Middleweight Rankings

I know that it's been a while since I've done a Rankings piece, but Sherdog released an updated look at their rankings (without, of course, changes in many of the divisions). While I agree that the lightheavyweight division and the heavyweight division have stayed pretty much the same, I think that the middleweight division requires some revision, and the ones that sherdog did seem inadequate to me (and frankly, a little ridiculous in some places). So I'll give you my look at the division.

1. Anderson Silva

2. Paulo Filho

3. Dan Henderson

In case people feel like Henderson's high rank, despite getting his ass whupped by Anderson, needs defense, I'll offer you an explanation. Frankly, he's made it farther with Anderson than anyone else, and the fact that Marquardt is ranked ahead of his by sherdog pisses me off a little. I know that they usually significantly drop the rank of fighters who have just lost, but I still think that Dan is the top guy in his division. I think that, if any of my rankings are suspect, it's my ranking of Filho, who's mental state is really questionable. Still, I like the guy and think he's a fantastic fighter, and if he can get past his depression and fight Sonnen then I think he'll continue to dominate the WEC.

4. Robbie Lawler

5. Yoshihiro Akiyama

I more or less agree with sherdog's explanation of why they are on the list, but I think that the fact that Marquardt is ranked 4 when he hasn't finished a fight in the first round since 2003 and both of his finishes recently (the chokeouts of Crafton Wallace and Jeremy Horn) were over guys that we aren't even calling top guys. He's beaten Lister, who's not ranked either. The only top tier guy he's fought destroyed him in 5 minutes. I think it's wrong that Marquardt's on the top five, and I feel the same way about Okami, who's finish over Evan Tanner was impressive, but Tanner himself is not a high ranking guy and his UD wins are not, in my mind, enough to make him more significant than Franklin. I think that they're places should be dropped and Akiyama and Lawler pushed up as a result.

6. Frank Trigg

7. Cung Le

Now Trigg's ranking is for the same reason as Akiyama's and Lawler's, but I feel that no one really seems to credit Trigg as a great fighter. His only losses are too top submission fighters and Robbie Lawler, who, in my mind, is one of the most destructive strikers in the division, behind Silva and neck-and-neck with one other fighter who I've slipped on to my rankings: Cung Le. I think that Le's fight with Frank Shamrock is a chance to prove himself as a technically destructive fighter who's done alot to cultivate his wrestling skills. If he beats Shamrock, and I think that there's a good chance he will, then he becomes one of the most respectable fighters in the smaller shows. Besides that, I think that Le's ranking makes sense as he's been consistent. That's not to say I usually reward guys for winning and everyone else losing, I usually expect more, but I think that Le's style has proven destructive to a degree that we must show some respect for, and I feel that this ranking does that adequately.

8. Kazuo Misaki

9 Rich Franklin

10. Travis Lutter

I feel that Misaki speaks for himself. He's had an interesting couple of months, but his ranking still makes sense. Franklin and Lutter are the two guys (besides Henderson) who managed to survive two rounds with Anderson, so I feel that that, in part, justifies it. In terms of Franklin, we can't forget that he destroyed MacDonald and he dominated Okami for two rounds (he did have some trouble at the end of that fight and exposed a problem in his submission game, but still came out on top). I don't think that two losses against the top guy in the sport should diminish his rank more than the guys who only lost once. It didn't do that to Nogueira. As for Lutter, he had the weight problem with Silva, but that makes his performance, in my mind, a little more impressive than people think it was. Then there's the fact that he smashed Patrick Cote, who's proven to be much better than people suspected as well. I think Lutter deserves this spot more than Santiago (though that's arguable), and alot more than Marquardt and Okami, who really haven't finished anyone I think of as a top-of-the-pack guy in the UFC. In defense of leaving Santiago off, I feel that his losses to Belcher and Leben are still relatively recent, and that his more recent wins don't necessarily prove that he's on an entirely different level.

Hope that makes some sense to people.