The hosts of The Hammer MMA Radio have been contributing to the UFC’s Official Fighter Rankings since its inception earlier this year. While the UFC have confirmed that these rankings may not necessarily impact their matchmaking, the three of us still put a lot of thought into our selection process at the conclusion of each event. Following each event we will be breaking down our thought process on a few of the relevant divisions right here at Last Word On Sports.
You can find our updated Rankings, as well as the overall UFC Rankings at http://www.ufc.com/rankings, all updated on the Monday immediately following every UFC event.
UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader
Steve Jeffery: Glover Teixeira is kind of an anomaly in our rankings. Usually we tend to value quality of wins over quantity, and while Glover does have a win over the ranked-at-the-time Rampage Jackson, it’s more a combination of factors that have kept him all the way up at the #2 slot for a while now.
The Rampage win was meaningful, but when combined with a five fight winning streak in the UFC, 20 consecutive wins overall, and a division full of recent parity, there isn’t anyone left at the top other than Jones, Gustafsson, and Teixeira.
It seems as though the UFC agrees with this ranking too, as Dana White recently announced that Glover gets the next shot at the Jones/Gustafsson winner following their September 21st title fight. Either of those men will test to see if Glover belongs where he is now. As for now, a win over the unranked Ryan Bader keeps him at #2.
Steve Jeffery: One thing that’s been noticeable in 2013 is that the imported fighters from Strikeforce have proven at the very least that they belong in the Octagon, facing high quality UFC opposition.
Possibly the best example of this is former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who is likely on the short list of the most improved fighters in MMA over the last couple of years. He’s huge, obviously skilled on the ground, and now he’s a legitimately threatening stand-up fighter as highly-ranked Yushin Okami just found out the hard way.
With this knockout win, Jacare takes Okami’s former #3 spot in the rankings, bumping Okami down a spot. While it unfortunately doesn’t seem to be in the plans, a fight with #2 Vitor Belfort would make a lot of sense right now while Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman have their rematch in December.
Steve Jeffery: Although it’s only been one year since Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson beat Joseph Benavidez to become the first ever UFC Flyweight champion, both men have spent that time running through pretty much every other name in the division.
Barely any of the admittedly limited roster of Flyweights have even strung together two consecutive wins, but Benavidez has now impressively beat the #2, #5, and #10 guys in his division in 12 months, two of which by brutal knockout.
Benavidez easily remains the #1 contender and whether he wants it or not, he should get the next shot at the title. His latest victim Jussier Da Silva (Jussier Fomiga) drops one spot to #6, below the recently impressive Tim Elliott.
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