Post-UFC 125 ranking update

Two upsets at featherweight (Dustin Poirier over Josh Grispi and Diego Nunes over Mike Brown) shake things up at 145 lbs. Plus, Brian Stann moves into the middleweight top 15 for the first time with a win over Chris Leben.

MIDDLEWEIGHT (183-185 lbs.) TOP 15

#	Name	Pro MMA Record	P3Y Record at MW	Notes
1	Anderson Silva	27-4	5-0	UFC middleweight champion (7 defenses)
2	Chael Sonnen	25-11-1	5-2
3	Yushin Okami	26-5	5-1
4	Nate Marquardt	30-9-2	5-2
5	Demian Maia	13-2	7-2
6	Jake Shields	26-4-1	3-0
7	Alessio Sakara	15-7	4-1
8	Paulo Filho	19-2-1	4-1-1
9	Dan Henderson	26-7	2-2
10	Jorge Santiago	23-8	7-1 (loss avenged)	Sengoku middleweight champion (2 defenses)
11	Robbie Lawler	18-5	3-1
12	Wanderlei Silva	33-10-1	1-0
13	Brian Stann	10-3	2-0	Moved to #13 following a win over Chris Leben at UFC 125 on 1/1/11.
14	Ronaldo Souza	12-2	6-1	Strikeforce middleweight champion
15	Riki Fukuda	17-4-	9-1

FEATHERWEIGHT (143-145 lbs.) TOP 10

#	Name	Pro MMA Record	P3Y Record at FW	Notes
1	Jose Aldo	18-1	9-0	WEC featherweight champion (2 defenses)
2	Manvel Gamburyan	11-5	3-1
3	Diego Nunes	16-1	6-1	Moved to #3 following a win over Mike Thomas Brown at UFC 125 on 1/1/11.
4	Mike Thomas Brown	24-7	6-3
5	Urijah Faber	24-4	4-3
6	Dustin Poirier	9-1	1-0	Moved to #6 following a win over Josh Grispi at UFC 125 on 1/1/11.
7	Raphael Assuncao	14-3	4-2
8	Josh Grispi	14-2	5-1
9	L.C. Davis	16-3	7-3
10	Chad Mendes	9-0	9-0

UFC 125 ranking preview

I don’t have time to write much in the way of additional thoughts for these fights–and, let’s be honest, no one cares–so here’s a list of the ranking-relevant fights scheduled for tonight’s UFC 125:

Light-heavyweight

• #8 Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera

Middleweight

• #13 Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann (NB: Stann is undefeated [1-0] at 185 lbs.)

Lightweight

• #1 Frank Edgar vs. #5 Gray Maynard

Featherweight

• #3 Mike Thomas Brown vs. #7 Diego Nunes
• #5 Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier

Post-UFC 116 ranking update

Chris Leben’s upset victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama produces a shakeup at middleweight, and with Joachim Hansen not having won a fight in nearly two years, George Sotiropoulos’s win over Kurt Pellegrino moves him up one slot at lightweight:

MIDDLEWEIGHT (183-185 lbs.) TOP 15

#	Name	Pro MMA Record	P3Y Record at MW	Notes
1	Anderson Silva	26-4	6-0	UFC middleweight champion (6 defenses)
2	Chael Sonnen	25-10-1	7-2
3	Nate Marquardt	29-9-2	4-3
4	Demian Maia	11-2	7-2
5	Yushin Okami	24-5	4-1
6	Jake Shields	25-4-1	3-0	Strikeforce middleweight champion (1 defense)
7	Alessio Sakara	15-7	4-1
8	Thales Leites	18-3	6-2
9	Paulo Filho	19-1	4-1
10	Dan Henderson	25-7	2-1
11	Jorge Santiago	22-8	9-1	Sengoku middleweight champion (1 defense)
12	Mamed Khalidov	20-4-1	2-1
13	Robbie Lawler	17-5	3-1
14	Wanderlei Silva	33-10-1	1-0
15	Chris Leben	21-6	5-2	Moved to #15 following a win over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 on 7/3/10

LIGHTWEIGHT (154-160 lbs.) TOP 15

#	Name	Pro MMA Record	P3Y Record at LW	Notes
1	Frank Edgar	12-1	6-1	UFC lightweight champion
2	Gilbert Melendez	17-2	5-2	Strikeforce lightweight champion (1 defense)
3	B.J. Penn	15-6-1	4-1
4	Shinya Aoki	23-5	9-2	DREAM lightweight champion
5	Kenny Florian	13-4	7-1
6	Eddie Alvarez	20-2	8-1	Bellator lightweight champion
7	Tatsuya Kawajiri	26-5-2	7-2
8	Gray Maynard	8-0	7-0
9	George Sotiropoulos	13-2	6-0	Moved from #10 to #9 following a win over Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 116 on 7/3/10
10	Joachim Hansen	19-10-1	4-4
11	Joe Stevenson	31-11	4-4
12	Josh Thomson	16-3	4-1
13	Pat Curran	12-3	12-3	Entered the top 15 following a win over Roger Huerta at Bellator XVII on 5/6/10
14	Roger Huerta	21-4-1	4-3
15	Evan Dunham	11-0	8-0

UFC 116 ranking preview

Tomorrow night’s UFC 116 is being jeered in some corners for being a top-heavy card with not much going on underneath its huge main event. These people are not wrong, but it could be worse: at least we’ve got three fights with top 15 implications. Here they are:

Heavyweight

• #1 Brock Lesnar vs. #4 Shane Carwin. Even when I briefly had Fabricio Werdum at #1, before the addition of a new ranking guideline, I figured this fight would probably determine the new top heavyweight, given how close everyone’s records are amongst the top 4. One more really good win would put just about everybody over the line. That seems to be the more or less universal sentiment: with Fedor dethroned, and Werdum suffering from an all-too-recent loss to Junior Dos Santos, whoever takes this one is king of the mountain. As for the fight itself: I wish I could remember which blog or message board poster suggest that when in doubt, pick the better wrestler. It seemed very wise to me. So I guess I’ll go with Brock.

Middleweight

• #14 Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben. As we all know, this was originally scheduled to be a bout between Akiyama and #15 Wanderlei Silva, but Silva got injured in training, and for about half a day, Akiyama put it out there that he might not fight rather than accept Leben as a replacement. This caused some people to overreact, producing a lot of desire to see Akiyama lose, not to mention quite a few predictions that he’d lose to his journeyman opponent as well. I think that as long as Akiyama fights smart–that is, doesn’t try to trade punches with the UFC’s resident iron-chinned brawler–he takes this one more often than not, especially with Leben having just fought two weeks ago. Of course, if he doesn’t, he’s gone from the top 15.

Lightweight

• #10 George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino. Many people, myself included, wondered if Sotiropoulos was in too deep with his last opponent, then-#10 and former UFC title contender Joe Stevenson. His victory there–one of the most commanding displays of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prowess in recent memory–put him on the map as a top-tier lightweight. Just looking at records, one would want to favor Sotiropoulos in this one. Pellegrino lost a decision to Stevenson in 2007, and was submitted by Nate Diaz the following year, after which Diaz lost to Stevenson as well. But of course MMA is never that simple. Pellegrino is no slouch as a grappler, wrestling and BJJ both, and is on a 4-fight win streak. Time will tell if Sotiropoulos is as good as the Stevenson fight suggested.