BLOODYKNUX JANUARY 2008 RANKINGS

BK NEWS · 01-07-2008, 04:22 AM

BLOODYKNUX.COM JANUARY 2008 RANKINGS

The new year brings a new set of rankings here at BloodyKnux.com. In an effort to produce the best rankings possible we've changed our methods up a bit this time around. Most notably, we've attempted to rank fighters primarily on recent accomplishments rather than letting a fighter's potential give them a boost in the rankings. Relying less on opinion and more on statistics we hope this will reflect in an accurate set of rankings.

The fallout of Pride has left some fighters in a state of limbo so accordingly we're allowing for roughly an 18 month period of activity for eligibility. Fighters are also only eligible to be included in the division in which they most recently fought. All of these things have led to the exclusion of a few fighters. Hopefully in the near future the fighters in question can get settled into a specific division and be matched against solid competition to get recognized where they potentially deserve. Enough of the formalities, in the words of Big John McCarthy, let's get it on!

Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Randy Couture
3. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera
4. Tim Sylvia
5. Josh Barnett
6. Gabriel Gonzaga
7. Andre Arlovski
8. Cheick Kongo
9. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic
10. Fabricio Werdum

Perennial superstar Fedor Emelianenko maintains the top spot at Heavyweight despite lacking quality opposition. His submission victory over Korean powerhouse Hong Man Choi was enough to give him the edge over fan favorite, Randy Couture, who slides in at #2 after coming out of retirement in 2007 to gain back to back wins over ranked opposition in Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga en route to regaining the UFC Heavyweight strap.

The well rounded Brazillian, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, comes in at #3 after a successful UFC debut vs Heath Herring. Ex-UFC Heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia is our #4 after rebounding from a loss to Randy Couture earlier this year with a solid win over a much hyped young prospect Brandon Vera.

After competing seven times in 2006, 2007 did not find Josh Barnett in a ring or cage once. His split pair of decisions with Nogueira but relative inactivity earns him only the fifth spot. 2007 saw Gabriel Gonzaga right high kick himself into MMA fans minds with what can only be called an ironic win over Cro Cop. However the 28 years old Team Link fighter was brought back to earth in a dramatic battle with Couture, leaving him just out of the top five at #6. While Andre Arlovski has been waiting for an opponent since last spring, his win over Fabricio Werdum keeps him at #7.

The eighth position belongs to French fighter Cheick Kongo, who surprised many fans when he upset Mirko Filipovic, who after an extremely disappointing 2007 falls to #9. The thin state of the division can be seen in Fabricio Werdum managing to cling to the tenth spot. A win for Werdum later this month against Gonzaga would obviously boost the Brazilian in the rankings whereas a loss could potentially open the door for our Heavyweight runner-up, Ben Rothwell, to sneak into the top ten.

Light Heavyweight
1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Forrest Griffin
4. Dan Henderson
5. Keith Jardine
6. Chuck Liddell
7. Mauricio Shogun Rua
8. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
9. Wanderlei Silva
10. Rashad Evans

Quinton Jackson, affectionately known as Rampage, made huge waves in the Light Heavyweight division in 2007. He came to the UFC and handily beat the man most considered to be top dog in Chuck Liddell and then proceeded to become the first unified champion of the UFC and Pride with a tough win over Dan henderson. His #1 spot is a no brainer.

Lyoto Machida's consistency and spotless record plus his domination of highly regarded Sokoudjou gets him the second spot in a division that seems to have been turned on its head in recent months. Forrest Griffin moves way up the ladder to #3 after a hard fought victory over top Light Heavyweight Mauricio Shogun Rua. After a knockout win to gain the Pride Middleweight title from Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson's loss to Rampage rounds him out at #4.

Number 5 goes to Keith Jardine after picking apart Chuck Liddell who now comes in at #6 who beat Wanderlei Silva in a very exciting fight to end 2007. The last Pride Middleweight Grand Prix champ, Shogun Rua, ranks at #7 after a disappointing UFC debut. African Judoka, Sokoudjou, finished 2007 on the losing end of an arm triangle choke courtesy of Machida after making a splash earlier in the year to come in at #8.

Well known Brazillian warrior Wanderlei Silva drops to #9 after a second consecutive loss in the division to our #6 Liddell. Michigan State wrestler Rashad Evans gets the final position with a close win over the Brit, Michael Bisping. Meanwhile Thiago Silva put himself on the cusp of our ranks with his schooling on the ground of the explosive Houston Alexander.

Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Paulo Filho
3. Rich Franklin
4. Yushin Okami
5. Robbie Lawler
6. Nate Marquardt
7. Frank Trigg
8. Kazuo Misaki
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
10. Jorge Santiago

The Middleweight division is owned by UFC champ Anderson Silva who continued his win streak in 2007 with wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, and a second victory over Rich Franklin. His fellow Brazillian, Paulo Filho attains our #2 position via winning and defending the WEC title by finishing MMA veterans Joe Doerksen and Chael Sonnen while remaining undefeated thus far in his career. Rich Franklin comes in on their heels at #3 and Japanese fighter Yushin Okami falls in line right behind at #4.

Robbie Lawler has torn apart the competition in smaller organizations lately, most notably Frank Trigg and Murillo Ninja Rua, to rank at #5. Nate Marquardt is right behind at sixth. Frank Trigg's quick kimura over ground specialist Edwin Dewees was enough place him at #7 just ahead of his previous opponent, Kazuo Misaki who comes in at #8 after knocking out our #9 pick, Yoshihiro Akiyama. Jorge Santiago won the recent Strikeforce tournament and in turn won our 10th position while Canada's Denis Kang fell just short of making our top 10.

Welterweight
1. Georges St Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Matt Hughes
4. Matt Serra
5. Karo Parisyan
6. Josh Koscheck
7. Jake Shields
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Carlos Condit
10. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

The French Canadian sensation, Georges St Pierre had the riddum to regain honors at Welterweight after his most recent dominating performances over highly ranked opponents in Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes. Jon Fitch has seemed unstoppable in the UFC with 7 consecutive wins, the most recent being over Diego Sanchez. Fitch falls just behind GSP at #2.

Matt Hughes was a long time UFC champ but succumbed to St Pierre's superior athleticism for a second time in just over a year to place at #3. Despite being the UFC Welterweight champ, Matt Serra has a fairly spotty record outside of his win over St Pierre. He's currently our fourth welterweight. Hopefully Serra will have the chance to prove his win over GSP wasn't a fluke later this year which would afford him the right to move up the ladder.

Armenian Judoka Karo Parisyan comes in at #5 after racking up 3 consecutive decisions in the UFC. Josh Koscheck falls right behind at #6. Elite XC champ Jake Shields has won his last 9 fights and in doing so comes in at #7.

Diego Sanchez suffered back to back decision losses in 2007 and drops to #8 with the WEC Welterweight champ Carlos Condit right behind at #9 after a smooth armbar over the always tough Brock Larson. Yoshiyuki Yoshida snags the tenth spot with a solid string of wins in GCM edging out UFC fighters Marcus Davis and Thiago Alves.

Lightweight
1. Takanori Gomi
2. Mitsuhiro Ishida
3. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
4. Gilbert Melendez
5. Tatsuya Kawajiri
6. Shinya Aoki
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
9. Joe Stevenson
10. Sean Sherk

The Lightweight division is one of the most talent stacked divisions in MMA and also happens to be a mess presently. Takanori Gomi managed to hold on to the top spot despite not having a win in the past year, largely due to the disintegration of Pride FC. Mitsuhiro Ishida pushed himself up to #2 with his recent win over Gil Melendez. JZ Calvancante won his second straight K1 Lightweight tournament to come in at our third position.

Melendez's loss to Ishida drops him to #4 with Tatsuya Kawajiri right behind him at #5. Shinya Aoki comes in at our sixth spot after facing less than stellar competition in his last couple of outings at Lightweight.

Our highest placing Lightweight from the UFC is Frankie Edgar who gets the 7th position with wins over Tyson Griffin, Mark Bocek, and Spencer Fisher. Just after Edgar at 8 is the long time top Lightweight fighter Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro who recently suffered his first loss in 3 years at the hands of our #3, JZ.

Following Shaolin is more of the UFC's top prospects with Joe Stevenson at #9 (holding wins over Yves Edwards, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Melvin Guillard, and Kurt Pellegrino) and then Sean Sherk at 10 (beating Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca) while Tyson Griffin, Kenny Florian, and Roger Huerta all come up just short.

Featherweight
1. Akitoshi Tamura
2. Urijah Faber
3. Takeshi Inoue
4. HiroYuki Takaya
5. Jeff Curran
6. Antonio Carvalho
7. Masakazu Imanari
8. Yoshiro Maeda
9. Jong Man Kim
10. Hatsu Hioki

Possibly the most interesting division of all was the 145 pound featherweight division. A division that for years saw its talent purged by the lightweight division finally saw a little bit of attention paid to it in the year 2007. Much of this can be attributed to the ?California Kid? Urijah Faber. Many have questioned Faber?s 20-1 record, however many if all of these doubters were silenced with Faber?s impressive win over fellow top five fighter Jeff Curran (#5). Still however this win was only capable of gaining Faber the second spot, behind our #1, Akitoshi Tamura, who seemingly out of nowhere went on a four fight win streak that saw him avenge two of his losses, including a unanimous decision victory over our third ranked fighter Takeshi Inoue. Inoue himself bounced back from the loss with two more victories, to reestablish himself as a top three fighter.

Spots four through six saw themselves worked out in Shooto, as the Canadian fighter Antonio Carvalho (#6) fell victim to a late round surge by our #4 Hiroyuki Takaya, in what was one of the best contests of the year 2007. Jeff Curran hard fought loss to Faber (#2) leaves him stuck between the two at #5.

An impressive career and recent win over Jong Man Kim (#9) places Masakazu Imanari in the seventh spot. In what only can be called a muddle of who beat who, the final three spots are taken up by Yoshiro Maeda, Jong Man Kim and Hatsu Hioki respectively.

Discuss our latest Rankings here!

-- A BIG THANKS TO OUR RANKINGS COUNCIL - Marshall GK Zhukov, Kilroy, Left Hook, The Punk, Chivo, ilostmydog, dragomort, brainuse, DC Books, Bishop and head master OB Juan

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01-07-2008, 04:22 AM	#1
BK NEWS Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 395 vCash: 3873 Rep Power: 12	BLOODYKNUX JANUARY 2008 RANKINGS BLOODYKNUX.COM JANUARY 2008 RANKINGS The new year brings a new set of rankings here at BloodyKnux.com. In an effort to produce the best rankings possible we've changed our methods up a bit this time around. Most notably, we've attempted to rank fighters primarily on recent accomplishments rather than letting a fighter's potential give them a boost in the rankings. Relying less on opinion and more on statistics we hope this will reflect in an accurate set of rankings. The fallout of Pride has left some fighters in a state of limbo so accordingly we're allowing for roughly an 18 month period of activity for eligibility. Fighters are also only eligible to be included in the division in which they most recently fought. All of these things have led to the exclusion of a few fighters. Hopefully in the near future the fighters in question can get settled into a specific division and be matched against solid competition to get recognized where they potentially deserve. Enough of the formalities, in the words of Big John McCarthy, let's get it on! Heavyweight 1. Fedor Emelianenko 2. Randy Couture 3. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera 4. Tim Sylvia 5. Josh Barnett 6. Gabriel Gonzaga 7. Andre Arlovski 8. Cheick Kongo 9. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic 10. Fabricio Werdum Perennial superstar Fedor Emelianenko maintains the top spot at Heavyweight despite lacking quality opposition. His submission victory over Korean powerhouse Hong Man Choi was enough to give him the edge over fan favorite, Randy Couture, who slides in at #2 after coming out of retirement in 2007 to gain back to back wins over ranked opposition in Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga en route to regaining the UFC Heavyweight strap. The well rounded Brazillian, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, comes in at #3 after a successful UFC debut vs Heath Herring. Ex-UFC Heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia is our #4 after rebounding from a loss to Randy Couture earlier this year with a solid win over a much hyped young prospect Brandon Vera. After competing seven times in 2006, 2007 did not find Josh Barnett in a ring or cage once. His split pair of decisions with Nogueira but relative inactivity earns him only the fifth spot. 2007 saw Gabriel Gonzaga right high kick himself into MMA fans minds with what can only be called an ironic win over Cro Cop. However the 28 years old Team Link fighter was brought back to earth in a dramatic battle with Couture, leaving him just out of the top five at #6. While Andre Arlovski has been waiting for an opponent since last spring, his win over Fabricio Werdum keeps him at #7. The eighth position belongs to French fighter Cheick Kongo, who surprised many fans when he upset Mirko Filipovic, who after an extremely disappointing 2007 falls to #9. The thin state of the division can be seen in Fabricio Werdum managing to cling to the tenth spot. A win for Werdum later this month against Gonzaga would obviously boost the Brazilian in the rankings whereas a loss could potentially open the door for our Heavyweight runner-up, Ben Rothwell, to sneak into the top ten. Light Heavyweight 1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson 2. Lyoto Machida 3. Forrest Griffin 4. Dan Henderson 5. Keith Jardine 6. Chuck Liddell 7. Mauricio Shogun Rua 8. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 9. Wanderlei Silva 10. Rashad Evans Quinton Jackson, affectionately known as Rampage, made huge waves in the Light Heavyweight division in 2007. He came to the UFC and handily beat the man most considered to be top dog in Chuck Liddell and then proceeded to become the first unified champion of the UFC and Pride with a tough win over Dan henderson. His #1 spot is a no brainer. Lyoto Machida's consistency and spotless record plus his domination of highly regarded Sokoudjou gets him the second spot in a division that seems to have been turned on its head in recent months. Forrest Griffin moves way up the ladder to #3 after a hard fought victory over top Light Heavyweight Mauricio Shogun Rua. After a knockout win to gain the Pride Middleweight title from Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson's loss to Rampage rounds him out at #4. Number 5 goes to Keith Jardine after picking apart Chuck Liddell who now comes in at #6 who beat Wanderlei Silva in a very exciting fight to end 2007. The last Pride Middleweight Grand Prix champ, Shogun Rua, ranks at #7 after a disappointing UFC debut. African Judoka, Sokoudjou, finished 2007 on the losing end of an arm triangle choke courtesy of Machida after making a splash earlier in the year to come in at #8. Well known Brazillian warrior Wanderlei Silva drops to #9 after a second consecutive loss in the division to our #6 Liddell. Michigan State wrestler Rashad Evans gets the final position with a close win over the Brit, Michael Bisping. Meanwhile Thiago Silva put himself on the cusp of our ranks with his schooling on the ground of the explosive Houston Alexander. Middleweight 1. Anderson Silva 2. Paulo Filho 3. Rich Franklin 4. Yushin Okami 5. Robbie Lawler 6. Nate Marquardt 7. Frank Trigg 8. Kazuo Misaki 9. Yoshihiro Akiyama 10. Jorge Santiago The Middleweight division is owned by UFC champ Anderson Silva who continued his win streak in 2007 with wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, and a second victory over Rich Franklin. His fellow Brazillian, Paulo Filho attains our #2 position via winning and defending the WEC title by finishing MMA veterans Joe Doerksen and Chael Sonnen while remaining undefeated thus far in his career. Rich Franklin comes in on their heels at #3 and Japanese fighter Yushin Okami falls in line right behind at #4. Robbie Lawler has torn apart the competition in smaller organizations lately, most notably Frank Trigg and Murillo Ninja Rua, to rank at #5. Nate Marquardt is right behind at sixth. Frank Trigg's quick kimura over ground specialist Edwin Dewees was enough place him at #7 just ahead of his previous opponent, Kazuo Misaki who comes in at #8 after knocking out our #9 pick, Yoshihiro Akiyama. Jorge Santiago won the recent Strikeforce tournament and in turn won our 10th position while Canada's Denis Kang fell just short of making our top 10. Welterweight 1. Georges St Pierre 2. Jon Fitch 3. Matt Hughes 4. Matt Serra 5. Karo Parisyan 6. Josh Koscheck 7. Jake Shields 8. Diego Sanchez 9. Carlos Condit 10. Yoshiyuki Yoshida The French Canadian sensation, Georges St Pierre had the riddum to regain honors at Welterweight after his most recent dominating performances over highly ranked opponents in Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes. Jon Fitch has seemed unstoppable in the UFC with 7 consecutive wins, the most recent being over Diego Sanchez. Fitch falls just behind GSP at #2. Matt Hughes was a long time UFC champ but succumbed to St Pierre's superior athleticism for a second time in just over a year to place at #3. Despite being the UFC Welterweight champ, Matt Serra has a fairly spotty record outside of his win over St Pierre. He's currently our fourth welterweight. Hopefully Serra will have the chance to prove his win over GSP wasn't a fluke later this year which would afford him the right to move up the ladder. Armenian Judoka Karo Parisyan comes in at #5 after racking up 3 consecutive decisions in the UFC. Josh Koscheck falls right behind at #6. Elite XC champ Jake Shields has won his last 9 fights and in doing so comes in at #7. Diego Sanchez suffered back to back decision losses in 2007 and drops to #8 with the WEC Welterweight champ Carlos Condit right behind at #9 after a smooth armbar over the always tough Brock Larson. Yoshiyuki Yoshida snags the tenth spot with a solid string of wins in GCM edging out UFC fighters Marcus Davis and Thiago Alves. Lightweight 1. Takanori Gomi 2. Mitsuhiro Ishida 3. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante 4. Gilbert Melendez 5. Tatsuya Kawajiri 6. Shinya Aoki 7. Frankie Edgar 8. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro 9. Joe Stevenson 10. Sean Sherk The Lightweight division is one of the most talent stacked divisions in MMA and also happens to be a mess presently. Takanori Gomi managed to hold on to the top spot despite not having a win in the past year, largely due to the disintegration of Pride FC. Mitsuhiro Ishida pushed himself up to #2 with his recent win over Gil Melendez. JZ Calvancante won his second straight K1 Lightweight tournament to come in at our third position. Melendez's loss to Ishida drops him to #4 with Tatsuya Kawajiri right behind him at #5. Shinya Aoki comes in at our sixth spot after facing less than stellar competition in his last couple of outings at Lightweight. Our highest placing Lightweight from the UFC is Frankie Edgar who gets the 7th position with wins over Tyson Griffin, Mark Bocek, and Spencer Fisher. Just after Edgar at 8 is the long time top Lightweight fighter Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro who recently suffered his first loss in 3 years at the hands of our #3, JZ. Following Shaolin is more of the UFC's top prospects with Joe Stevenson at #9 (holding wins over Yves Edwards, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Melvin Guillard, and Kurt Pellegrino) and then Sean Sherk at 10 (beating Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca) while Tyson Griffin, Kenny Florian, and Roger Huerta all come up just short. Featherweight 1. Akitoshi Tamura 2. Urijah Faber 3. Takeshi Inoue 4. HiroYuki Takaya 5. Jeff Curran 6. Antonio Carvalho 7. Masakazu Imanari 8. Yoshiro Maeda 9. Jong Man Kim 10. Hatsu Hioki Possibly the most interesting division of all was the 145 pound featherweight division. A division that for years saw its talent purged by the lightweight division finally saw a little bit of attention paid to it in the year 2007. Much of this can be attributed to the ?California Kid? Urijah Faber. Many have questioned Faber?s 20-1 record, however many if all of these doubters were silenced with Faber?s impressive win over fellow top five fighter Jeff Curran (#5). Still however this win was only capable of gaining Faber the second spot, behind our #1, Akitoshi Tamura, who seemingly out of nowhere went on a four fight win streak that saw him avenge two of his losses, including a unanimous decision victory over our third ranked fighter Takeshi Inoue. Inoue himself bounced back from the loss with two more victories, to reestablish himself as a top three fighter. Spots four through six saw themselves worked out in Shooto, as the Canadian fighter Antonio Carvalho (#6) fell victim to a late round surge by our #4 Hiroyuki Takaya, in what was one of the best contests of the year 2007. Jeff Curran hard fought loss to Faber (#2) leaves him stuck between the two at #5. An impressive career and recent win over Jong Man Kim (#9) places Masakazu Imanari in the seventh spot. In what only can be called a muddle of who beat who, the final three spots are taken up by Yoshiro Maeda, Jong Man Kim and Hatsu Hioki respectively. Discuss our latest Rankings here! -- A BIG THANKS TO OUR RANKINGS COUNCIL - Marshall GK Zhukov, Kilroy, Left Hook, The Punk, Chivo, ilostmydog, dragomort, brainuse, DC Books, Bishop and head master OB Juan Last edited by dy-no-mite3000 : 01-07-2008 at 09:30 PM.