Comments on: Sunday media stroll: Alexander wants to reach out to you

By: Brendon

Brendon — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 01:26:27 +0000

If Fedor doesnt fight soon and Randy wins in the weekend he probably will be #1. I just dont agree that most of the top 10 guys would beat Tim Sylvia, I think thats a dangerous underestimation. I think Sylvia would take apart Crocrop, Barnett especially would possibly beat Sylvia but cant rank Barnett above Crocrop cuz Crocrop beat him in a very very important fight. Hunt would have a punchers chance, that leaves Werdum, Arlovski, Alexsander who Sylvia has to be ranked above at this time. Sylvia will drop if he doesnt fight or if he has another loss but until then he has to stay in that top 10. Couture does have one heavyweight win in 5 years sure but that win was a beating on a dominant champ, Tim Sylvia who has fought in my estimation the same calibre of opponent barring Noguiera as Fedor has. Should Randy be ranked below the Pride guys with no belts?No way, because they ALL have flaws in thier records too,as does Couture, difference is Couture has the gold, and that reflects in his ranking above them, and dont forget their so called Pride #2 guy Crocrop got his ass handed too him by a ufc fighter who a few months ago wouldnt have been in ANYONES top 10, Crocrops loss brings the rankings of those he beat in Pride down and tarnished the usual train of thought that Pride was superior, The reality is that the UFC fighters and Pride fighters are much closer in ability than everyone thought and the bottom line is, are you willing to put money against Couture ever again? He can beat the Noguiera we saw fight in the UFC recently, after what he did to Sylvia I would go 50/50 on Couture/Fedor.

By: MickDawg

MickDawg — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:56:39 +0000

Brendon, while I don’t disagree with most of your list…my gripe is with Randy Couture at #2.

Randy was handpicked an opponent and jumped over many guys to get a shot at Sylvia.

He was given a title shot against a guy that probably most of the top 10 guys would would beat.

I really want to hit home this point here:
HE HAS 1 HEAVYWEIGHT WIN. 1. ONE!!! IN OVER 5 YEARS.

He was dominated by a light heavyweight before retiring.

I think you even have your own list messed up.

Why don’t you put Randy Couture at #1? The UFC does have most of the top heavyweights, and is the largest promotion in the world.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:55:05 +0000

I realize that my spelling on my last post was horrible. As I mentioned in the note, I was in the boonies of Internet Land when I wrote that…I was being eaten alive by bugs…and well, sweating like a race horse.

But someone did bring up a valuable point regarding Couture. While he no doubt will take the cake for being the nicest person out there…should one win over a legit Top 10 heavyweight make him #2 or #3 in the world in that division.

By: Aaron Crossen

Aaron Crossen — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:52:08 +0000

Rankings aren’t so bad in and of themselves, unless they’re undefended in an abstract manner: names next to numbers don’t mean much of anything, but when accomapnied by a spirited defense, they can make things clearer to newcomers to the sport, journalists, and what have you.

By: Brendon

Brendon — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:11:53 +0000

Should we automatically put their Heavyweight champion top 5 every time? If its the top promotion in the world, which UFC is, the answer is yes, unless there is a major reason not to eg steroid use, until Tim Sylvia is beaten by Pride fighters he also deserves the ranking, which only hypes Coutures ranking. And the realistic view is that ALL of these rankings ARE UFC rankings, because they are the only legitimate promotion out there and the HW champ is the top of the food chain. Strikeforce isn’t going to be a rival to UFC in North America let alone the world, they dont have a proper HW division to start with. And at least I have the nuts and the herewithall to debate the issue of rankings and explain my own views without acrimony.

By: MickDawg

MickDawg — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:20:49 +0000

All I got to say is that whoever ranks Couture top 3 is insane.

Couture has 1 Heavyweight win in OVER 5 YEARS!!!!!

He beat an overrated Tim Sylvia, who was never top 3.

For Brendon to rank Couture #2 in ridiculous.

Because he is UFC champion, he deserves a #2 ranking?

This is a WORLD RANKING, so belts should matter little to none.

StrikeForce may be a rival to the UFC in a couple of years. Should we automatically put their Heavyweight champion top 5 every time?

If this was strictly a UFC HW ranking, then it’s justifiable to have Couture as Champion, then contenders 1-10.

But this is a ranking across multiple organizations, so belts need to be ignored.

When did nuthuggers make their way to FightOpinion.

By: Brendon

Brendon — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:45:21 +0000

lol, dont worry, in 2 weeks everyones ideas of rankings will change. I think its a good thing for people to be talking about rankings, its positive and sure beats talking about steroids all the time.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:35:17 +0000

Contrary to what alot of people think…I do not think that this batter is really all that great. We have one guy giving his side of the story on who should be ranked higher and then the other guy is just giving his side of the story. This is what rankings across the board do…it is like debating politics or religion. Most people have their own views and their own ways, and they are not going to change from them. Does that make me a bad person? I do not know.

P.S. I am typing this post from in front of my University’s like. I had to hack/pry my way into the campus powergrid to power my laptop and I am leaching some of the free wifi from in the middle of nowhere. Given, it is Oklahoma in August and it is 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity…but I challenge on.

By: Brendon

Brendon — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:00:18 +0000

Barnett cant be ranked higher than Crocrop who he lost too, everyone seems to forget this loss when ranking Josh Barnett. And Crocrops subsequent loss in UFC against Gonzaga has changed the landscape as far as the eliteness of the Pride fighters. Before that fight I would have had every Pride fighter in my top 10 above most of the UFC fighters. Now I just dont know and I dont think the UFC HW division was as bad as everyone made out, The Pride fighters who havent fought in a cage seem to struggle so far(this may affect Fedor too?). Tim Sylvia AND Fedor didnt always fight the best but they were still the Champs and that counts for alot, Randy beat the champ so he deserves a high ranking regardless of past losses. The Pride fighters need to fight the UFC fighters for us to really know and rank appropriately and I have a feeling the results wont be as clearcut as everyone thinks. Barnett needs to fight and beat one of these guys in the cage this year and it really should be Couture. After what he did to Tim Sylvia I am never underestimating Randy Couture again. He is the champ, Barnett isnt and if he hadnt lost to Crocrop I would have him higher but I cant look past it.
The LHW division seems far more clear cut with guys like Rampage and Henderson having fought in cages, thier styles probably suit the cage. BUT why is Shogun so high, he should be below Rampage and Dan Henderson who had fantastic wins to become Champions, and maybe below Wanderlei and Liddel who simarly seem ranked too low, again its a case of they are one loss from being the two best fighters in the division. Some rankings have them below #5 Cmon, They both RULED the division for ever.

By: E

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:29:07 +0000

Granted Barnett has more quality wins than Couture (as of late), but if he tested positive for steroids after their fight back in 2002, is it appropriate to use the outcome of that fight in the ranking analysis? I guess it’s ultimately up to the individual(s) doing the ranking…