Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

#1 Georges St Pierre's tyranny over the Welterweight division has been on hold since he tore an abductor muscle in his victory over #3 Thiago Alves at UFC 100 in July. Word is he'll be able to return in March where he'll face #11 Dan Hardy (note that these rankings don't account for Hardy's win over #5 Mike Swick at UFC 105). GSP may be looking past Hardy, however, he's putting on weight and talking about moving up to face middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

Hardy's rapid rise is a testament to the role of luck in MMA. Had multiple injuries not intervened, Swick would have faced #12 Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 for the title shot and Hardy would have fought #30 Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim in a fight with no title implications. But luck can only do so much, and once he was given the opportunity, Hardy seized the initiative. Time will tell if the hard-hitting Brit is ready for the powerful and well-rounded GSP.

Speaking of (bad) luck, #2 Jon Fitch was going to face #3 Alves at UFC 107, in an epic fight that could very well have put the winner right back into immediate title contention. But then Alves hurt his knee. Instead he'll face the tough but utterly unheralded Mike Pierce in a fight with no upside for Fitch beyond a pay day.

#4 Josh Koscheck has a chance to make people forget his losses to Alves and #7 Paul Thiago when he faces #16 Anthony Johnson in the co-main event at this weekend's UFC 106. Johnson is much hotter than his ranking reflects and the high profile nature of the fight will bring a lot of momentum to the career of the winner. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the winner of this fight get a title shot -- provided that they win in spectacular fashion.

#6 Matt Hughes was rumored to be facing Renzo Gracie in a senior circuit match early in 2010 but that fight is not happening for whatever reason. That's too bad as that fight is perfect for Hughes at this point in his career. After two losses to GSP and a KO loss to Alves, it is clear that his days as a top contender are over and he has no interest in being used as a stepping stone by younger fighters.

#7 Thiago had his own bit of luck -- we'll see what he makes of it -- when his scheduled UFC 107 bout with Thiago Alves was changed. Instead, he'll face undefeated UFC newcomer Jacob Volkmann at UFC 106. I'm just glad I didn't have to live blog the battle of the two Thiagos.

#8 Carlos Condit gets a chance to recapture the momentum he brought into the UFC from the WEC when he tackles #10 Paul Daley at UFC 108

Continue reading this post »

Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

Fans are used to #1 Anderson Silva toying with opponents, but in recent months we've been treated to the spectacle of seeing Silva and his manager Ed Soares toy with the UFC.  First he wants to fight #5 Vitor Belfort and will be ready for UFC 108.  But snap, he's having elbow surgery. No wait, no surgery, he'll be ready. Then he doesn't think Belfort is worthy of a title shot. And the surgery is on again. Now they're on the verge of signing that fight for UFC 109. We'll see.

Meanwhile, #2 Nate Marquardt will be facing #6 Chael Sonnen at UFC 110, while #3 Dan Henderson twists in the wind. A Marquardt win will surely earn him a second bite at the Anderson Silva apple.

Not quite as sure that Sonnen will get to try for gold with a win, but surely the Zuffa brass are full of gratitude toward Sonnen since he banished the specter of a #9 Yushin Okami title shot.

#4 Demian Maia is rumored to be facing Dan Miller at UFC 109. A win against the tough Miller should put Maia back in the title hunt.

#7 Jake Shields solidified his unlikely status as a top middleweight by beating Jason "Mayhem" Miller at Strikforce: Fedor vs Rogers and taking the Strikeforce middleweight belt. Strikeforce boss Scott Coker has stated that Shields could return to welterweight now that they've beefed up that division a bit more. Shields is talking about becoming a two division champ. Time will tell.

#8 Jorge Santiago dropped four slots after being upset by (the previously unranked) #13 Mamed Khalidov at Sengoku XI. This is a disaster for Santiago who at one point was scheduled to face Belfort at Affliction's final show. Two years of momentum building in Strikeforce and Sengoku have suddenly evaporated.

#10 Yoshihiro Akiyama is expected to headline UFC 110 against legend Wanderlei Silva. This fight, at the UFC's Australian debut will also air during prime-time in Japan and South Korea. Akiyama was a crucial acquisition for the UFC, a true star in Asia, who has shown the ability to hang in the UFC. He will be sorely tested against the former PRIDE champion.

Continue reading this post »

Another week, another event. So join already.

Rodriguez over at Fightlinker somehow thinks he is capable of leading a charge against Bloody Elbow, the biggest betting camp on MMA Playground and vanguard of a new cultural innovation. This notion is immediately refuted by a personal performance which results in $260 spendable, fake dollars, a loss of $740 off the starting amount, and a 57% picking percentage for fights. One can compare this to BE's camp leader who manages $27,582 in phony cash and a picking percentage of 70%. As for the MMA4Real, we are tied or nearly tied as a camp in the judged criteria after 7 events, which, of course, really pains me to write or admit.

We still have time to step our performance with the three events remaining in the season. Beat MMA4Real. Destroy Fightlinker.

Reminder on prizes. UFC 105 Results. UFC 106 Playground lines in extended entry.

Important: If you wish to join the BE betting camp, send me a message on MMA Playground with your BE user name or leave a comment in this thread so I can send you an invite. Please make sure your MMA Playground login name is the same as your BE name or as close as possible so we can give you the proper credit.

Continue reading this post »

Martin McNeil for ESPN.com

View full size photo »

Last weekend's UFC 105 main event light heavyweight match-up between Randy "The Natural" Couture and Brandon "The Truth" Vera cemented itself as one of the tougher bouts to score from a judge's point of view during this year's long list of close decisions. Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua should be thrown in the mix as well as a recent bout that also spawned a lot of debate among fans, but the Couture vs. Vera decision focuses solely on a subject within the context of MMA's judging criteria that has hidden from criticism.

While most of the debates come down to certain exchanges landing and the value of specific strikes in opposition to other methods of scoring (i.e. the value of leg kicks versus jabs, takedowns vs. escapes), the hierarchy of the criteria used in judging a fight was the central issue at UFC 105. Per a discussion on the Sherdog forums back in 2007 regarding judging criteria, someone posted the criteria for judging MMA bouts when Marc Ratner was the head of the NSAC. We also had the discussion here. The root of the issue comes in the Criteria Evaluation:

If 90% of a round is grounded with one fighter on top, then:

   - Effective Grappling is weighted first, with Clean Striking weighted next. If Clean Strikes scored in the round, the Judge shall factor it in. Clean Striking can outweigh Effective grappling while the fighters are grounded. Octagon Control is next (Pace, Place, & Position)

The same rational holds true if 90% of the round were standing:

   - Clean Striking would be weighed first, Clean Grappling second, then Octagon Control. Which fighter created situations that led to effective strikes.

If a round was 50/50, then:

   - Clean Striking and Effective Grappling are weighed more equally with Octagon Control being weighed next.

Now, keep in mind -- these were the rules under Ratner's reign at the NSAC and these could have been changed since those days, but I think these make the case against what some fans have argued over the past week. This obviously hints that there is a hierarchy when it comes to Striking, Grappling, Effective Grappling, and Octagon Control. Striking and Grappling receive a lot of weight in a battle that's mostly standing and grappling as equals, but when entire rounds shift to the ground, the criteria is weighted to specific portions of the criteria.

This is exactly how the criteria should work, and it shocks me that we've seen arguments that some of Vera's blows in the first round would suddenly nullify anything Couture did in terms of Effective Grappling and Octagon Control. The only real problem with my view is that technically... Couture stood for much of those clinching exchanges. His style, however, was basically a grounded battle against the fence in the clinch.

Continue reading this post »

View full size photo »

More bad news for UFC 109. The anticipated middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort seems to be receding off into the distance. Fighters Only translates from Portal das Lutas:

Anderson Silva says his recovery from elbow surgery has not gone as expected, and that there is still enough pain to stop him practicing simple jiu jitsu positions.

"I went to the doctor who takes care of me in Brazil on Monday. I had surgery in the United States but there is communication between the two medical teams. To sum it up, some movements aren't at the expected stage [of recovery]," he revealed to Portal das Lutas.

...

The news will not thrill UFC bosses, who are faced with a mounting injury list of high profile stars. Silva was wanted for a headlined fight with Vitor Belfort in February but unless he is back to full training by next month that will be unlikely.

Breaking news regarding Karo Parisyan's status for his UFC 106 match-up with Dustin Hazelett comes to us from Dana White via his Twitter page:

@danawhite Karo Parisyan has fucked over the UFC, the fans and his opponent again!!! He will not be fighting Saturday or ever again in the UFC

We can only speculate at to what the specifics are to the tweet by Dana White, but I'm sure we'll find out very soon as it seems that White is completely fed up with Karo Parisyan. Parisyan's failures in the past are likely what White is referring to when he says Karo has "f*cked" over the UFC once again.

If you recall, Karo pulled out of his UFC 88 bout with Yoshiyuki Yoshida due to a back injury, but he pulled out of the bout right before the weigh-ins. The problems kept coming as Karo tested positive for banned painkillers hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone following his close split decision victory over Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94. Interestingly enough, Karo was rumored to potentially be pulling out of the UFC 94 bout and Rick Story was on deck to take his place only a day before the event was to take place.

It looks like Dana White has had enough, and it'll be interesting to see what the reasoning is behind Karo's dismissal.

[UPDATE] via Josh Gross - "@SI_JoshGross: Karo Parisyan denies abuse of painkillers is the reason for not fighting. "Hell no, no addiction," he said via text. "It's anxiety."

[UPDATE] via MMAWeekly.com:

Karo "The Heat" Parisyan is out of UFC 106 after failing to acquire a license in Nevada, according to Parisyan, due to not having the money to pay his fine from previously being suspended after testing positive for a three different pain killers following his UFC 94 bout with Kim Dong-hyun.

"There’s a lot of problems going on. They won’t re-license me unless I (expletive) pay them," Parisyan told MMAWeekly.com. "I had to pay the $32,000 fine in order to fight. I never paid because I never had the money. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back."

[UPDATE] by MMAJunkie - "Keith Kizer said Karo was, in fact, licensed and they had worked out a deal to have him pay fine out of UFC 106 purse. Weird."

[UPDATE] by Dana White - "Pulled out of the fight the day before weigh ins again with a laundry list of excuses!!! Let the press ask karo why! Let him explain."

[UPDATE] by Josh Gross - "Karo Parisyan via text confirmed he won’t be fighting Saturday. He declined to answer any questions."

[UPDATE] by Dana White - "Dustin will be paid his full purse to show and win. Its not his fault."

-- image via combatlifestyle.com