Bloody Elbow: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
Around SBN: SB Nation NFL Power Rankings for Week 11

USAT/SBN September MMA Consensus Rankings: Welterweight

Rank Fighter % Promotion Last Rank
1 Georges St. Pierre 100 UFC 1
2 Jon Fitch 93 UFC 2
3 Thiago Alves 93 UFC 3
4 Matt Hughes 81 UFC 4
4 Josh Koscheck 81 UFC 7
6 Jake Shields 73 Strikeforce 5
7 Mike Swick 71 UFC 8
8 Carlos Condit 56 UFC 9
9 Paul Daley 45 UFC NR
10 Paulo Thiago 43 UFC 10
11 Martin Kampmann 40 UFC 6
12 Dan Hardy 36 UFC 11
13 Karo Parisyan 27 UFC 12
14 Dan Hornbuckle 26 WVR 33
15 Marius Zaromskis 26 Bellator/DREAM 13
16 Jay Hieron 23 Strikeforce 15
16 Hayato Sakurai 23 DREAM 18
18 Nick Diaz 22 Strikeforce 16
19 Marcus Davis 22 UFC 20
19 Mike Pierce 22 UFC NR
21 Chris Lytle 21 UFC 21
22 Dustin Hazelett 21 UFC 17
23 Brad Blackburn 19 UFC 24
23 Mike Pyle 19 UFC 38
25 Brock Larson 18 UFC 14

Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

If you want to see utter dominance in MMA, take a look at the UFC welterweight division. Nineteen out of the top twenty-five fighters in the division. Nine out of the top ten. Twelve of the top fifteen.

The UFC puts the beatdown on the competition in this division worse than #1 Georges St Pierre does on his challengers.

Speaking of which, its looking like #7 Mike Swick vs #12 Dan Hardy at UFC 105 will determine the next challenger for GSP's belt.

Originally Swick was going to fight #11 Martin Kampmann (formerly #6) at UFC 103 to win a title shot, but he got hurt and then #9 Paul Daley hurt Kampmann.

Sadly for Dana White, Daley's record (and his weak performance against Jake Shields) means he is several impressive wins away from a title shot.

UFC 106 will see a pair of clashes that should impact the division: #2 Jon Fitch vs Ricardo Almeida and #13 Karo Parisyan vs #22 Dustin Hazelett.

Fitch will be welcoming Almeida to the division, down from middleweight where Almeida was a long-time contender who never quite made that title run. We'll see if Fitch snuffs out yet another potential contender.

The Parisyan vs Hazelett bout seems perfectly positioned to get the up and coming Hazelett over at the expense of the troubled long-time contender Parisyan. Hazelett is a huge welterweight with powerful striking to complement his aggressive jiu jitsu game. If Parisyan is able to win in impressive fashion he'll be back on track, but that's a tall order.

UFC 107 will pit #3 Thiago Alves against #10 Paulo Thiago. This is a chance for Alves to send a message to the division that he remains a very scary threat to any contender. Likewise, it is Paulo Thiago's chance to prove that his win over #4 Josh Koscheck was no fluke.

No word on what's next for Koscheck or the man he's tied for #4 Matt Hughes. One thing appears certain -- Hughes won't be fighting Koscheck, Fitch or Swick anytime soon. Apparently Hughes is another fighter on the new UFC "senior circuit" so look for him to be featured in lucrative but irrelevant matches. Personally I think its a bit of a waste and counter to the traditions of the fight game to protect the old guard. Joe Louis lost to Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali lost to Larry Holmes, Larry Holmes lost to Mike Tyson. It's the nature of the beast -- the new generation kills and eats the old guard.

#8 Carlos Condit was lucky to get away from his UFN 19 bout with Jake Ellenberger with a split decision. As gritty a performance as that was from Condit, it's far short of the expectations the former WEC champ brought into the UFC.

The big riser in the division is #14 Dan Hornbuckle whose victory over the former #19 Nick "the Goat" Thompson at Sengoku X, quickly on the heels of his brutal KTFO win over the respected Akihiro Gono at Sengoku IX propelled him up nineteen slots in the rankings.

The rise of Hornbuckle is comparable to the surge #15 Marius Zaromskis enjoyed a couple of months back after winning the DREAM 170lb tournament.

#16 Jay Hieron is still hoping he'll eventually get to face #18 Nick Diaz for the coveted Strikeforce welterweight belt. Hopefully that fight will happen at some point, but something tells me that Diaz won't be fighting on CBS any time soon after his string of problems with various athletic commissions.

Star-divide

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.

0 recs  |  Comment 28 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

fights i would rather see

alves vs. swick II
Hughes vs. Hazelett

by amadeus on Oct 1, 2009 8:25 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Why is Condit top 10? He’s ranked ahead of someone that’s beaten him within the past 6 months…

Don't argue for the sake of arguing....

by Screwface on Oct 1, 2009 8:51 PM EDT via mobile reply actions   0 recs

he was the wec champ and still has clout for that, plus he BAREELY lost to kampmann in five rounds condit probably would’ve won, and that’s probably what he was used to

by amadeus on Oct 1, 2009 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Kampmann's loss hurt him

you see this alot. Frank Edgar has passed Gray Maynard in the rankings at lightweight and Maynard hasn’t even lost, but Edgars win over the highly ranked Sherk jumped him over Maynard.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I see. Thanks for the explanation.

I just think it’s funnt he got beat by Kampmann, and squeeked by an unranked guy and is higher than the guy he lost to. I put zero credibility in these rankings.

/kidding…kind of

Don't argue for the sake of arguing....

by Screwface on Oct 1, 2009 9:27 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions   0 recs

all ratings are subjective

ours just attempt to get a snapshot of the state of the subjectivity at any given time.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Indeed

And if opinions are assholes, nothing could smell sweeter than a whole collection of opinions. :-)

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.
I blog at TangleBones - you should follow me on Twitter here.

by jemaleddin on Oct 2, 2009 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Good stuff as always.

Should Fitch & Alves both be ranked 2 since they have the same number of points or is there a tiebreaker? Hughes & Koschek, Hieron & Sakurai, and Blackburn & Pyle are all tied and receive the same ranking but Fitch is number 2 and Alves is 3.

by thekiltedwonder on Oct 1, 2009 8:52 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

we round off for the tables

but the ones that are ties are true ties and the ones that have the same rounded score but different ranks have clear differences at a tenth or a hundreth of a point.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

Cool. That makes sense.

by thekiltedwonder on Oct 1, 2009 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Whelp, I think Hughes losing to GSP is akin to Joe Louis losing to Rocky Marciano. likewise Liddel losing to Rampage and Couture losing to Lesnar. While I sort of agree with you that it’s weird to protect the fogies, I think that their seminal loss has happened, and it’s okay for them to fight certain fights that are for entertainment value over belt contention.

by Dooda on Oct 1, 2009 9:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Joe Louis lost several fights before losing to Marciano. Same for Ali vs Holmes or Holmes vs Tyson. Hughes is very young to be put out to pasture IMO.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

< insert joke about Hughes and pasture here >

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on Oct 1, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Matt Hughes walks into a pasture

and somehow gets kicked in the nuts.

by slapjaw ackrite on Oct 1, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

where does the nazi with the t-shirt come in?

or was it a duck?

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

Im guessin he tried to wrestle a cow

after taking a picture with the nazi guy at a kkk party he stumbled across while mudbogging. He won the fight with the livestock by split decision after recovering from an early moo (which somehow vibrated his nuts the wrong way). Cecil Peoples scored it 30-27 for the cow.

by slapjaw ackrite on Oct 2, 2009 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

Okay but Ali had most recently retired as champ from boxing before coming back to take on Holmes…I think. I’ll give you Joe Louis, but Joe Louis’ time was just different. Holmes’ loss to Sphinx before coming out of retirement to fight Tyson was a controversial split decision loss. Had Hughes lost to GSP that way, or had he lost to Thiago Alves that way, and then he had an impressive win over Serra and some other top ten, then maybe I could see him keeping relevant and fighting top dogs. As it is it seems that even Hughes understands that his best days are over.

by Dooda on Oct 1, 2009 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

whatever happend to

Matt Serra?

April 2008 he was #1 and lost to the #2 in GSP, then May 2009 he lost to #4 Hughes, which knocks him out of even top 25?

Guess he was just a “one hit” wonder.. ha.

by virginiatech on Oct 1, 2009 9:51 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

good point. if this is really record based he wouldn't have dropped out of the top 25

i can’t imagine him being behind Mike Pierce, Marcus Davis, Hornbuckle n some of the other lower tier fighters on there

by amadeus on Oct 1, 2009 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think its the inactivity more than anything

but these rankings accurately reflect the extent to which he’s fallen out of the consciousness of mma writers.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2009 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

He sort of gets a bad rap. I think he’s a really good fighter. I’d love to see him fight some more top ten guys.

by Dooda on Oct 1, 2009 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'd like to see him fight at 155

Because I think he’d be a force there.

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.
I blog at TangleBones - you should follow me on Twitter here.

by jemaleddin on Oct 2, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It`s all just a popularity contest, though i dont see any Inanimate carbon rod in those ranking?

by Xtor on Oct 2, 2009 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

he was ranked #1 pretty much solely because he beat GSP.

It’s not shocking that he dropped so quickly, especially the way the GSP fight happened.

Hughes gets to stay near the top after his losses because he has a much bigger body of work, especially when compared to serra.

by Phildo on Oct 2, 2009 8:26 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I’m surprised that Anthony Johnson, Yoshida, and Stun Gun are not on the list.

by chrisbboy82 on Oct 2, 2009 5:10 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Stun Gun’s the one that surprises me. I’m still bummed he wont’ be the one fighting Hardy.

"That feeling after you win and they raise your hand... it's like you have this energy that releases from your body, and it's like you mingle with the cosmos, and you feel omnipotent"

by woomikee on Oct 2, 2009 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Out of those three, I’d go with Stun Gun being on that list. He just beat a very tough competitor in TJ Grant, and while many see the Matt Brown fight as controversial, at the end of the day he got the win. The Karo fight was overturned (for good reason), so Stun Gun is actually still undefeated.

by chrisbboy82 on Oct 2, 2009 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The thing with this list is that GSP is so much better than Fitch, Alves and Hughes that he needs to occupy 1-5 all by himself. Or leave them blank. Something….

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.
I blog at TangleBones - you should follow me on Twitter here.

by jemaleddin on Oct 2, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it." -- H.L. Mencken
Start posting on Bloody Elbow »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Nav-logo-hover_small
UFC 106: Pro's Pick Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz fights
Awesomeness_small
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: "Rodrigo Will Return to Training in a Few Weeks"
Venum2_small
Painkiller Addiction to Blame for Karo Pulling Out
Awesomeness_small
UFC 106 Preview: A Statistical Breakdown of Tito Ortiz vs Forrest Griffin 2
Img_8375_small
Heavyweight Tournament Kills Two Birds with One Stone

Recent FanPosts

Tailings_small
UFC 106 Pay Per View Prediction: Tito Brings Attention
Small
Behind the Fighters
Grizzly_bear-larry_small
Shooto Brazil 14 Fight Card
Img_0641_small
Dan Hardy A Bad Challenger at a Good Time
U-faber_small
UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 Pre-Fight Interviews (Part 2)
Tracy_lee_martin_mcneil_small
UFC 105 Medical Suspensions
N46600342_991_small
Hard-nosed wrestlers

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

MMA Rankings

USA Today / SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings