USAT/SBN April MMA Consensus Rankings: Heavyweight

by Kid Nate on Apr 30, 2009 8:38 AM EDT in Rankings Comment 32 comments

Rank	Fighter	%	Promotion	Last
1	Fedor Emelianenko	100	Affliction	1
2	Josh Barnett	93	Affliction	2
3	Andrei Arlovski	90	Affliction	3
4	Frank Mir	89	UFC	4
5	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	83	UFC	5
6	Brock Lesnar	78	UFC	6
7	Randy Couture	75	UFC	7
8	Tim Sylvia	61	Adrenaline	8
9	Alistair Overeem	56	DREAM	9
10	Shane Carwin	55	UFC	11
11	Fabricio Werdum	38	Strikeforce	10
12	Cheick Kongo	34	UFC	15
13	Junior dos Santos	33	UFC	14
14	Jeff Monson	29	DREAM	22
15	Mirko Filipovic	28	DREAM	13
16	Gabriel Gonzaga	25	UFC	12
17	Antonio Silva	25	WVR	19
18	Ben Rothwell	24	Adrenaline	16
19	Aleksander Emelianenko	22	Free Agent	18
20	Cain Velasquez	20	UFC	21
21	Sergei Kharitonov	20	DREAM	17
21	Roy Nelson	20	Free Agent	20
23	Paul Buentello	17	Affliction	23
24	Heath Herring	16	UFC	24
25	Brett Rogers	16	Strikeforce	28

Rankings compiled by Richard.

There is no other division quite as in the grip of rumor and intrigue as the Heavyweights. A lot of this has to do with the uncertain fate of Affliction which controls the top three fighters in the division. #1 Fedor Emelianenko may fight #14 Jeff Monson at DREAM.10 but then again he may fight #9 Alistair Overeem. #3 Andrei Arlovski might fight #2 Josh Barnett on that same card or he may retire from MMA to box professionally. Don't hold your breath.

An alternate reality has Overeem defending his Strikeforce belt from #25 Brett Rogers at the June Strikeforce show. They have also signed #11 Fabricio Werdum but no word on what his first match will be.

Even more of the chaos is due to Zuffa's relatively weak grip on the division. Only 5 of the top 10 and 10 of the top 25 are under contract to the UFC. The final installment of the UFC mini-tournament will pit #4 Frank Mir against #6 Brock Lesnar will take place on July 11th at UFC 100. The opening round losers #5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and #7 Randy Couture will meet at UFC 102.

#8 Tim Sylvia will next fight in a boxing match against ought-to-retire-already former champ Ray Mercer. w00t!

#10 Shane Carwin and #12 Cheick Kongo are both awaiting the winner of the Lesnar/Mir title fight. #13 Junior do Santos will have to dispatch the unranked Justin McCully before he gets a contender match.

Based on the premise that all MMA rankings are subjective but that it’s still useful and informative to know who the online MMA community as a whole ranks as the best fighters in MMA, we collect and average the rankings of the top MMA websites to produce our consensus rankings. Show more » We compile the top MMA rankings from each of our sources and award 25 points for a first place ranking, 16 for a 10th place ranking, 1 for a 25th place ranking. A formula is used to “normalize” the data so all fighters are awarded points from those lists that do not include a full 25 fighters. This formula ensures that each ranking site awards the same number of total points regardless of how many fighters they choose to rank. Each fighter’s total is divided by the number of possible points to determine their standing in the Consensus Rankings.

0 recs | Comment 32 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

It kinda hurts when you see Crocop that far behind… I’m not disagreeing with the ranking at all, btw. Just saying. Oh and Why is Tim Sylvia still there? He hasn’t fought in a while and is boxing grandfathers instead.

by poundnground on Apr 29, 2009 7:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The winner of Lesnar/Mir should man up, and go to Affliction, where the Top 3 heavyweights are.

(Don’t mean to nitpick, but what’s with Tim Sylvia being assigned to Adrenaline? Is that because of his March 2008 signing that hasn’t yielding him any fights?)

by AnonymousA on Apr 29, 2009 7:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cute.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 29, 2009 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah.

by subo on Apr 30, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

If they’re dumb they’d do that. Dana would not take any of them back if said move were done. And Lesnar’s loyalty to Dana and the UFC makes that IMPOSSIBLE.

by poundnground on Apr 29, 2009 7:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably. It’s a shame, though…there would be some good fights in Affliction for them.

by AnonymousA on Apr 29, 2009 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah… No…

Keep firing Assholes!
Akiyama is the Japanese word for Sexify.

by Ubernoober on Apr 29, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Sylvia last fought in Affliction and having a boxing match in a spin off to Adrenaline (which hasn’t happened yet), shouldn’t make him an Adrenaline fighter.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 29, 2009 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah...

cause it isn’t like there are contracts or anything…

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/

by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 29, 2009 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I mean no disrespect but

How are you so sure Kongo or Carwin are next? they can throw Nog and Randy right back in the picture over Kongo/ Carwin.

by poundnground on Apr 29, 2009 7:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

this is true

I think if you had a Lesnar/Nog or Mir/Couture combination as the winners we’d likely see that fight get booked.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 29, 2009 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thats a lot of sites rating Arlovski reeeeeeaaaaally high.

"Japan is half-Machida" - iiowyn

by Day Man on Apr 29, 2009 7:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cuz he deserves it, ppl see him get knocked out and forget about his wins and why he was given the opportunity to fight for the wamma title to begin with. But wait Josh Barnett definitly deserves to be number 2 bcuz he had a great performance against gilber yvel and didnt get his ass kicked by cro cop and noguira in pride (sarcasm)

by ThaSandman on Apr 29, 2009 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he was given the opportunity to fight for the wamma title

Seriously? WAMMA is your supporting evidence? I don’t disagree with your conclusion, but citing them as a legit belt?

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Apr 30, 2009 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no but i am just mentioning he got the oppurtunity to fight the #1 HW in the world, i don’t like WAMMA in general

by ThaSandman on Apr 30, 2009 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t really agree with Andrei being that high. His last two fights have been a loss to the #1 and a win to the 21 against Mir’s wins to #5-6. And when was the last time Barnett beat someone anywhere near the top 10?

by Zack Gobie on Apr 29, 2009 11:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mir’s wins over a dazed and out of his zone Noguira and a guy who is new to mma in brock lesnar are questionable, Noguira has been in to many wars and taken to much damage over his career. If they went back to pride days Mir would get punished. But since Andrei did get knocked out i do believe Mir should be higher then him (which pains me to say cuz Andrei is one of my fav fighters of all time) until he fights Lesnar (if he wins and wins in a good way he should be ranked number 2). But in all honesty i dont think mir could take andrei and andrei’s only loss in a while has been to #1 fedor who KO’d him by looking down and throwing a wild/uncoordinated right hook, while getting it taken to him most of the fight

by ThaSandman on Apr 30, 2009 12:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If they went back to pride days Mir would get punished.

Yes, if we traveled back through time, this would all work out…

Fedor’s punch wasn’t wild – his eyes were on AA and his left hand was moving to block the knee.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Apr 30, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oops – picked on you twice in one thread – didn’t mean to, mate.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Apr 30, 2009 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I HATE when people try assuming Fedor’s punch was a lucky one. It’s fucking FEDOR! he beats everyone :)

by poundnground on Apr 30, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nate, you guys arent gonna make FW and BW rankings anymore? :(

weoweoweo .deviantart .com

by Anton Tabuena on Apr 30, 2009 8:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Richard will be posting them

they’re just not part of the program with USAT.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 30, 2009 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Always hating on the little dudes.

What is the common obsession with heavyweights? Everybody likes it when its a very active fight, and that is a lot more common in smaller classes.

by toxic on Apr 30, 2009 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

heavyweight has always been the most popular division

in combat sports.
Its very primal because they represent the toughest of the toughest. I mean ounce for ounce the shrew is the most fearsome mammal in existence, but youtube videos of grizzly bears fighting will always be a bigger draw.
give me a killer whale vs a great white shark anytime.

seriously, its frustrating, but its just the nature of the business.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 30, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

killer whale vs a great white shark

In the other bracket: Giant Squid vs Sperm Whale. Winner is baddest MF in the ocean!
Though nothing will ever top the hippo as most violent & brutal animal – they’re fuckin’ crazy!

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Apr 30, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

but let a killer whale catch them in the deep water and its no contest.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 30, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No prob....

i dont really consider it pickin on, but, i stll believe that noguira wasn’t in the right state of mind, i mean he is an amateur boxer in brazil but didnt really attack standing up and he has taken some of the best stand-up and G N P fighters and has never been stopped like that. Also here’s a link to a gif of arlovski vs mir, IMO he puts his head down and throws that right, if the right wouldn’t have landed the flying knee was directly in front of his face, which is dumb if he was just looking at it while throwin a punch instead of blocking it (in turn tho, he did KO arlovski)
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f61/fedor-vs-arlovski-ko-gif-906945/index6.html

by ThaSandman on Apr 30, 2009 10:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah – supposedly Nog fought Mir with staph & a wonky knee, so add that to the battle damage from fights past – ugh.

Watch Fedor’s left hand – he’s anticipating the knee and puts his left hand to intercept it – the KO is before the knee makes contact, so it looks odd, but his hand is placed just right to protect himself had AA pulled it off.