Tag: UFC rankings

UFC Rankings Update: Stephen Thompson On The Rise

Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson set the mixed martial arts (MMA) world on fire when he knocked out former champion Johny Hendricks in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 6, 2015) UFC Fight Night 82 from the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he’s deservedly earned a big boost up the official UFC rankings

The post UFC Rankings Update: Stephen Thompson On The Rise appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson set the mixed martial arts (MMA) world on fire when he knocked out former champion Johny Hendricks in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 6, 2015) UFC Fight Night 82 from the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he’s deservedly earned a big boost up the official UFC rankings as a result.

Thompson rose up a whopping five spots in the welterweight ranks to No. 3 after defeating the previously No. 2-ranked ‘Bigg Rigg,’ who fell to No. 5. Tyron Woodley overtook his No. 2 spot. Hendricks’ demotion caused Nos. 6-9 fighters Demian Maia, Matt Brown, Dong Hyun Kim, and Neil Magny to all drop one spot as a result.

In other rankings movement, lightweight saw some changes when Tony Ferguson changed spots with Donald Cerrone, moving up to No. 4. Edson Barboza did the same with Beneil Dariush at the Nos. 8 and 9 spots, respectively, and Dustin Poirer and Bobby Green did the same at No. 11 and 12.

At middleweight, Anderson Silva continued his rise up the rankings heading into his UFC Fight Night 84 main event against Michael Bisping, clocking in at No. 7 after re-debuting at No. 10 last week. The move sent Robert Whittaker, Gegard Mousasi, and Thales Leites all down one spot, while Rafael Natal and Derek Brunson traded the Nos. 12 and 13 spots.

Heavyweight saw a bit of movement as surging ‘Big’ Ben Rothwell sent Andrei Arlovski from the No. 4 spot, forcing the former champion into a tie with Junior dos Santos, whom Rothwell will fight in Coratia this April, at No. 5. Josh Barnett took the No. 8 spot from Mark Hunt, while Antonio Slva, Matt Mitrione, and Alexei Oliynyk all benefited from Jared Rosholt’s decision loss to Roy Nelson, which sent him plummeting three spots to No. 15.

Finally, the pound-for-pound rankings saw quite the upheaval for not having a single member of the list fight last weekend, as Rafael dos Anjos moved up two spots to No. 4 heading into his UFC 196 clash with Conor McGregor. Robbie Lawler moved down two spots as a result. Also on the pound-for-pound list, newly re-crowned bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz took over the No. 7 spot from middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

Here are the fully updated rankings from the UFC’s official website:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jon Jones
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Conor McGregor
4 Rafael dos Anjos +2
5 Fabricio Werdum
6 Robbie Lawler -2
7 Dominick Cruz +1
8 Luke Rockhold -1
9 Jose Aldo
10 Daniel Cormier
11 Chris Weidman
12 TJ Dillashaw
13 Holly Holm
14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
15 Frankie Edgar *NR

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 John Dodson
3 Henry Cejudo
4 Ian McCall
5 Jussier Formiga
6 Kyoji Horiguchi
7 John Moraga
8 Zach Makovsky
9 Wilson Reis
10 Ali Bagautinov +1
11 Dustin Ortiz -1
12 Justin Scoggins *NR
13 Louis Smolka
14 Ray Borg -2
15 Sergio Pettis

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Renan Barao
3 Urijah Faber
4 Raphael Assuncao
5 Aljamain Sterling
6 Michael McDonald
7 Thomas Almeida
8 Bryan Caraway
9 Takeya Mizugaki
10 Johnny Eduardo
11 John Lineker
12 Frankie Saenz
13 Jimmie Rivera +1
14 Eddie Wineland -1
15 Francisco Rivera

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes
4 Max Holloway
5 Ricardo Lamas
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Dennis Bermudez
9 Jeremy Stephens
10 Hacran Dias
11 Darren Elkins
12 Tatsuya Kawajiri
13 Brian Ortega
14 Nik Lentz +1
15 Clay Guida -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael dos Anjos
1 Eddie Alvarez
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Anthony Pettis
4 Tony Ferguson +1
5 Donald Cerrone -1
6 Nate Diaz
7 Michael Johnson
8 Edson Barboza +1
9 Beneil Dariush -1
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Dustin Poirier +1
12 Bobby Green -1
13 Michael Chiesa
14 Evan Dunham
15 Rashid Magomedov *NR

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Robbie Lawler
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Tyron Woodley +1
3 Stephen Thompson +5
4 Carlos Condit
5 Johny Hendricks -3
6 Demian Maia -1
7 Matt Brown -1
8 Dong Hyun Kim -1
9 Neil Magny -1
10 Tarec Saffiedine
11 Rick Story
12 Kelvin Gastelum
13 Thiago Alves +1
14 Albert Tumenov *NR
15 Gunnar Nelson

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Luke Rockhold
1 Chris Weidman
2 Jacare Souza
3 Vitor Belfort
4 Lyoto Machida
5 Tim Kennedy
6 Michael Bisping
7 Anderson Silva +3
8 Robert Whittaker -1
9 Gegard Mousasi -1
10 Thales Leites -1
11 Uriah Hall
12 Rafael Natal +1
13 Derek Brunson -1
14 Dan Henderson
15 Roan Carneiro

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Jon Jones
2 Anthony Johnson
3 Alexander Gustafsson
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Ryan Bader
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Rashad Evans
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Jimi Manuwa
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
12 Corey Anderson
13 Gian Villante +1
14 Ilir Latifi +1
15 Jan Blachowicz *NR

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Stipe Miocic
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Ben Rothwell +1
5 Andrei Arlovski -1
5 Junior Dos Santos +1
7 Travis Browne
8 Josh Barnett +1
9 Mark Hunt -1
10 Frank Mir
11 Roy Nelson
12 Antonio Silva +1
13 Matt Mitrione +1
14 Alexey Oliynyk +1
15 Jared Rosholt -3

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Carla Esparza
3 Rose Namajunas
4 Tecia Torres
5 Jessica Penne
6 Valerie Letourneau
7 Paige VanZant
8 Joanne Calderwood
9 Maryna Moroz
10 Michelle Waterson
11 Randa Markos
12 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
13 Jessica Aguilar
14 Juliana Lima
15 Felice Herrig

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Holly Holm
1 Ronda Rousey
2 Miesha Tate
3 Cat Zingano
4 Amanda Nunes
5 Julianna Pena
6 Sara McMann
7 Jessica Eye
8 Bethe Correia
9 Liz Carmouche
10 Sarah Kaufman
11 Valentina Shevchenko
12 Marion Reneau
13 Raquel Pennington
14 Germaine de Randamie
15 Jessica Andrade

 

 

 

 

 

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UFC Rankings Update: Anderson Silva Returns To Middleweight Rankings

After heading to Newark, New Jersey this past weekend (January 30, 2016) for UFC on FOX 18, the UFC has updated its official rankings. While no major changes were seen, there were a few key moves to take note of. Heavyweight veteran “Big” Ben Rothwell rose up two spots into the heavyweight top five after

The post UFC Rankings Update: Anderson Silva Returns To Middleweight Rankings appeared first on LowKick MMA.

After heading to Newark, New Jersey this past weekend (January 30, 2016) for UFC on FOX 18, the UFC has updated its official rankings.

While no major changes were seen, there were a few key moves to take note of.

Heavyweight veteran “Big” Ben Rothwell rose up two spots into the heavyweight top five after his impressive second round submission victory over Josh “The Warmaster” Barnett.

Becoming the first man to force Barnett to tap, Rothwell should be in line for a huge fight in the cloudy 265 pound division.

Legendary former middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva also returned to the 185 pound rankings after serving out a one year suspension due to a positive drug test. The Brazilian now sits at No. 10 ahead of his February 27th bout with Michael Bisping live on UFC Fight Pass.

Check out the full rankings below courtesy of UFC.com:

POUND-FOR-POUND

1 Jon Jones

2 Demetrious Johnson

3 Conor McGregor

4 Robbie Lawler

5 Fabricio Werdum

6 Rafael dos Anjos

7 Luke Rockhold

8 Dominick Cruz +1

9 Jose Aldo -1

10 Daniel Cormier

11 Chris Weidman

12 TJ Dillashaw

13 Holly Holm

14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

15 Ronda Rousey *NR

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Demetrious Johnson

1 Joseph Benavidez

2 John Dodson

3 Henry Cejudo

4 Ian McCall

5 Jussier Formiga

6 Kyoji Horiguchi

7 John Moraga

8 Zach Makovsky

9 Wilson Reis +3

10 Dustin Ortiz -1

11 Ali Bagautinov -1

12 Ray Borg -1

13 Louis Smolka

14 Chris Cariaso

15 Sergio Pettis

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Dominick Cruz

1 TJ Dillashaw

2 Renan Barao

3 Urijah Faber

4 Raphael Assuncao

5 Aljamain Sterling

6 Michael McDonald

7 Thomas Almeida

8 Bryan Caraway -1

9 Takeya Mizugaki

10 Johnny Eduardo

11 John Lineker +1

12 Frankie Saenz -1

13 Eddie Wineland

14 Jimmie Rivera *NR

15 Francisco Rivera

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Conor McGregor

1 Jose Aldo

2 Frankie Edgar

3 Chad Mendes

4 Max Holloway

5 Ricardo Lamas

6 Cub Swanson

7 Charles Oliveira

8 Dennis Bermudez

9 Jeremy Stephens

10 Hacran Dias

11 Darren Elkins

12 Tatsuya Kawajiri

13 Brian Ortega

14 Clay Guida

15 Nik Lentz

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Rafael dos Anjos

1 Eddie Alvarez

2 Khabib Nurmagomedov

3 Anthony Pettis

4 Donald Cerrone

5 Tony Ferguson

6 Nate Diaz

7 Michael Johnson

8 Beneil Dariush

9 Edson Barboza

10 Al Iaquinta

11 Bobby Green

12 Dustin Poirier

13 Michael Chiesa

14 Evan Dunham

15 Benson Henderson

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Robbie Lawler

1 Rory MacDonald

2 Johny Hendricks

3 Tyron Woodley

4 Carlos Condit

5 Demian Maia

6 Matt Brown

7 Dong Hyun Kim

8 Stephen Thompson

8 Neil Magny

10 Tarec Saffiedine +1

11 Rick Story -1

12 Kelvin Gastelum

13 Benson Henderson

14 Thiago Alves

15 Gunnar Nelson -1

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Luke Rockhold

1 Chris Weidman

2 Jacare Souza +1

3 Vitor Belfort +1

4 Lyoto Machida +1

5 Tim Kennedy +1

6 Michael Bisping +1

7 Robert Whittaker +1

8 Gegard Mousasi +1

9 Thales Leites +1

10 Anderson Silva *NR

11 Uriah Hall

12 Derek Brunson

13 Rafael Natal *NR

14 Dan Henderson -1

15 Roan Carneiro -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Daniel Cormier

1 Jon Jones

2 Anthony Johnson

3 Alexander Gustafsson

4 Glover Teixeira +1

5 Ryan Bader -1

6 Ovince Saint Preux

7 Rashad Evans

8 Mauricio Rua

9 Jimi Manuwa

10 Patrick Cummins

11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

12 Corey Anderson

13 Rafael Feijao

14 Gian Villante

15 Ilir Latifi

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Fabricio Werdum

1 Cain Velasquez

2 Stipe Miocic

3 Alistair Overeem

4 Andrei Arlovski

5 Ben Rothwell +2

6 Junior Dos Santos -1

7 Travis Browne -1

8 Mark Hunt +1

9 Josh Barnett -1

10 Frank Mir

11 Roy Nelson

12 Jared Rosholt

13 Antonio Silva

14 Matt Mitrione

15 Alexey Oliynyk

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

1 Claudia Gadelha

2 Carla Esparza

3 Rose Namajunas

4 Tecia Torres

5 Jessica Penne

6 Valerie Letourneau

7 Paige VanZant

8 Joanne Calderwood

9 Maryna Moroz

10 Michelle Waterson

11 Randa Markos

12 Karolina Kowalkiewicz

13 Jessica Aguilar

14 Juliana Lima

15 Felice Herrig

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Holly Holm

1 Ronda Rousey

2 Miesha Tate

3 Cat Zingano

4 Amanda Nunes

5 Julianna Pena

6 Sara McMann

7 Jessica Eye

8 Bethe Correia

9 Liz Carmouche

10 Sarah Kaufman

11 Valentina Shevchenko

12 Marion Reneau

13 Raquel Pennington

14 Germaine de Randamie

15 Jessica Andrade

The post UFC Rankings Update: Anderson Silva Returns To Middleweight Rankings appeared first on LowKick MMA.

The Top Ten Worst UFC Rankings Panelists


(Darren Uyenoyama was released by the UFC after going 0-2 last year. At the time of this writing, three different UFC ranking panelists still have him listed as a top 10 flyweight. Read on for more disturbing facts! / Photo via Getty)

By Cody Severtson

“These panelists may have a direct effect on how much fighters get paid.”

I kept telling myself that as I filtered through each UFC panelist’s ranking data, shaking my head in total disbelief.

For quite some time, MMA media, fighters and fans alike campaigned for better fighter pay. With the UFC announcing a six-year sponsorship deal with Reebok this past Tuesday (totaling an estimated $70 million), we were told that every penny would go into the fighters’ pockets. After all, the UFC’s primary reason for making this deal was to add a layer of professionalism to their organization, one which would make them in a way, similar to other major sports organizations.

So say goodbye to the fight banners, the sponsor-covered shorts, and the walkout shirts! For the next six years, it’s Reebok only, baby! Any sponsors that the fighters and their managers have already secured will be banned from being visible inside the Octagon. Depending on the loyalty of sponsors, we could end up seeing a lot more of this. Conversely, if the UFC does overhaul the ranking system and a fair pay structure is implemented, sponsor loyalty won’t be an issue. A new ranking system should provide an unbiased/accurate/educated selection of each division’s top 15 — a system that will award the UFC’s athletes with the fair and adequate sponsorship money they deserve.

As of right now, a fighter’s sponsorship cut will be tied directly to where they sit in the UFC rankings. That’s right… the same rankings done by the always reliable UFC-approved voting panelists. According to DFW, the current panelist voting system will soon be updated; White aims to narrow down the current field of panelists to a select few “legitimate, credible and ethical guys” in order to gain better results. Unfortunately for White, every “legitimate, credible, and ethical guy” in MMA media has already recognized the blatant conflict of interest this system presents and has refused to participate in the ranking system.

With that said, I have put together a list of the 10 worst panelists currently contributing to the UFC’s divisional rankings. Let’s get started.

10. Bruno Massami (GazetaEsportiva.net) – Sergio Pettis came into the UFC with a lot of hype, he was undefeated, the former RFA flyweight champion, and Anthony Pettis’s younger brother. Sergio won his bantamweight debut against short notice opponent and former #9 flyweight Will Campuzano. However, he followed his debut with a submission loss to the unranked Alex Caceres, before bouncing back with a forgettable decision victory over unranked Yaotzin Meza. Massami, like many panelists, may have personal favorites in the UFC, but rankings must be unbiased, objective, and logical. None of those criteria apply when Massami placed Sergio as the #10 bantamweight.

9. Steve Juon (Wrestling Observer) – From my analysis the bantamweight division appeared to give most panelists problems. The division itself had 101 records of questionable rankings. The closest division to having as many problems was middleweight with 28 recorded rankings issues. Now when I analyzed my data it wasn’t just a matter of pointing out who had Tim Kennedy at #7 when I think he should be #8. No, I noted every instance of downright BAD ranking. Steve Juon apparently missed the last few years of the bantamweight division as this is how he has the top names in the division seeded…


(Darren Uyenoyama was released by the UFC after going 0-2 last year. At the time of this writing, three different UFC ranking panelists still have him listed as a top 10 flyweight. Read on for more disturbing facts! / Photo via Getty)

By Cody Severtson

“These panelists may have a direct effect on how much fighters get paid.”

I kept telling myself that as I filtered through each UFC panelist’s ranking data, shaking my head in total disbelief.

For quite some time, MMA media, fighters and fans alike campaigned for better fighter pay. With the UFC announcing a six-year sponsorship deal with Reebok this past Tuesday (totaling an estimated $70 million), we were told that every penny would go into the fighters’ pockets. After all, the UFC’s primary reason for making this deal was to add a layer of professionalism to their organization, one which would make them in a way, similar to other major sports organizations.

So say goodbye to the fight banners, the sponsor-covered shorts, and the walkout shirts! For the next six years, it’s Reebok only, baby! Any sponsors that the fighters and their managers have already secured will be banned from being visible inside the Octagon. Depending on the loyalty of sponsors, we could end up seeing a lot more of this. Conversely, if the UFC does overhaul the ranking system and a fair pay structure is implemented, sponsor loyalty won’t be an issue. A new ranking system should provide an unbiased/accurate/educated selection of each division’s top 15 — a system that will award the UFC’s athletes with the fair and adequate sponsorship money they deserve.

As of right now, a fighter’s sponsorship cut will be tied directly to where they sit in the UFC rankings. That’s right… the same rankings done by the always reliable UFC-approved voting panelists. According to DFW, the current panelist voting system will soon be updated; White aims to narrow down the current field of panelists to a select few “legitimate, credible and ethical guys” in order to gain better results. Unfortunately for White, every “legitimate, credible, and ethical guy” in MMA media has already recognized the blatant conflict of interest this system presents and has refused to participate in the ranking system.

With that said, I have put together a list of the 10 worst panelists currently contributing to the UFC’s divisional rankings. Let’s get started.

10. Bruno Massami (GazetaEsportiva.net) – Sergio Pettis came into the UFC with a lot of hype, he was undefeated, the former RFA flyweight champion, and Anthony Pettis’s younger brother. Sergio won his bantamweight debut against short notice opponent and former #9 flyweight Will Campuzano. However, he followed his debut with a submission loss to the unranked Alex Caceres, before bouncing back with a forgettable decision victory over unranked Yaotzin Meza. Massami, like many panelists, may have personal favorites in the UFC, but rankings must be unbiased, objective, and logical. None of those criteria apply when Massami placed Sergio as the #10 bantamweight.

9. Steve Juon (Wrestling Observer) – From my analysis the bantamweight division appeared to give most panelists problems. The division itself had 101 records of questionable rankings. The closest division to having as many problems was middleweight with 28 recorded rankings issues. Now when I analyzed my data it wasn’t just a matter of pointing out who had Tim Kennedy at #7 when I think he should be #8. No, I noted every instance of downright BAD ranking. Steve Juon apparently missed the last few years of the bantamweight division as this is how he has the top names in the division seeded…

Urijah Faber #1

Dominick Cruz #2

Renan Barao #3

Don’t get me wrong, I love the California Kid, and Cruz’s destruction of Takeya Mizugaki should bring him back in the top 3 of the division without a doubt. However, having Faber ranked above the two guys that defeated him is downright ridiculous.

8. Jorge Correa (UOL Brazil) – Besides ranking Brad Pickett and Scott Jorgensen in the wrong division — eight other panelists ranked these two in the wrong weight class as well — Correa had Eddie Wineland ranked as the #7 bantamweight in the world, which at first doesn’t seem like a big deal, however the guy that recently knocked him out wasn’t even ranked. The shocking part is Correa wasn’t the only panelist to do this. Of the 21 panelists that did rank Eddie Wineland, 11 ranked him higher than Johnny Eduardo, while the remaining 10 didn’t have Eduardo ranked AT ALL.

On top of his baffling bantamweight decisions, Correa also ranked Stephen Thompson as the #9 welterweight, Patrick Cummins the #9 light-heavyweight and Soa Palelei as the #7 heavyweight in the world. Are they top 30 fighters? Absolutely! Are they top 10? I’m not convinced.

7. Joe Ferraro (Sportsnet) – The man they call “Showdown Joe” has been a fixture of Canadian MMA news for a long time, working his way up from colour commentary at local promotions, to hosting his own radio show before making it big and working for Rogers Sportsnet, hosting the station’s first MMA dedicated sports program. Now, Ferraro is a trained martial artist, an experienced broadcaster, and was awarded the Journalist of the Year award by Fighters Only Magazine in 2009, so one could only assume that his rankings would be free of any bias.

Besides being one of the eight panelists to rank Brad Pickett in the wrong weight class, Ferraro also ranked Brad Pickett in the RIGHT weight class! Ranking Brad as both the #7 bantamweight and the #10 flyweight; a prestigious honor for Pickett despite his current two-fight losing streak at flyweight.

Finally, ‘Showdown Joe’ is a proud Canadian, and I applaud him for giving credit to developing Canadian talent! However, Yves Jabouin being ranked as the #10 bantamweight is…confusing. In the past two years, Jabouin has beat Jeff Hougland, Dustin Pague and Mike Easton, none of whom still work for the UFC. Between those victories is a pair of knockout losses to Brad Pickett and Eddie Wineland. Again, Jabouin isn’t a BAD fighter; he’s even shown sparks of brilliance. However, based on his last two years in the UFC, one simply cannot justify him being ranked as the #10 guy.

6. Marcelo Russio (Canal Combate) – There are two things that make Marcelo Russio stand out from all other panelists in terms of being terrible. The first is, like Steve Juon before him, Russio has apparently not watched a bantamweight fight once this year. Besides ranking Renan Barao (former champion) below Raphael Assuncao, Russio ranked George Roop and Erik Perez the #8 and #10 bantamweights, respectively.

After a disappointing return to the UFC in the featherweight division, Roop decided to go full skeletor and drop to bantamweight where he picked up wins against Reuben Duran and former champion Brian Bowles. However, his time at bantamweight has turned ugly as he’s lost two of his last three fights by brutal knockout, with the most recent one against debuting fighter Rob “IMPACT” Font. Yes, I’m trying to get that nickname started. Try and stop me…

Erik Perez has victories over Edwin Figueroa, Byron Bloodworth, Ken Stone, and John Albert (all cut from the UFC since) with losses coming against top 10 competition in Bryan Caraway and Takeya Mizugaki. However, just because you FACE top 10 competition, doesn’t mean you’ve earned a spot IN the top 10.

The second thing that separated Russio from all 51 other panelists was that he had ranked the most fighters to not appear on anyone else’s list. Russio ranked Fabio Maldonado #10 in the light-heavyweight division, Ryan LaFlare the #10 at welterweight, and the aforementioned George Roop as the #8 bantamweight.

Wait, it gets worse — much worse. Continue to the next page for the five most dangerously confused UFC ranking panelists…

Mark Munoz Removed From UFC Rankings, Pending Contract Negotiations…No, Seriously


(You’ll always be a star in our eyes, bro.)

This morning, the UFC Rankings voting panel was informed that middleweight Mark Munoz (previously ranked #9) would be removed from the rankings as of this afternoon. Oddly enough, the sudden removal has nothing to do with the fact that Munoz has suffered first-round stoppage losses in his last two fights. It’s business, not personal:

A UFC official later informed MMAWeekly.com that, “Mark is no longer under contract at this time. However, we are negotiating towards a new agreement.”

One would assume that if negotiations go well, Munoz will be placed back in the UFC top ten. And if not…well, good luck in World Series of Fighting.

I don’t even know why I care about this crap. From the very beginning, the UFC’s official rankings have been a useless exercise, carried out by a random assortment of credentialed media with too much time on their hands. In terms of actual competition and match-making, the rankings mean exactly zero.


(You’ll always be a star in our eyes, bro.)

This morning, the UFC Rankings voting panel was informed that middleweight Mark Munoz (previously ranked #9) would be removed from the rankings as of this afternoon. Oddly enough, the sudden removal has nothing to do with the fact that Munoz has suffered first-round stoppage losses in his last two fights. It’s business, not personal:

A UFC official later informed MMAWeekly.com that, “Mark is no longer under contract at this time. However, we are negotiating towards a new agreement.”

One would assume that if negotiations go well, Munoz will be placed back in the UFC top ten. And if not…well, good luck in World Series of Fighting.

I don’t even know why I care about this crap. From the very beginning, the UFC’s official rankings have been a useless exercise, carried out by a random assortment of credentialed media with too much time on their hands. In terms of actual competition and match-making, the rankings mean exactly zero.

But in light of Nate Diaz’s recent removal for “inactivity” — made more ludicrous by Dominick Cruz‘s continued existence in the bantamweight top ten — it’s clear that the UFC’s rankings are just another way to punish fighters for getting out of line. “Oh, so some media nerds said you were a top ten fighter? Well, until you sign this contract and/or bout agreement, you don’t even exist. #UFCisRAW”

Dear UFC rankings panel: Stop supporting this crap. When top ten fighters are ineligible for voting due to purely political reasons, you’re just wasting your time. You’re only helping the promotion exert pressure on fighters, and you’re not even getting paid for it. Is it really that important to your ego, to have your name included on the most meaningless rankings system in professional sports? Who’s side are you on, anyway?

Nate Diaz Removed From UFC Rankings, Pretty Much Out of Spite


(“All I’m saying is, what if Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon are homos? Kinda changes the whole dynamic and sh*t.” / Photo via Getty)

So here’s one more example of the funny things that can happen when a fight promotion organizes its own ranking system, rather than relying on an independent body. This morning, #5-ranked lightweight Nate Diaz was unceremoniously removed from the UFC Rankings page, with no explanation given — although the fact that Diaz has been publicly feuding with the UFC over money lately can’t be a coincidence.

According to UFC.com/rankings, “A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC.” This could help explain why TJ Grant was also suddenly bounced from the rankings page yesterday; he’s been out of commission for nearly a year due to lingering concussion symptoms, and he still hasn’t booked his return fight yet. Diaz, on the other hand, is less than six months removed from his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale…


(“All I’m saying is, what if Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon are homos? Kinda changes the whole dynamic and sh*t.” / Photo via Getty)

So here’s one more example of the funny things that can happen when a fight promotion organizes its own ranking system, rather than relying on an independent body. This morning, #5-ranked lightweight Nate Diaz was unceremoniously removed from the UFC Rankings page, with no explanation given — although the fact that Diaz has been publicly feuding with the UFC over money lately can’t be a coincidence.

According to UFC.com/rankings, “A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC.” This could help explain why TJ Grant was also suddenly bounced from the rankings page yesterday; he’s been out of commission for nearly a year due to lingering concussion symptoms, and he still hasn’t booked his return fight yet. Diaz, on the other hand, is less than six months removed from his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale.

The only reason Diaz would lose his “active status” is if he was fired, and there’s no indication that he has been. It’s apparently just a case of the UFC saying, “We don’t like you anymore, so we don’t think you should be ranked.” (See also: “We don’t like you anymore, so we don’t think you should be a Hall of Famer.”)

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter because the rankings have no bearings on which fights get made, or who’s in line for a title shot, and the fighters themselves are starting to recognize how meaningless they are. It’s just a petty, childish move intended to devalue Diaz and communicate how disposable he is to the company. Combat sports entertainment, ladies and gentlemen.

UFC Rankings Expand to Include Top 15 Contenders, Basically Because of Tyron Woodley


(Photo via Getty)

Earlier this week, the UFC’s award-winning media rankings (officially known as the “UFC Rankings presented by RAM“) expanded from a list of the top 10 contenders in each division to a list of the top 15 contenders in each division. So why is this important? It’s not. Nothing about the UFC rankings is important in any way whatsoever. But the timing is awfully convenient.

As you may recall, welterweight contender Tyron Woodley is facing Carlos Condit in a #1 contender fight at UFC 171 in March. Originally, UFC president Dana White dismissed this matchup because Woodley wasn’t ranked. But shortly thereafter, Woodley got the fight anyway, mostly because he was the best 170-pounder available at that exact moment.

It would seem silly to put on a #1 contender match between the current #2 welterweight contender and a guy with (NR) next to his name. And so, the UFC arbitrarily expanded their rankings to include the top 15 contenders in each division — and that, my friends, is why Tyron Woodley is now officially ranked at #11.

In related news, Scott Jorgensen is currently ranked as the #12 flyweight contender in the UFC, despite a lifetime record of 0-1 at 125 pounds, and Chael Sonnen is still ranked higher at light-heavyweight than he is at middleweight. Don’t even get us started.


(Photo via Getty)

Earlier this week, the UFC’s award-winning media rankings (officially known as the “UFC Rankings presented by RAM“) expanded from a list of the top 10 contenders in each division to a list of the top 15 contenders in each division. So why is this important? It’s not. Nothing about the UFC rankings is important in any way whatsoever. But the timing is awfully convenient.

As you may recall, welterweight contender Tyron Woodley is facing Carlos Condit in a #1 contender fight at UFC 171 in March. Originally, UFC president Dana White dismissed this matchup because Woodley wasn’t ranked. But shortly thereafter, Woodley got the fight anyway, mostly because he was the best 170-pounder available at that exact moment.

It would seem silly to put on a #1 contender match between the current #2 welterweight contender and a guy with (NR) next to his name. And so, the UFC arbitrarily expanded their rankings to include the top 15 contenders in each division — and that, my friends, is why Tyron Woodley is now officially ranked at #11.

In related news, Scott Jorgensen is currently ranked as the #12 flyweight contender in the UFC, despite a lifetime record of 0-1 at 125 pounds, and Chael Sonnen is still ranked higher at light-heavyweight than he is at middleweight. Don’t even get us started.