USAT/SBN February MMA Consensus Rankings: Welterweight

by Kid Nate on Feb 25, 2010 11:20 PM EST in MMA Rankings

Rank	Fighter	%	Promotion	Last Rank
1	Georges St. Pierre	100	UFC	1
2	Jon Fitch	96	UFC	2
3	Thiago Alves	92	UFC	3
4	Josh Koscheck	85	UFC	4
5	Paulo Thiago	80	UFC	9
5	Dan Hardy	80	UFC	5
7	Paul Daley	70	UFC	6
8	Nick Diaz	69	Strikeforce	15
9	Matt Hughes	58	UFC	7
10	Martin Kampmann	55	UFC	10
11	Mike Swick	49	UFC	8
12	Carlos Condit	40	UFC	11
13	Jay Hieron	37	Strikeforce	13
14	Matt Serra	37	UFC	22
15	Jake Shields	36	Strikeforce	14
16	Dan Hornbuckle	33	WVR	16
17	Marius Zaromskis	32	DREAM/Strikeforce	12
18	Akihiro Gono	30	K-1	20
19	Anthony Johnson	30	UFC	31
20	Mike Pierce	29	UFC	27
21	Jake Ellenberger	29	UFC	17
22	Karo Parisyan	28	UFC	18
23	Rory MacDonald	27	UFC	33
24	John Howard	27	UFC	20
25	Frank Trigg	27	UFC	25

Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

#1 Georges St Pierre has had the welterweight division on lock down since he reclaimed his UFC title from #14 Matt Serra at UFC 83 in April 2008. He's only defended the title three times since then, but many feel he is on the verge of having cleaned out the division.

He'll be facing #5 Dan Hardy at UFC 111. Also on that card will be #2 Jon Fitch vs #3 Thiago Alves. The winner of that bout will take a huge step towards a rematch with GSP, but might very well have to go through #5 Paulo Thiago to get there. Thiago is hot after destroying #11 Mike Swick at UFC 109.

If Hardy beats GSP, the winner of Fitch/Alves will likely get the first bite at Hardy's title. Although in the event of Hardy winning a controversial decision over GSP, an immediate rematch could also happen.

Barring a Hardy upset, the winner of UFC 113's #4 Josh Koscheck vs #7 Paul Daley is very likely to get the next shot at GSP's title.

It's expected that Strikeforce champ #8 Nick Diaz will make his first title defense against Hayato Sakurai. This leaves #13 Jay Hieron out in the cold and he may be on his way out of the promotion as well.

#9 Matt Hughes will take on MMA legend Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 in Dubai. This is the definition of a great "senior league" match -- a compelling, evenly matched fight between two beloved veterans despite having no relevance to the title picture.

#10 Martin Kampmann had to pull out of his UFC 111 bout with Ben Saunders after sustaining a gruesome cut. Saunders will now take on Jake Ellenberger. #12 Carlos Condit is expected to face Rory Macdonald at UFC 115.

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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Hm

Recalls a large argument stating that Diaz shouldn’t be top10. Do believe I was right and he should be

http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/

by Cory Braiterman on Feb 25, 2010 3:05 AM EST reply actions

Diaz is very appropriately ranked here.

Also, any matchup of #5-10 WWs is a great fight that I’d love to watch. Nick Diaz / Paulo Thiago/ Dan Hardy / Martin Kampmann would be a sick round robin, since I want to see all of them fight the others. Good money is on Paulo or Diaz, and that’s a sick fight of BJJ black belts with contrasting boxing styles (power vs. volume) and great chins.

"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe

by pdl on Feb 25, 2010 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

On what grounds? He only has one welterweight win since 2006, and it was against Marius Zaromskis, who was apparently no higher than 12 in these rankings. How does that land him in the top 10?

Ranking MMA

by JRN on Feb 26, 2010 6:46 AM EST up reply actions

Could be from Fight Matrix

They do a thing where a ranked fighter who drops down in weight receives a slight boost in the new rankings, whereas a ranked fighter who moves up in weight receives a slight reduction in the new rankings. In either case, their ranking in their former weight class is taken into consideration.

At least I think that’s how it works…

by Tedd Welch on Feb 26, 2010 9:50 AM EST up reply actions

The people doing these rankings don’t ignore fights that happened outside of the weight class a fighter is now in obviously.

Bolts from the Blue // "He looks like a catfish" - Nick Hardwick on Brandon Siler
Bloody Elbow // " looks like your comment violated rule #4. and it’s a heck of a rule, rule #4" - Kid Nate

by Richard Wade on Feb 26, 2010 2:34 PM EST up reply actions

I want to see Paulo Thiago fight Paul Daley.

The winner of that fight would certainly be a credible threat to GSP.

I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.

by Llewdor on Feb 25, 2010 12:58 PM EST reply actions

I love to see how fluid things are at WW and then look at HW where Ray Mercer is still the #15 guy in the world.

Keep firing Assholes!

Blackout is always right

by Ubernoober on Feb 25, 2010 11:32 PM EST reply actions

Welterweight is a lot deeper.

Bolts from the Blue // "He looks like a catfish" - Nick Hardwick on Brandon Siler
Bloody Elbow // " looks like your comment violated rule #4. and it’s a heck of a rule, rule #4" - Kid Nate

by Richard Wade on Feb 25, 2010 11:55 PM EST up reply actions

I knew Swick was gonna be out of the Top 10 after 109

by mthom on Feb 26, 2010 12:00 AM EST reply actions

As far as the division goes in the UFC, after Dan Hardy (because I expect GSP to beat him), Paul Daley, if he gets past Koscheck, and Paulo Thiago are the only two fresh matchups for him. With Daley, judging from his pre-UFC fights, he has shown a weakness in the ground game, and his takedown defense is good, but I would imagine that a Fitch or Koscheck could take him down, and I don’t doubt that GSP could take him down. Paulo Thiago has really stepped up, and while I don’t see him as much of a threat to GSP, another big win from Paulo Thiago could sway my opinion.

by chrisbboy82 on Feb 26, 2010 5:00 AM EST reply actions

Well at least we could really make a real case for dailey’s stand up being superior to Gsp’s. But I have yet to see someone stuff his takedowns long enough to not get roughed up on he mat.

"You hit too hard, too hard, too hard..."

by spectaa on Feb 26, 2010 10:15 AM EST up reply actions