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UFC Welterweight Division

3K views 40 replies 20 participants last post by  Stun Gun 
#1 ·
How does everyone see the top 10? What are some fights you want to see happen in the division?

Who is next for the two WWs that just fought last night; Maia, Woodley

For Woodley, personally I'd like to see him fight maybe Fitch, Koscheck, Pierce or even the winner of Stun Gun/Siyar or even John Hathaway

Maia needs a top 5 guy. And I think the best choice would be the winner of Ellenberger/Hendricks or Rory/Condit (though Rory is not top 5 for me)
 
#3 ·
Hendricks deserves his title shot if he wins. There'd be no denying him that.

I'd love to see Maia vs. the winner of Rory/Carlos. Tyron is an interesting and scary addition to WW. He just got KTFO by Marquardt, but I couldn't help but feel as though the Tyron we saw last night would have KOed someone like Maia. I love this division... you never know who's lurking around the corner.

I'd give Tyron the loser of Ellenberger/Hendricks. I think he's ready for the big time.
 
#8 ·
Hendricks deserves his title shot if he wins. There'd be no denying him that.

I'd love to see Maia vs. the winner of Rory/Carlos. Tyron is an interesting and scary addition to WW. He just got KTFO by Marquardt, but I couldn't help but feel as though the Tyron we saw last night would have KOed someone like Maia. I love this division... you never know who's lurking around the corner.

I'd give Tyron the loser of Ellenberger/Hendricks. I think he's ready for the big time.
I'm sure Dana would find a way. You forget that if Hendricks beats Ellenberger he would be a winner. Dana doesn't like giving winners title shots.:sarcastic12:

But yeah, Maia vs Condit would be an interesting fight. Maia vs. Marquardt might be fun.
 
#4 ·
Nick Diaz would be a fun matchup for Maia. Diaz should be able to take it easily if it stays standing, but his TD defence sucks ass so Maia should be able to get him down without too much trouble. And once it's on the ground, that's when the fun begins. Diaz has a much more offensively oriented ground game than Fitch, I would really like to see what they can do to each other on the ground.
 
#6 ·
Maia has done what he should have a couple years ago, and that's learn how to wrestle. A guy with his grappling chops should just give the finger to striking, and own fools on the ground, and fighting and his proper weight class doesn't hurt either... I think Maia should get Koscheck after he lnp's Lawler to death, or Kampmann. Woodley was impressive, but he beat Jay Hieron, and needs to be tested against any top 15 guy.
 
#11 ·
My personal top ten.

1. GSP
2. Hendricks.
3. Condit
4. Maia
5. Fitch
6. Kampmann
7. Ellenberger
8. Diaz
9. Rory
10. Tarec

If Hendricks wins then they should do GSP/Hendricks and Maia can be Tarec's first fight in the UFC, winner gets a title shot against GSP or Hendricks, if Hendricks loses do GSP/Maia and Berger/Tarec.
 
#12 ·
For me personally if I had to rank the Welterweights it would be

1. GSP
2. Johnny Hendricks
3. Carlos Condit
4. Nick Diaz
5. Rory Macdonald
6. Demian Maia
7. Martin Kampmann
8. Jake Ellenberger
9. Jon Fitch
10. Tarec Saffiedine
11. Tyron Woodley
12. Josh Koscheck
13. Nate Marquardt
14. Dong Hyun Kim
15. Mike Pierce
16. Siyar Bahadurza
17. Mike Pyle
18. Matt Brown
19. Thiago Alves
20. Dan Hardy
21. Erick Silva
22. Jordan Mein
23. Bobby Voelker
24. Mike Swick
25. Yoshihiro Akiyama
26. Robbie Lawler
27. John Hathaway
28. Dan Miller
29. Matt Riddle
30. Rick Story
31. Aaron Simpson
32. Brian Ebersole
33. Roger Bowling
34. Kyle Noke
35. Patrick Cote
36. Jay Hieron
37. TJ Waldburger
38. Jorge Santiago
39. Seth Baczynski
40. Paulo Thiago
41. Amir Sadollah
42. Court McGee
43. Hyun Gyu Lim
44. Caude Patrick
45. Gunnar Nelson
46. Che Mills
47. Pascal Krauss
48. Jason High
49. Robert Whittaker
50. Nick Catone
51. Sean Pierson
52. Chris Clements
53. Justin Edwards
54. Stephen Thompson
55. James Head
56. Sergio Moraes
57. Ildemar Alcantara
58: Adam Khaliev
59. Benny Alloway
60. Marcelo Guimaraes
61. Josh Neer
62. Lance Benoist
63. Jon Manley
64. Neil Magny
65. Brad Scott
66. David Mitchell
67. Simeon Thoresen
68. Keith Wisniewski
69. Kenny Robertson
70. Papy Abedi
71. Brock Jardine
72. Besam Yousef
73. Mike Stumpf
 
#14 ·
I agree with LL's rankings.

If Hendricks beats Ellenberger, he definitely deserves a title shot. I think he deserves on right now, but the UFC brass seems more interested in making money than honoring the legitimacy of the sport.
Maia should get Tarec in my opinion. Winner should get a title shot and it would be a fun fight. If Hendricks loses, however, give Maia the title shot.
Woodley should get Koscheck.
Fitch should get Hieron.
 
#17 ·
My personal top twenty five at this point

1. GSP
2. Carlos Condit
3. Johny Hendricks
4. Rory Macdonald
5. Nick Diaz
6. Demain Maia
7. Josh Koscheck
8. Jon Fitch
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Tarec Saffiedine
11. Mike Pierce
12. Nate Marquardt
13. Jake Ellenberger
14. Tyron Woodley
15. Mike Pyle
16. John Hathaway
17. Siyar Bahadurza
18. Erick Silva
19. Dong Hyun Kim
(Brian Ebersole)*
20. Thiago Alves
21. Seth Baczynski
22. Matt Brown
23. Rick Story
24. Claude Patrick
25. Dan Hardy
*Ebersole is moving to LW

And the top ten fights I would like to see based on these rankings

10. Dan Hardy(25) vs Thiago Alves(20), I think the UFC is only big enough for one former title contending slugger. This is a fight that could main event in Brazil or England and go five rounds to a finish.

09. Jake Ellenberger(13) vs John Hathaway(16), You look at Jakes record against wrestlers and...well....he doesn't have much in the way of them. I'm not sold on Jake as a top ten guy I think Hathaway would crush his cardio and continue to expose the many holes in his game.

08. Claude Patrick(24) vs Erick Silva(18) I feel like this could be a future trilogy in the making. Both guys are well rounded explosive and main card stays. This could be the WW version of Fisher/Stout.

07. Mike Pierce(11) vs Nate Marquardt(12) Personally I feel like Pierce is the top ten gatekeeper of the WW division. Nate's a big time star but I wonder if he can handle the deep waters of the division. This could also give Pierce a chance to break out at the WW divisions best kept secret.

06. Demain Maia(6) vs Nick Diaz(5) I feel like Maia is a win away from facing GSP. I also think he could be the biggest threat GSP has ever faced. The real issue is Maia's standup and the best boxer in the top ten today is Diaz. A post title fight from Diaz makes a lot of sense to me.

05. Tarec Saffiedine (10) vs Martin Kampmann (9) Martin Kampmann may in fact never fight for a title but he can face every guy who will fight for the title. I imagine this fight will be sponsored by K-1 and we will not see any takedowns.

04. Rory Macdonald(4) vs Tyron Woodley(14) Ever wonder what an MMA fight of Apollo Creed vs Clubber Lang would look like? Put this baby on Fox play those slow replay shots and enjoy the pain. Even if Woodley loses I doubt he would lose any ground.

03. Josh Koscheck(7) vs Jon Fitch(8) The division is only big enough for one of these guys. Fitch is showing a lot of wear and tear on him while Koscheck seems to be set at a certain level.

02. Johny Hendricks(3) vs Yoshiro Akiyama(UR) because one loses upwards and the other wins downwards and seeing these two fight would be hilarious.

01. Carlos Condit(2) vs GSP(1) II The number one fight I want to see is the rematch between these two. I feel like Carlos gets better everytime we see him while GSP gets stronger. GSP may have a number of contenders but few actually give you exciting matches, Condit does and I would like to see him rewarded with another shot at some point.
 
#20 ·
I just don't understand how people are putting Saffedine over Woodley when Saffedines only credible win is over Marquardt..

Woddley has defeated Saffedine.. as well as Heiron and Daley..
 
#28 ·
I think he's trying to accomplish a pay check and he's ready to step into the title picture when/if GSP loses. It's the same thing with Miletich/Newton/Hughes.

I see where you are coming from. Paulo got out grappled, he's a good BJJ guy and Stun Gun made him look like a blue belt.

I think Stun Gun is going to do the same with Siyar on the ground. Though Siyar is dangerous either way.
Paulo's been outwrestled by most, the other thing to consider, Siyar beats Stun Gun he gets a top ten guy, Stun Gun beats Siyar he gets someone else near him in the rankings. Siyar is someone who is going to be in the title mix quicker than Kym.
 
#33 ·
As a few of you mentioned I too would give Johnny "Ya Know What I Mean" Hendricks the title shot if he beat Jake.

Then I'd give Maia the winner of Condit and MacDonald for the next title shot after Hendricks (if Hendricks pulls off the win.) Also if GSP is still the champ, I would like him to move up to 185 and allow some new blood to rule 170.

As far as Tarec Saffiedine Id like him to face Josh Koscheck.

As far as Tyron I agree that he should be built up a bit but if he has a second devastating finish then send him up to the big leauges.


EDIT:

Forgot about Siyar, if he steam rolls stungun, I"d have him fight the loser of Condit Macdonal or another top contender.

Man, I never put much thought into it, but having to match make their entire roster is a lot more daunting and compliated than I would have thought. Props to Joe Silva for sure.
 
#34 ·
IMO:

1. GSP
2. Winner of MacDonald/Condit
3. Hendricks
4. Loser of MacDonald/Condit
5. Ellenberger
6. Maia
7. Diaz
8. Saffiedine
9. Kampmann
10. Koscheck


The top 5 is kind of a cluster-**** right now... So it's really up for grabs.
 
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#35 ·
IMO:

1. GSP
2. Winner of MacDonald/Condit
3. Hendricks
4. Loser of MacDonald/Condit
5. Ellenberger
6. Maia
7. Diaz
8. Saffiedine
9. Kampmann
10. Koscheck


The top 5 is kind of a cluster-**** right now... So it's really up for grabs.
Okay I'm glad to see a true Ellenberger fanboy here. Explain this to me, Ellenberger is 2-1 in his last three fights but

1. The Jay Hieron fight was not an impressive performance in my eyes. I feel like a top ten guy should be able to run through Jay he just out struck and outwrestled him a bit.

2. He lost to Martin Kampmann and it wasn't a decision he was finished. He put up a good first round but he was done after four minutes.

3. His fight with Diego was great, but Diego had him in full mount at the end and the officials could have called it.

Yet you rank him at #5 ahead of Koscheck and Diaz who lost controversial decisions to Condit/Hendricks. You've got him ahead of Martin Kampmann who beat him, of Demian Maia who beat three arguably better opponents. For me now that Bisping's done he's the most overrated fighter in the UFC today. But I would really like to hear for someone who obviously believes in this guy why he's top five.
 
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