SPORTSNET.CA’s MMA rankings
by (Big Game) James Brydon
as of May 11, 2010
Not only did Mauricio (Shogun) Rua become the new UFC light-heavyweight champion with his knockout of Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida at UFC 113 in Montreal, he also became the now undisputed top 205-pounder in the world — not to mention one of the very best pound-for-pound.
Shogun made the most significant splash in the latest edition of the rankings.
Pound-for-pound
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Anderson Silva
4. Jose Aldo
5. Mauricio Rua
6. B.J. Penn
7. Lyoto Machida
8. Brock Lesnar
9. Jon Fitch
10. Jake Shields
Rua didn’t just dethrone Lyoto Machida on Saturday night; he demolished him. It was an emphatic statement and moves him into the No. 5 position in the rankings.
Canadian pound-for-pound
1. Georges St. Pierre (St. Isidore, Que.)
2. Patrick Cote (Quebec City)
3. Sam Stout (London, Ont.)
4. Mark Bocek (Toronto)
5. Mark Hominick (Thamesford, Ont.)
6. Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg)
7. Rory MacDonald (Kelowna, B.C.)
8. Joe Doerksen (Winnipeg, Man.)
9. T.J. Grant (Cole Harbour, N.S.)
10. Ryan Jimmo (Halifax)
Saturday was a disaster for Canadian fighters and also made reshuffling these rankings a difficult task. I thought Sam Stout and Patrick Cote performed well despite their losses so they hold their spots just below GSP. T.J. Grant also fought hard and lost a close decision so he keeps his position at No. 9.
Joe Doerksen improved his win streak overall to six straight and showed amazing resilience. He moves into No. 8, just below Rory MacDonald, who moved up three spots by virtue of others dropping (and the fact that the last guy he beat, Mike Guymon, won Saturday, making MacDonald’s record look all the more impressive.)
Unfortunately for the other MacDonald, Jason (The Athlete) lost his third straight in the UFC, snapping (no pun intended) his three-fight win streak overall. I had MacDonald as Canada’s top middleweight, but after a really tough break (not again) he drops off the list, along with fellow 185-pounder Denis Kang.
Making his first appearance in the ranking is Ryan Jimmo, who won his 13th consecutive fight Friday night at MFC 25 in Edmonton. He handily beat ex-UFC contender Wilson Gouveia. It was his third in a row over a former UFC or WEC fighter (Marvin Eastman, Emanuel Newton).
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Shane Carwin
4. Frank Mir
5. Cain Velasquez
6. Junior Dos Santos
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Josh Barnett
No changes.
Light heavyweight
1. Mauricio Rua
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Rashad Evans
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Thiago Silva
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
8. Jon Jones
9. Muhammed Lawal
10. Gegard Mousasi
Mauricio Rua replaces Lyoto Machida at the top. I believe that goes without saying — or any need for explanation.
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Jake Shields
3. Chael Sonnen
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Dan Henderson
6. Demian Maia
7. Vitor Belfort
8. Yushin Okami
9. Robbie Lawler
10. Yoshihiro Akiyama
I’ve been very high on Patrick Cote (and I still am) but after losing Saturday, I can’t sustain his position on the list. Getting face-planted must have sucked, but kudos to Alan Belcher for making sure he didn’t spike Cote and keeping it legal. With a space open from Cote’s demotion, I was tempted to move Belcher onto the list, but he lost last summer to Yoshihiro Akiyama, and he grabs the No. 10 slot. Sorry, Alan, you still have a bit to go before you get a crack at Anderson Silva.
Welterweight
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Dan Hardy
6. Paulo Thiago
7. Mike Swick
8. Nick Diaz
9. Paul Daley
10. Martin Kampmann
No matter what you think of Josh Koscheck and his antics, he utterly dominated and frustrated a dangerous Paul Daley (you’ve got to be pretty effective to provoke what Daley did after the bell). And even if Koscheck did “fake” getting hit by that knee in the first round, keep in mind what Daley tried to do was illegal. The UFC should question Koscheck about it (if it hasn’t already) but I won’t penalize him for it as far as the rankings go.
Koscheck showed his skills and earned his shot at Georges St-Pierre and moves up two spots. Yes, he moves ahead of Paulo Thiago, who beat him just over a year ago; remember, Koscheck took that fight on a short turnaround and the first-round stoppage was a somewhat questionable one.
Daley, meanwhile, may never fight in the UFC again, but he is still a tough fighter. He drops one rung but that’s all — his knockout of Martin Kampmann in September was legit.
Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn
2. Frankie Edgar
3. Kenny Florian
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Gilbert Melendez
6. Ben Henderson
7. Shinya Aoki
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Gray Maynard
10. Tatsuya Kawajiri
No changes, just some comments. Eddie Alvarez might be one of the best fighters many tend to overlook, having made his name in BodogFIGHT before moving to Dream and now Bellator. On Wednesday, the Bellator lightweight champ choked out former UFC fighter Josh Neer in 160-pound catchweight non-title bout.
Meanwhile, Pat Curran upset former top-10 lightweight Roger Huerta in the tournament and advanced to the final against Toby Imada, who continues to impress with another slick submission of Carey Vanier. Imada may make some noise here in the future.
Featherweight
1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Bibiano Fernandes
4. Manny Gamburyan
5. Mike Brown
6. Urijah Faber
7. Raphael Assuncao
8. Michihiro Omigawa
9. Josh Grispi
10. Marlon Sandro
No changes.
Bantamweight
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Miguel Torres
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Takeya Mizugaki
7. Damacio Page
8. Antonio Banuelos
9. Rani Yahya
10. Shuichiro Katsumura
It was overdue but Will Ribeiro is removed from the list after being sidelined for well over a year following a motorcycle accident that likely ended his fight career. Shuichiro Katsumura, who captured the Shooto title in March, gets the No. 10 slot.
Previous rankings can be found by clicking here.
