-Besse
Here are my rankings of the UFC’s five divisions as of today. Please note that Henderson appears in two divisions. Simply put, the poor guy is the 2nd best fighter right now in both weight classes. That may change soon (read below). Other than that, they are slightly different than Keefe’s, but that’s to be expected as we are only dealing with one stable of fighters, so there are some issues with depth in certain divisions. I also included some notes to shed light on why some guys appear where they do. Hope you enjoy.
Heavyweight
1. Randy Couture
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Tim Sylvia
4. Brandon Vera
5. Cheick Kongo
6. Fabricio Verdum
7. Andrei Arlovski
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Mirko Cro Cop
10. Frank Mir
Notes: This division sucks, and it’s not getting any better with “The Natural” letting his contract run out. The winner of the Big Nog/Sylvia fight is a default champion and based on past performances, neither is scary and showing signs of dominance. Arlovski takes a hit due to inactivity, which is why Verdum – whom Arlovski beat in a lackluster decision in his last Octagon appearance – is ranked ahead of him. Mir shows up because he looked like the old champ against Hardonk at UFC 74.
Light Heavyweight
1. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Keith Jardine
5. Chuck Liddell
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
8. Thiago Silva
9. Rashad Evans
10. Tito Ortiz
Notes: Rampage is by far supreme after 2007, and I look for him to dominate Forrest in their matchup later this year by 3rd Round TKO. Griffin shocked everyone with that win over Rua – who may have been hurt – but still doesn’t warrant a title shot with the loss to Jardine. Speaking of, where is the “Dean of Mean”, who owns consecutive wins over Griffin and Liddell? Wanderlei looked old and tired in his last fight, so I left him off, and I still think Tito is a force. Silva and Evans will be an interesting top-10 match between a well-rounded striker and an excellent wrestler with improving stand-up; I still think Evans is slightly overrated.
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rich Franklin
4. Yushin Okami
5. Patrick Cote
6. Nate Marquadt
7. Travis Lutter
8. Dean Lister
9. Thales Leites
10. Michael Bisping
Notes: Much like the Heavyweight division, there isn’t a lot of depth here. Silva is the clear cut leader of the pack and if Hendo hadn’t been persuaded to drop down, I’d say the Reign of Terror would continue for a long, long time. But I think “Dangerous” pulls the upset on March 1st and here’s why: In Silva’s five UFC fights, he’s spending an average of 4:15 demolishing his opponents. Henderson, meanwhile, has gone the distance in five of his last six fights, including that five-round war of attrition against Rampage. Hendo will drag this fight into the later rounds and win by late stoppage or decision. Meanwhile, I slot Bisping in at number ten b/c this division is weak and he has some decent skills.
Welterweight
1. Georges “Rush” St. Pierre
2. Matt Serra
3. Jon Fitch
4. Karo Parysian
5. Matt Hughes
6. Josh Koscheck
7 Marcus Davis
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Josh Burkman
10. Mike Swick
Notes: Now GSP is the “interim” champ, I can finally put him at the top where he belongs. Unless he gets caught again, he’ll dominate Serra in their rematch. Hughes takes a hit after doing absolutely nothing in that fight against GSP. Meanwhile, I thought Burkman should have won that fight. Although his takedowns continually got stuffed, Swick did nothing offensively aside from the one glancing kick he landed. Burkman was aggressive, took chances and tried to fight; Swick didn’t look right at that weight. And by the way Joe Silva, how are you not having Fitch and Parysian fight a #1 contender match on the same card as GSP v. Serra? Both are deserving, and they need to fight each other to get this mess figured out.
Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn
2. Sean Sherk
3. Joe Stevenson
4. Roger Huerta
5. Kenny Florian
6. Clay Guida
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Tyson Griffin
9. Hermes Franca
10. Joe Lauzon
Notes: Penn is the best P4P fighter in the world, and he beat a great opponent in Stevenson at UFC 80. I think Sherk is seriously underestimating the overall game of Penn, but look for a terrific grudge match when they fight. Huerta takes a break and deserves it after a busy ’07. Florian is ever-improving, and it’s too bad he got thrown in against Sherk so early; he wasn’t ready and still isn’t, but continues to improve. Guida was winning against Huerta until he got blitzed early in the 3rd round, and I like his aggressive style. And let’s not forget Franca. He owned up to his mistake, and w/ or w/o the juice, he’s a top 10 fighter in this organization.
-Besse
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