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 has 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 On Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson
Steve Jeffery: The UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson main card had two very different types of lightweight fights, with two very different results.
In the main event Benson Henderson won another controversial split decision against another highly ranked contender in Josh Thomson. Henderson was ranked #1 prior to the fight, and between giving decent performance, and also having his hand raised, did nothing to lose his place. It’s also not right to drop Thomson down the rankings even in this competitive division, as most watching seem to believe that he should have won the fight. Still, it’s a tough break for Thomson.
Meanwhile, #10 ranked “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone beat the unranked and outmatched Adriano Martins with an impressive headkick knockout, but doesn’t move up any further at this time due to the relative quality of his opponent.
Steve Jeffery: Darren Elkins has been an unheralded success at Featherweight, having until recently been in the Top Ten and having spoiled a lot of fighter’s Featherweight campaigns, even though few fans could likely pick him out of a lineup. He didn’t fare as well as usual against former lightweight Jeremy Stephens.
Stephens has reinvented himself at Featherweight with three wins in a row, and is now a ranked fighter for the first time in recent memory. Stephens is likely to get an even higher ranked opponent next time out, and he’s having much better success than most former UFC Lightweights who have tried to extend their career at 145 pounds.
Stephens’ win gets him the #11 slot. The loss has knocked Elkins down one spot to #12, but he’s likely to make a comeback since his grappling will likely continue to cause problems for many in the division.
Steve Jeffery: There were four back-to-back Bantamweight fights on the UFC On Fox card, and while many of them featured solid prospects, none of them had any impact on the UFC Rankings.
The most notable was likely Alex Cacares vs. Sergio Pettis. Sergio is UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis’ younger brother, and was expected to do big things in the Bantamweight division. He may still, but the late submission loss to underrated Cacares will set him back if he opts to stay at this weight class instead of going back to Flyweight, where he competed prior to joining UFC. Cacares remains unranked following this win, but absolutely deserves at least a Top Fifteen fighter in his next fight.
Finally, Dominick Cruz was automatically removed from the Bantamweight Rankings last week when he was forced to vacate the UFC Bantamweight Championship. We should have put him back on the list then, but due to an oversight did not. Despite his inactivity, he is still the former Champion, and we are keeping him at #1 for now unless he is removed from the selection process, or Urijah Faber beats Renan Barao for the title next weekend.
The Hammer MMA Radio has featured interviews with some of the biggest names in MMA over the years, including Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Mark Coleman, Renan Barao, Rory MacDonald, Brendan Schaub, Mark Bocek, Nate Diaz, Mark Hominick, Martin Kampmann, Sara McMann, and many more, all of which are archived at http://www.thehammermma.com.
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