USAT/SBN August MMA Consensus Rankings: Light Heavyweight
by Kid Nate on Aug 28, 2009 8:56 AM EDT
in MMA Rankings
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| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyoto Machida | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Quinton Jackson | 95 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Rashad Evans | 93 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Mauricio Rua | 81 | UFC | 5 |
| 5 | Forrest Griffin | 79 | UFC | 4 |
| 6 | Keith Jardine | 65 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | 64 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Rich Franklin | 57 | UFC | 9 |
| 9 | Luiz Cane | 54 | UFC | 8 |
| 10 | Anderson Silva | 42 | UFC | NR |
| 11 | Gegard Mousasi | 42 | Strikeforce/DREAM | 27 |
| 12 | Renato Sobral | 38 | Strikeforce | 10 |
| 13 | Thiago Silva | 34 | UFC | 11 |
| 14 | Wanderlei Silva | 32 | UFC | 14 |
| 15 | Chuck Liddell | 30 | UFC | 12 |
| 16 | Dan Henderson | 30 | UFC | 13 |
| 17 | Jon Jones | 25 | UFC | 15 |
| 18 | Matt Hamill | 21 | UFC | 16 |
| 19 | Vladimir Matyushenko | 20 | UFC | 17 |
| 20 | Brandon Vera | 20 | UFC | 18 |
| 21 | Tito Ortiz | 20 | UFC | 18 |
| 22 | Sokoudjou | 18 | DREAM | 20 |
| 23 | Mark Coleman | 17 | UFC | 21 |
| 24 | Krzysztof Soszynski | 17 | UFC | 22 |
| 25 | Steve Cantwell | 16 | UFC | 23 |
Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.
At UFC 104, we'll get to see if #1 Lyoto Machida is really going to have an "era" all of his own when he faces off with #4 Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
#2 Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and #3 Rashad Evans will be featured as coaches on the upcoming "Kimbo Slice" season of The Ultimate Fighter. They'll face off in a grudge match at UFC 107, presumably with a title shot on the line.
#6 Keith Jardine and #13 Thiago Silva will fight at this weekend's UFC 102. The winner will reemerge as a contender, but will likely still be a win or so away from a title shot.
That event will also see #20 Brandon VeraKrzysztof Soszynski face #24 . The winner will climb the ladder into contender country.
Maybe the winner could face #5 Forrest Griffin who hasn't been heard from since fleeing the Octagon after being humiliated by #10 (and Middleweight #1) Anderson Silva at UFC 101.
According to his brother Antonio Rodrigo, #7 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will be signing with the UFC very soon and fighting for the promotion before the end of the year.
This leaves Strikeforce champion #11 Gegard Mousasi with very few appealing options in either DREAM or Strikeforce. He'll be participating in the DREAM "SuperHulk" tournament where he will meet #22 Soukoudjou with the winner going on to the finals on the same night. From there it's anyone's guess as to who they'll find for him to face after his dramatic demolition of #12 Renato "Babalu" Sobral at the last Strikeforce event.
#8 Rich Franklin will continue his netherworld existence of catchweight fights against #8 middleweight Vitor Belfort at UFC 103. No word on what a win would mean for Franklin. He's been used as a gatekeeper for the 185lb class since moving up to 205lbs.
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.
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.
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In 26th place. He’s one point (the equivalent of one 25th place vote) behind Cantwell. Only Fight Magazine (23rd), Fight Matrix (15th) and Inside MMA (23rd) ranked Lawal. Fight Magazine (15th) and Total MMA (19th) ranked Cantwell.
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 Aug 27, 2009 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions
This outlines exactly the problem Strikeforce will have will Mousasi. There are only 3 non-UFC fighters in the Top 25. Mousasi already beat Babalu and will be fighting Soko next. After that, he is left without an opponent at that weight class.
Yea Mousasi isn’t going to find much of a challenge at lightheavyweight outside the UFC. Even if you add the returning Arona to his list of possible opponents there just won’t be much for him in 2010. Perhaps he should just move on up to heavyweight as there are plenty of outside the UFC fights there.
by who me on Aug 28, 2009 12:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
These are the first rankings i've really had problems with.
Griffin at five while silva’s at 10 is ridiculous, Hendo should definately be in front of Franklin because he beat him, and Jardine that high is ridiculous
A lot of places don’t rank Silva at LHW or rank him lower because he only has 2 fights there, obviously he could beat most of the guys ahead of him.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 28, 2009 9:55 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I mean, he beat Griffin so dominantly that although i don’t believe in leapfrogging, there is no way he should be behind jardine, cane, or franklin
by Austin Martin on Aug 28, 2009 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions
several sites only rank Silva at middleweight
so that hurts him pretty badly.
fighters who jump weight classes mess up the consensus rankings no doubt about it.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
maybe there should be a rule
if a person is a title holder in a weight division they cannot be ranked in another division.
another example. BJ could probably beat a lot of ranked welterweights, but he’s the LW champ, and he’s only lost to the cream of the crop of WWs, but he shouldn’t be ranked at WW
by Austin Martin on Aug 28, 2009 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
I can't impose rules on the ranking sources
it wouldn’t reflect the consensus if we started trying to impose criteria.
the whole reason for the creation of the consensus rankings was my realization that all ranking systems are ultimately flawed and futile but nonetheless interesting and we thought this would be a fun contribution to make.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
i agree
as soon as i posted that i realized that since these don’t matter and are only for MMA nerds like us to debate, there is no reason to make rules. mea culpa
by Austin Martin on Aug 28, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Copy Pasta
That event will also see #20 Brandon VeraKrzysztof Soszynski face #24 . The winner will climb the ladder into contender country.
by TheConcreteKid on Aug 28, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions
Cuz he beat 2 and 4?
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 28, 2009 10:45 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I realize that but...
When you get embarrassed like he did in his last fight you should drop more then one spot
fightlockdown.com
That’s foolish thinking.
Losing to a guy who people think are the best p4p fighter on the planet should make you plummet in the rankings?
Exactly. Did he complain about Thiago Alves only dropping one spot after losing to GSP?
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 28, 2009 6:16 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Exactly true about Gegard.
He has nothing he can accomplish at 205 outside of the UFC.
Check your sources
SI has Hendo as the number #4 LHW? Fight Magazine has Jardine at #20? Inside MMA didnt even rank Mousasi in their top 25!!!
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
What’s your question?
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 Aug 28, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Why Not
submit a ballot to each one of these sources and have them send you their top 25. include in it the last months rankings so they dont forget anyone like Mousasi. That way youre not trying to make a top 25 out of other guys top 10s
CBS runs the blog poll for college football, same sort of thing.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/polls/cbsblog
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
by ryanwk628 on Aug 28, 2009 10:55 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
That’s where difference in philosophy comes up.
He may be able to beat them, but has he done enough to earn a ranking higher than them? He could be ranked higher on a power rankings, but many people rank based on results, not potential.
I would much prefer a power rankings. If a guy is done, he should not be in the top 10 (see HWs) College football does it this way and it makes for a much more interesting debate.
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
power rankings are stupid if they are going to determine who an actual champion is.
I have no problem with many of these sites doing power rankings, but if you’re going to be running around handing out belts (or saying you’re going to hand out belts) there needs to be accomplished.
College football is a completely different animal because each team plays 11 games a year, and each set of rankings is for, and lasts for 1 season. MMA rankings are continuous.
Besides that, any ranking that will help determine a champion should be based on results. If the NFL playoffs had the top 12 teams in espn’s power rankings instead of the teams at the top of the standings it would be a joke, I don’t see why any other sport should be different.
I understand that. But power rankings are how promoters decide who gets a shot at the title. Who has momentum, who is on a win streak, who looked good in their last fight. Case and point: Jose Aldo. Ranked 6 but gets the title shot.
Last time I checked there was no BloodElbow/USA Today Champions Belt, so why not make it more of a power rankings?
In college football, if a team is playing better later in the season, they can move up. ie OU over Texas. Its not set in stone. Its a “if these two met at a neutral site today, who would win?” Thats where the objectivity of the different sites comes into play.
Should the Randy/Nog winner be the next in line for a title shot? No way. According to the rankings, they ought to be.
All Im saying is that fighters should be able to move up and down based on preformance. This is fighting where guys get better and guys get old. Many of these rankings are still hung up on things that happened 5 years ago.
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
It needs to be a combination of both.
They shouldn’t be held up by things that happened 5 years ago, but, things that happened 5 years ago do matter. And things that happened in the last year should count more than things that haven’t happened at all. the perfect rankings would be a combination of the 2, but to put someone at the top based entirely on potential is stupid.
Why shouldn’t the winner of Randy/Nog get a shot? Who deserves one more?
Maybe not based on theoretical, but Anderson beat Forrest, who was the number 4 guys. Perhaps they would switch? I could see Anderson being the number 4. Also, fighters dont drop as hard in the rankings as they do in the fans eyes for a loss they looked really bad in. A really bad loss or a great win should hurt/help you more than a close one… these polls seem to look at record only though.
Because the winner will be 1-1 in their last two fights, one with a loss to Lesnar, one with a loss to the guy who lost to Lesnar and a win over the other which cant look good after this fight. Both are on the way out and just dosent excite general fans right now.
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
Of the sites ranking Silva at LHW, only MMA Playground doesn’t rank him ahead of Forrest.
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 Aug 28, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
right, but then a lot of sights dont rank him, averaging a zero there, dropping him below forrest in the SBN rankings. Its is one of the issues with drawing from sites who rank on different systems. Yes, its good to have a pool of their opinions, but they should all do top 25s and include the same guys… let their expertise be in the order, not the system.
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
How would a loss to K-Sos make him go up in rankings?
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
care to join in on the sig bet i have with Myth? :)
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 28, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
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