The Heavyweight Division - Analysis

after checking out mmaweekly and sherdogs top 10 hw rankings i found them very weak so created these rankings which i think are more accurate.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (over 205 pounds)

1. Fedor Emelianenko (28-1-0) org; affliction.

THE GOOD;
fedor is without a doubt the no 1 hw in the world and possibly the p4p no 1.He has an almost perfect record and holds wins against nogx2 , mirko , sylvia , hunt and schilt.

THE BAD;
Athough there isnt much to say here fedor does take some stick for fighting the odd freakshow match eg v choi or v martins and taking easy fights also.

FUTURE;
The ufc hw tourney if you like will put fedor under big pressure , if randy takes out lesnar and mir or nog he will look to de-thrown fedor as the no 1 in a super fight in mid 09.

Fedor also has yet to face either of Arlovski or Barnett which pose a serious threat to the russian.The two are set to meet eith the winner fighting Fedor in early 09.Fedor has a tough year ahead.

2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(31-4-1) org ; ufc

THE GOOD;
Probally the best and most danderous bjj in the hw division.And Nogueira has great boxing also ,making him a very well rounded hw.Holds wins versus werdum , crocop , sylvia and kharonitov.Currently the ufc interim hw champ and set to defend against fellow bjj rival frank mir with the winner facing the hw champ in early 09.

THE BAD ;
Nog has been beaten twice by the no 1 which is understandable and suffered a controvertial split dec loss to barnett which he avenged along with his other loss to pride lhw champ hendo.

FUTURE;
Nog will have to get through mir and the winner or lesnar/coture which is highly possible.He might get another shot at fedor to prove he is the no 1 hw.

3.Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-8-0)


THE GOOD ;
Has a great wrestling backround and has evolved his stand-up game to a new level.He came out of retirment in 2007 to dethrone and dominate the ufc champ tim sylvia and then stop the no 1 contender Gonzaga in his first defense of the belt.He is set to defend the belt against the wwe star and top level wreslter Brock Lesnar in nov.

THE BAD ;
Randy has not fought in over a year due to the legal battle with zuffa and his desire to fight the no 1 ranked fighter Fedor outside the ufc.He has been dominated before at hw but many now see him as a new fighter.

THE FUTURE ;
Randy has no reason to lose to the relevant newcomer to the sport Lesnar but will have a difficult matchup if he faces the no 2 Nogueira in 09.If he wins the mini-tourney he will be the no.2 hw and no 1 contender for fedors wamma hw belt.

4. Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett (26-5-0) org ; aflicition

THE GOOD ;
Holds wins against the ufc hw champ randy , no. 2 big nog , aleks emelianenko , hunt and currently riding a 3 fight win steak against decent hw's yoshida , monson , rizzo.Has avenged all losses accept crocop.

THE BAD;
Has been beaten 3 times by crocop athough the first was due to injury and the latest was the final of a gp were he claimed to have an eye injury.Was done for doing steroids and booted from the ufc before joining pride.

THE FUTURE;
Barnett is rumored to be fighting in nov for sengoku after his no 1 contender match v a.a was scratched.It is not known weather they still intend to keep the matchup but it is clear barnett is only one or two good wins away from being the top hw fighter.

5. Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski (13-5-0) org ; affliction


THE GOOD;
Arlovski is simply above werdum becuse he beat him in a lackluster dec at ufc 70.If that fight take place next month i see it being closer.Overall werdum has faced the tougher fighters but the bottom line is a.a. beat him.Arlovski was set to face Emelianenko before he hurt his hand and then the barnett fight was posponed so he is now set to face former ifl champ big country on cbs and is seen as the heavy favourite.He recently beat top tier hw figher rothwell via tko and o brien in 2008 along with the victory over werdum in 07 that cements his place in the top 5 despite back to back losses to tim sylvia.

THE BAD ;
Arlovski has some blemishs on his record that includes going 3-3 in his first 6 fights and a woeful performance against big tim at ufc 61 followed by a week showing at ufc 70 losing his title shot he was promised.

THE FUTURE;
A win v nelson wont do much for his career but possible fights with barnett and fedor await arlovski.

6. Fabricio Werdum (11-3-0) org ; ufc

7. Tim Sylvia(26-6-0) org ; affliction

8. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3-0) org; dream

9. Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem(28-11-1) org ;dream

10.Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic(23-6-2) org ; dream
= Aleksander Emelianenko(13-3-0) org ; affliction
= Antonio ''Bigfoot'' Silva (11-1) org ; elite xc

**cant decide who is no 10**

**6-10 were hard to rank they could be changed**

Possible fighters to break the top 10 in the near future.

Brock Lesnar (2-1) org ; ufc
If he beats randy he is top 10.

Frank Mir (11-3) org ; ufc
If he wins against Nog he will move up.

Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga (9-3) org; ufc
Needs to fight tougher opponents to break back in , McCully and Hendricks are unranked.

Cain Valesquez (4-0) org ; ufc
Needs some more wins and a breakthrough fight against a top ranked fighter.

Shane Carwin (9-0) org ; ufc
Getting close to top 10 , a win v Wain is not great but a few more decent wins and he is almost there.

Cheick Kongo (12-4-1) org; ufc
Needs to rebound from that loss to Herring with a few wins.If he takes out Al-turk in Dec and Evansen already thats a good start.Needs work on the ground game.