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March 2009 MMA Rankings
By Ariel Helwani
March 17, 2009

Welcome to Versus.com’s official MMA rankings for March 2009.

Now, I know arguing rankings may be an exercise in futility, but what do you say we do it anyways? Be sure to check out our male and female pound-for-pound rankings at the bottom, and then let the arguing (and name-calling) commence!

HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Fedor Emelianenko (29-1, 1 NC) – His spot to lose. Next is a long-awaited fight against Josh Barnett. But, unless he finally signs with the UFC, who can truly test him after that?
2. Josh Barnett (24-5) – Toss up between Barnett and Frank Mir in this spot, but once you consider the fact that Mir’s victory Brock Lesnar was a tad deceiving, you have to side with Barnett.
3. Frank Mir (12-3)– Consecutive wins over Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira warrant a third place ranking.
4. Brock Lesnar (3-1) – Yes, the UFC heavyweight champion (I consider Lesnar to be the real champ) has only fought four times, but he did thoroughly dominate Heath Herring and then Randy Couture. I also think he will defeat Mir this summer.
5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1, 1 NC) – Nog needs a convincing win over Couture at UFC 101 to stay relevant in this division.
6. Andrei Arlovski (14-6) – I bet Arlovski still hasn’t gotten over his ill-timed flying knee against Fedor. Wondering whom Affliction will match him up with next?
7. Randy Couture (16-9) – See Nogueira at #5
8. Alistair Overeem (29-11, 1 NC) – Here’s hoping Overeem returns to Strikeforce to defend his heavyweight title sometime soon.
9. Shane Carwin (11-0) – Something tells me we’ll be seeing Carwin’s name in the top five before the year is out.
10.  Cheick Kongo (13-4-1) – This slot could have gone to many people.

Honorable mention: Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell, Roy Nelson, Cain Velazquez, Junior dos Santos, Mirko Cro Cop, Aleksander Emelianenko.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Rashad Evans (13-0-1) – Will Evans be a one-and-done champ? Don’t count on it.
2. Forrest Griffin (16-5) – Grifin hopes to return this summer from a broken hand injury. If all goes well, he should get another title shot next winter.
3. Quinton Jackson (30-7) – Solid, yet unimpressive victory over Keith Jardine last weekend.
4. Lyoto Machida (14-0) – Machida will finally get his title shot in May at UFC 98. Can he defeat Evans? Absolutely. Will he? I think not.
5. Dan Henderson (24-7) – It’s hard following which weight class Hendo is fighting in these days. His last fight was against Rich Franklin at 205 (a win), but his next bout will be against Michael Bisping at 185 (a soon-to-be win).
6. Thiago Silva (13-1) – Tough loss against Machida at UFC 94. He’ll be back.
7. Rich Franklin (24-4) – See Henderson at #5 except Franklin’s next bout will be contested at a 195-pound catchweight against Wanderlei Silva.
8. Mauricio Rua (17-3) – Has looked sluggish in both UFC fights, but those were over a year apart. Will be interesting to see how he performs against Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 just two and a half months after his victory over Mark Coleman at UFC 93.
9. Keith Jardine (14-5-1) – Amazingly, Jardine moved up in my rankings despite losing to Jackson last weekend. Valiant performance. 
10.  Chuck Liddell (21-6) – Take a picture because this might be the last time we see Liddell’s name in the top 10.

Honorable Mention: Luis Arthur Cane, Renato Sobral, Vladimir Matyushenko

MIDDLEWEIGHT
1. Anderson Silva (23-4) – After all the criticism he received following his UFC 90 performance, I think we’re about to see the best Anderson Silva has to offer at UFC 97.
2. Yushin Okami (23-4) – The most underappreciated fighter in MMA. Even though I think he deserves a title shot, I’m excited to see how he will fare against up-and-comer Dan Miller at UFC 98.
3. Robbie Lawler (16-4, 1 NC) – Lawler wanted to face top-tier and he got his wish granted in the form of Jake Shields.
4. Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) – Marquardt continues to impress, but talk of him warranting another title shot is way too premature.
5. Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) – Mousasi’s days at 185 pounds may be coming to an end, but I don’t think he’ll have any trouble making the transition.
6. Demian Maia (10-0) – Two wins away from a title shot.
7. Jorge Santiago (21-7) – The ATT member is on some kind roll: Nine wins in a row, all via stoppage.
8. Michael Bisping (17-1) – His UFC 100 bout against Henderson will be the toughest of his career. A win could result in a title shot against Anderson Silva. 
9. Vitor Belfort (18-8) – A year ago, who would have ever thought we’d be seeing Belfort sitting in the middleweight top 10?
10.  Matt Lindland (21-6) – We’ll learn a lot about Lindland by watching how he rebounds from the devastating loss to Belfort in his next fight.

Honorable Mention: Kazuo Misaki, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Paulo Filho, Frank Trigg, Patrick Cote, Dan Miller.

WELTERWEIGHT
1. Georges St-Pierre (18-2) – Vaseline or not, GSP would beat BJ Penn nine times out of ten.
2. Jon Fitch (18-3, 1 NC) – I consider Fitch and Alves 2a and 2b, although that may change come UFC 100.
3. Thiago Alves (16-3) – See above.
4. Jake Shields (22-4-1) – Joe Riggs’ loss is Jake Shields’ gain. The former EliteXC welterweight champion was starving for an opponent like Robbie Lawler.
5. Josh Koscheck (12-4) – Paulo Thiago may be the answer to a trivia question someday.
6. Matt Hughes (42-7) – The forgotten man #1. Will be fun to see him back in action come May.
7. Carlos Condit (23-4) – Very interested to see how he’ll stack up against the UFC’s best at 170 pounds. WEC will surely miss him.
8. Matt Serra (9-5) – The forgotten man #2.
9. Nick Thompson (38-10-1) – Happy to hear he signed with Strikeforce.
10. Mike Swick (13-2) – Swick faces the dangerous Ben Saunders at UFC 99. 

Honorable Mention: Dustin Hazelett, Karo Parisyan, Jay Hieron, Marcus Davis, Dan Hardy.

LIGHTWEIGHT
1. BJ Penn (13-5-1) – It’s time to forget about Vaseline and start focusing on Kenny Florian.
2. Shinya Aoki (20-3) – Note to future opponents: do not wave to crowd while competing against the “Tobikan Judan.”
3. Kenny Florian (11-3) – Early prediction: Florian will beat BJ Penn.
4. Eddie Alvarez (15-2) – Alvarez is set to debut for Bellator FC next month.
5. Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) – Still wondering if “Hellboy” truly is a top 10 fighter in this division.
6. Sean Sherk (33-3-1) – I like Sherk’s chances in a three-round war against Frankie Edgar at UFC 98.
7. Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1, 1 NC) – Still waiting for another shot at Hansen.
8. Josh Thomson (16-2, 1 NC) – He may have been disappointed with the Gilbert Melendez booking, but I think the fight makes a lot of sense. That said, I like Thomson’s chances next month.
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) – Defeated Ross Ebanez last week at DREAM.8. A top contender in DREAM's lightweight division.
10. Diego Sanchez (20-2) – Solid debut at 155 pounds last month. Long overdue.

Honorable Mention: Gray Maynard, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Eiji Mitsuoka, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Jamie Varner.

FEATHERWEIGHT
1. Mike Brown (21-4) – Brown vs. Urijah Faber II. Biggest fight in WEC history. Coming soon. Can’t wait.
2. Urijah Faber (22-2) – See above.
3. Wagnney Fabiano (11-1) – Facing Fredson Paixao at WEC 40 next month. Paixao hasn’t competed in MMA in almost two years, but holds notable wins over Rani Yaha, Masakazu Imanari and Thomas Denny.
4. Leonard Garcia (12-4) – Bad loss to Mike Brown. He never even had a chance to show us what he had.
5. Takeshi Inoue (15-3) – Shooto’s 143-pound champion was this close to competing in Sengoku’s featherweight tournament, but instead has been booked for Shooto’s 20th anniversary show on May 10.
6. Jeff Curran (29-10-1) – Finally drops down to bantamweight to face Joseph Benavidez at WEC 40.
7. Hatsu Hioki (17-3-2) – The early favorite to win Sengoku’s upcoming featherweight tournament. Faces Chris Manuel in the first round.
8. Akitoshi Tamura (12-7-2) – Needs a convincing win over former contender Manny Tapia at WEC 40 in order to stay relevant at 145 pounds.
9. Jose Aldo (14-1) – Sit back and watch Aldo climb the 145-pound division. Should be a fun ride.
10.  Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) – A favorite to win DREAM’s featherweight tournament, although didn’t look convincing in picking up a split decision over Atsushi Yamamoto in round one. 

Honorable Mention: Dokonjonosuke Mishima, L.C. Davis, Rafael Assuncao, Josh Grispi, Antonio Carvalho, Marlon Sandro, Yuji Hoshino.

BANTAMWEIGHT
1. Miguel Torres (35-1) – Should be a special moment for the WEC bantamweight champion to fight in front of his hometown Chicago fans next month at WEC 40. Here’s hoping the pressures of fighting at home don’t affect him.
2. Brian Bowles (7-0) – Tough Break for Bowles sustaining a back injury before his title shot against Torres. He’ll probably face the winner of Torres-Mizugaki.
3. Masakatsu Ueda (8-0-2) – Defends his 132-pound Shooto title against So Tazawa this Friday.
4. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2) – A nice addition to the WEC’s bantamweight division. Will rise to the top should he defeat Torres next month.
5. Koetsu Okazaki (5-1-1) – Hasn’t fought since being dominated by Ueda close to a year ago.
6. Atsushi Yamamoto (12-6-1) – Tough break against Imanari in the first round of DREAM’s featherweight tournament.
7. Joseph Benavidez (9-0) – A win or two away from receiving a WEC bantamweight title shot. It says here he will defeat Jeff Curran next month.
8. Manny Tapia (10-1-1) – Faces Akitoshi Tamura at WEC 40 next month.
9. Will Ribeiro (10-2) – Barring a miracle, Ribeiro’s MMA career may be over following a December motorcycle accident.
10. Dominick Cruz (12-1) – Faces WEC-newcomer Ivan Lopez next month. Slowly climbing the 135-pound ladder.

Honrable Mention: Rani Yaha, Noah Thomas, Damacio Page

MALE POUND-FOR-POUND:
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Georges St-Pierre
3. Anderson Silva
4. Mike Brown
5. Miguel Torres
6. Urijah Faber
7. BJ Penn
8. Shinya Aoki
9. Rashad Evans
10. Forrest Griffin  

FEMALE POUND-FOR-POUND:
1. Tara LaRosa
2. Gina Carano
3. Cristiane Santos
4. Megumi Fuji
5. Kelly Kobold
6. Roxanne Modafferi
7. Carina Damm
8. Rosi Sexton
9. Takayo Hashi
10. Amanda Buckner