Here it is our loyal readers, the Sports Brief's year end MMA Rankings. The UFC finished 2008 with a bang with UFC 92 last weekend. Great card, great fights, great night! Let's take a look at how the new Top 10's look going in to 2009.
Heavyweight:
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Andrei Arlovski
4. Frank Mir
5. Josh Barnett
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
7. Randy Couture
8. Tim Sylvia
9. Alistair Overeem
10. Chiek Kongo
Gabriel Gonzaga, Shane Carwin, Ben Rothwell, Fabricio Werdum, Heath Herring, Aleksander Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Junior Dos Santos
The UFC's 4 Man Tournament dethroned both the Champion and Interim Champ. What looked like a Couture/ Big Nog final turns into a rematch of Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Elsewhere Affliction gets going again next month with their 2nd show, Fedor takes on Arlovski. Overeem and Cro Cop fight on New Year's but alas not against each other.
Light Heavyweight:
1. Rashad Evans
2. Quinton Jackson
3. Forrest Griffin
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Chuck Liddell
6. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua
7. Thiago Silva
8. Babalu Sobral
9. Wanderlei Silva
10. Keith Jardine
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Tito Ortiz, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera, Luis Cane
Another title fight, another Light Heavyweight Champion. Will anyone ever retain this belt? Rashad beat Forrest at UFC 92 and Rampage knocked out Wanderlei. Makes sense for Rampage to get a shot at the title next, but he wants Forrest as well. Machida and Thiago is on the way. Soko failed in the UFC and followed many others to Affliction. Speaking of Affliction Tito Ortiz... will provide the color commentary for the next card. The long awaited return of Shogun Rua is next month, but against Mark Coleman. What? Interesting weightclass to say the least, looks as though everyone can beat everyone in the top 10.
Middleweight:
1. Anderson Silva
2. Matt Lindland
3. Dan Henderson
4. Rich Franklin
5. Robbie Lawler
6. Cung Le
7. Yushin Okami
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Michael Bisping
10. Nathan Marquardt
Denis Kang, Chael Sonnen, Paulo Filho, Frank Trigg, Patrick Cote, Frank Shamrock, Kazuo Misaki, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, Chris Leben, Ricardo Almeida, Ronaldo Souza
No changes here since last month. A very deep division world wide, with Anderson Silva head, shoulders, and even a full body length ahead of everyone else. A rumored bout with Thales Leites does not get me goin though. Denis Kang and Chael Sonnen are coming to the UFC. Sonnen to face Maia in a few months. Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin fight in a couple weeks, but at 205. Not sure I get that one. The Spider might as well move up too.
Welterweight:
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Jake Shields
4. Thiago Alves
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Diego Sanchez
t-7. Matt Hughes
t-7. Matt Serra
9. Karo Parisyan
10. Carlos Condit
Nick Thompson, Mike Swick, Marcus Davis, Drew Fickett, Jay Hieron
January 31st GSP puts his belt on the line against Lightweight Champ B.J. Penn. We'll see what happens to both divisions after that. Who will Shields fight next? And it looks as though Diego Sanchez will be moving down a weight class to challenge Joe Stevenson.
Lightweight:
1. BJ Penn
2. Eddie Alverez
3. Joachim Hansen
4. Shinya Aoki
5. JZ Cavalcante
6. Takanori Gomi
7. Josh Thomson
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Sean Sherk
10. Kenny Florian
Gilbert Melendez, KJ Noons, Nick Diaz, Victor Ribero, Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta, Frankie Edgar
The little hyped WAMMA Championship comes to the Lightweight division on New Year's Eve in Japan with Eddie Alverez vs. Shinya Aoki. B.J. Penn anyone? Even still the Aoki/ Alverez fight should be very entertaining. The UFC dominates many of these divisions, but clearly not this one. Does Penn stay here or move up for good? What kind of splash does Diego make down here?
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