MMA Rankings after Pride Final Conflict 2005

Light Heavyweight

1. Mauricio Rua

2. Chuck Liddell 

3. Randy Couture 

4. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 

5. Alistair Overeem

6. Tito Ortiz 

7. Vitor Belfort

8. Ricardo Arona

9. Wanderlei Silva

10. Quinton Jackson

#5 Henderson and #8 'Shogun' rematch at UFC Fight Night 38

 vs. 

                   #5 Dan Henderson                                   #8 'Shogun' Rua

Henderson continued his losing streak losing to Vitor Belfort by knockout. 'Shogun' snapped a 2 fight losing streak last knocking out James Te Huna. This fight headlines March 23, 2014 in Brazil. 

MMA Rankings Post UFC Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot

HEAVYWEIGHT:

1. Cain Velasquez - UFC Champion 
2. Junior Dos Santos 
3. Daniel Cormier 
4. Josh Barnett +3
5. Antonio Silva -1
6. Mark Hunt +5
7. Travis Browne -2
8. Alistair Overeem -2
9. Fabricio Werdum -1
10. Frank Mir -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:

1. Jon Jones - UFC Champion
2. Alexander Gustafsson 
3. Rashad Evans 
4. Dan Henderson 
5. Chael Sonnen 
6. Mauricio Rua 
7. Glover Teixeira 
8. Ryan Bader 
9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 
10. Quinton Jackson 

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

1. Chris Weidman - UFC Champion 
2. Anderson Silva 
3. Vitor Belfort 
4. Luke Rockhold 
5. Ronaldo Souza 
6. Lyoto Machida 
7. Michael Bisping
8. Tim Kennedy 
9. Yushin Okami 
10. Mark Munoz 

Ineligible: Rich Franklin (Inactive), Cung Le (Inactive)

WELTERWEIGHT:

1. Johny Hendricks 
2. Georges St. Pierre - UFC Champion 
3. Carlos Condit 
4. Nick Diaz 
5. Robbie Lawler 
6. Rory MacDonald 
7. Martin Kampmann 
8. Jake Ellenberger 
9. Jake Shields 
10. Hector Lombard 

LIGHTWEIGHT:

1. Anthony Pettis - UFC Champion 
2. Ben Henderson 
3. Gilbert Melendez 
4. TJ Grant 
5. Josh Thomson 
6. Nate Diaz 
7. Gray Maynard 
8. Eddie Alvarez - Bellator Champion
9. Michael Chandler
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov 

FEATHERWEIGHT:

1. Jose Aldo - UFC Champion 
2. Frankie Edgar 
3. Ricardo Lamas 
4. Chad Mendes 
5. Cub Swanson 
6. Chan Sung Jung 
7. Daniel Straus - Bellator Champion 
8. Pat Curran 
9. Patricio Freire 
10. Dustin Poirier 

BANTAMWEIGHT:

1. Renan Barao - Interim Champion 
2. Urijah Faber 
3. Michael McDonald 
4. Eddie Wineland 
5. TJ Dillashaw 
6. Scott Jorgensen 
7. Raphael Assuncao 
8. Brad Pickett 
9. Francisco Rivera 
10. George Roop

Ineligible: Dominick Cruz - UFC Champion (Inactive)

FLYWEIGHT:

1. Demetrious Johnson - UFC Champion 
2. Joseph Benavidez 
3. John Dodson
4. Ian McCall 
5. Ali Bagautinov 
6. Tim Elliott
7. John Moraga 
8. Jussier Da Silva 
9. Louis Gaudinot 
10. John Lineker 

POUND 4 POUND:

1. Jose Aldo - P4P Best Fighter in the World 
2. Jon Jones 
3. Renan Barao 
4. Anderson Silva 
5. Georges St. Pierre 
6. Cain Velasquez 
7. Chris Weidman 
8. Demetrious Johnson 
9. Anthony Pettis 
10. Johny Hendricks 

Ineligible: Dominick Cruz (Inactive) 

UFC Light Heavyweight Roster Post UFC Fight Night 33

1. Jon Jones –    
2. Alexander Gustafsson – L Jones    
3. Rashad Evans – L Jones  
4. Dan Henderson – L Evans
5. Chael Sonnen – L Evans, L Jones  
6. Mauricio Rua – L Sonnen, L Henderson, L Gustafsson, L Jones  
7. Glover Teixeira – 
8. Ryan Bader – L Teixeira, L Jones
9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – L Bader, L Rua
10. Phil Davis – L Evans
11. Thiago Silva – L Evans, L Gustafsson   
12. Wanderlei Silva – L Henderson
13. Rafael Cavalcante – L Silva, L Henderson
14. Gegard Mousasi –  
15. Jimi Manuwa –    
16. James Te Huna – L Teixeira, L Rua, L Gustafsson
17. Ryan Jimmo – L Te Huna, L Manuwa  
18. Anthony Perosh – L Jimmo, L Te Huna, L Bader  
19. Ovince St. Preux – L Mousasi    
20. Cyrille Diabate – L Perosh, L Manuwa, L Rua, L Gustafsson
21. Kyle Kingsbury – L Manuwa, L Teixeira
22. Igor Pokrajac – L Jimmo, L Te Huna, L Cavalcante  
23. Ilir Latifi – L Mousasi
24. Fabio Maldonado – L Pokrajac, L Kingsbury, L Teixeira
25. Krzysztof Soszynski – L Pokrajac   
26. Gian Villante – L St. Preux  
27. Cody Donovan – L Villante, L St. Preux  
28. Francimar Barroso –   

UFC Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot Card

Note: this card is always subject to change due to injuries and other extraneous variables 

Main Card: on Fox Sports 1
HW: Mark Hunt vs. 'Bigfoot' Silva
LH: 'Shogun' Rua vs. James Te Huna 
LH: Ryan Bader vs. Anthony Perosh 
HW: Pat Barry vs. Soa Palelei 
MW: Dylan Andrews vs. Clint Hester 
WBW: Julie Kedzie vs. Bethe Corriea 

Prelim Card: on Fox Sports 2 
BW: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Nam Phan 
MW: Nick Ring vs. Caio Magalhaes 
FLY: Richie Vaculik vs. Justin Scoggins 
MW: Bruno Santos vs. Krzysztof Jotko

Prelim Card: on Facebook
WW: Ben Wall vs. Alex Garcia  

UFC Light Heavyweight Title Picture 2013 Update #1

Current Champion: Jon Jones

LH Landscape

Lyoto Machida:

After getting the wrong end of a controversial decision to Davis at UFC 163 Machida looks to drop down to 185 pounds. At this point Machida just wants the quickest route to a title fight. Now that Anderson Silva is no longer champion he might want to have a go with middleweight champion Chris Weidman (should he retain his belt in December). Machida is already scheduled to meet Top 15 middleweight Tim Kennedy on November 6th in Brazil. That's a step in the right direction.

Rashad Evans:

Evans recently snapped a 2-fight losing streak defeating Henderson by split decision. So, a title shot isn't in the immediate horizon for Evans at the moment. Evans instead will be fighting Sonnen at UFC 167 in Las Vegas. I expect Jones to fight Gustafsson and Teixeira before accepting rematches. So while Jones fights off fresh challengers Evans must keep winning in the mean time.

Dan Henderson:

Henderson was scheduled to face Jones at UFC 151 for the LH title but a knee injury forced him out of the fight. Upon returning he opted to stay active instead of continuing to wait for his title shot. By doing so he lost two razor close split decisions to the 2 men ranked above him; Machida and Evans. With back to back losses and at age 43 it's not looking good for Henderson title hopes. Hopefully for him he could turn things around in his rematch with Belfort.

Alexander Gustafsson:

After Jones refused to give Machida a rematch and Machida opted to stay active, Gustafsson gets his wish; a shot at the title. The two will meet on September 21st at UFC 165. 

Chael Sonnen:

I don't see Sonnen getting another title shot anytime soon. Sonnen was Jones' easiest title defense of them all and most recent one as well. So the one sided beatdown is still fresh in our minds, even with Sonnen's recent win over 'Shogun'. 

'Shogun' Rua:
Mauricio 'Shogun' is on the verge of losing his spot in the top 10. He either needs to regain his form that won him the LH title or fall further down the ladder. By no means will 'Shogun' get a title shot anytime soon but a win over Te Huna this December is a step in the right direction.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira:
Might I say this is the dark horse of the LH division? I think so. Since losing to Davis, Nogueira dominated Tito Ortiz, which avenges his loss to Bader, then upset Evans, which avenges his loss to Davis. Upon returning from his back injury, with proper matchmaking Nogueira could be close to title contention. In the mean time he's flying under the radar.

Phil Davis:
Officially Davis has earned the biggest win of his career, but unofficially most of the mma community thinks he lost to Machida. As a result of this controversial win he's not on the UFC's list of  possible title challengers  just yet.

Glover Teixeira:
Following his win over Bader, Teixeira was promised the next title shot by the UFC. Now nothing means anything until the cage door shuts, but with no other fresh challenger on a winning streak like him and Gustafsson currently have, who else is left?

Ryan Bader:
If Bader ever wants a title shot he's gonna to have to not just get better, but evolve because what he brings to the table has hit a glass ceiling and its not going to be enough to pick up crucial wins like the Machida and Teixeira fights. It'll be enough to beat Brilz and Matyushenko but there's a reason why those guys aren't in the UFC anymore. So if Bader wants a title shot he needs to pick up some signature wins, in order to do that he needs to evolve plain and simple.

# 7 'Shogun' Rua meets James Te-Huna in Australia

#7 'Shogun' and James Te Huna will fight on December 7th on the UFC Fight Night 33 card. #7 'Shogun'
has been hot and cold since losing his light heavyweight title to #1 Jon Jones and is currently on a 2-fight losing streak against fellow top 10 fighters; #5 Gustafsson and #6 Sonnen. James Te Huna was on a 4-fight winning streak before losing to #10 Glover Teixeira by submission. Both men look to rebound in Australia which happens to be Te Huna's home country.


NOTE: This fight has been updated on the 'UPCOMING FIGHTS' tab. You can see all of the other top 15 scheduled fights there as well. 

MMA Rankings After UFC Fight Night 26: 'Shogun' vs. Sonnen

NOTE: This is the first rankings with my new implemented rules

HEAVYWEIGHTS:
#1 CAIN VELASQUEZ - UFC CHAMPION
#2 JUNIOR DOS SANTOS
#3 DANIEL CORMIER
#4 'BIGFOOT' SILVA
#5 TRAVIS BROWNE
#6 ALISTAIR OVEREEM
#7 FABRICIO WERDUM
#8 FRANK MIR
#9 'MINOTAURO' NOGUEIRA
#10 JOSH BARNETT

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS:
#1 JON JONES - UFC CHAMPION
#2 LYOTO MACHIDA
#3 RASHAD EVANS
#4 DAN HENDERSON
#5 ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON
#6 CHAEL SONNEN
#7 'SHOGUN' RUA
#8 'MINOTORO' NOGUEIRA
#9 PHIL DAVIS
#10 GLOVER TEIXEIRA

MIDDLEWEIGHTS:
#1 CHRIS WEIDMAN - UFC CHAMPION
#2 ANDERSON SILVA
#3 VITOR BELFORT
#4 MICHAEL BISPING
#5 YUSHIN OKAMI
#6 MARK MUNOZ
#7 LUKE ROCKHOLD
#8 'JACARE' SOUZA
#9 'COSTA' PHILIPPOU
#10 HECTOR LOMBARD

WELTERWEIGHTS:
#1 GEORGES ST-PIERRE - UFC CHAMPION
#2 JOHNY HENDRICKS
#3 CARLOS CONDIT
#4 NICK DIAZ
#5 MARTIN KAMPMANN
#6 RORY MACDONALD
#7 JAKE ELLENBERGER
#8 JAKE SHIELDS
#9 DEMIAN MAIA
#10 ROBBIE LAWLER

LIGHTWEIGHTS:
#1 BEN HENDERSON - UFC CHAMPION
#2 GILBERT MELENDEZ
#3 TJ GRANT
#4 GRAY MAYNARD
#5 MICHAEL CHANDLER - BELLATOR CHAMPION
#6 EDDIE ALVAREZ 
#7 SHINYA AOKI - ONE FC CHAMPION
#8 ANTHONY PETTIS
#9 JOSH THOMSON
#10 NATE DIAZ

FEATHERWEIGHTS:
#1 JOSE ALDO - UFC CHAMPION
#2 FRANKIE EDGAR
#3 RICARDO LAMAS
#4 CHAD MENDES
#5 PAT CURRAN - BELLATOR CHAMPION
#6 CUB SWANSON
#7 HATSU HIOKI
#8 CHAN SUNG JUNG
#9 PATRICIO 'PITBULL' 
#10 CLAY GUIDA

BANTAMWEIGHTS:
#1 RENAN BARAO - UFC INTERIM CHAMPION
#2 URIJAH FABER
#3 MICHAEL MCDONALD
#4 EDDIE WINELAND
#5 SCOTT JORGENSEN
#6 BRAD PICKETT
#7 GEORGE ROOP
#8 BIBIANO FERNANDES - ONE FC CHAMPION 
#9 MARLON MORAES 
#10 MIGUEL TORRES

FLYWEIGHTS:
#1 'MIGHTY MOUSE' JOHNSON - UFC CHAMPION
#2 JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ
#3 IAN MCCALL
#4 JOHN DODSON
#5 JUSSIER 'FORMIGA'
#6 DARRELL MONTAGUE
#7 JOHN LINEKER
#8 MIKIHITO YAMAGAMI
#9 MAMORU YAMAGUCHI
#10 YOSUKE SARUTA

POUND 4 POUND:
#1 JOSE ALDO - P4P KING
#2 GEORGES ST-PIERRE
#3 JON JONES
#4 RENAN BARAO
#5 CHRIS WEIDMAN
#6 ANDERSON SILVA
#7 'MIGHTY MOUSE' JOHNSON
#8 CAIN VELASQUEZ
#9 FRANKIE EDGAR
#10 BEN HENDERSON

UFC Fight Night 26: 'Shogun' vs Sonnen Predictions and Betting Lines

My Main Card Predictions and Bets:

#7 'Shogun' +120 vs. NR* Sonnen -150

I'm picking Shogun because he's got the edge standing up and on the ground. Shogun is also a black belt in jiu jitsu with a tricky guard even better than Anderson Silva's guard with his ability to dive for leg locks. Even if he doesn't get the leg lock he uses it to get back up to his feet which is exactly where he wants to be. Although Sonnen can take 'Shogun' down repeatedly I just don't see him fending him off for 25 minutes. I see 'Shogun' winning inside the distance by TKO or knockout especially in a five rounder.

My bet: 33.33$ to win 40$ on Shogun

#5 Overeem -185 vs. NR* Browne +155 

I'm picking Overeem because despite getting knocked out in his last fight he is still the superior striker. Browne prefers to stand as well but he's been knocked out before too so his chin has been tested and Overeem will look to test it again. Although Overeem has a suspect chin and Browne could tag it and put him out, I see Overeem's experience being the difference in their fight. I've got Overeem winning eventually by TKO or knockout.

My bet: 74$ to win 40$ on Overeem & check my parlays

#2 Faber -290 vs. NR* Alcantara +230 

I'm picking Faber because of his experience and because he is the wrestler so he can dictate where he wants the fight to go. Alcantara likes to go for broke with both his striking and his submissions but I feel Faber will have and answer for anything Alcantara gives him. Since Alcantara is always in the fight I'm picking Faber by decision.

My bet: 116$ to win 40$ on Faber & check my parlays

NR* Pyle +130 vs. NR* Brown -160 

As you can see by the line this fight is very close. I myself don't know who to pick. On one hand I'd pick Brown by TKO because of his pressure on the other hand I'd pick Pyle because of his submissions and Brown's poor track record with submission defense. It's hard to see either guy lose right now because of their winning streaks. Both guys have a path to victory. The one who wants it more will most likely win.

My bet: pass

NR* Hall -435 vs. NR* Howard +335 

I'm picking Hall because he's more unpredictable with his striking and I feel he's going to come back stronger after a loss. At the very worst I feel he wins all three rounds by decision or ends it with strikes eventually. I will be passing because the line is too high and Howard is no pushover in the striking department himself. With these small gloves and the way Howard fights and the steep line, I would tread cautiously on Hall.

My bet: pass

NR* Lauzon -245 vs. NR* Johnson +195 

I'm picking Lauzon because I feel he's not going to let Johnson breath, he's going to constantly be looking for a submission and it will overwhelm Johnson. Even if Lauzon doesn't get the submission I feel he will win the decision atleast because of the constant pressure he's going to put on him.

My bet: check my parlays

My under card bets only:

40.30$ to win 30$ on Gamburyan

40.25$ to win 18.30$ on (Mike) Brown

99$ to win 30$ on Brandao

40$ to win 20$ on McDonald

96$ to win 40$ on McGregor

My Parlays:

18$ to win 50.44$ on Faber, Overeem, McGregor & Lauzon

48$ to win 45.10$ on McGregor & Lauzon

Previous Results: My UFC 163 betting results 

Won 2.91$ on Yahya 

Won 18.92$ on McCall 

Lost 69.66$ on Magalhaes 

Won 18.51$ on Lineker 

Won 12$ on Lineker vs. Tome to go under 2 1/2 rounds 

Lost 70.26$ on Machida 

Won 22$ on Machida vs. Davis to go over 2 1/2 rounds 

Won 15.69$ on Aldo 

Overall I lost 49.89$

P.S. - I would have profited 20.37$ if Machida didn't get robbed. 

NR - Not ranked in the top 10 

UFC Fight Night 26: 'Shogun' vs. Sonnen Stats

'Shogun' by TKO/KO                      81% chance    
Sonnen by TKO/KO                       19% chance

'Shogun' by Submission                 80% chance
Sonnen by Submission                  20% chance

Fight gets stopped                        45% chance
Fight goes to decision                   55% chance

'Shogun' wins                                43% chance
Sonnen wins                                  57% chance