UFC Total Rankings: April 2009

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Before we start, here’s a brief disclaimer:

These rankings are based on a plethora of factors: win-loss record, method of victory, competition the fighter is facing, and the push given to them by the UFC matchmakers.

I try to picture each weight class in the same way that Joe Silva or Dana White would, which means I factor in marketability, drawing power  and other things that rankings typically don’t account for. These are completely different than skill-only rankings.

They are wholly my opinion and should be treated as such. Champions are given top billing because they are champions and regarded as the best in their division by the company, regardless of the skills or overall record. If a weight class has an interim champion, that fighter will assume the second position, with everyone else following.

These fighter rankings are published on Inside Fights and my Houston Chronicle UFC blog.

HEAVYWEIGHT

1. Frank Mir (Interim Heavyweight Champion)
2. Brock Lesnar (Heavyweight Champion)
3. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera
4. Cheick Kongo
5. Randy Couture
6. Shane Carwin
7. Cain Velasquez
8. Junior Dos Santos
9. Gabriel Gonzaga
10. Heath Herring

NOTES: Cheick Kongo moves up to the third position, and likely into title contention, with his victory over Antoni Hardonk at UFC 97. I’m not certain that he’ll get the winner of Lesnar/Mir, but he’s very close…Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera will meet in August in a fight that will likely put the winner very close to a title shot…Shane Carwin moves to #5 after last month’s stunning knockout win over Gabriel Gonzaga. With that win, Carwin became an instant top-level UFC heavyweight. I assumed that he would get the next heavyweight title shot, but it appears that Cheick Kongo is ahead of Carwin on the pecking order.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

1. Rashad Evans (Light Heavyweight Champion)
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Quinton Jackson
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Shogun Rua
6. Luiz Cane
7. Keith Jardine
8. Rich Franklin
9. Jon Jones
10. Wanderlei Silva

NOTES: The top two men in this division will meet each other next month. Following that, Rampage Jackson has been assured a title shot and will likely receive it in August or September…Shogun Rua moves up to #5 after his impressive win over Chuck Liddell. Even though a victory over Liddell means a fraction of what it used to, Rua looked sharp and skilled. A rematch with Forrest Griffin could be on the horizon, as could a potential contender’s fight with Rich Franklin…

MIDDLEWEIGHT

1. Anderson Silva (Middleweight Champion)
2. Demian Maia
3. Dan Henderson
4. Yushin Okami
5. Michael Bisping
6. Nate Marquardt
7. Thales Leites
8. Patrick Cote
9. Chael Sonnen
10. Alan Belcher

NOTES: Demian Maia is now the de-facto number one contender in a division that is devoid of real contenders. Maia may not get his title shot for quite some time, because the company likely will not be willing to risk a repeat of the Leites fight from UFC 97. Maia is infinitely more skilled on the ground, but it’s still a striker vs. a top-level jiu jitsu player that Silva would likely avoid going to the ground with…Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping meet in July to determine a number one contender, but that title shot may not come until later in the year. If Bisping beats Henderson, it’s almost assured that he’ll get his title shot on a big United Kingdom show, possibly in a soccer stadium..Yushin Okami is the odd man out in this division as far as contenders go….Thales Leites drops back to sixth after a horrendous performance against Anderson Silva.

WELTERWEIGHT

1. Georges St. Pierre (Welterweight Champion)
2. Thiago Alves
3. Jon Fitch
4. Matt Hughes
5. Martin Kampmann
6. Josh Koscheck
7. Matt Serra
8. Karo Parisyan
9. Mike Swick
10. Carlos Condit

LIGHTWEIGHT

1. B.J. Penn (Lightweight Champion)
2. Kenny Florian
3. Sean Sherk
4. Diego Sanchez
5. Gray Maynard
6. Tyson Griffin
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Clay Guida
9. Nate Diaz
10. Hermes Franca

POUND FOR POUND

1. Georges  St. Pierre
2. Anderson Silva
3. B.J. Penn
4. Rashad Evans
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Thiago Alves
7. Kenny Florian
8. Quinton Jackson
9. Demian Maia
10. Frank Mir

NOTES: Anderson Silva falls to the second spot after his lackluster performance at UFC 97 against the underqualified Thales Leites. The technical side of the performance was perfectly fine (despite a complete lack of killer instinct), but since these rankings take into account entertainment as well as fighting skill, he takes a hit. Moving into his spot is Georges St. Pierre, who is rightly deserving after his January domination of lightweight champion B.J. Penn…there will be several big fights affecting this rankings over the next few months, as Evans vs. Machida, St. Pierre vs. Alves and Penn vs. Florian will all happen before the summer is over.