Bellator 120 Results

Main card:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson def. King Mo Lawal via unanimous decision
Will Brooks def. Michael Chandler via split decision
Tito Ortiz def. Alexander Shlemenko via submission (arm-triangle choke) (R1, 2:27)
Alexander Volkov def. Blagoi Ivanov via submission (rear-naked choke) (2nd, 1:08) 
Michael Page def. Ricky Rainey via first-round KO (4:29)

Undercard: 
Cheick Kongo def. Eric Smith via second-round TKO (4:35)
Marcin Held def. Nate Jolly via submission (armbar) (R1, 4:20)
Fabricio Guerreiro def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev via submission (kimura) (R1, 3:29)
Goiti Yamauchi def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Austin Lyons def. Zach Underwood via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Mike Wessel def. Justin Fraziervia first-round TKO (4:28) 
Ben Brewer def. Andy Uhrich via second-round KO (2:40)
Codie Shuffield def. Anthony Lemon via submission (rear-naked choke) (2nd, 2:15)
Brian Hall def. Cortez Phelia via third-round KO (0:24)

Thanks to MMA Fighting for the Full Results. 

Your middleweight champ loses in a light heavyweight fight to a guy with 1 other win since 2006... In the 1st round. Probably not ideal.  

No Eddie Alvarez hurt the card and then his replacement defeats Chandler.  Not ideal.  

Dana White, who said he was watching boxing last night, enjoyed the whole thing I'm sure. 

The Sports Brief's UFC Rankings (6-13-08)

We here at The Sports Brief have decided to combine our individual UFC Rankings into one mega-power ranking that will be updated monthly. As of right now this is our list of Top 10 fighters in each of the weight classes recognized by the UFC. There is a great chance however, that after the unbelievably stacked Affliction card in July, which features such fighters as Fedor, Sylvia, Barnett, Rizzo, Lil Nog, Vitor Belfort, Arlovski, Matt Lindland, Babalu, and others we may change formats to an all MMA Ranking. But for now here are the best fighters that the UFC have to offer.

Heavyweight:

1. Randy Couture
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Brandon Vera
5. Frank Mir
6. Heath Herring
7. Cheick Kongo
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Brock Lesnar
10. Shane Carwin

Couture is still our champ, so he is number one. The departures of Andrei and Big Tim really hurt this weight class, where a fighter who is 0-1 in the octagon can be ranked 9. Vera doesn’t fall much due to what we thought was an early stoppage vs. Werdum.

Light Heavyweight:

1. Quinton Jackson
2. Chuck Liddell
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Wanderlei Silva
6. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua
7. Thiago Silva
8. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
9. Keith Jardine
10. Rashad Evans

This division is tough to figure out since everyone has beaten everyone. I (Keefe) really like Shogun still, but his inactivity and loss to Forrest drop him to 6. You can make a number of intriguing match ups here. Rampage vs. Forrest finally comes next month. And one of the biggest questions for this weight class still remains, what organization will former champ Tito Ortiz sign with?

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rich Franklin
4. Yushin Okami
5. Patrick Cote
6. Ricardo Almeida
7. Nathan Marquardt
8. Thales Leites
9. Chris Leben
10. Michael Bisping

Knocking on the door: Jason MacDonald, Nathan Quarry, Damain Maia

Like Tom Hanks, Anderson Silva is in a league of his own. He owns dominant victories over everyone he has faced in the UFC including close to half of this top 10. Rumors of a Spider vs. Iceman fight linger, and we wouldn’t object to that. Henderson against Franklin would be intriguing, but what do you do with the winner? Hendo/ Silva II or Franklin/ Silva III? Don’t think so.

Welterweight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Josh Koscheck
t-5. Matt Hughes
t-5. Matt Serra
7. Diego Sanchez
8. Karo Parisyan
9. Mike Swick
10. Marcus Davis

Alves didn’t make weight, but still the performances against Karo and Hughes vault him up the leaderboard. GSP fights Fitch for the title in August. Mike Swick looked very comfortable at 170 against Davis, and let’s hope we still see Hughes vs. Serra.

Lightweight:

1. BJ Penn
2. Sean Sherk
3. Joe Stevenson
4. Kenny Florian
5. Roger Huerta
6. Tyson Griffin
7. Clay Guida
8. Frankie Edgar
9. Nate Diaz
10. Gray Maynard

Knocking at the door: Spencer Fisher, Matt Wiman, Rich Clementi

Similar to the middleweight division it’s a one man weight class. B.J. Penn cemented himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA after blowing through Sherk. Huerta vs. Ken-Flo is upcoming, but does Penn fight the winner or GSP? It’s shaping up to be a pretty deep division, solid Top 10 with good honorable mentions. Yes, we showed “Some Love” to Rich Clementi.

UFC Rankings (5-29-08)

-Keefe

I am so excited and nervous about the Celtics being up 3-2 in the series with the Pistons that I don't even know what to say. I don't want to jinx anything. Instead I will just watch Game 6 tomorrow night and try to enjoy it. To help take my mind off of the magnitude of that game, I've decided to update my UFC Rankings. Here is how I rank the best fighters in each weight class. Also I have added a fight I would like to see, that has not been scheduled, in each division.

Heavyweight:

1. Randy Couture
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Brandon Vera
5. Frank Mir
6. Gabriel Gonzaga
7. Heath Herring
8. Cheick Kongo
9. Brock Lesnar
10. Shane Carwin

Yes, I still have Randy Couture in the top spot. He is still the Champ right? But what a terrible division. The 9th best guy hasn't won a fight in the UFC and it was hard to find a 10th heavyweight at all. The loss of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski quickly made this weight class one of the best to probably the worst. Don't worry, 40 year old Mark Coleman is coming back, not in August as planned though, he got hurt.

Fight I'd like to see: Randy Couture vs. Nogueira (chances I know unlikely)

Light Heavyweight:

1. Quinton Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua
4. Chuck Liddell
5. Forrest Griffin
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Wanderlei Silva
8. Keith Jardine
9. Thiago Silva
10. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

This division is stacked. 10 quaility guys here with Rashad Evans and others knocking at the door. Tito Ortiz would still be on my list, but he confirmed that 100% he would move on. I'm going to miss Tito and feel that he has some great fights left in him. When was the last time Rampage fought? Damn reality shows kill some of these match ups. You can make lots of intriguing fights though from the light heavyweights.

Fight I'd like to see: Wanderlei Silva vs. Lyoto Machida

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rich Franklin
4. Nathan Marquardt
5. Yushin Okami
6. Chris Leben
7. Patrick Cote
8. Jason MacDonald
9. Nathan Quarry
10. Michael Bisping

Not a lot has changed in the past month or so in the middleweight division. It's really Anderon Silva at the top then a serious drop off. Not sure what weight class Dan Henderson is going to stick to, if he'll stick to one at all. Leben vs. Bisping would have been awesome, you know, if Leben didn't have to go to jail. I'd still like to see it, but not as much as...

Fight I'd like to see: Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin

Welterweight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Matt Serra
4. Matt Hughes
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Diego Sanchez
7. Marcus Davis
8. Karo Parisyan
9. Thiago Alves
10. Mike Swick

Perhaps the deepest division in the UFC there are a ton of great welterweights. GSP has proven he is the cream of the crop, and maybe there is a potential GSP vs. Penn II in the works. Well first St. Pierre will face Jon Fitch. The rest of the guys in the top 10 all want shots at the title, but it may take some time. Less than two weeks away from Hughes vs. Alves and Davis vs. Swick. It'll be a great day for welterweights on June 7th.

Fight I'd like to see: Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

Lightweight:

1. BJ Penn
2. Sean Sherk
3. Joe Stevenson
4. Kenny Florian
5. Roger Huerta
6. Tyson Griffin
7. Clay Guida
8. Spencer Fisher
9. Nate Diaz
10. Frankie Edgar

No question about it now, B.J. Penn is the best lightweight in the UFC. An impressive win over Sean Sherk proved that last weekend. The idea now is for Penn to face the winner of Florian and Huerta when those two fight in August. Will he fight GSP or the winner or both? Time will tell. I'm also not convinced anyone else can beat Sherk in this division. Looks top heavy to me.

Fight I'd like to see: Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz

UFC Rankings (4/4/08)

-KeefeHere are my new updated rankings for the start of April. I waited for the Fight Night that certainly altered both the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions. Coming up on April 19th, the rankings will be changed once again with great match ups including St. Pierre vs. Serra and Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter. These are the top 10 fighters in each weight class in the UFC as I see them right now.

Heavyweight:

1. Randy Couture
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Tim Sylvia
4. Andrei Arlovski
5. Fabricio Werdum
6. Brandon Vera
7. Frank Mir
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Heath Herring
10. Cheick Kongo


Light Heavyweight:

1. Quinton Jackson
2. Dan Henderson
3. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua
4. Chuck Liddell
5. Keith Jardine
6. Forrest Griffin
7. Lyoto Machida
8. Wanderlei Silva
9. Tito Ortiz
10. Thiago Silva


Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rich Franklin
4. Nathan Marquardt
5. Yushin Okami
6. Travis Lutter
7. Chris Leben
8. Patrick Cote
9. Jason MacDonald
10. Nathan Quarry


Welterweight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Matt Serra
3. Jon Fitch
4. Matt Hughes
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Diego Sanchez
7. Marcus Davis
8. Karo Parisyan
9. Thiago Alves
10. Mike Swick


Lightweight:

1. BJ Penn
2. Sean Sherk
3. Joe Stevenson
4. Kenny Florian
5. Roger Huerta
6. Tyson Griffin
7. Clay Guida
8. Spencer Fisher
9. Nate Diaz
10. Frankie Edgar