Tag: Rankings/List

With his rise toward the top of the 145-pound division, Conor McGregor has put Irish MMA on the map.

McGregor’s biggest impact on Irish MMA may not be felt for years, when younger Irish athletes who enter MMA competition hoping to follow in his footsteps make their way up the ladder. 

That said, McGregor’s success has had an immediate effect on Irish MMA as well. Other Irish fighters are beginning to receive much more attention than they had previously, and the number of Irish individuals on the UFC roster has risen extremely quickly.

While it’s very possible no currently active Irish fighters will be able to reach the heights McGregor has, there are some who do have big potential. Here are the 10 Irish fighters most likely to break out next.

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Another week, another continuation of the self-proclaimed best series on the Internet. That’s right, the “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series is back with a vengeance. We left off with the middleweights, and now, we move on to the welterweight division.

The welterweight division is one of the most stacked and talent-laden divisions in the UFC and all of MMA. The landscape has greatly changed as well, as Robbie Lawler is now the UFC champ and has a bevy of contenders, from Rory MacDonald to former champ Johny Hendricks to Hector Lombard.

The UFC has always been focused on restocking the division on a consistent basis, snagging guys who could have been considered for this series such as Dhiego Lima, Warlley Alves, Sultan Aliev and Alan Jouban.

Even though there has been a changing of the guard, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be replenishing our welterweight talent. So, with that in mind, here are five welterweight prospects that the UFC should sign with the intent of keeping a talent-rich division.

Below are the previous installments of this series.

 

Heavyweight

Light Heavyweight

Middleweight

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With a dominant performance against UFC veteran Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59, Conor McGregor earned a shot at featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Although McGregor was only ranked No. 5 among 145-pound contenders heading into his bout on Sunday, he’s already done enough to earn a spot in a championship bout only five contests into his UFC career. It doesn’t hurt him that all the contenders ranked above him have already lost to Aldo.

Now considered the biggest threat to Aldo’s belt, McGregor’s position in the rankings is bound to be reconsidered. Was a win over Siver enough to push him higher up the 145-pound ladder?

Here are the latest official UFC rankings, via UFC.com, which are voted on by members of the MMA media.

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Name one thing in pro MMA more exciting than a flying-knee knockout like the one we saw from Chris Beal. Don’t give me gogoplata or calf slicer. Don’t lean back in your leather chair, chickory in hand, and proclaim that “five frenetic rounds of only the most elite cardiovascular athletes working feverishly but methodically to break the will of the other man using only the four barest limbs what the lord’st given’st him” is the top thing, either.

No, “flying knee” is what we’re looking for. And here are the five such maneuvers, over the course of all of major league MMA history (sorry, no Nebraska State Fair entries) that resulted in the best knockouts or TKOs. They made it for violence, for quickness and for just being in the right place at the right moment.

And if you have one that you like but isn’t mentioned, it’s because it didn’t make our final cut. Remember! As always, all ratings are final and objective.

Video provided as often as is permitted by promotional restrictions and so forth.

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Ed Herman came in second on The Ultimate Fighter 3, but he has had a longer and more successful UFC career than season winner Kendall Grove, who was released by the world’s top MMA promotion more than three years ago.

At UFC 183, Herman will make his 17th trip to the Octagon. While Short Fuse has never been that close to becoming a contender in the middleweight division, he’s had more than eight respectable years competing inside the Octagon.

Having never reached contender status despite recording nine UFC wins, Herman is one of the better journeymen in MMA today. Disregarding fighters who have had less than five UFC appearances, as they haven’t really established their positions in their respective divisions, here are the 10 best journeymen currently on the UFC roster.

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