USAT/SBN March MMA Consensus Rankings: Light Heavyweight
by Kid Nate on Mar 26, 2010 9:54 AM EDT
in MMA Rankings
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| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyoto Machida | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Mauricio Rua | 92 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Rashad Evans | 91 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Quinton Jackson | 87 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Forrest Griffin | 80 | UFC | 6 |
| 6 | Anderson Silva | 79 | UFC | 5 |
| 7 | Gegard Mousasi | 76 | Strikeforce | 6 |
| 8 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | 71 | UFC | 8 |
| 9 | Thiago Silva | 58 | UFC | 9 |
| 10 | Dan Henderson | 56 | Strikeforce | 10 |
| 11 | Rich Franklin | 49 | UFC | 12 |
| 12 | Randy Couture | 38 | UFC | 11 |
| 13 | Luis Arthur Cane | 37 | UFC | 13 |
| 14 | Ryan Bader | 33 | UFC | NR |
| 15 | Keith Jardine | 30 | UFC | 14 |
| 16 | Brandon Vera | 29 | UFC | 18 |
| 17 | Chuck Liddell | 29 | UFC | 16 |
| 18 | Renato Sobral | 28 | Strikeforce | 20 |
| 19 | Vitor Belfort | 26 | UFC | 15 |
| 20 | Jon Jones | 22 | UFC | 23 |
| 21 | Tito Ortiz | 21 | UFC | 24 |
| 22 | Paulo Filho | 16 | DREAM | 17 |
| 23 | Matt Hamill | 16 | UFC | 26 |
| 23 | Muhammed Lawal | 16 | Strikeforce | 21 |
| 25 | Vladimir Matyushenko | 13 | UFC | NR |
Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.
Things have been so slow in the Light Heavyweight division lately that I was tempted to simply re-post last month's commentary. But that would be wrong.
There has been some movement in the rankings (Note: These rankings were compiled before last Sunday's #16 Brandon Vera vs #20 Jon Jones at UFC on Versus 1, expect Jones to rise significantly next month.), most notably the rapid rise of #14 Ryan Bader in the wake of his KO win over #15 Keith Jardine at UFC 110. In my mind a Bader vs Jon Jones match is just making itself.
The soonest LHW match of real significance will be #7 Gegard Mousasi's defense of his Strikeforce title against #23 Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal at Strikeforce in Nashville on CBS April 17th. It's frustrating that Lawal is already being rushed into a title shot, but that's what happens with paper thin divisions like Strikeforce's LHW bracket.
Meanwhile at the top of the division, #1 Lyoto Machida and #2 Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will meet again at UFC 113 in May. This promises to be an epic bout between two of the most skilled athletes in the game. Rua seemingly solved the Machida riddle in their first match, despite not getting the win. We'll see who makes the adjustments in the rematch.
Following quickly on the heels of that epic bout, the long awaited fight between #3 Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and #4 Rashad Evans will finally happen at UFC 114. If Rampage wins, expect him to get an immediate title shot. Rashad will likely have to hope that Shogun takes the title as his loss to Machida left few unanswered questions.
#5 Forrest Griffin will face the red hot #8 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114. Some expect the winner of that fight to face Jon Jones, but others think that would be rushing the young Jones a bit.
#11 Rich Franklin and #12 Randy Couture are expected to fight (if you believe Dana White's tweets) at UFC 115. But that event is under a number of clouds with Vancouver seeming to be a reluctant host and the mystery of the #21 Tito Ortiz vs #17 Chuck Liddell headliner.
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.USAT/SBN March MMA Consensus Rankings: Heavyweight
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Perhaps these rankings were put together prior to the Jones/Vera fight
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Ben Franklin
and after actually reading the article, I see that they were
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Ben Franklin
Same ish I said over in the composite post
5 Forrest Griffin
6 Anderson Silva
I love the standard BS that comes with these rankings. They’re always such nonsense.
http://mixedmartialartsblogger.wordpress.com/
by Cory Braiterman on Mar 25, 2010 3:41 PM EDT reply actions
The rankings are nonsense?
Not at all. They make 100% absolute sense as what they are supposed to be, a reflection of the overall standing of fighters in a division across multiple rankings.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2010 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions
How is Griffin being ranked above Silva become BS?
Silva hasn’t done shit in the division besides beating Griffin and Irvin. Griffin fought another fight after the fact, and if any sites have some sort of inactivity ranking OR claim Silva ineligible, he drops. It really isn’t that much BS at all.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Mar 26, 2010 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions
The rankings are mostly correct . . .
but KrmtDfrog is right. It’s reasonable to think it looks a little strange that Griffin is higher than Silva given that Silva obliterated him. Couldn’t the compilers make an executive decision or something, to arbitrarily veto particular standings based on common sense?
When a system follows protocol to a T (much like a telecommunications company’s customer service or any other bureaucratic institution) logic flies out the window and splatters on the concrete.
No. that would be the exact opposite of what these rankings exist for. We’re not reflecting out personal opinions in these numbers at all. They are PURELY the compilation of the other rankings ran through a normalization process. Anything beyond that changes what these rankings actually mean.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2010 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions
I can see that, but it’s not that the list would be wholly comprised of complete subjective opinion, just only when it counts.
But I suppose it would be the same as judging a fight exclusively by fightmetric’s system, being that it doesn’t account for other factors in the fight which cannot be measured by numbers. What I mean is, these rankings then, are only a rough guideline with obvious and expected errors, accepted and considered but not held as gospel.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want anyone to take these as just exact rankings and leave it at that. People have to be able to look at and interpret any rankings, not just these. Clearly Anderson Silva is a better fighter than Forrest Griffin…anyone should be able to see that regardless of what these (or any) rankings tell you.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2010 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Are you kidding me?
That would mean you are assuming that ALL RANKINGS don’t account for inactivity or any outside influences at all.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Mar 26, 2010 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions
2010 Brent Brookhouse Yearly Resume Rankings
- Rashad Evans
- Ryan Bader
- Jon Jones
- Vladimir Matyushenko
- Phil Davis
- Krzysztof Soszynski
- Jason Brilz
- James Te-Huna
- Thiago Silva
- Keith Jardine
These are based only on fights in 2010. Priority is given to fighters in the USAT/SBN Consensus Rankings. Wins over quality opponents (again with priority to wins over opponents ranked in the USAT/SBN CR) have most weight, followed by quality wins over non-ranked opponents, and then wins over scrubs. A fighter who has not fought in the current calendar year can not qualify to be ranked.
--
I know it seems like Bader is ranked ungodly high, but he has the second best win of any lightweight (in terms of win over ranked opponent) in 2010.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2010 10:01 AM EDT reply actions
*light heavyweight, not lightweight
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2010 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Light Heavyweight
Anyone else notice that Forrest is ranked a spot higher than Anderson Silva?
Clearly, there’s a flaw here somewhere…
After Jones destroyed two very tough Lightheavies, why would anyone think that anyone outside the top 3 is rushing him? The guy didn’t just eek out wins, or even get lucky punches, he completely destroyed them. Where were all these people when Paulo Thiago went against Koscheck and Swick and Fitch in his first couple of fights? Jones has proved that he doesn’t belong with anyone not in the very top end of the division.
For people who think that a fight with Rampage or Forrest is rushing him, could they imagine either of those two guys doing nearly as well against Vera as Jones did? What about against Couture who faired not even a quarter as well as Jones did against Vera? I know that sometimes comparing like that doesn’t work, but in this case the differences (Jones’ win against Vera compared to Coutures’) are so vast that I can’t help feeling like there really is something to compare there.
Granted I’m on the Jones hypetrain. But you have to be pretty dumb to not believe that this kid is special. Vera was a waste of time. So was Hamil. Stop wasting his time. If he loses he loses, but he won’t lose without learning a powerful lesson. A hard fought loss is worth way more than feeding him slightly higher ranked fighters, just so that he doesn’t lose.
Just for fun I re-dealed the deck
1 Lyoto Machida
2 Mauricio Rua
3 Anderson Silva
4 Quinton Jackson
5 Dan Henderson
6 Rashad Evans
7 Forrest Griffin
8 Jon Jones
9 Gegard Mousasi
10 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
11 Thiago Silva
12 Randy Couture
13 Rich Franklin
14 Chuck Liddell
15 Muhammed Lawal
16 Brandon Vera
17 Vitor Belfort
18 Luis Arthur Cane
19 Ryan Bader
20 Keith Jardine
21 Tito Ortiz
22 Renato Sobral
23 Matt Hamill
23 Vladimir Matyushenko
25 Paulo Filho
and matchup I’d like to see
anderson vs shogun
rampage vs randy
jones vs chuck
My thoughts.
1)Machida
2)Shogun
3)A.Silva
4)Rashad
5)Rampage
6)T.Silva
7)Noguiera
8)Griffin
9)Jones
10)Liddell
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