SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings

It’s been two months since our last Power Rankings. Let’s see how things have changed.

Heavyweights

Randy Couture’s out, so we need a new Heavyweight Champion. While we’d love to see Arlovski in the mix somewhere (hopefully vs. Gonzaga one day soon), contract disputes have sidelined him for a while now, making his future outlook a little hazy. We’ve dropped him in the rankings accordingly, and since Gonzaga’s last fight was a loss (to Couture), we can’t expect him to hold the #1 Contender spot, now can we?

It only makes sense to give the #1 and #2 spots to former champ Tim Sylvia and “Minotauro” Nogueira—both of whom are coming off wins to “The Truth” and “The Texas Crazy Horse,” respectively. Sylvia and Nogueira will do battle on Super Bowl weekend, February 2, 2008 for an Interim Heavyweight Title. They deserve their spots, although thanks to a near knockout at the hands of Herring in his UFC debut, Nogueira takes the #2 spot, rather than the #1, contrary to what most of the rest of the world seems to rank him.

If you ask us about Cheick Kongo, we feel the giant Frenchman is still two wins away from a title shot, and he’ll get his chance against Heath Herring at UFC 82, assuming Hearing accepts the rumored bout. Eddie Sanchez is also climbing the ranks with a recent win over Soa Palalei, but he has far to go before he’ll see a title bout.

This month, we unfortunately had to drop Jake O’Brien off the list, due to the 12 months that have passed since his last UFC fight. We know he’s battling back from a potentially career-ending injury, and we wish him the best of luck. While Tom Murphy, who hasn’t fought in 22 months, is still on the list, this is because he was supposed to fight O’Brien, who had to pull out with an injury. If we don’t hear of any rumored bouts for Murphy in the next month or so, he’ll drop off the list once again, making room for Antoni Hardonk. In the meantime, O’Brien’s absence leaves room for Justin “The Insane 1” McCully to make his first appearance into the Top 15.

Upcoming Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

• Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – We favor Gonzaga by decision.
• #17 Antoni Hardonk vs. #21 Colin Robinson at UFC 80 – We’re going with the underdog via TKO ground and pound.
• Nogueira vs. Sylvia at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – We’re going with the former champ, hands down, by decision.
• Former champ Frank Mir vs. UFC newcomer and former big-time wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 – This is the toughest call of the lot in our eyes, as we don’t know what to expect from Lesnar. We go with Mir by decision.
• Kongo vs. Herring at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – We’d love to see the Crazy Horse take this one, but chances are Kongo will come in in better shape and avoid the take down. We’re picking Kongo by TKO (strikes) in the 3^rd round.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Light Heavyweights

Last time we updated the Power Rankings, we moved Dan Henderson to Middleweight to challenge Champion Anderson Silva for the belt. Sticking with SteelSkins’ tradition of ranking a fighter in just one weight class at a time, he was removed from the LHW Power Rankings.

This month sees Michael Bisping do the same thing. His absence from the LHW Top 15 moves everyone below him up one spot (he was ranked #10 last time), and it introduces Wilson Gouveia to the mix, whose 3-1 record inside the Octagon includes back-to-back-to-back wins over Carmelo Marrero, Seth Petruzelli and Wes Combs, with his only UFC loss at the hands of the #1 Contender, Keith Jardine.

At UFC 79 in December, we watched Chuck Liddell defeat Wanderlei Silva in an absolute slugfest. Silva’s stamina and chin deserves consideration here, which is why we’re not dropping him, despite back-to-back-to-back losses to top talent. Plus, Tito Ortiz’s prolonged contract dispute isn’t helping his case for moving up in the rankings. If he wins his next fight, we see a strong case for him moving past Rashad Evans in the rankings, based both on Silva’s excitability and Evans’ inability to finish.

Although once ranked #4 in the SteelSkins Power Rankings, months of inactivity coupled with the introduction of numerous PRIDE veterans has dropped Jason Lambert considerably. Luckily for him, a fight with Wilson Gouveia for UFC 80 this month has been scheduled. A loss could drop him out of the Top 15 entirely. Unfortunately a win won’t do much to push him up, considering the amazing pool of talent ahead of him. So much for missed opportunities.

Lyoto Machida’s win over highly regarded UFC newcomer Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou catapults him past both Shogun and Thiago Silva, who recently halted Houston Alexander’s title hopes. Machida is extremely dangerous and has been calling out Chuck Liddell—a fight we’d hate to see happen, based on both fighters being counter-punchers. Machida should instead be asking for Tito Ortiz or Rashad Evans, in our eyes. Rumor has it, he just might get Ortiz at UFC 84 in May. Otherwise, Ortiz might be pitted up against Shogun Rua.

Upcoming Light Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

• Lambert vs. Gouleia at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – This is a tough fight to call, but we’re going with the underdog by submission in the 3^rd round.
• #24 Alessio Sakara vs. #25 UFC newcomer James Lee at UFC 80, after which Sakara will drop to MW no matter the outcome, which we agree is in his best interests – Our pick is Sakara via decision.
• #19 David Heath vs. #22 Tomasz Drwal at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – Drwal will hand Heath his third straight loss, via KO in the 2^nd round.
• Houston Alexander vs. #17 James Irvin at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – Alexander wins the slugfest late in the 1^st round via TKO (strikes).
• Hamill vs. Bonnar at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – A great matchup! Unfortunately for Bonnar, who we like to watch fight, we don’t see him getting past Hamill, who will win by decision.
• Shogun Rua vs. TBD at UFC 84 (April 19)
• Ortiz vs. Machida at UFC 84 (April 19) – If this rumored fight happens, we see Machida eeking out a win via decision.
• Champion Rampage Jackson will fight Forrest Griffin after coaching TUF7 (currently unscheduled) – Call us crazy, but we’re going with the underdog here, by decision in five rounds.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Middleweights

A lot of action is planned in the Middleweight division in the next few months, which is good because we’ve seen nearly no movement in the Middleweight Top 15 for quite some time.

In the months ahead, we’ll see how a three-year layoff from the sport will affect Ricardo Almeida, who inked a 6-fight deal with the UFC. Almeida is a PRIDE and UFC veteran and MW King of Pancrase, with wins over Nate Marquardt and WW Ryo Chonan.

Over the past two months, we saw #18 Dean Lister defeat #34 Jordan Radev (big surprise) at UFC 79. We also welcome Michael Bisping to the Middleweight Power Rankings, thanks to his drop in weight.

With Martin Kampmann’s prolonged knee injury and no mention of his return any time soon, he’s dropping quickly from his one-time #4 status. We hope he returns soon, because his division needs the depth.

Upcoming Middleweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

• Kendall Grove vs. #25 Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – Grove is going to wipe the floor with the old timer, winning by submission in the early 2^nd round.
• Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn, who is filling in for an injured Thales Leites, at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – This is going to be a great fight, and we hope Horn pulls it off. That said, our money is on Marquardt by decision.
• Richardo Almeida vs. #21 Alan Belcher at UFC 81 – The UFC isn’t doing Almeida any favors by re-introducing him to the UFC with Alan Belcher. We say Belcher submits him in the 2^nd round.
• #24 Patrick Cote vs. #28 Drew McFedries at UFC 81 – McFedries is going to wish his severe staph infection would have sidelined him even longer. Cote wins this slugfest in the 3^rd round via TKO (strikes)
• Terry Martin vs. #23 Marvin Eastman at UFC 81 – Eastman’s welcome to the MW division will be a rude one. Martin by decision.
• Champ Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 to unify the UFC and PRIDE MW titles (Mar. 1) – Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but we think Hendo has a shot at the upset. Smart money says otherwise. Bet on the champ, but not until the extra innings. Silva by TKO (strikes) in the 4^th.
• Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner at UFC 82 – Man, we like Tanner, but Okami is a beast at 185. That said, we refuse to bet against the old man. Tanner by submission in round 3.
• Former Champ Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – Another incredibly tough fight to call. If Franklin gets taken down, it could be over. He won’t, winning by decision.
• Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 – Yawn. McCarthy’s only hope is he’s a submission wizard. Bisping KO’s him in the 2^nd round.
• Jason MacDonald vs. TBD at UFC 84.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Welterweights

The #1 and #2 WW Contenders, GSP and Matt Hughes, fought their rubber match in late December at UFC 79 for the Interim WW title (GSP was filling in for an injured Champion Matt Serra). GSP won in convincing fashion to earn himself a unification bout with the Champ, which should take place this April in GSP’s own backyard, Montreal, Canada. The loss knocks Hughes down several spots, and it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll go from here (although with a GSP win over Serra, Hughes will most likely fight “The Terror” in a grudge match).

UFC 79 also saw #21 Roan Carniero defeating #22 Tony DeSouza via TKO (strikes) in the 2^nd round. We’ve also removed Hayato “Mach” Sakurai from the rankings (apparently that deal fell through).

Additionally, the TUF 6 Finale on December 8 featured a crap ton of WW action, including:

• Finalist Mac Danzig defeated #16 Tommy Speer via rear naked choke in the very 1^st round (Danzig will now drop to his natural weight, 155, where we rank him at #17—we had him at #13 among WWs).
• #20 Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver defeated #35 Jared Rollins via TKO (strikes).
• #18 George Sotiropoulos defeated #44 Billy Miles via rear naked choke.
• #29 Ben Saunders defeated #41 Dan Barrera via unanimous decision.
• #37 Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz TKO’d #39 Richie Hightower (strikes) in a terrific slugfest.
• #30 Matt Arroyo defeated #38 John Kolosci via arm bar.
• #33 Roman Mitichyan defeated #47 Dorian Price via ankle lock.
• UFC veteran #23 Jonathan Goulet defeated newby #42 Paul Georgieff via rear naked choke.

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

• Marcus Davis vs. #25 Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – Davis will continue his climb up the WW ranks with a late 1^st round submission.
• #24 Paul Taylor vs. #34 Paul Kelly at UFC 80 – The Battle of the Pauls will end with a Paul Taylor TKO (strikes) in the 2^nd round.
• Mike Swick makes his WW debut vs. Josh Burkman at Fight Night 12 (Jan. 23) – This is going to be a battle, and Burkman could nail it with a submission, but we see Swick taking this fight in a decision.
• Chris Lytle welcomes UFC newcomer #26 Kyle Bradley to the UFC at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – Lytle KO anybody?
• Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono at UFC 82 (March 1) – We see no way for Gono to win this fight. Fitch via submission in the early 2^nd round.
• Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett at UFC 82 – Another tough fight, but Kos will take him via submission in the early 3^rd round.
• Luke Cummo vs. #17 Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82 – Cummo is going to sink in a guillotine choke late in the 2^nd round.
• #16 Tommy Spear vs. #40 Anthony Johnson at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – Tommy Spear will ground and pound his way into a TKO (strikes) victory in the early 2^nd round.
• Champ Matt Serra vs. GSP at UFC 84 (April 19) – GSP will regain his title in a great fight. Watch for it in the 3^rd or 4^th round.
• Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves at UFC 84 – So much for trying to dodge tough competition in hopes for a title shot. Karo will have his hands full with the striker. We see an upset here, with Alves winning by decision.
• The extremely dangerous BJJ black belt (but low ranked because of his 5-3 record and history of backing out of fights due to training injuries) #46 Jeff Joslin vs. TBD at UFC 84.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Lightweights

Sean Sherk’s steroid appeal fell on deaf ears, which strips him of his title; however, his suspension was cut in half from one year to six months. Because of this reduction in time, he has not been bumped entirely from the UFC Power Rankings, unlike his ‘roid buddy, Hermes Franca.

In the meantime, the #1 and #2 LW Contenders, B.J. Penn and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, respectively, will fight on January 19 for the Interim LW Belt. The winner will likely fight Sherk, upon his return.

In other LW action, crowd favorite Roger Huerta defeated Clay Guida in one of the best fights of the year at the TUF 6 Finale. Despite Guida’s 2-3 UFC record (which SteelSkins believes should be 3-2, as he may have been robbed in his split decision loss to Tyson Griffin), we hope to see Guida continue to fight in the UFC, and we’re sure he will. In the slugfest with Huerta, Guida was actually winning after two rounds, until Huerta sunk in the rear naked choke.

We also saw #24 Rich Clementi defeat the foul-mouthed pity-party-craving Melvin Guillard via rear naked choke in the very 1^st round at UFC 79. SteelSkins normally doesn’t knock a fighter, but Guillard has no class and needs to seek action elsewhere until he can learn some.

TUF 5 Runner-Up #25 Manny Gamburyan also submitted #47 Nate Mohr via heal hook at UFC 79, and #39 Mark Bocek upset Doug Evans via unanimous decision, dropping Evans to #43.

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

• B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – If Penn shows up in shape, this fight is likely his; however, if he takes this fight light, or if this fight goes into the 4^th or 5^th round, we can see Stevenson pulling off the upset. Our money is on Penn to submit Stevenson in the 3^rd round.
• #20 Sam Stout vs. #32 Per Eklund (filling in for Terry Etim) at UFC 80 – We don’t know much about UFC newcomer Per Eklund, but we know Stout’s punching power ain’t nuttin’ to mess with. KO in the 3^rd round, Stout.
• The long-awaited premier of 6’6” lightweight #44 Corey Hill vs. #55 Joe Veres at Fight Night 12 (Jan. 23) – Something tells us Hill won’t disappoint. Submission victory in the 2^nd round.
• Thiago Tavares vs. #53 Michihiro Omigawa at Fight Night 12 – Thiago Tavares will easily submit Omigawa in the 1^st round.
• Kurt Pellegrino vs. #31 Alberto Crane at Fight Night 12 – We like Pellegrino’s chances vs. the relatively unknown Crane. Batman wins by submission in the 2^nd round.
• TUF 5 Winner #18 Nate Diaz vs. #21 Alvin Robinson at Fight Night 12 – Robinson is actually one inch taller than the lanky Diaz, so this should be a good fight. Still though, Diaz will follow his big brother’s advice: “Fuck him up, and don’t be a bitch.” Diaz via submission in the 2^nd round.
• #22 Jeremy Stephens vs. #30 Cole Miller at Fight Night 12 – The even lankier Miller will likely have his hands full vs. the “Little Heathen.” Stephens wins by TKO (strikes) in the early 3^rd round.
• #26 Dennis Siver vs. #29 Gray Maynard at Fight Night 12 – We see Maynard pulling off the upset via decision.
• #33 Matt Wiman vs. #40 Justin Buchholz at Fight Night 12 – While few people will actually care to see this fight, Wiman will win by decision.
• Tyson Griffin vs. #16 Gleison Tibau at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – This is a great match-up! Tibau is riding a 4-fight win streak with his only UFC loss coming against Nick Diaz. But we see Griffin eeking out another victory with yet another decision.
• #38 Rob Emerson vs. #42 Keita Nakamura at UFC 81 – The hood-rat Emerson deserves to be in jail for his involvement with the rich, pretty-boy SoCal gang, the Lords of South County. We hope to see him lose badly to Nakamura, which is wear our money is. We don’t care how it happens.
• #23 Jorge Gurgel vs. #35 John Halverson at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – The Ohio native will win in front of his home crowd. Gurgel by submission mid-way through the 3^rd round.
• Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – This is a great match-up for Florian, but we think Lauzon is still a little too green to be challenging such an experienced fighter. Florian will win by submission in the 2^nd round, set up by an intense ground and pound.
• Spencer Fisher vs. Marcus Aurelio at Fight Night 13 – Another great match-up. Fisher will look to keep this fight standing, but Aurelio could surprise him. Safe money says Fisher rebounds from his one-sided loss to Frankie Edgar and survives to win a decision.
• Former Champ Sean Sherk vs. the winner of Penn/Stevenson at UFC 84 or 85.

Your Top 15 Contenders are: