The Rubik's Cube that is the UFC Rankings

When I was ten years old I asked my parents to let me take martial arts classes after I saw a Bruce Lee film and an amazing journey began for me.  My love for Martial Arts has grown over the years and led me to start watching Professional Mixed Martial Arts almost two decades ago.  I remember watching online replays of Bas Rutten Pancrase matches and Royce Grace vs Sakuraba PRIDE Superfight. I also watched the nights Vitor Belfort’s speed blitzkrieg of Wanderlei Silva and Tank Abbott, when Rich Franklin defeated Evan Tanner to become the UFC Middleweight champion, and the amazing technical war between Cung Le and Frank Shamrock in Strikeforce. 

I have been allowed the privilege, thanks to my many years in the radio industry and background in MMA, to cover several Bellator and UFC events.  I have seen the sport grow from a misunderstood “combat sport” to one of the top five highest grossing professional sports in the world.  But along the way a lot has changed, for better and for worse.  The “better” is what gets frequently publicized such as major sponsorship dollars MMA athletes have in today’s world and the mainstream acceptance of MMA.  That acceptance, thanks to fighters like Ronda Rousey, Randy Couture, and Ken Shamrock, paved the way for MMA fighters to crossover into the Television and movie industries.  The major television contracts that the UFC has with FOX, Bellator has with Viacom (Spike, CBS Sports), and World Series of Fighting with NBC Sports has put MMA on television on a weekly basis.

One common thread is that the UFC is the king of professional MMA world, where the most of the best fighters on the planet compete.  The UFC led the way in the 1990’s and helped bridge the gap to bring MMA into mainstream sports conversation.  But the UFC also has made promises to the casual and hardcore MMA fan bases that have loosely been kept.  When the UFC took over MMA organizations PRIDE, WEC, and Strikeforce, the plan was for those organizations to keep going forward and there to be crossover fights.  In each case the UFC slowly absorbed fighters into their own ranks and then dissolve the organizational structure, ending their existence. 

In 2015 the UFC is again giving something that frustrates fans and media alike, whether most of them are willing to admit it or not.  On the UFC’s website there are weight class rankings, allowing fans and media alike to have a gauge of where different fighters stand in relation to potential to championship matchups according to them.  Yet we have seen numerous times the UFC neglect their own rankings and put together fight cards headlined by title fights most people did not expect.

UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler is set to face Carlos Condit in November even though Condit has a record of 2-2 since his title fight loss to George St. Pierre in 2012.  Condit, the former WEC Welterweight Champion, is currently ranked 4^th in the UFC rankings, so he leap frogged three men for his title shot.  Meanwhile Johnny Hendricks (number one contender ranking) and Tyron Woodley (number 3 ranked Welterweight) are facing off in October at UFC 192.  Both men have previously defeated Condit while also having better overall records over the last few years.  Woodley has a 5-2 record since arriving in the UFC in 2013, with his only losses coming via judges’ decision.  Hendricks has 3-2 record over the same time period, his only losses coming via controversial split judges’ decisions.  Yet the UFC chose Carlos Condit for the title shot despite him being ranked behind Hendricks and Woodley.

Another example of mixed messages from the UFC is with the evolving conundrum of the UFC Women’s Strawweight division.  Current Women’s 115 lb. champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk is set to face Valérie Létourneau at UFC 193 in November, yet Letourneau is the number 10 ranked fighter in the division according to UFC rankings.  Letourneau is leap frogging Claudia Gadelha (number one contender in the division), Carla Esparza (former champion and number two ranked in division) and Tecia Torres (number 5 ranked fighter and undefeated in her pro career).  Both Gadehla and Esparza are out of action due to injuries so many people expected Torres would be next in line to fight for the belt.  Instead Torres is scheduled to fight Michelle Waterson next; Waterson is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion.  Meanwhile on her way to a title shot Letourneau has a 3-0 record in the UFC, all victories over women who are currently not ranked in the UFC’s top fifteen for the weight class.

The reality is the UFC is an organization that signed multiple big money media contracts at a time when they MMA landscape was very different.  A few years ago the UFC’s biggest stars were Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and George St. Pierre.  Whether people were fans or haters, they tuned in every fight to watch these men either win or lose.  The UFC was also building the brand of Cain Velasquez, Frankie Edgar and Anthony Pettis after their famous championship winning fights.  In recent years since UFC signed media and sponsorship deals grossing the organization billions of dollars here’s what has happened to their stars:

-Jon Jones is currently suspended indefinitely due to his legal problems after a Hit and Run accident; he has been stripped of his title.

-Anderson Silva lost his title for Chris Weidman and since then tested positive for steroids after his fight with Nick Diaz.

-George St. Pierre retired after his controversial win over Johnny Hendricks in 2012; St. Pierre has stated he is not coming back anytime soon.

-Cain Velasquez has won, lost, won again, and lost again his Heavyweight title all while dealing with injuries.

-Frankie Edgar lost his UFC Lightweight Title in 2012 and has moved down to the Featherweight division where is working towards another title shot.

-Anthony Pettis lost his title in 2015 to Rafael Dos Anjos months after being a featured athlete on Wheaties boxes.

In 2015 the UFC is attempting to bank their marketing power around three current champions:

-Ronda Rousey, A woman who has said she will retire by 2017 and wants to spend more time pursuing an acting career.

-Chris Weidman, A talented fighter from New York whose coach is former UFC champion Matt Serra.

-Connor McGregor, A brash Irishman coming from a boxing background who just recently won the Interim UFC Featherweight title.

So with this shortened list of marque marketable fighters, why is the UFC insisting on putting together title fights that conflict with their own rankings?  The whole point of having these rankings published and updated almost weekly is to attract more fans interest in upcoming fight cards. 

One of the UFC’s biggest media deals is with Brazil’s Globo and is potentially in jeopardy due to poor TV ratings.  It does not help that three years ago there were several Brazilian UFC champions and title contenders.  In 2015 only two Brazilians hold UFC titles, one being Jose Aldo who has been dealing with injuries.  The other is Fabricio Werdum who is not even in the top five list of most popular MMA fighters in Brazil.

Certainly it is perplexing the UFC’s reasoning for many of their recent fighter matchups.  The truth is that the UFC needs the MMA fans to continue their support for the king of MMA in order to maintain financial strength and media visibility.  Their current deal with Reebok is still unpopular in many MMA circles since it cut off many sponsors from the UFC arena and some fighter’s lifelines.  There is nothing wrong with calculated risks, but only time will tell if this Rubik’s cube the UFC has placed in front of the media and fans will continue to produce results or if it will be tossed away due to the inability to be understood.

An Objective List of the Greatest MMA Fighters of All Time

After his overwhelming victory at UFC 134 there should be no questions that Anderson Silva is not just top Pound for Pound MMA fighter fighting today but the Greatest MMA fighter of all time. Although MMA is a very young sport, Silva is an athlete with amazing talent and if anyone was "born to be a fighter" it certainly is Anderson Silva.

So The question now is: who is next on the list? Every one has fighters they like, dislike, cheer for, and despise so you probably cannot get too much agreement on any list of the best fighters in MMA today let alone a look at the last 18 years of MMA competition. When making any list you have to set criteria for what makes a fighter great. For me, I have decided to use to following criteria in making my list of who are the greatest MMA fighters of all time:

*(CAC): Career record against fighters who have won championship belts in UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, and WEC (only Featherweight and Bantamweight)

-This is important because it shows how a fighter has faired against top-level competition during their fighting career. Just to have a winning streak long enough to get into title contention is an accomplishment but beating the best of an era puts you ahead of the pack.

*Have you won a championship and how many belts can you lay claim to?(Championships)

-Like is any sport, the best separate themselves with the number of championships and title defenses they have on their resume. In turn, the best fighters have not just won a belt once and lost it or have only won the title, lost it, then fade into history. No, the best fighters create legacies with their championships and even when they do lose they come back better than ever.

*(CRCF) Career record in championship fights

-A reason why this is important because it shows how fighters handle the big stage, the main event with all the pressure on them. Being a champion is more than luck, it's the product of hard work combined with talent and execution on fight night.

Now you may say that these three criteria doesn't tell the whole story and I agree because a fighter's career tells us his true legacy. For example, I give more credit to fighters such as Randy Couture and BJ Penn for doing what they did in two different weight classes because they proved that their talent and ability to win transcends a weight class. As you will see in my list that fighters like Penn and Couture are weak statistically in comparison to some other fighters in certain categories yet time both Penn and Couture compiled a career of taking on the best of the best in different eras, weight classes, and under different sets of MMA rules. The purpose of these statistical criteria is to weed out fighters who had good careers yet they either did not fair well against other champion fighters, fought weaker competition, or they were at their peak as fighters before the sport had brought along fighters of equal talent.

This proves out when looking at the careers of guys like Mark Coleman, Jens Pulver, Ken Shamrock, and Pat Militech. All four of these fighters are considered pioneers in MMA and are real legends. But when you look at their careers closer you will see that they do not matchup against other all time great fighters. Despite winning three MMA tournaments (2 UFC, 1 PRIDE) Mark Coleman has a career record of 1-6 against fighters who have won titles in major MMA organizations and is 1-1 in Championship fights. Coleman was an MMA pioneer who opened the doors for many star amateur wrestlers to make the transition from wrestling to MMA. I am a HUGE Pat Militech fan, one of my favorite fighters ever! But he also does not belong on a list of MMA all time greats but not because he isn't a great fighter but because when he was great when the sport was still finding itself. Militech also is an MMA pioneer who was one of the first guys who was a major threat on both the feet and the ground. Through his Militech Fighting System he trained other fighters to be champions such as Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, and Tim Sylvia. Although he was 5-1 in Championship fights he also has a meager record of 0-1-1 against fighters who have won championships. One more example of being an MMA pioneer/legend but not stacking up with other great fighters in Ken Shamrock. Ken was one of the first MMA superstars and he never backed down from a fight which made him even more popular. But by the time MMA had evolved into a major sport Shamrock was already in his early to mid 30's. Despite winning three championships in his careers he compiled a record of 4-6-2 against champion fighters and two of those wins were against a young, inexperienced Bas Rutten while another victory was a submission against Maurice Smith back in 1994 when most kickboxers had little idea about submission fighting.

So now that I have set the ground work, here is my list of the greatest MMA fighters of all time:



12. Frank Shamrock

CAC: 2-4 (Beat Tito Ortiz; 1-2 against Bas Rutten; lost to Nick Diaz & Cung Le)

Titles: 4 (Interim King of Pancrase Champ 1996; UFC LHW Champ Dec 1997-Sept 1999; WEC LHW Champ 2003; Strikeforce MW Champ June 2007-March 2008)

CRCF: 8-2

Frank Shamrock is more than just an MMA Legend and Pioneer, he was one of the first fighters to win championship belts in multiple weight classes and organizations. Shamrock's fighting career covered two decades and is one the fighters on this list who was able to fight high level competition from beginning to end. Also Frank was one of the first fighters to be a dual threat, on the feet and the ground. I am disappointed that his proposed matchup with Pat Militech never happened. Aside from being a great fighter, Frank Shamrock is one of the toughest MMA fighters the sport has ever seen, just go watch his title bouts with Tito Ortiz (1999) and Cung Le (2008).


11. Bas Rutten

CAC: 5-3 (Beat Guy Mezger & Maurice Smith, 2-1 against Frank Shamrock, 0-2 against Ken Shamrock)

Titles: 3 (Interim King of Pancrase Champ then unified with King of Pancrase Belt in 1995; UFC HW Champ 1999)

CRCF: 3-1

Bas Rutten in March of 1995 had a career record of 7-4 with two losses to Ken Shamrock and another loss to Frank Shamrock. Rutten is one of the most talented kickboxers in MMA history but he had to learn grappling and submission fighting. Once he gained grappling and submission skills Rutten would finish his career winning 21 of his final 22 finals (the one non-win was a draw due to injury). Many american MMA fans don't know about Rutten's fighting career because he spent most of his time fighting in Japan. After becoming UFC Heavyweight champion Rutten would sustain a serious neck injury during training that forced him to retire from fighting. If it were not for this injury who knows how great Rutten would have become in the UFC with his famous liver strikes and devastating leg kicks. Rutten would return for one more fight in 2006 after being cleared by doctors: a TKO victory over Ruben "Warpath" Villareall via leg kicks. "El Guapo" would return to retirement, this time on his terms and not because of injuries.


10. Urijah Faber

CAC: 4-4 (2 wins over Jens Pulver; beat Eddie Wineland; 1-1 against Domick Cruz; lost twice to Mike Brown; beaten by Jose Aldo)

Titles: 4 (Gladiator Challenge LW Champ June 2004-Sept 2005; KOTC Bantamweight Champ Nov 2004-Oct 2006; Gladiator Bantamweight Champ 2006; WEC Featherweight Champ March 2006-Nov 2008)

CRCF: 14-5

Although he is only 32 years old, Faber is an MMA pioneer for the lighter weight classes. He was one of the biggest stars in the WEC and without his popularity who knows how long it would have taken for the "small guys" to get the recognition they deserve as fighters. As a guy who has fought in three different weight classes and won titles in three different organizations Faber was a superstar fighter before most people even knew there were MMA fighters who were under 155 pounds. Faber is famous for his wrestling and submission skills with 13 of his 25 career wins by submission. Two of his five career losses were in Championship fights in which he went head to head for five rounds against two guys who are talented strikers: Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz. The full story of Faber's career is yet to play itself out so who knows if he will add a UFC title to his resume and if he does that then I would move him up this list of all time great fighters.


9. Chuck Liddell

CAC: 10-6 (Defeated Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Murilo Bustamante, Kevin Randleman, Allistair Overeem, Wanderlei Silva; 2-0 against Tito Ortiz; 2-1 against Randy Couture; 0-2 against Quinton Jackson; beaten by Rich Franklin, Maurico Rua, Rashad Evans)

Titles: 2 (IFC LHW Champ 2000; UFC LHW Champ April 2005-May 2007)

CRCF: 5-2

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is one of the biggest stars to come out of MMA and be known in mainstream media. Originally a talented collegiate wrestler, Liddell took up kickboxing and became a famous knockout artist. From 2001 through 2007 Liddell was one of the most feared strikers in all of MMA and 13 of his 21 career wins have been by TKO or KO. He went 14-5 during that dominant stretch from 2001 through 2007 and two of those losses were to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Despite losing his last three career fights via knockout, Liddell is still a legend in the sport and is a major reason why the UFC became a mainstream sport organization. I still contend that even his prime Liddell would have had a lot of trouble against the likes of Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten, and Dan Henderson because there were holes in his overall MMA game that Liddell seemed uninterested in fixing. These flaws in Liddell were exposed twice by "Rampage" Jackson and Jackson did so with almost four years in between matchups with "The Iceman".


8. Matt Hughes

CAC: 7-4 (2-0 against Carlos Newton; defeated Sean Sherk, Royce Gracie, Matt Serra; 1-2 against BJ Penn; 1-2 against George St Pierre)

Titles: 2 (UFC Welterweight Champion Nov 2001-Jan 2004; Oct 2004-Nov 2006)

CRCF: 9-3

Having a fighting record of 45-8 is impressive for anyone. But to have that record, be UFC champion for almost 5 years and have to face some of the top fighters in the world makes you a legend and that is what Matt Hughes is. Hughes, the protegé of former UFC Welterweight Champion Pat Militech, seem to make the best of his opportunities in the UFC compiling a record of 18-6 in the octagon. Four of his eight career losses have come against BJ Penn and George St Pierre, so if you are going to lose might as well be to two guys who are all time great fighters. More so, Hughes has beaten both Penn and GSP once in three times against them, not many fighters can say they even have one win against those guys. Hughes was best known for his great wrestling, excellent strength, and ability to find away to finish his opponent. From March of 2001 to September of 2006 had 16 wins by either submission or TKO/KO and 3 decision victories. Hughes only real flaw is that when he got older everyone else got better. And by the way, he hasn't retired yet so he still has time to put more "icing on the cake" of his legendary career.


7. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" "Big Nog" Nogueira

CAC: 6-6-1 (Wins over Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Ricco Rodriguez, Mark Coleman; 1-1 against Josh Barnett and Dan Henderson; 0-2-1 against Fedor; lost to Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir)

Titles: 3 (PRIDE HW Champ Nov 2001-March 2003; Interim PRIDE HW Champ Nov 2003-Dec 2004; UFC Interim HW Champ Feb 2008-Dec 2008)

CRCF: 3-3

"Minotauro" Nogueira tends to get overlooked because he was the greatest heavyweight fighter in PRIDE history not named Fedor Emelianenko. Nogueira is the only man to ever win championship belts in PRIDE and UFC. This is disputed sometimes because Dan Henderson, Maurico "Shogun" Rua, and Mark Coleman won a championship belts in one organization and a tournament title in the other organization. Nogueira is famous for his Brazillian Jiu Jitsu skills and 20 of his 33 career MMA wins have been by submission (Also, "Big Nog" has never lost via submission). It will always be held against Nogueira that he is 0-3 when defending his belt and he never got a win against Fedor. But look at the caliber of fighters he has fought and beaten over a period of 12 years and its hard to deny his place as an MMA legend. Also, notice that Nogueira’s career MMA record is 33-6, which means all of his career loss have been to former champions (he is one of only 3 fighters on this list that has that distinction).


6. Fedor Emelianenko

CAC: 7-1 (Defeated Kevin Randleman, Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski; 2-0 against Mark Coleman; 2-0-1 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; lost to Dan Henderson)

Titles: 2 (PRIDE HW Champ March 2003-2007; WAMMA HW July 2008-June 2010)

CRCF: 7-0

Despite the three straight losses in the last two years, from January 2001 to June 2010 Fedor went undefeated as an MMA fighter. 13 of his 28 wins during this stretch where by submission and only 6 wins via decision (among the fights who took him the distance we Mirko "Cro Cop" Fillipovic, Nogueira twice, Renato Sobral, and Semmy Schilt). His background in Sambo enabled him to be a great grappler and he has dangerous power in his right hand. The major knock against Fedor has been the type of competition he faced over his career. When he fought Sylvia, Arlovski, and Goodridge they were on the downside of their careers and the same can be said of the second time Fedor fought Mark Coleman. Also, after PRIDE folded into the UFC here are some of the guys he defeated: Matt Lindland (a middleweight fighter), Choi Hong-man (2-3 as an MMA fight with a win over Jose Canseco), and Brett Rogers (only big name win was Andre Arlovski and has been finished by Fedor, Allistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett before the end of the 2nd round). Even while fighting in PRIDE there were rumors he avoided fighting heavyweights such as Josh Barnett, Gilbert Yvel, and Kimo Leopoldo while also turning down super fight matchups with Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Wanderlei Silva, and Vitor Belfort. So while the question of how great he was will always be up for debate I for one cannot take away from Fedor the winning streak or the excellent MMA record he compiled while fighting in PRIDE.


5. Randy Couture

CAC: 8-8 (Defeated Tito Ortiz, Kevin Randleman, Maurice Smith, Tim Sylvia, Mark Coleman; 2-1 against Vitor Belfort; 1-2 against Chuck Liddell; lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Lyoto Machida, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez)

Titles: 6 (UFC HW Champ Dec 1997; UFC HW Champ Nov 2000-March 2002; Interim UFC LHW Champ 2003; UFC LHW Champ Sept 2003-Jan 2004; UFC LHW Champ Aug 2004-April 2005; UFC HW Champ March 2007-Nov 2008)

CRCF: 9-6

Randy Couture spent 14 years as an MMA fighter and he is one of the most successful and accomplished fighters in UFC history. He is one of only two men to ever win UFC championship titles in different weight classes (the other is BJ Penn). An Olympic wrestling alternate, Couture went from being a wrestler fighting in MMA to a fighter who is dangerous in every aspect of the MMA game and he seemed to get better with age. He defeated Tim Sylvia to become UFC Heavyweight Champion at the age of 43 and even defended his right to the belt against a fighter almost half his age. Also, he won his first and last UFC heavyweight belts 10 years apart! Couture is a pioneer in MMA not just as a fighter but a role model for other fighters in standing up for their rights as a fighters and not letting anyone choose for him when he was done fighting. Couture was a game plan fighter who tried to use his opponent's weakness against them: he was faster than Tim Sylvia, better at submissions then Mark Coleman, more crafty than Tito Ortiz, and pushed the pace to get wins against Vitor Belfort. A criticism of Couture is that he was never able to defend his title more than two times and never had a winning streak longer than four in a row. Yet those who have these criticisms forget to look at the level of competition Couture took on through out his career; he never took easy fights and instead he was willing to fight anyone at anytime and anywhere. His MMA career record of 19-11isn't very impressive, but having 8 wins against championship level fighters is tied for 2nd among fighters on this list behind Chuck Liddell.


4. Georges St Pierre

CAC: 7-2 (Wins over Jake Shields, Sean Sherk; 2-0 against BJ Penn; 2-1 against Matt Hughes; 1-1 against Matt Serra)

Titles: 2 (UCC WW title 2002; UFC WW Champ Nov 2006-April 2007; Interim UFC WW Champ Dec 2007, unified with UFC WW belt to become Champ from April 2008-present)

CRCF: 11-2

Despite the debate about how great GSP is as a fighter, no one can deny that he is one of the top MMA fighters of all time. He has defended the UFC Welterweight belt six straight fights. He has only two losses in 24 fights and both were losses he avenge later in his career. St. Pierre has exhibited excellent wrestling skills and his boxing is sharp also. Despite having an excellent fighting record, the major criticism of GSP has been that he fights not to lose instead of looking to win. He has a record of 17-2 in the UFC but 9 of those wins have been by decision including five of his last six wins (the fight that wasn't a decision was a TKO via corner stoppage). His lack of ability (or motivation) to finish his opponents is something I hold against him because the only other fighter who has more wins by decision than any other type of winning method on this list of fighters is Randy Couture. Couture has won multiple titles in different weight classes while GSP has never fought outside of 170 pound weight classes. Good news for St. Pierre is that he is the youngest fighter on this list so he still has time to build his legacy as a fighter.


3. BJ Penn

CAC: 6-7(Defeated Sean Sherk, Takanori Gomi, Matt Serra; 2-1 against Matt Hughes; 1-1 against Jens Pulver; 0-2 against George St. Pierre and Frank Edgar; lost to Lyoto Machida)

Titles: 2 (UFC WW Champ Jan 2004; UFC LW Champ Jan 2008-April 2010)

CRCF: 5-5-1

BJ Penn is only the second fighter in UFC history to win championship belts in two different weight classes. Penn came onto the MMA scene as a famous brazillian jiu jitsu prodigy (which is where his nickname comes from) and over the years has developed great boxing skills. He is one of the most talented MMA fighters of all time and he has fought some of the biggest names in MMA over the course of nine years. Penn is only the second fighter on this list who has never lost a fight via submission and is only the 6th fighter on this list who has faced at least 10 championship level MMA fighters. He is also one of the few MMA fighters to ever beat two different Gracie family fighters (other famous fighters who have done so are Matt Hughes and Kazushi Sakuraba). One of the knocks against Penn is that in the past he lacked the work ethic to be a great fighter and got by in matchups on talent alone. Yet such a criticism is another example why he is so great (let us remember the same criticism was said of Babe Ruth and look at what he did in his baseball career). Like St. Pierre and Faber, BJ is still in his early 30's and has time to build on his already legendary MMA career so who knows what other great things he may accomplished.


2. Dan Henderson

CAC: 8-5 (Beat Fedor Emelianenko, Rich Franklin, Carlos Newton, Vitor Belfort; 2-0 against Murilo Bustamante; 1-1 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Wanderlei Silva; Lost to Anderson Silva, Jake Shields, Quinton Jackson)

Titles: 3 (PRIDE Welterweight Champion Dec 2005-March 2008; PRIDE Middleweight Champion Feb 2007-Sept 2007; Strikeforce LHW Champ March 2011-Present)

CRCF: 3-3
Dan Henderson is one of the most accomplished MMA fighters ever. He has won four MMA tournaments (Brazil Open 1997; UFC 17 Middleweight; Rings King of Kings 1999; PRIDE 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix) as well as winning championship belts at 185 and 205 pounds. When the UFC absorbed PRIDE Henderson was the man holding championship belts in two weight class simultaneously! Since 2003 Henderson has a record of 16-5 with losses to Jake Shields (former Strikeforce and Elite XC Champ), Anderson Silva (who has never lost a matchup in 15 UFC fights), Quinton Jackson (The only fighter to ever beat Chuck Liddel twice), Kazuo Misaki (a fighter whom Henderson has beaten), and "Big Nog" brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Henderson's MMA career is a list of who's who in MMA history since he has taken on so many fighters over a period of 14 years. In fact, Henderson is the only fighter on this list who has never been Knocked out or lost a fight via TKO while 13 of his 28 career MMA wins are via KO or TKO. A highly accomplished amateur wrestler, Henderson uses his wrestling typically to keep the fight standing so he can be able to use his powerful right hand to try to end fights. Henderson says he still has a couple of years of fighting left in him and he still has time to defend his Strikeforce 205 pound belt and maybe take some more fights in the UFC.



1. Anderson Silva

CAC: 6-0 (Defeated Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Carlos Newton, Forrest Griffin; 2-0 against Rich Franklin)

Titles: 3 (Shooto MW Champ 2001; Cage Rage MW Champ Sept 2004-April 2006; UFC MW Champ Oct 2006-Present)

CRCF: 14-0

The numbers above only tell half the story of how great Silva is as an MMA fighter. Since his debut in PRIDE in June of 2002 Anderson Silva is 23-3 with 15 Knockouts/TKO's and only 5 wins by decision. Silva is one of the best Muay Thai practitioners in MMA history and he is also a threat for submissions with six submission wins in his career. Silva is unique for his ability to beat an opponent with speed or power. His only real "weakness" in recent years is wrestling yet the two wrestlers who able to win a round against him in a fight (Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen) both lost by submission. On top of all of this Silva has fought at weights from 168 to 205 pounds and has won at every level in MMA competition. Calling Silva the "Michael Jordan" or "Mohammed Ali" of MMA is an insult to Silva since he has been more dominant in MMA than either of those athletes were in their respective sports. At age 36 the question becomes "will" Silva ever lose again in MMA instead of "when" because he may retire before he has another chance to suffer defeat again.

UFC 129 Aftermath

In front of the largest crowd in UFC history, the biggest MMA fight card of the year played out and now its time to review and look ahead

UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields
Result: St. Pierre via Unanimous Decision
George won in very unenthusiastic fashion. While this is a big name for GSP to add to his legacy as he builds his resume as one of the best in MMA history, he has shown a pattern of wanting to win safely more so then win convincingly. Both fighters refused to turn this into a war; neither Shields or St. Pierre really went after the other. Even when GSP had damage to his eye Shields did not capitalize. St. Pierre won because he did more then Shields not because he really "won" the fight.
Next for GSP: It seems like when the stage is the biggest (UFC 100 against Thiago Alves; UFC 129 against Jake Shields) George can't muster enough aggression when expectations are high for whatever reason. Hopefully someone in his camp will take the time to explain to him that putting on an indifferent perfomance hurts his image, reputation, and legacy as a fighter. I do not want to see GSP fight Anderson Silva until he shows in a fight the drive to dominate and be the best. A matchup with Strikeforce Welterweight Champ Nick Diaz would answer a lot of questions at this point.
Next for Shields: The reason why Shields won 15 fights in a row because he was determined to find a way in every fight to win at all costs. Yet Saturday night he looked nervous and unwilling to push the pace of the fight. The best thing for Shields is to get back into the Octagon and fight again soon. A matchup with Josh Koscheck would be good for the morale of both fighters after they both lost to GSP.

UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
Result: Aldo via Unanimous decision
This was one of the most exciting fights of the night. Hominick showed that a solid standup fighter who is willing to maul an opponent on the ground has a chance against Aldo. Have to give alot of credit to the Champ for perservering through Hominick's pressure for five rounds. Aldo won more rounds then Hominick, its just ashame someone had to loose.
Next for Aldo: At the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White announced that Aldo would next defend his Featherweight belt against Chad Mendes at UFC 133 in Philadelphia. Seems like a short amount of time between fights for a guy who got his share of damage in a five round war. Three months and a week? Before you know it Aldo will channel his inner-Nick Diaz and complain he is being overworked and forced to fight too often....I'm just kidding.
Next for Hominick: Hominick may not have won the fight but he earned great respect from the fans, other fighters and the UFC brass. After he has sometime to heal from his "cosmetic injuries" and time with his new born child, a fight with either Josh Grispi (if he beats George Roop) or Diego Nunes (if he defeats Kenny Florian) would make sense and also ensure he doesn't drop to far back in the rankings top heavy featherweight division.

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida
Result: Machida via Knockout
Either Randy Couture didn't execute his gameplan right or the Lyoto Machida that dominated Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans is back. Machida used an old school Kyokushin Karate kick (also known in Kung Fu as a form of the "Craine Kick") to knockout Couture. Steven Seagal and the Blackhouse Camp can try to spin this all they want, but Machida's extensive background in Karate is where that kick came from.
Next for Machida: This win stops a two fight losing streak for "The Dragon" and gives him the opportunity to start working his way back into contention for the light heavyweight belt. Although he wants to fight on the UFC 134: Rio card, all of his potential competition is booked for the next couple months. Best thing for Machida is to take sometime and see how fights such as Jackson-Hamill, Griffin-Shogun, Franklin-Little Nog, and Evans-Davis turn out. Only other option is for Strikeforce to loan the UFC Renato Sobral to fight Machida on the Rio card (unlikely, but it would be an interesting fight between two brazillians).
Next for Couture: After the fight Couture looked convinced he was done fighting. He's going to be 48 years old and he said he doesn't want to do what Chuck Liddell did (you know receiving brain damage in your last few fights before you get a desk job as a UFC executive). Couture has many hollywood options to go with and he will appear from time to time as an "advocate" for MMA fighters. The man is a legend and one of the best all time, let him walk away on his terms.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
Result: Matyushenko via Knockout
Vlad "The Janitor" showed that there is still serious power left in his hands. Brilz lacked the saavy or refined skills to stay with Matyuskenko for long and the fight was over quickly.
Next for Matyushenko: Vlad isn't going to be working his way up the ranks to fight for the belt at this point in his career, but he is good enough to hang around for some interesting matchups. If Tito Ortiz beats Ryan Bader then you can have Ortiz-Matyushenko 2 or if Vlad "The Janitor" doesn't want to wait around too long for his next fight a matchup with Brandon Vera would workout for both fighters.
Next for Brilz: Going 3-3 in six fights in the UFC is respectable but its not going to help your chances of staying in the big leagues. After losing two fights in a row against MMA veterans, Brilz needs a fight against a fighter who isn't so saavy. A fight with Alexander Gustafsson would be interesting, testing Brilz standup skills and Gustafsson's wrestling skills.

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson
Result: Henderson via unanimous decision
Although it was not the most exciting fight, Henderson won because he wanted it more the Bocek. Bocek had the crowd behind him but it wasn't enough as Henderson got his Mojo back and was able to counter Bocek's takedowns and not allow Bocek to do any damage.
Next for Henderson: Now that he has excercised the demons of his loss to Anthony Pettis in December, Henderson needs to keep working his way up the ranks of the crowded lightweight division. A matchup with either Sean Sherk or Takanori Gomi would be a good test for the former WEC Lightweight Champ.
Next for Bocek: At this point in his career, Bocek has showed that he is basically a gatekeeper to the top level of the lightweight division in the UFC. His four losses have been to Ben Henderson, Jim Miller, Mac Danzig, and Frank Edgar. Maybe its time that Bocek and Kurt Pellegrino fight to see who stays relevant in the UFC Lightweight division.

Quick thoughts on some Preliminary Card Fights

Rory McDonald vs Nate Diaz: After consecutive losses to McDonald and Dong Hyun Kim its apparent that Diaz does not have the strength to hang in the Welterweight division. McDonald threw him around like a rag doll in their matchup. Diaz put on some entertaining fights as a lightweight so maybe he will go back down to 155 or maybe he needs to spend more time in the weightroom ASAP. Meanwhile McDonald bounced back well from his last second loss to Carlos Condit. A fight with Paulo Thiago would be interesting.

Sean Pierson vs. Jake Ellenberger: Ellenberger has now won four straight fights. He is a tough fighter and has proven that he can hang in the UFC's welterweight division. Matching him up to fight John Hathaway would be an interesting measuring stick for both young fighters. In the meantime, Sean Pierson isn't getting any younger. The UFC may keep him around for the next Canada fight card after Vancouver and there is no telling when that will be.

5 things to keep in mind for UFC 129

UFC 129 this Saturday night in Toronto, Canada is the biggest MMA fight card of the year. The Rogers Center (home of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball team) with be filled with 55,000 MMA fans and the UFC estimates the gate will be around 11 million dollars. Also, there are two UFC Championship belts up for grabs that night. So here are 5 things to keep an eye out for this Saturday:

1. Jake Shields is better then you think he is
Chuck Liddel has described Jake Shield's takedowns as "awkward in a good way" while Jon Fitch has said Shields is "stronger then he looks". UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre has said Shields is the toughest opponent he has faced in a long time and that he is not underestimating him. But even when you are not underestimating Jake Shields, in some way you will overlook some element of his game. The guy has won 15 straight fights for a reason. During his winning streak there have been three different men who have held the UFC Welterweight belt (GSP, Matt Serra and Matt Hughes). Shields always finds a way to win and that should worry St. Pierre the most. You will see the best Jake Shields ever in the Octagon this Saturday; is George St. Pierre really prepared for that?

2. Jose Aldo has never faced an opponent like Mark Hominick.
Since joining the WEC, Jose Aldo has faced fighters who are wrestlers or takedown experts. He has beaten all of them. But Mark Hominick is different then all of Aldo's previous opponents because Hominick has elite level boxing skills and is underrated on the ground. Hominick trains with Olympic level boxers as sparring parteners. The current Featherweight Champ has been known for his excellent standup skills. Yet Aldo's best chance at winning this fight is taking it to the ground and submitting Hominick. I cannot remember the last time Aldo attempted a takedown. He hasn't even submitted an opponent in 6 years. Aldo is considered one of the best fighters in the world yet Hominick has more then a puncher's chance to leave the octagon with Aldo's featherweight belt. Can Aldo handle Hominick on the feet?

3. Can Lyoto Machida find his form or will Randy Couture grind out a win?
Before his last two losses to Maurico "Shogun" Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida had never lost a fight. He had beaten aggressive fighters like Thiago Silva and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. He has beaten top level wrestlers such as Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. In 2005 he was able to stiffle B.J. Penn en route to a Decission victory. So the fact that he is on a two fight losing streak is perplexing. Randy Couture has said that he thinks his style of fighting matches up well with Machida's allussive fighting style. Although Couture has a wrestling base, his style is different then Rashad Evans or Tito Ortiz: Couture is strategist who uses his mind to maximize his physical skills. If Randy can get his hands on Machida, it will be a long night for the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ. Machida has a good ground game but I'm unsure if he is prepared for a fighter like Randy Couture who is willing to grind out a win. Machida needs this win more then Couture which makes Lyoto a desperate fighter coming into this matchup while Randy is relaxed and ready for war.

4. Ben Henderson has something to prove
Before losing his WEC Lightweight belt to Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, Ben Henderson had won 10 straight fights. He had beaten the best of the WEC lightweight division and people were wondering how he would fair against the best of the UFC. Now Henderson's first fight since losing his WEC belt is against a fighter who some view as the "gatekeeper" to being considered a contender in the lightweight division. Mark Bocek's three losses in the UFC have been to Frank Edgar, Mac Danzig, and Jim Miller. Henderson is more talented then Bocek yet the fight is in Canada and Bocek will have the crowd behind him. The pressure is on Henderson to live up to expectations and forget about his loss to Pettis.

5. There has never been a UFC event with 55,000 fans, how will the fighters handle it?
Veteran fighters like George St. Pierre, Jake Shields, and Randy Couture have fought in many types of enviroments and they know how to handle the pressure and the crowd. But Canadian fighters Mark Hominick, Mark Bocek, Rory McDonald, and Sean Pierson have never been involved in a MMA event such as this. The crowd will be mostly behind them, how will the handle that pressure? Also young fighters such as Jose Aldo, Jason Brillz, Ben Henderson, and Jake Ellenberger have never fought on such a large stage stage before with 55,000 people or an event with the amount of publicity leading up to it. This is a big deal for the UFC and Canada, it will be interesting to see which of these fighters come of age in the Octagon and who will let the pressure crush them.