MMA World Rankings for 2009 / 2010

The November 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.
In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to http://www.independentworldmmarankings.com/.
Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Heavy.com); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA and Head Kick Legend).
Note: Due to the fact that he has not competed in the welterweight division for over one year and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, Jake Shields is no longer eligible to be ranked in the welterweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the middleweight division.
Note: Due to the fact that he has not competed in the heavyweight division for over one year and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, Randy Couture is no longer eligible to be ranked in the heavyweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the light heavyweight division.
November 2009 Independent World MMA RankingsBallots collected on November 24, 2009
Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.) 1. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1, 1 No Contest)2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1, 1 No Contest)4. Frank Mir (12-4)5. Shane Carwin (11-0)6. Brett Rogers (10-1)7. Alistair Overeem (31-11, 1 No Contest)8. Junior dos Santos (9-1)9. Cain Velasquez (7-0)10. Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1)
Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.) 1. Lyoto Machida (16-0)2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-4)3. Rashad Evans (13-1-1)4. Quinton Jackson (30-7)5. Anderson Silva (25-4)6. Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1)7. Forrest Griffin (17-6)8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3)9. Dan Henderson (25-7)10. Thiago Silva (14-1)
Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.) 1. Anderson Silva (25-4)2. Nathan Marquardt (29-8-2)3. Dan Henderson (25-7)4. Vitor Belfort (19-8)5. Demian Maia (11-1)6. Jake Shields (24-4-1)7. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)8. Yushin Okami (23-5)9. Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 No Contest)10. Jorge Santiago (21-8)
Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.) 1. Georges St. Pierre (19-2)2. Jon Fitch (19-3, 1 No Contest)3. Thiago Alves (16-6)4. Josh Koscheck (14-4)5. Matt Hughes (43-7)6. Dan Hardy (23-6)7. Paulo Thiago (12-1)8. Mike Swick (14-3)9. Carlos Condit (24-5)10. Marius Zaromskis (13-3)
Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.) 1. B.J. Penn (14-5-1)2. Shinya Aoki (22-4, 1 No Contest)3. Eddie Alvarez (19-2)4. Kenny Florian (11-4)5. Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2)6. Diego Sanchez (21-2)7. Gray Maynard (8-0, 1 No Contest)8. Frankie Edgar (10-1)9. Joachim Hansen (19-8-1)10. Mizuto Hirota (12-3-1)
Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.) 1. Jose Aldo (16-1)2. Mike Brown (22-5)3. Urijah Faber (22-3)4. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2)5. Bibiano Fernandes (7-2)6. Raphael Assuncao (14-1)7. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue (17-3)8. Wagnney Fabiano (12-2)9. Manny Gamburyan (10-4)10. Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1)
Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.) 1. Brian Bowles (8-0)2. Miguel Torres (37-2)3. Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2)4. Masakatsu Ueda (10-0-2)5. Dominick Cruz (14-1)6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2)7. Joseph Benavidez (10-1)8. Damacio Page (12-4)9. Rani Yahya (15-4)10. Will Ribeiro (10-2)
The Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.
The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.
The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.
Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.
Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.
Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.
Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

UFC 106: Forrest Griffin Beats Tito Ortiz by Split Decision

UFC 106: Forrest Griffin Beats Tito Ortiz by Split Decision

will brock lesnar fight again?

Last month Brock Lesnar sat in a small-town, fast food restaurant, surrounded by blue-collar townies, munching on a five-dollar foot long. He was the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title holder, yet unlike his old days as a professional wrestler/entertainer, he was far from the spotlight.

His life was now about family, training and humble hard work. It was the antithesis of his days making millions in the cutthroat, 300-days-on-the-road, close-down-the-nightclubs-fast-lane of the WWE.

That was an existence he grew to detest, so much so that five years ago he walked away from a multi-million dollar contract with no job.

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Then an interesting thing happened. By moving to real fighting, he found the real Brock Lesnar.

“This is who I am,” he said. “I’m a fighter.”

Now Lesnar is in for the biggest fight of his life; dealing with a serious illness – at this point just described as “bacterial infection in his intestinal tract.” He had “minor surgery” in Bismarck, N.D. Tuesday, according to UFC president Dana White.

“Not 100 (percent) sure he is out of the woods but (he’s) feeling better,” White wrote via Twitter.

The illness has caused the postponement of one title defense and, according to White, could even cost him his budding second-career.

“There’s a possibility Lesnar will never fight again,” White told TMZ.com on Monday.

Lesnar is famously private and precise details of what’s wrong have not been released. His management team and the UFC have declined further comment. All we know is that he grew so weak during an October training camp that he had to pull out of a fight that was scheduled for this Saturday.

The first diagnosis was mono. White said Saturday, though, that Lesnar was “very, very sick.” While he wouldn’t reveal the illness, he said it wasn’t cancer or HIV. There is no word on whether Tuesday’s surgery solves the problem or is just the first of many treatments.

Either way, for Lesnar the person, the timing is tough.

The 32-year old had entered a period of professional success, personal contentment and family bliss (a new baby boy with his wife, former wrestling star Sable, while living near his second grade daughter from a previous relationship).

It was a journey that was a long time and numerous bold lifestyle changes in the making.

After winning a NCAA wrestling championship at the University of Minnesota in 2000, Lesnar entered the scripted WWE as a natural born star. At 6-3, 300-pounds, he boasted incredible athletic ability and a natural touch as an actor. He was a headliner by 2002 and for three years made millions while living the predictable wild life on the road of someone young, rich and famous.

“You could either stay in or go out,” he said. “Guess which I chose?”

Increasingly he detested it. He was miserable. He later got a tattoo of a sword on his chest, blade pointed at his neck.

“At the time it symbolized someone (having) a knife up against my throat,” he said.

The WWE has a long, ugly history of pushing its wrestlers to cut corners and compete at all costs. Dozens of pro wrestlers have died young, even in their 20s and 30s. Others have pointed to a culture of steroids (Lesnar has denied ever taking them), pain killers and substance abuse.

Whatever the reason, Lesnar did what few do. He walked away. He attempted to get out of his contract by trying out for the Minnesota Vikings even though he hadn’t played football since high school. He almost made the team.

He pro wrestled in Japan, got into a legal battle with the WWE and, in 2006, just retired and left everything behind. The $7 million contract. The all-night parties. The rush of fame.

His decision is beyond rare – there’s a reason they’ll never run out of subjects for “True Hollywood Stories.”

Lesnar said he’d rather farm than continue. The fake wrestler was going to be true to himself. He had no clear career path. He said he was depressed. He bought some land. He ran a tractor.

Then he gave mixed martial arts a chance and after one contest approached Dana White.

“Let me fight,” Lesnar begged back in 2007. “Give me one chance.”

The UFC is the highest level of cage fighting, filled with experts at things like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai boxing. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll get hurt. Even a former NCAA wrestling champ.

“It’s no place for on the job training,” White cautioned.

Lesnar didn’t care.

“I’m either good at this or I’m not,” he said, asking for world class competition from the start, unwilling to waste any more of the present as he searched for a future.

In less than a year he was the UFC heavyweight champion and its biggest box office draw. It turns out he wasn’t just good at MMA, he was great at it.

Suddenly he could earn millions by fighting just a few times a year. Gone were weeks with seven shows in seven cities. It was a real sport. He retreated to Alexandria, Minn., a working-class town a two-hour drive northwest of Minneapolis. It’s where his daughter lives.

He and Sable bought a 40-acre farm in the woods. They had their first son in June. He became the rare athlete who openly discussed trying to be the best father and husband he could.

When not working out at a non-descript training facility, he hunts and fishes. He drives rusted, used trucks. He doesn’t have the Internet. If it weren’t for an occasional hunting show and NFL football, he’d throw out his television. He eats at Subway.

He couldn’t be happier. He’s found balance.

“Fighting is not my life,” he said last month, eating a meatball sub. “My family is my life. I know who I am and what I’m about. My wife knows who I am. My children know who I am. My friends. That’s all that matter to me.”

He’s poured himself into becoming a better fighter, paying training partners and experts to come in and make him better.

He was on the verge of a long career, perhaps even an extended run as the champion. Everything was humming, professionally and personally. The gamble of walking away from the circus and into an honest life had paid off.

Then a week after we had lunch in Alexandria, he got sick. Then he got sicker. Now he might need further hospitalization, surgery, treatment, who knows.

Now everything is up in the air for a guy who found happiness by getting grounded

watch free - highlights of the Manny Pacquiao Vs Cotto Fight Reviews and more

Pacquiao Wins TKO Round 12 Pacquiao chases him down and after a big flurry, the referee steps in and stops the fight. CREDITS GO TO HBO Credits for music also go to pantera .

thoughts ?


Pics from the fight





another video free video fight




The History Channel was among the many sponsors of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which, in an odd sort of way, was appropriate.

Pacquiao made history on Saturday when he battered Miguel Cotto over 11-plus brutal rounds, winning the World Boxing Organization welterweight title in one of the finest performances of a brilliant career.




Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight 55 seconds into Round 12.
(Getty Images)
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Chavez Jr. wins

The fighting rabbi
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Pacquiao dropped Cotto in the third and fourth rounds, landed 43 percent of his punches and mercifully stopped the game Puerto Rican 55 seconds into the final round when referee Kenny Bayless jumped in to save Cotto.

Cotto’s trainer, Joe Santiago, ought to be flogged for not stopping it sooner. Cotto never recovered after the second knockdown, which came in the fourth round, and spent most of the final seven-plus rounds trying to fend off a man who was far too fast, far too slick and far too talented.

Pacquiao’s performance was so good that no one laughed when promoter Bob Arum said he believes Pacquiao is the best fighter he ever saw. And yes, Arum included Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler in that group.

The pay-per-view numbers were tracking exceptionally well, also. HBO’s Mark Taffet said indications on Friday were that the show is tracking to do at least 1 million buys. Taffet is notoriously conservative, but the fight is likely to zoom well past 1 million and may approach – or even exceed – 1.5 million sales.

HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said that Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaefer plans to call Arum on Monday in order to start negotiations on a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout that would be the richest in the sport’s history.

There’s little question that promoters are going to be under intense public pressure to make a match between Pacquiao and Mayweather, the two men with a claim to the mythical title of pound-for-pound champion.

Mayweather’s grip weakened significantly on Saturday after Pacquiao’s stellar performance, and it may weaken more if the pay-per-view results come in well above 1 million.

Arum wasn’t so eager to take Schaefer’s call, at least not on Monday. Given preliminary pay-per-view figures are due on Tuesday, Arum prefers to wait. Mayweather’s victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in September sold 1 million on pay-per-view. “Tell Richard to wait until Wednesday to call me,” Arum said.


Pacquiao’s speed was the most obvious difference between the men, though it was hardly the only one. Pacquiao was once a one-dimensional, one-handed fighter with plenty of holes defensively.

On Saturday, Cotto faced a two-fisted fighter who was in command every second of the fight. His defense was tight, his ring generalship magnificent and his power was overwhelming.

“He’s the best boxer I ever fought,” Cotto said in the understatement of the night. Pacquiao was typically humble, refusing to compare himself to the legends of the game that Arum said he has surpassed.

“I just think I’m an ordinary fighter,” Pacquiao said. “When I fight a good fighter, sometimes I can beat him.”

Hearing that, his trainer, Freddie Roach, chided him.

“You’re not ordinary,” Roach said.

Pacquiao, who has taken to calling Roach his “boxing master,” beamed.

“Sorry, Master,” he replied.

It was probably the only thing he had to apologize about. Roach said Pacquiao didn’t stick to the game plan in the first two rounds, backing to the ropes, a style that Cotto clearly preferred.

Roach urged him to get off the ropes. Once he did, it was no contest.

“Manny Pacquiao is just unbelievable,” Roach said. “The first couple of rounds, I was a little bit worried, because he didn’t follow the plan. Toward the end of the second round, he got into the program and he made it look easy after that.”

Pacquiao was so good on Saturday, he was singing at the post-fight news conference and planned to head across the street to Mandalay Bay to sing eight songs in a concert.

The song he played in the ring was as good as has been seen in a long time. He debunked many popular theories and took many of Mayweather’s arguments away from him.

If Mayweather doesn’t take the fight, he’ll simply be running.

There’s no other way to put it.

“Manny can punch with any 147-pounder in the world,” Roach said. “He has great power and speed. He proved everything tonight.”

Pacquiao has now claimed sanctioning body titles at flyweight, super bantamweight, super featherweight, lightweight and welterweight and he won the linear championship at both featherweight and super lightweight.

There’s little the man can’t do. And Roach, who began training Pacquiao in 2001, wasn’t about to disagree much with Arum’s assessment of Pacquiao’s greatness.

“He’s as good as anybody,” Roach said. “He’s the greatest fighter of his generation. I agree 100 percent.”

As good as Mayweather was in September in dismantling Marquez, Pacquiao was that much better. Pacquiao fought a bigger, stronger and better man and beat him into submission.

A clash between Mayweather and Pacquiao would be one of those epic battles that come only once every 25 years or so.

And while it once seemed inconceivable that Pacquiao could ever deal with Mayweather’s speed and defensive prowess, it isn’t any more.

Anyone who doubts the guy now is a fool.

Fedor Emelianenko KO Knocks out Brett Rogers FIGHT - STRIKEFORCE Nov 7 highlights !

If there's any justice in this world, Saturday's Strikeforce/M1 Global fight night on CBS will shatter the network TV records for MMA ?



He's biggest weapon is his fighting intellect. Sometimes it takes a few knocks & some blood, but he'll always eventually win because he's smarter than any of his opponents. Period. the chances of grounding and pounding re very high in octagon..people who say that theyve never seen fedor having to withstand gnp have to realise that.fedors 1st time in the cage.the guy is a living legend . Thoughts ??

training camps of Fedor and Rogers leading up to their fight this

Jake Shields ready for strikefore MMA fight Nov. 6 2009 or ready for some UFC ?

After a string of a dozen consecutive victories against notables ranging from Yushin Okami to Carlos Condit to Mike Pyle to Paul Daley to Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields has clearly established himself as one of the sport's top fighters. But with a Saturday Strikeforce title fight with Jason "Mayhem" Miller earning the winner the vacant middleweight belt, the former welterweight now has his sights set on domination in two divisions. But while Shields is willing to fight just about anyone (and has), he recently told mmajumkie) there's one name that could prevent the jiu-jitsu ace from claiming championships in two weight classes. That name is Nick Diaz, a fellow Strikeforce fighter who Shields now considers "a brother." Both Cesar Gracie-trained fighters are some of the top stars in the fast rising Strikeforce promotion, which kicks off its new CBS broadcast deal with a live airing of "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" Nov. 7 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Shields vs. Miller is billed as the night's co-main event. Shields, who now makes the move to 185 after defeating Robbie Lawler at a catch-weight of 182 pounds back in June, is enjoying the new weight class. "Not cutting weight is awesome," he said. "I certainly enjoy fighting at 185 more." Despite the move up, Shields isn't committing fully to 185. In fact, he has plans to return to welterweight at some point. "I've bulked up," Shields said. "I'm still not a true 185-pounder. But I've bulked up. During training I weigh 191 or 192 (pounds), and it kind of sticks. I don't want to go much higher." So if Shields (23-4-1) defeats Miller (22-6), would he then want a shot to claim the welterweight belt too? Strikeforce hasn't crowned a welterweight champion (though Diaz and fellow UFC vet Jay Hieron are the leading candidates to fight for it), and Shields would certainly be at the top of the list of contenders. "I definitely would," he said. "Nick Diaz is my training partner, and I'm not trying to cut him off, but I would. We've never really sat and decided who wants to do what. But I definitely want to fight for both." In fact, Shields said, he probably never would have moved up to 185 pounds in the first place if Strikeforce had added depth to the division a bit earlier. "Most likely I'd be at 170," he said. "The main reason I went up (a weight class) was because of the lack of good opponents for me. Shields said he has no problems fighting Miller despite their previous relationship. Shields actually appeared as a guest star on Shields' MTV reality series "Bully Beatdown" (and dished out some serious justice to the local bully), and the two have trained together. But with Diaz, he said it's different. "It's easy to turn that off (with Miller)," Shields said. "I've fought ... other friends in the past, and Mayhem and I are kind of acquaintances and aren't really friends. We've hung out together a couple times and trained together a couple times. But it's not like we call each other and check up and see how we're both doing. We're not that close. I've got nothing bad to say about him, but I don't have a problem busting him in the face either. "It's a little different with Nick Diaz. Like I said, Mayhem and I are more acquaintances. But with Nick, I've been good friends with him for eight years. ... He's more like a brother to me. It'd be too weird fighting him. He's the only guy I wouldn't fight." But what if the exposure and offer were so lucrative that they'd be crazy not to fight? What is gobs of money were thrown at the two fighters, for example, to headline a CBS card? "It would have to be so much money – more than they're willing to offer," Shields said. "It'd have to be way over than they're paying right now. I guess if they coughed up a million dollars, we'd think about it. But I doubt that's the case, but I guess you never know. The money's going up now." Obviously, when talking about the future, there's another topic that often comes up. You can't discuss world rankings and top-level competition without mentioning the UFC, especially when it comes to the welterweight division, which is ruled by UFC fighters. Shields admits he has one dream fight for his career. "The UFC obviously has (UFC welterweight champion) GSP (Georges St-Pierre), and that's a fight I would love," he said. "That'd be my ideal fight if I were with the UFC." So, would he join the UFC? After excelling as one of the top non-UFC fighters in the sport today, would he finally jump ship and join the worldwide leader in MMA? "That's a tough call right there because I really like both," he said. "Strikeforce treats me great and have been really good. They support me. I love fighting in Strikeforce. "The UFC obviously is the bigger name and has some great fights. Right now, I'm taking it one fight at a time and will figure it out from there."