I dont agree that Champs should be considered #1 and 2, because there are a lot more organisations.. and we usually dont see other organisation's champs.
Randy Couture got a free pass at the shot,and he took it.
But that doesnt mean, in my opinion, that he deserves to be number 2. The division was also pretty empty, and in my eyes it means nothing that Sylvia was the champ.. the only guy i think is worth talking about that Tim beat was AA.
Here are my rankings, based on who has beat who, and how. Ill explain a few after showing. REMEMBER, a ranking should not be based on potential, or on who can beat who, but on current and past fights!
HW
1. Fedor Emelienko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Mirko Cro Cop
4. Randy Couture
5. Josh Barnett
6. Tim Sylvia
7. Andrei Arlovski
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Mark Hunt
10. Alexander Emelienko
LHW
1. Mauricio Shogun Rua
2. Quinton Rampage Jackson
3. Dan Henderson
3. Wanderlei Silva
4. Chuck Liddell
5. Ricardo Arona
6. Thierry Sokoudjou
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
8. Jason Lambert
9. Kazuhiro Nakamura
10. Rashad Evans
MW
1. Anderson Silva
2. Rich Franklin
3. Paulo Filho
4. Dan Henderson
5. Denis Kang
6. Matt Lindland
7. Yushin Okami
8. Murilo Ninja Rua
9. Robbie Lawler
10.Kazuo Misaki
WW
1. George St-Pierre
2. Matt Serra
3. Matt Hughes
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Karo Parisyan
6. Diego Sanchez
7. Jon Fitch
8. Jake Shield
9. Carlos Condit
10. BJ Penn
LW
ASSUMING Sean Sherk was in fact using steroids and he looses appeal(else just put him #1, and every1 else is the same),
And Assuming the LW class includes fights at 160 pounds.
1. Hayato Sakurai
2. Takanori Gomi
3. Shinya Aoki
4. Joachim Hansen
5. Nick Diaz
6. Marcus Aurelio
7. BJ Penn
8. Gilbert Melendez
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri
10. Kenny Florian
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Lets start from HW to LW..
HW : I think everybody unanimously declares Fedor the best HW.. now as for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira being 2nd, i know a lot wont agree with it, but
he has avenged his lost to Josh Barnett, which was the reason he wasnt number 2 anymore. In that fight, it was also a rather clear win, unlike the close call in the first fight.
He didn't do that great against Herring, but considering that he was Ko'd during the fight(watch it again.. he was out then woke up), he managed to regroup to win a decision.
The rest is pretty much due to upsets.. Mirko would of been #2, but his lost to Gonzaga makes him #3.. remember Mirko was the OWGP champion, knocking out Wanderlei Silva and punching out Barnett.
Randy Couture has had 1 single fight at HW since his retirement, i dont see how he can be #2, or #3. Sure he beat Tim Sylvia, but as you can see, Tim Sylvia isnt really high in the rankings, despite being the UFC champ. the HW division was horrible while Sylvia was champ.
In fact, i almost wanted to put Barnett ahead of Randy, but considering he lost to Nogueira, and that Randy is something special, i had to put him at #4.
Barnett has defeated a good number of top 10 contenders.. Nog,Hunt, Alexander Emenlienko.. But his back to back lost to Nog and Cro cop made him drop a bit.. like i said, if he would of won or been closer to win against Nogueira, i would of put him #4.
The rest is pretty standard, except for Gonzaga, who a lot of people seem to put so high.. read a bit before the rankings, i explained how i rank people.. Gonzaga's only win worth mentionning is against Cro Cop of course, and it wasn't such a devastating KO, i would not even put him that high..I probably would put him at #10, and that's just because Alexander hasn't been fighting in a while with real opponents.
LHW : Shogun #1, the only LHW undefeated(apart from that lost like 4-5 years ago,before either were known).
The reason why Dan is higher than Chuck is that Chuck has been very sloppy in his last fights, while Dan has been simply close to perfect against Silva. The way he beat Silva for 3 rounds, and ended with a good old Ko was great.. but those rankings are going to change quickly, as either Rampage or Dan will drop, depending on who looses..
Silva is higher than Chuck is simply because Silva has faced more worthy opponents in the past. Again, the LHW division in Pride, just like the HW, was a lot more stacked than the UFC's, and that is without bias. Ask any UFC nuthugger to try to argue this.. i would like to see that..(they will quickly change the subject on how their were Yakuza rumors about Pride or on how they lost the TV deal..)..
In any case, Chuck vs Silva, that would answer the question
The rest is standard, apart from Sokoudjou being under Arona.. Arona in my opinion still deserves to be higher. He has defeated Silva once, He's lost a split decision the 2nd time(and i actually judge the fight a draw or to Arona, considering that asking the crowd to rally behind him while he's barely hitting Arona's leg on buttscoop should not be points added on Silva), and he has defeated Overeem for #1 contender.. it was a fluke, but he won anyways.
His lost to Sokoudjou was due to him being sick, i am 80% sure of that. I give credits to Sokoudjou for having brick hands, but that was not Arona we saw.. he is usually quicker, stronger than that. But in any case, he lost, but compared to Sokoudjou, he has accomplished a lot more.
On potential, i would put Sokoudjou way up there, but that is not rankings, that is projection..
Also, Tito is not there because the reason he gets fight is because he is a marketing tool(in every sense of the word). Draw to Rashad, A fight that should of been Draw against Griffin.. TKO by Chuck.. Tito was great.
MW :
Filho is not number 2(or 1) because, again, potentially, he should, but he simply is not with the fights he's had.
Franklin on the other hand has faced competition, and his win against Okami puts him way up there.
Filho is #3 simply because of the way he wins his fight. I know a lot of people thinks he is boring,but i think it's due to the no elbow rule.. because in every fight, he gets his opponents mounted.
Dan Henderson is #4 and not higher because he has lost to misaki in the MW GP, and Misaki in my opinion is not great. He was the MW GP champion, but that was only because Filho injured himself going tru the ropes while submitting Misaki.
Kang and Lindland could switch place, i dont see a big difference.. Kang lost to Misaki gassing out, but he had the fight if you ask me.
A lot of people put Lindland #1, and i think that is BS. He has not fought anybody at all at MW, apart from fighters past their prime(Newton, Horn..). But considering how he fights and the amount of wins this guy has, i had to put him in the top 10.. Also the MW is not a super stacked division..
A lot of people forget about Ninja, but he should be there.. at MW, he hasnt been doing so bad..
WW : Matt Serra has fought absolutly nobody before getting that title shot.. and to be honest, i find the TUF rule of getting a title shot complete bogus. To me, 1 fight is nothing. Beat Matt Hughes, and i will be happy to put #1. But as for now, no way you are.
GSP is there by default. If serra isnt #1, then GSP has to be.
As much as i hate it, KOS has been doing great lately, and he deserves that spot at #4. If he would of displayed something else than being a complete moron at being proud of outboring us against Sanchez, i would of put him #3 on a dominant win over Sanchez.. But that is because of the way Matt Hughes lost against GSP, complete ownage.
By not doing anything against KOS, despite KNOWING he was loosing 2 rounds to 0, he just showed that his mental game might not be ready.. That's why hes behind Karo, whos been getting huge momentum lately.
The rest is pretty much by default, i dont know much about the others.
AND BTW, Sakurai has never fought at WW, so i dont see the point of ranking him up there.. 160 is a lot closer to 155 than 170..same for people who puts Swick at 170.. he fights at 185.. He hasnt been at 170 yet..
LW : Sakurai is there by default, Gomi loosing to Nick Diaz
Gomi is still #2, there is nobody dominant enough to take over Gomi's #2 right now.
Shinya Aoki, i might be biased(as my sig tells), but this guy is just awesomeness!! From his rainbow pants to his sick submissions, this guy has been destroying every fighter he has faced, including Joachim Hansen, who could of been way higher(if he didnt loose, i think he would of been close to a shot at Gomi)
Diaz, well he beat the former #1, and he wasnt bad either before that.. so #5 is good for him
The rest is pretty standard.
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