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April 2009 MMA Rankings: Silva Still Third Pound-for-Pound
By Ariel Helwani
April 22, 2009
Welcome to Versus.com’s official MMA rankings for April 2009.
It's been a very busy month in the world of mixed martial arts, so it's time look at where everyone falls into place. 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) – If his rumored fight with Josh Barnett doesn’t happen after all, well then I give up.
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. I don’t see him last in this spot past July 11.
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. Not bad for a rookie.
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) – Arlovski the boxer? Ugh.
7. Randy Couture (16-9) – See Nogueira at #5
8. Alistair Overeem (29-11, 1 NC) – Overeem vs. Werdum II would be a nice way to restart the Strikeforce heavyweight division.
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 (14-4-1) – Nice win on Saturday but did anyone expect him to lose to Hardonk? I thought so. Carwin vs. Kongo makes a lot of sense.
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) – I still can’t decide on who I think will win at UFC 98. Right now, I am leaning towards Evans.
2. Forrest Griffin (16-5) – Griffin will easily get by Thiago Silva in August.
3. Quinton Jackson (30-7) – Jackson vs. Anderson Silva. Let’s do this!
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. Mauricio Rua (18-3) – Welcome back, “Shogun.” Two more wins and Rua should be knocking on the champ’s door.
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. Thiago Silva (13-1) – We’re about to find out of Silva is overrated or not.
9. Keith Jardine (14-5-1) – Amazingly, Jardine moved up in my rankings despite losing to Jackson last month. Valiant performance.
10. Renato Sobral (32-7) – Too bad he won’t be facing Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante on June 6. I was really looking forward to that fight.
Honorable Mention: Luis Arthur Cane, Vladimir Matyushenko, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
MIDDLEWEIGHT
1. Anderson Silva (24-4) – Silva’s stock continues to plummet. Number one middleweight? Fine. Number one pound-for-pound? No way.
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. It will be interesting to see how he fares on the ground against the BJJ wiz.
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) – After Saturday night’s middleweight title debacle, one has to wonder when Maia will ever get his 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 in the UK.
9. Vitor Belfort (18-8) – Who would have ever thought we’d be seeing Belfort sitting in the middleweight top 10 one year ago?
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) – If he wasn’t fighting Thiago Alves at UFC 100, I would beg the UFC to book GSP vs. A. Silva right away.
2. Thiago Alves (16-3) - I consider Fitch and Alves 2a and 2b, although that may change come UFC 100.
3. Jon Fitch (18-3, 1 NC) – See above.
4. Jake Shields (22-4-1) – Why do I have this strange feeling that Shields is going to look to stand and trade with 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 next month.
7. Martin Kampmann (16-2) – Awesome win over Condit earlier this month. His stock continues to rise.
8. Matt Serra (9-5) – The forgotten man #2. His days in the top 10 are soon coming to an end.
9. Mike Swick (13-2) – Swick faces the dangerous Ben Saunders at UFC 99.
10. Carlos Condit (23-5) – Nothing to be ashamed about losing to Kampmann. He’ll be back.
Honorable Mention: Dustin Hazelett, Karo Parisyan, Jay Hieron, Marcus Davis, Dan Hardy.
LIGHTWEIGHT
1. BJ Penn (13-5-1) – Right now, I’m predicting a Florian victory in August. That may change at some point.
2. Kenny Florian (11-3) – See above.
3. Eddie Alvarez (16-2) – Alvarez is set to debut for Bellator FC next month.
4. Shinya Aoki (20-4) – Note to Aoki: Stick to the lightweights.
5. Sean Sherk (33-3-1) – I like Sherk’s chances in a three-round war against Frankie Edgar at UFC 98.
6. Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) – Still wondering if “Hellboy” truly is a top 10 fighter in this division. For now, yes.
7. Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1, 1 NC) – Tough matchup against Kawajiri in May.
8. Josh Thomson (16-2, 1 NC) – Back-to-back late injuries have forced Thomson to pull out of title fights. Has the Strikeforce title been a curse?
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) – By the time he faces Cavalcante, “JZ” would have been sidelined for over a year. The time is now for Kawajiri.
10. Diego Sanchez (20-2) – Sanchez faces Clay Guida on June 20. Can’t wait for that one.
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. Picking Brown.
2. Urijah Faber (22-2) – See above.
3. Wagnney Fabiano (12-1) – I am confused as to why Fabiano doesn’t get pushed more.
4. Hatsu Hioki (18-3-2) – The early favorite to win Sengoku’s featherweight tournament. Defeated Chris Manuel in the first round.
5. Leonard Garcia (12-4) – Bad loss to Mike Brown. He never even had a chance to show us what he had.
6. 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.
7. Jose Aldo (14-1) – Aldo will get tested for the first in WEC when faces Cub Swanson on June 7.
8. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (19-6-2) – The DEEP featherweight champion is rehabbing an injured knee. He’s hoping to return later this Summer.
9. Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) – Next up, a tough matchup against Bibiano Fernandes in DREAM’s featherweight tournament.
10. Rafael Assuncao (13-1) – Solid debut in WEC earlier this month. Would like to see a little more killer instinct next time out.
Honorable Mention: Josh Grispi, Antonio Carvalho, Marlon Sandro, Cub Swanson.
BANTAMWEIGHT
1. Miguel Torres (36-1) – Torres looked human for the first time in a long time at WEC 40. Going into the fourth round, I had his fight against Takeya Mizugaki scored evenly.
2. Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2) – Mizugaki’s stock sky-rocketed after his inspiring loss to Torres. Can’t wait to see him back in action.
3. Brian Bowles (7-0) – If all goes well with his injured back, Bowles will get his shot against Torres in August.
4. Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2) – Still undefeated after successfully defending his 132-pound Shooto title against So Tazawa last month.
5. Joseph Benavidez (10-0) – One more win and Benavidez could be receiving a WEC bantamweight title shot.
6. Will Ribeiro (10-2) – Barring a miracle, Ribeiro’s MMA career may be over following a December motorcycle accident.
7. Akitoshi Tamura (13-7-2) – Important win against Manny Tapia at WEC 40. Suddenly, back in the mix at 135.
8. Manny Tapia (10-2-1) – Back-to-back losses have stalled Tapia’s career. Of course, one of those loses came against Torres.
9. Damacio Page (11-4) – Finish Marcos Galvao in just 18 seconds and you deserve a spot in our top ten.
10. Dominick Cruz (13-1) – Continues to quietly climb up the WEC’s 135-pound ladder with a win over Ivan Lopez in Chicago.
Honrable Mention: Rani Yaha, Noah Thomas, Eddie Wineland
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. Quinton Jackson
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
