SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings UPDATE!

Wow, if you missed UFC 70, you missed an amazing knockout! Without another UFC event until this time next month, we opted to update SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings. Only the HW and LHW Top 15 Contenders were affected by Saturday night’s action, so that’s all we’re including in this post. Here they are!

Heavyweights

The biggest one-day move in SteelSkins Power Rankings history was made when Gabriel Gonzaga leap-frogged eight spots to land as the #1 Contender. We didn’t just bump Gonzaga that far because UFC matchmaker Joe Silva says he deserves a title shot, we did it because he knocked Mirko Cro Cop’s head into the sixth row. You might think it’s unfair that Cro Cop only dropped one spot, but need SteelSkins remind you that he’s Mirko mofoin’ Cro Cop? That’s what we thought. Arlovski doesn’t move up a spot because, let’s face it, he’s not better than Cro Cop, but we did move him ahead of Tim Sylvia, despite posting a 1-2 record against the former champ. That’s because, rumor has it, Arlovski gets the next title shot after Gonzaga.

Rounding out the top 5 is Big Nog, who you might think is ranked low on this list—we’d counter by pointing to the numerous PRIDE veterans who have been losing to UFC veterans in both leagues over the past three or four weeks. We think Big Nog is just fine at #5—that is, until he proves himself in the Octagon.

We opted not to move Fabricio Werdum down more than one spot after losing to Arlovski. We did this for two reasons: 1. It was a close fight, and Werdum had some impressive striking in his UFC debut; and 2. We’re not sure of the status of Jeff Monson since trickling over to PRIDE for a quick win in recent weeks. If he’s serious about playing with the big boys, he might want to stick around town. He hope he does, because there’s a steep drop-off after him in level of talent.

Cheick Kongo surprised us with his complete inability to work the ground (as Joe Rogan put it, “Someone needs to kidnap Kongo and take him to a wrestling camp. No more kickboxing for six months.”), but a win’s a win, so he bumps up one spot. His opponent, Assuerio Silva—who is now a dismal 0-3 in the UFC, despite being 30-5 in the world—surprised us even more with his complete inability to do anything but slam Kongo to the mat three times. He falls four spots.

Upcoming fights include the much-anticipated Couture vs. Gonzaga, along with Sanchez vs. UFC newcomer Colin Robinson, who we’re ranking somewhere around #21.

Light Heavyweights

Bisping moves up one spot with his win over Elvis Sinosic. It’s not that the win over a dead-last (#33) ranked Sinosic is that impressive, but it does give Bisping more Octagon experience, which he will take with him into his next fight (hopefully against a more worthy opponent, like Forrest Griffin). Lyoto Machida also jumps three places with his win over David Heath (which apparently wasn’t televised, as originally planned, because it was so boring). Unfortunately for Machida, he’s starting to get a reputation as a boring fighter. But a win’s a win, and a win over a Top 15 Contender should get anyone advanced a few spots. David Heath didn’t move any spots down, which might not be fair, but the Machida loss is his first ever, and quite honestly, there’s a bit of a drop-off after spot #14, in SteelSkins’ opinion.

UFC 71 may as well be called “Battle of the Light Heavyweights,” because it’s going to feature five bouts from this division, including Champion Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson, Keith Jardine vs. UFC newcomer Houston Alexander, James Irvin vs. UFC newcomer Thiago Silva, Sean Salmon vs. Eric Schaffer and Wilson Gouveia vs. Carmelo Marrero. We rank all five of the fighters just mentioned who are not listed in the Top 15 below, coincidentally, at #16 – 20. With this event, clearly we’re going to see a lot of movement in this division, and fighters like Bonnar and Eastman are surely to fall off the Top 15 soon.