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Independent World MMA Rankings – August 12, 2010
By Zach Arnold | August 12, 2010
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
August 12, 2010 – The August 2010 Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.
Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form an independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (Los Angeles Times and Sherdog); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Head Kick Legend).
Note: Paul Daley, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, and Jason Miller are all temporarily ineligible to be ranked due to the fact that they are all currently serving disciplinary suspensions. Daley is serving a disciplinary suspension for punching Josh Koscheck after their fight was over, and all of the other fighters are serving disciplinary suspensions for their roles in the post-fight brawl at the Strikeforce event in Nashville.
Note: Due to the fact that Anderson Silva has said in numerous recent interviews that he plans to stay in the middleweight division for the rest of his career and has no plans to fight in the light heavyweight division anymore, along with the fact that Silva’s most recent fights have been at middleweight, Silva has lost his eligibility to be ranked in the light heavyweight division. Unless Silva returns to light heavyweight in the future, he will be eligible to be ranked exclusively in the middleweight division.
August 2010 Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on August 10, 2010
Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)
1. Brock Lesnar (5-1)
2. Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 No Contest)
3. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
4. Cain Velasquez (8-0)
5. Junior dos Santos (12-1)
6. Shane Carwin (12-1)
7. Alistair Overeem (33-11, 1 No Contest)
8. Frank Mir (13-5)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 No Contest)
10. Antonio Silva (14-2)
Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)
1. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4)
2. Lyoto Machida (16-1)
3. Rashad Evans (15-1-1)
4. Quinton Jackson (30-8)
5. Forrest Griffin (17-6)
6. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (7-0)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-3)
8. Jon Jones (11-1)
9. Gegard Mousasi (29-3-1)
10. Thiago Silva (14-2)
Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva (27-4)
2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)
3. Nathan Marquardt (29-9-2)
4. Dan Henderson (25-8)
5. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
6. Demian Maia (12-2)
7. Yushin Okami (25-5)
8. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (12-2, 1 No Contest)
9. Jorge Santiago (22-8)
10. Robbie Lawler (17-6, 1 No Contest)
Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
2. Jon Fitch (23-3, 1 No Contest)
3. Josh Koscheck (15-4)
4. Thiago Alves (17-7)
5. Dan Hardy (23-7, 1 No Contest)
6. Martin Kampmann (17-3)
7. Matt Hughes (45-7)
8. Paulo Thiago (13-2)
9. Matt Serra (11-6)
10. Mike Swick (14-4)
Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)
1. Frankie Edgar (12-1)
2. B.J. Penn (15-6-1)
3. Kenny Florian (13-4)
4. Shinya Aoki (24-5, 1 No Contest)
5. Eddie Alvarez (20-2)
6. Gray Maynard (9-0, 1 No Contest)
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (26-6-2)
8. George Sotiropoulos (13-2)
9. Evan Dunham (11-0)
10. Ben Henderson (12-1)
Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo (17-1)
2. Manny Gamburyan (11-4)
3. Urijah Faber (23-4)
4. Mike Brown (23-6)
5. Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2)
6. Marlon Sandro (17-1)
7. Bibiano Fernandes (8-2)
8. Josh Grispi (14-1)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (11-8-1)
10. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue (18-4)
Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Dominick Cruz (15-1)
2. Brian Bowles (8-1)
3. Joseph Benavidez (12-1)
4. Miguel Torres (37-3)
5. Scott Jorgensen (10-3)
6. Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2)
7. Damacio Page (15-4)
8. Wagnney Fabiano (14-2)
9. Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2)
10. Rani Yahya (15-6)
The Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.
The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.
The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win hypothetical match-ups.
Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.
Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.
Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until his first fight in the new weight class has taken place.
Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.
Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Shouldn’t Werdum be 2? He did beat Fedor.
It’s a reflection of the biased, god-like worship the voters have for Fedor.
They are incapable of rationally and objectively viewing his body of work as a fighter.
They emotionally feel/believe that he is the best and can’t even entertain the argument that he isn’t.
No fighter has ever jumped in these ratings like Werdum did.
Somehow he jumps JDS who humiliated him right before he left UFC for Strikeforce and then got a borderline decision over Bigfoot Silva.
Fedor and Werdum should be ranked #5 and #6. Fedor hasn’t fought anyone in years. His best two wins have been demolished by the current crop of UFC contenders. The UFC contenders are constantly fighting relevant fights.
Never in my life will I be able to understand how Forrest keeps such a ridiculously high ranking.
Lawal at #6 is much more cringe worthy then Griffin, former #1 fighter, being ranked #5.
So is Feor still being ranked above Werdum.
Or what about Dan Hardy at #5?
Or what about Koscheck creeping up to #3 despite there being no rational explanation for him being that high.
The rankings are a mess. But Griffin being #5 is hardly the biggest issue.
Forrest has fought better competition than King Mo, (only good win is against Mousasi) and Lil Nog hasn’t fought anybody world class in years.
Alot of discrepancies pointed out by block and 45:
I just really don’t understand the spot of King Mo. How does wins over Mousasi and Whitehead beat out Matyushenko, Vera, and the questionable call on Hamill?
Hioki and sandro could be creeping up on Brown and faber too…
The UFC has about 17 of the Top 20 Light Heavyweights in the world. And yet magically Mousasi and Lawal have gone up in the rankings without any real logic behind it.
It seems like there are two real problems with the rankings.
1) For fighters outside of the UFC, there is still this perception that what happens in Japan or on Strikeforce somehow equals what happens in the UFC. The UFC runs through prospects like no other company. More guys fail miserably in that company because the competition is so tough. In Strikeforce, if a fighter has any sort of promise, he will eventually make it to a title shot, even if he can’t beat a guy like Mike Kyle (hello Cavalcante!!). So to push a Strikeforce fighter up in the rankings so quickly because he has been their champion makes no sense. Look at Mousasi’s resume. After being defeated by Lawal, he has no business in the Top 10.
2) For fighters inside of the UFC, if a fighter competes for the title, he magically is pushed up the rankings. Hardy has no business in the Top 5. But because he got his shot at GSP, he is way too high.
It’s all about QUALITY of opposition. I don’t care if a legit #4 ranked fighter loses 3 fights in a row. I would still rank him #4 in the world if those 3 loses happened to the #1, #2, & #3 fighters in 3 straight fights. Win streaks mean nothing when the competition is less then stellar.
It’s easy to see why the journalists are so bad in MMA when we see rankings like this. They are incapable of very simple logic skills like Werdum being ranked higher then Fedor. They are just a bunch of fanboys and irrational haters who mostly have hidden agendas instead of an unbiased look at what the fighters have accomplished.
“Pot calling the kettle black”
Your last sentence is the perfect example of that happening that I have ever seen.
Hardly. My rankings are very much based on results and reality.
Heck, there is more logic in putting Werdum at #1 then #3.
An my bashing of specific fighters rankings have been universal. They have screwed up rankings from fighters in all organizations.
And let’s be honest. These rankings are merely a tool to drum up content and discussion and page views. Nothing is more contentious or more of a non-factor than rankings, but everyone still seems to get all up-in-arms when they come out.
They’re only a non factor because they don’t make any sense and they don’t bother to defend their picks.
A person who is on that panel that shall remain nameless once defended ranking Cheick Congo as a Top 10 fighter after he beat Mirco Cro Cop in the UFC. They ranked him #6 after that win. Cheick Kongo.
After that, I gave up pretty much on rankings.
2. Manny Gamburyan (11-4)
They did it again.
As much as i’d like to take these lists seriously (and don’t get me wrong I do agree with a huge amount of them) the lack of respect that someone like Marlon Sandro has gotten in this list is a fuckin’ disgrace. The guy is undefeated, has sent the last three guys he fought out on stretchers within the first round.. and SOMEHOW someone like Faber (and no disrespect to him, he’s an awesome fighter and it’s not his fault he got rated higher on this list than he should have) is on this list alot higher than him.
The dude’s leg looked like something out of a horror film after Aldo destroyed it for 5 straight rounds and he is number 3 on this list that is supposed to be “tabulated on a monthly basis” when he has been less than steller not just in the past few months.. but potentially years.
Just take a look at Faber for example (again, no disrespect to the guy, just using him as an example). Looking at the past two years, Faber has a 3-3 record. Two wins over Jens Pulver, who was recently dropped from WEC’s roster after 5 straight losses. His other win was over an unranked (on this list I am meaning) Assuncao. Two of his losses were to Mike Brown, but he is somehow higher in the rankings than even Brown? As well as a loss to Aldo. Oh yeah.. and isn’t he now a bantamweight?
Don’t get me wrong, I love that these guys are trying to put together a system that could potentially work for rankings, but this time around, the ball has been dropped, as serverely underrated fighters are being shown in a less impressive light than they should be, not getting the recognition they deserve.
He’s not undefeated. Whether or not he deserved the decision over Omigawa is irrelevant. And the fighters he sent out on stretchers are lower tier fighters except for Kanehara.
I completely agree on the Faber position. How’s he in front of a guy he lost to twice.
How can Gilbert Melendez not be in the top ten? He beat Aoki. What about Nick Diaz and Jake Shields. I’ve been watching the UFC and training BJJ from the beginning. You guys did a really crappy job on this.