SB Nation heavyweight rankings: Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum deadlocked

Fabricio Werdum has a shiny gold belt that tells him he’s next in the UFC’s heavyweight pecking order behind champion Cain Velasquez.

Junior dos Santos has a UFC track record dating back to 2008 which makes the case he’s the second-best heavyweight out there.

So who has the stronger claim?

Werdum, the UFC interim heavyweight champ, has won five straight fights and eight of his past nine. That nine-fight stretch includes his legendary submission win over Fedor Emelianenko, his dominant win over Travis Browne, and the comeback win over Mark Hunt to claim the interim belt at UFC 180.

Dos Santos, meanwhile, is undefeated in UFC competition against anyone not named Cain Velasquez. His close decision win over Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 13 pushed the former heavyweight champ to 10-0 against the rest of the pack.

Of course, that 10-0 includes his famous knockout win over Werdum in 2008. But that was a full six years ago, an eternity in combat sports, and while it counts for something, it shouldn’t mean too much in the rankings as the calendar turns to 2015, as Werdum clearly is a different fighter today than he was then.

So who deserves the nod for second place behind the UFC’s injury-prone champ? That’s proven a tough nut to crack, as the current edition of the SB Nation rankings attest. Dos Santos took three second-place votes and three thirds. Werdum took the other three seconds and the other three thirds. That puts the duo in a deadlock for second place with 51 points apiece, behind Velasquez, who claimed all six first-place votes.

Travis Browne took five of six fourth-place votes in the wake of his UFC 181 win over Brendan Schaub; Mark Hunt landed fifth; and Stipe Miocic moved up a spot to six in the wake of his solid showing against JDS.

And that’s pretty much how the rankings will freeze for the time being. With Velasquez out and everyone ranked 2-6 fighting within the past six weeks, it will be a while before we see another consequential fight at 265.

(Scoring: Fighters are given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc., down to one point for 10th place. The results are then tallied up and presented here. Official SB Nation rankings policy: Fighters under commission or company suspension are ineligible to be ranked during the duration of their suspension or if they have licensing issues. Presently, this does not affect any fighters at lightweight who are generally considered to be Top-10 caliber).

HW ranks

1. Cain Velasquez (13-1, 60 points): No timetable set yet for the champ’s return.

2t. Junior dos Santos (17-3, 51 points): Given the amount of punishment JDS has taken in recent fights, making his next matchup a three-round co-main event instead of a five-round main event might not be the worst idea out there.

2t. Fabricio Werdum (18-5-1, 51 points): Long gone are the days when Werdum was considered a jiu-jitsu only guy. Two of his last four wins came by way of strikes.

4. Travis Browne (17-2-1, 41 points): Rebounded from his loss to Werdum with a one-sided win over Brendan Schaub. Maybe a bout with JDS next?

5. Mark Hunt (10-9-1, 34 points): The popular Hunt may have finally hit the glass ceiling in his remarkable late career run with the loss to Werdum.

6. Stipe Miocic (12-2, 32 points): Whether you thought Miocic should have gotten the decision against dos Santos or believe JDS winning was the correct call, Miocic’s stock raised considerably with his performance.

7. Josh Barnett (32-7, 23 points): Still no indication The Warmaster is inclined to return from his MMA hiatus.

8. Andrei Arlovski (23-10, 1 NC, 14 points): Arlovski’s knockout win over Antonio Silva put him at 2-0 in his UFC return and 6-1 in his past seven overall.

9. Roy Nelson (20-10, 9 points): No next fight lined up yet for Nelson, whose knockout loss to Mark Hunt was his third loss in his past four fights.

10. Antonio Silva (18-6, 1 NC, 6 points): Silva will be two years removed from his last victory when he meets Frank Mir at UFC 184.

Others receiving votes: Ben Rothwell 4, Alistair Overeem 3, Matt Mitrione 1.5, Vitaly Minakov 1.5.

Fabricio Werdum has a shiny gold belt that tells him he’s next in the UFC’s heavyweight pecking order behind champion Cain Velasquez.

Junior dos Santos has a UFC track record dating back to 2008 which makes the case he’s the second-best heavyweight out there.

So who has the stronger claim?

Werdum, the UFC interim heavyweight champ, has won five straight fights and eight of his past nine. That nine-fight stretch includes his legendary submission win over Fedor Emelianenko, his dominant win over Travis Browne, and the comeback win over Mark Hunt to claim the interim belt at UFC 180.

Dos Santos, meanwhile, is undefeated in UFC competition against anyone not named Cain Velasquez. His close decision win over Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 13 pushed the former heavyweight champ to 10-0 against the rest of the pack.

Of course, that 10-0 includes his famous knockout win over Werdum in 2008. But that was a full six years ago, an eternity in combat sports, and while it counts for something, it shouldn’t mean too much in the rankings as the calendar turns to 2015, as Werdum clearly is a different fighter today than he was then.

So who deserves the nod for second place behind the UFC’s injury-prone champ? That’s proven a tough nut to crack, as the current edition of the SB Nation rankings attest. Dos Santos took three second-place votes and three thirds. Werdum took the other three seconds and the other three thirds. That puts the duo in a deadlock for second place with 51 points apiece, behind Velasquez, who claimed all six first-place votes.

Travis Browne took five of six fourth-place votes in the wake of his UFC 181 win over Brendan Schaub; Mark Hunt landed fifth; and Stipe Miocic moved up a spot to six in the wake of his solid showing against JDS.

And that’s pretty much how the rankings will freeze for the time being. With Velasquez out and everyone ranked 2-6 fighting within the past six weeks, it will be a while before we see another consequential fight at 265.

(Scoring: Fighters are given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc., down to one point for 10th place. The results are then tallied up and presented here. Official SB Nation rankings policy: Fighters under commission or company suspension are ineligible to be ranked during the duration of their suspension or if they have licensing issues. Presently, this does not affect any fighters at lightweight who are generally considered to be Top-10 caliber).

HW ranks

1. Cain Velasquez (13-1, 60 points): No timetable set yet for the champ’s return.

2t. Junior dos Santos (17-3, 51 points): Given the amount of punishment JDS has taken in recent fights, making his next matchup a three-round co-main event instead of a five-round main event might not be the worst idea out there.

2t. Fabricio Werdum (18-5-1, 51 points): Long gone are the days when Werdum was considered a jiu-jitsu only guy. Two of his last four wins came by way of strikes.

4. Travis Browne (17-2-1, 41 points): Rebounded from his loss to Werdum with a one-sided win over Brendan Schaub. Maybe a bout with JDS next?

5. Mark Hunt (10-9-1, 34 points): The popular Hunt may have finally hit the glass ceiling in his remarkable late career run with the loss to Werdum.

6. Stipe Miocic (12-2, 32 points): Whether you thought Miocic should have gotten the decision against dos Santos or believe JDS winning was the correct call, Miocic’s stock raised considerably with his performance.

7. Josh Barnett (32-7, 23 points): Still no indication The Warmaster is inclined to return from his MMA hiatus.

8. Andrei Arlovski (23-10, 1 NC, 14 points): Arlovski’s knockout win over Antonio Silva put him at 2-0 in his UFC return and 6-1 in his past seven overall.

9. Roy Nelson (20-10, 9 points): No next fight lined up yet for Nelson, whose knockout loss to Mark Hunt was his third loss in his past four fights.

10. Antonio Silva (18-6, 1 NC, 6 points): Silva will be two years removed from his last victory when he meets Frank Mir at UFC 184.

Others receiving votes: Ben Rothwell 4, Alistair Overeem 3, Matt Mitrione 1.5, Vitaly Minakov 1.5.