Tag: Rankings/List

The Beaten Path: Top 25 MMA Prospects for 2015, Part 1

Another year, another set of potential big-show prospects are ready to make a run in a sport that has a seemingly endless supply of up-and-comers who keep promotions strong and stacked with talent.
The Beaten Path is back in 2015 to bring you the top 2…

Another year, another set of potential big-show prospects are ready to make a run in a sport that has a seemingly endless supply of up-and-comers who keep promotions strong and stacked with talent.

The Beaten Path is back in 2015 to bring you the top 25 MMA prospects to look out for this year. These are fighters (men and women) who have yet to make the UFC or a Bellator tournament and are young either in age or in the sport (even though there may be an exception or two).

In evaluating these prospects, we looked for a combination of current ability and future potential that could carry them into the spotlight. Not only that, but we are using original prospects, so fighters who made last year’s list are not eligible for this one.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at Part 1 of this series. Counting down from 25, we will give you the first 13 fighters to make this year’s top prospects list. The second part, counting down the top 12, will come later this week.

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MMA in 2014: The Top 10 Fighters

2014 served as an unpredictable epoch for mixed martial arts.
From untimely injuries to championship upsets, Murphy’s law seemed to engulf the cage at every turn.
But through the fiery turmoil stood countless fighters who were willing to exceed expecta…

2014 served as an unpredictable epoch for mixed martial arts.

From untimely injuries to championship upsets, Murphy’s law seemed to engulf the cage at every turn.

But through the fiery turmoil stood countless fighters who were willing to exceed expectations in order to climb their respective divisional ladder.

Some performances were more riveting than others, but for the most part the best fighters over the past 12 months blazed common paths of destruction.

Based on win totals, finish rates, strength of opponent and overall impact, here are the top 10 fighters of 2014.

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UFC Rankings: Good Calls and Bad Calls Following UFC 182

With his win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, Jon Jones further solidified his position as the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today.
Jones now has more consecutive title defenses than any other active UFC champion. More notably, he’s only two wins a…

With his win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, Jon Jones further solidified his position as the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today.

Jones now has more consecutive title defenses than any other active UFC champion. More notably, he’s only two wins away from matching Anderson Silva’s legendary record for the most consecutive title defenses in UFC history.

Obviously, Jones will stay put in both the pound-for-pound and light heavyweight rankings with his win over Cormier. However, what changes to the UFC rankings resulted from Saturday’s UFC 182?

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

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Ranking Jon Jones’ UFC Title Fights

Unbroken.
After 22 professional fights—nine of which have come against some of the very best contenders the UFC’s light heavyweight division has ever had to offer—Jon Jones has, for all intents and purposes, remained unbroken. 
But tha…

Unbroken.

After 22 professional fights—nine of which have come against some of the very best contenders the UFC’s light heavyweight division has ever had to offer—Jon Jones has, for all intents and purposes, remained unbroken. 

But thankfully, for both MMA fans and Jones’ legacy, he hasn’t gone untested. He’s outclassed certain opponents while making few others appear to be near equals. 

Few people would be able to convincingly argue that Jones is anything but the greatest light heavyweight fighter the sport has ever seen. Where the argument continues to burn is whether or not Jones, at 27 years old, is already the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport.

It’s a curious argument, which is often reignited by the Anderson Silva supporters and the Fedor Emelianenko fanatics. Even the Georges St-Pierre faithful manage to sneak in a few detracting arguments every now and again. 

But as Jones noted at the UFC 182 post-fight press conference, it would be hard to deny him the moniker. The quickest of glances at his championship resume should be enough to get the needle moving his way; a detailed examination of his absolute dominance would likely do more.

That said, let us take a look back at the light heavyweight champion’s title reign, ranking all of his bouts along the way.

Fights will be ranked not by Jones’ dominance but by the lasting impact the victory will have on his career as one of the greatest fighters of all time—if not the greatest.

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Daniel Cormier Next Fight: 4 Options After UFC 182 Loss to Jon Jones

At UFC 182, Daniel Cormier came up short and was handed his first defeat in mixed martial arts in a close, five-round fight against Jon Jones.  He is now in the position of being a title challenger coming off of a loss, and his next matchup will b…

At UFC 182, Daniel Cormier came up short and was handed his first defeat in mixed martial arts in a close, five-round fight against Jon Jones.  He is now in the position of being a title challenger coming off of a loss, and his next matchup will be crucial. 

He will need to put together a sizable winning streak to get another crack at Jones and the light heavyweight title, but his performance in the bout proved that he can certainly hang with Jones for five rounds and is still a legitimate threat to the rest of the 205-pound division. 

Where does “DC” go from here? Let’s take a look at four options for Cormier after losing to Jon Jones. 

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UFC 182: 5 Quick Facts for Each Main Card Fighter

UFC 182 kicks off a brand new year of events for the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, and fans get to witness two of the baddest heavyweights on the planet go to battle on Saturday.
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Daniel Cormi…

UFC 182 kicks off a brand new year of events for the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, and fans get to witness two of the baddest heavyweights on the planet go to battle on Saturday.

Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will attempt to wrestle away UFC gold from the pound-for-pound best Jon Jones. The two eerily similar fighters have been engaged in a bitter feud that stems from a meeting between them that took place prior to Jones’ title win.

This card has a little bit for everyone, as lightweights Donald Cerrone and Myles Jury take the Octagon to find out who might be next in line for a title shot behind Rafael dos Anjos. Meanwhile, heavy hitters Nate Marquardt and Hector Lombard are also fighting.

In many of these bouts, picking the winner may seem easy, but there’s no disproving the facts. Here are the five key details one needs to know heading into Saturday night’s main card matchups. 

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