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: Maia vs. Shields
Steve Jeffery: The UFC has released a top ten ranked fighter for the second time this year. The decision to release #4 ranked Yushin Okami following a one-fight losing streak continues the precedent set when the same thing happened to Jon Fitch back in February. Talented fighters with dull fighting styles and high salaries don’t seem welcome right now in the organization regardless of where they stand on the UFC’s official rankings.
Replacing Jon Fitch in the Welterweight rankings was actually pretty easy. We could make a case at that time for at least five unranked UFC Welterweights who wouldn’t look out of place in the top ten. Replacing Okami at Middleweight is a lot more difficult due to a lack of depth.
With limited options available, we decided to slide everyone up a spot and put Alan Belcher back at #10. He was the last still-available fighter that we had dropped from the list (Hector Lombard has since been moved to the Welterweight section on the rankings form). Belcher has only lost to Okami and Bisping in recent years, but it’s still expected that if Lyoto Machida can beat Mark Munoz in a couple of weeks that he will enter the top ten Middleweights, and push Belcher right back out.
Steve Jeffery: Jake Shields has had a complicated couple of years, including a disputed win over Martin Kampmann at Welterweight, a failed title shot against GSP, a knockout loss to Jake Ellenberger, and a short run at Middleweight where his win was overturned due to a drug test failure.
That series of events seemed to keep Jake Shields out of any serious title picture conversations as a man without a direction or a division. He also has the type of style where a single loss could result in an Okami-like dismissal from the UFC altogether.
Shields’ fight with highly ranked Demian Maia wasn’t pretty, but he got the job done with a split decision and earned a new lease on life. Although he’s re-entered the Welterweight top ten above Maia, we’ve dropped both of them below Kampmann (who many believe actually beat Shields), and Jake Ellenberger (who knocked Shields out quickly when they met a few years back).
Steve Jeffery: Fighters in the bottom half of the top ten being considered for immediate title contention isn’t common, but when Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao has smashed though most of the division already, then you have to work with what you’ve got.
That’s why the Raphael Assuncao vs. TJ Dillashaw fight this week had extra importance and it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t a more decisive outcome. Assuncao won a close split decision that was Fight of the Night, but it also showed just how good both of these fighters are.
While the loss for Dillashaw is a setback, his ranking doesn’t change because be proved to be the near equal of a higher ranked fighter. Assuncao’s ranking also stays the same for now, as although he’s likely only one fight from a title shot, it will have to be a win over one of the five men above him. None of whom he has defeated yet.
Main Photo Credit: teamleaks.com, CC
