweights Jay Hieron, Che Mills, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf and Simeon Thoresen; lightweights Terry Etim, C.J. Keith, Paul Sass and Jacob Volkmann; featherweight Josh Grispi; bantamweight Motonobu Tezuka; and flyweight Ulysses Gomez.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Cuts-Jon-Fitch-Jacob-Volkmann-Jay-Hieron-16-Fighters-Released-in-Total-50283

fitch has to be top 5 imo...volkman top 10, russow top 10 for sure...matyushenko can also be top 10...

4 really good fighters....i see wsof and bellator getting 2 a piece of this 4...

MR.WILLIE wrote:

CDF47 wrote:Where would you rank the incoming released UFC fighters?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship this week released 16 fighters from its roster, including world-ranked welterweight Jon Fitch.

Also released was heavyweight Mike Russow; light heavyweights Vladimir Matyushenko and Wagner Prado; welterweights Jay Hieron, Che Mills, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf and Simeon Thoresen; lightweights Terry Etim, C.J. Keith, Paul Sass and Jacob Volkmann; featherweight Josh Grispi; bantamweight Motonobu Tezuka; and flyweight Ulysses Gomez.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Cuts-Jon-Fitch-Jacob-Volkmann-Jay-Hieron-16-Fighters-Released-in-Total-50283

fitch has to be top 5 imo...volkman top 10, russow top 10 for sure...matyushenko can also be top 10...

4 really good fighters....i see wsof and bellator getting 2 a piece of this 4...

Great input Willie.

We had Hieron ranked in the past but he lost two straight fights. They were against some great fighters though.

We had Jorge Santiago in contenders at MW before but he is coming of a decision loss at 170 so he may not get ranked. Possibly WW contenders list if anything.

Maybe Paul Sass since he has a win over Volkman recently and Michael Johnson. Finished both of them. I will look at this as if Volkman was previously ranked here during that fight and Sass beat him and then Sass lost his fights to Castillo and Wiman. I will rank Volkman and Sass as if there fights were under these rankings to try to get this fair as possible.

Thanks for the comments.