UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC Fight Night 30

Lyoto Machida is back in title contention. This time, though, the former light heavyweight champion is aiming at the middleweight championship.
At UFC Fight Night 30, Machida smoked Top Five middleweight Mark Munoz with a head kick in the first round. …

Lyoto Machida is back in title contention. This time, though, the former light heavyweight champion is aiming at the middleweight championship.

At UFC Fight Night 30, Machida smoked Top Five middleweight Mark Munoz with a head kick in the first round. In finishing Munoz so decisively, Machida is already among the elite in the 185-pound class. With one more win, he could be looking at a title shot in a division that was owned by his teammate, Anderson Silva, until recently.

With such success in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Machida is considered among the pound-for-pound best in MMA. Was his win on Saturday enough for him to break into the Top 10 pound-for-pound rankings?

With UFC Fight Night 30 in the books and UFC Fight Night 31 ahead, here are the latest official UFC rankings

Begin Slideshow

UFC Fight Night 30 Review: Lyoto Machida Silences a British Crowd

It brought a beautiful and cathartic close to a strange night of fights. As Lyoto Machida’s left shin swept through Mark Munoz’s ever-so-slightly lowered right arm, the mood of the crowd was washed clean. 
English crowds are vocal. They are like t…

It brought a beautiful and cathartic close to a strange night of fights. As Lyoto Machida‘s left shin swept through Mark Munoz’s ever-so-slightly lowered right arm, the mood of the crowd was washed clean. 

English crowds are vocal. They are like that friend you have who is too blunt to ever be introduced to your family, but who is so brutally honest that you could never distrust them. If a fight stinks, the British crowd will let you know about it. 

I was cage side for UFC Fight Night 30: Machida vs. Munoz, and the night had delivered some cracking moments in its early going. Earlier in the evening, Cole Miller had hit the Roleta sweep on Andy Ogle, John Lineker had delivered a good knockout with body shots, and crowd favorite Stormin’ Norman Parke had won a convincing but competitive victory over Jon Tuck.

Luke Barnatt had even picked up an impressive submission victory in which he made two attempts at a Mark Hunt style walkaway knockout, both of which left his opponent conscious enough to make a grab at him. The shouts of “What’re you doin‘, ya f**kin’ spaz?!” from his fans were a laugh. 

The mood heading into the main event, however, had soured. 

 

Sexton vs. Andrade

On the undercard, the crowd had endured perhaps the worst unanswered beating in WMMA since Jan Finney was decimated by Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. Jessica Andrade simply brutalized Rosi Sexton on the feet.

It hurt as a fan because Sexton is such an endearing character and her doing so much for women’s MMA, particularly in England. It was more upsetting because of her clear will to continue in the face of such a drubbing. But what hurt the most was the clear ineptitude of the referee and the lack of responsibility from Sexton’s corner.

Sexton was actually landing counter blows as Andrade came in, swinging wild. In fact Andrade was proving pretty predictable in leaning straight back in defense each time. The problem was that Sexton had not had her legs under her since the opening minute and showed none of the power that would be needed to turn a fight around. 

It is the duty of the referee to protect the fighter. That is also the duty of the fighter’s corner, but the corner will normally allow themselves to get caught up in the fight. They feel for their fighter, and they can kid themselves that their fighter can land a big punch down the line and pick up the comeback of the year.

It is the referee’s job to prevent the fight from getting that far when the fighter is clearly taking so much damage.

Frankly, referees need to learn that it is completely justifiable to stop an MMA fight while a fighter is still standing. Sexton showed no ability to get away from the punches and was on wobbly legs for much of the bout. Even if she had pulled off a last second knockout, it would not have been worth the damage that the referee and her corner allowed her to go through.

This was not the fight to show your friends if you want to get them in to the MMA scene.

 

Manuwa vs. Jimmo

Jimmi Manuwa and Ryan Jimmo slowed the show down in their bout. Both are gifted fighters, but both repeatedly swung into clinches in which all they were willing or able to do was hold on. It was less a battle of pummeling for position than it was a case of refusing to budge grips until the referee confirmed that it was safe to.

Jimmo attempted to use the karate game popularized by Machida out in the open, bouncing and retreating before stepping in to meet his pursuer with a hard strike. But more often than not, he did little and ended up back in the clinch.

The fight was brought to an abrupt end through a literal misstep by Ryan Jimmo. Jimmo injured himself and was unable to continue, leaving the crowd underwhelmed. Both men are great fighters, but stylistically it is probably worth avoiding a rematch in terms of entertainment value.

 

Parke vs. Tuck and Lineker vs. Harris

Of course there were also plenty of enjoyable fights on the card. Cole Miller’s bout with Andy Ogle was stellar. John Tuck and Norman Parke also provided a good scrap which illustrated a couple of good principles which we are always discussing.

This was vintage puncher vs. kicker stuff. Tuck looked to land long kicks against Parke from the outside. Through the first round this looked to be working decently, but Parke’s commitment to keep backing Tuck up worked a treat.

It is exhausting to keep backing up and moving and kicking. The classic example is of Fedor Emelianenko versus Mirko Filipovic, but there have been plenty of fights to illustrate the point.

Both fighters were looking for their rear hand all fight as they attempted to rock away or slip and come back with their own. 

The main factor which was absent from Parke’s still developing game was a good right-handed strike. Tuck was looking outclassed by round three, but survived because he circled away from Parke’s left hand. If Parke could find a good right hook on Tuck he could have held Tuck  in place for the left.

It is not necessary to have a hugely powerful right hook or right low kick, but something to form a barrier and hold the opponent in place as he attempts to circle away from the left hand.

In fact Parke’s wheel kick, probably thrown for the fun of it, actually came dangerously close to a good connection because of Tuck’s constant movement to Parke’s right side.

John Lineker demonstrated this cutting off of the cage with punches when he picked up an easy knockout earlier in the night because his opponent, Phil Harris, was circling exclusively into Lineker‘s right hand. The long, telegraphed right hook to the body looked to be an obvious set up, and I was fully expecting Lineker to catch his man with a left hook as he returned to his upright stance.

What happened instead was that Harris refused to move to Lineker‘s left. In avoiding Lineker‘s highly touted left hand, Harris stood and took the right hands that Lineker was trying to convince him to move away from.

 

Pearson vs. Guillard

The final bizarre let down of the night was Ross Pearson versus Melvin Guillard. Pearson showed his usual great head movement (some of the best in MMA), while Guillard showed his usual speed and offense. Unfortunately, an illegal knee caused a cut which had the fight deemed a no contest.

By this point the crowd were getting pretty annoyed.

 

Machida vs. Munoz

Machida‘s bout was something remarkable though. The crowd had been vocal through any moment of inactivity in the past two hours of fights (“stand ’em up!” when Cole Miller had Andy Ogle’s back). Yet two minutes into the Machida vs. Munoz bout, an eerie hush was taking over the crowd.

Machida did much less backpedaling than usual and didn’t seem to want to draw Munoz onto his left straight. Instead, Machida took the centre of the octagon and used his feints to keep Munoz guessing.

Machida threw three meaningful strikes in the entire contest: two middle kicks and a high kick. 

This fight illustrated two great points. 

The first is that it is not enough to use the wrist or glove to block a powerful kick in mixed martial arts. Gloves are too small and the closer to the end of the arm you take a kick, the less stable the block is, turning moments into action.

The second point was that U.K. MMA fans are a committed and educated bunch. For all the terrible Tapout t-shirts on display and the booing of anyone who was fighting against a U.K. fighter, the Manchester crowd sat in a quiet anticipation as Lyoto Machida, a Brazilian, feinted and moved for three minutes without a meaningful connection. 

They were rewarded with the knockout of the night, and the misfortune of the co-main event was almost forgotten. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

After Third Weight Miss Dolce Diet Could Still Get John Lineker Flyweight Title

UFC flyweight John Lineker could become the latest fighter to call on the services of nutritionist Mike Dolce after he missed weight for the third time competing for the UFC.
However, despite coming in at 128 pounds for his 125-pound match against Phil…

UFC flyweight John Lineker could become the latest fighter to call on the services of nutritionist Mike Dolce after he missed weight for the third time competing for the UFC.

However, despite coming in at 128 pounds for his 125-pound match against Phil Harris at UFC Fight Night 30, his first-round TKO win still has him being talked of as a future title contender.

Lineker, a former Jungle Fight bantamweight champion, has always struggled to make the lighter weight class. But, with a series of impressive TKO wins now stretching to four straight, his job has never been under threat at least as far as UFC President Dana White is concerned.

White told the media after Saturday’s event in Manchester that Lineker would be a serious contender already in the thinly stacked flyweight division if he had not failed to make weight three times.

White said the 23-year-old Brazilian’s trainer at American Top Team, Dan Lambert, reached out to him after the event, promising to call in the services of Dolce to make sure the fighter makes weight next time.

According to MMA Junkie:

“[Lambert is] probably one of the best guys in the sport and has been since before we owned this company, and he hit us up tonight and said, ‘Let’s get this kid down to Florida training, get him on the Dolce Diet, and make sure this kid can cut weight,” White said. “[Lineker is] so good, if he had made weight in the three times that he missed, he probably would have a title shot right now. So he’s going to get him sorted out.”

There’s no denying Dolce’s prominence in the world of mixed martial arts. He got his big break in 2005 when he began working with Randy Couture and Dan Henderson at Team Quest and has since become a regular at UFC weigh-in events alongside fighters like Chael Sonnen and Gilbert Melendez. He is also said to be currently working with UFC veteran BJ Penn, who will be fighting at 145 pounds for the first time in his career against Frankie Edgar in 2014.

Of course there is no actual great secret to the “Dolce Diet”. Much of it is tried and tested sports nutrition methods and food most of us are used to. There are plenty of carbs and proteins, as well as fats, to choose from, including the kinds of food you could buy, say, in a deli in Oklahoma or any other part of the US.

In the end, it boils down to controlling calories and making sure the fighter gets enough nutrition during training before the serious weight cut begins in the week of the fight.

However, working with Lineker will certainly be one of Dolce’s biggest challenges considering how ridiculously low a fighter has to go to hit the 125-pound mark. Indeed, last month, Brazilian Leandro Souza died while cutting the final two pounds for his flyweight contest at Shooto Brazil 43.

Speaking to MMA Junkie, Dolce said he was willing to take on the challenge of getting Lineker on weight next time.

“I’m a big friend and fan of Dan Lambert, and anything he says, I’m more than happy to help out… If he believes in Lineker, then I believe in the kid, too, and I think we can turn him into a world champion.”

Lineker is certainly a talented fighter in a division that desperately needs fresh challengers for title holder Demetrious Johnson.

Johnson has already gone through the highest-ranked fighters in the division, such as Ian McCall, Joseph Benavidez and John Dodson. The fact that the UFC needs fresh blood for the title chase at flyweight is probably what keeps saving Lineker’s career, despite consistently missing weight.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 30 Video Highlights: Bizzare Ending in Manuwa vs. Jimmo

UFC Fight Night 30 went down Saturday from Manchester, England. Fans in attendance were surely pulling for countryman Jimi Manuwa, a raw but undefeated prospect in the light heavyweight division, to score one of his signature brutal knockouts on Canadi…

UFC Fight Night 30 went down Saturday from Manchester, England. Fans in attendance were surely pulling for countryman Jimi Manuwa, a raw but undefeated prospect in the light heavyweight division, to score one of his signature brutal knockouts on Canadian Ryan Jimmo.

According to the stat line, it happened. But the real outcome was anything but orthodox.

Jimmo, widely regarded as one of the most boring fighters in the UFC, attempted early in the fight to use his trademark clinch to stifle Manuwa‘s aggression. But Manuwa made him pay, landing heavy knee strikes to the thigh when the clinch was on and staying away from the fence and Jimmo himself to prevent the tie-ups in the first place. In short, Manuwa did everything he could to make it a striking battle, and at some points Jimmo even returned fire.

In the second round, Manuwa moved to break up a clinch with a knee to Jimmo‘s forehead. The knee connected, and Jimmo staggered back. Jimmo appeared to reset his footwork, but then paused, stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Though on first glance it seemed possible Jimmo was falling on a delayed reaction to the knee strike, in retrospect it was clear he sustained a left leg injury.

The end result was a TKO victory for Manuwa at 4:41 of the second round, coming by way of opponent injury.

Interestingly, though 13 of 14 pro victories have come by way of knockout for the 33-year-old Manuwa, the win over Jimmo was his second consecutive win to come via injury-related knockout. In February, Manuwa defeated Cyrille Diabate by TKO after then-39-year-old Diabate injured his calf and was unable to answer the bell for the second round.

In his UFC debut in September 2012, Manuwa‘s fight with Kyle Kingsbury ended after the second round when a doctor ruled that Kingsbury‘s eye was so swollen that he could no longer see out of it.

Manuwa has never fought in the third round of a fight. Despite fighting three times in the UFC, he has never fought outside his native England. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 30 Results: Matches to Make for the Entire Fight Card

Lyoto Machida has found a new home in the middleweight division.
At UFC Fight Night 30, the former light heavyweight champion knocked out Mark Munoz to quickly become a contender following a move to the 185-pound class. In scoring a knockout on Saturda…

Lyoto Machida has found a new home in the middleweight division.

At UFC Fight Night 30, the former light heavyweight champion knocked out Mark Munoz to quickly become a contender following a move to the 185-pound class. In scoring a knockout on Saturday, Machida joined current titleholder Chris Weidman as one of only two fighters to finish Munoz in the middleweight division.

Already, Machida may now be within a win or two of a shot at the middleweight championship.

In addition to the fight that could keep Machida on track toward earning another UFC belt, here are the most likely matchups for all the UFC Fight Night 30 competitors.

 

Begin Slideshow

UFC Fight Night 30 Results: What’s Next for the Losers

UFC Fight Night 30 is in the books, which means a number of fighters are pondering what could have been. The event produced a total of 11 losers, who now have some ground to make up before regaining their pre-Saturday night position on the UFC roster.

UFC Fight Night 30 is in the books, which means a number of fighters are pondering what could have been. The event produced a total of 11 losers, who now have some ground to make up before regaining their pre-Saturday night position on the UFC roster.

Strangely, the night’s co-main event saw no loser—only two frustrated fighters sharing a no-contest. But hey, a no-contest is better than losing, right? The 11 fighters who lost would likely attest to that.

Here we’ll take a look at what a loss means for each defeated UFC Fight Night 30 combatant and where their respective roads to recovery begin.

Begin Slideshow