Based on betting odds. Most educated guess based on examining fightmetric stats, quality of wins (i.e. dominance), fighter skill sets (i.e. cardio, striking, takedown defense, scrambling), and resume
1) Cain Velasquez*
2) Alistair Overeem*
3) Junior Dos Santos*
*They are pretty interchangeable. Odds will be fairly close. I wouldn't mind if you swapped any of these positions.
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4) Antonio Silva
He's got underrated wrestling and probably has the best top control in MMA due to his size and BJJ. His striking is solid.
An elite striker who can deal with Bigfoot's size with respectable scrambles/ground game is a bad stylistic match-up for BigFoot (i.e. JDS and Overeem)
5) Fabricio Werdum
Solid all around with lethal ground. Has good size and underrated striking. That said, many insightful observers would favor BigFoot in a rematch. BigFoot was getting the better of the striking exchanges before he broke his hand.
6) Josh Barnett
Probably has the best ground game along with Werdum - Barnett's ground game incorporates more wrestling, however, Again good size with power. Striking is also respectable.
7) Sergei Kharitonov
Aside from Junior, probably the best striker. Has incredible power and is tough as nails. I wouldn't be surprised if he beat anyone ranked above him (other than Cain, who will just take Sergei down and GnP) because of how deadly his striking is. But I have him #7 because HW top 10 is filled with fighters who have awesome grappling (i.e. Barnett, Werdum, Big Foot), which should exploit Sergei.
8) Fedor Emelianenko
Good grappling and striking fuelled by his explosiveness that makes up for his size. But, the contemporary Heavyweights that have size as well as skills (i.e. Big Foot was able to nullify Fedor's explosive scrambles with his size and BJJ) are finally catching up to him, and this is made all the easier because Fedor's athleticism has been slipping in recent years.
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9) Shane Carwin
His ground game is so rudimentary compared to guys like Big Foot, Werdum, Barnett, and others. His striking also comes up short when you stack it up against fighters ranked above him (i.e. JDS, Cain, Overeem, Sergei, Big Foot, and even Werdum from a technical stand point). It's not like the aforementioned fighter lacks size compared to Carwin, either.
10) Brock Lesnar
11) Frank Mir
Wait until the fights are over?
For Sergei, I meant to say:
*along with JDS and Overeem
Sergei doesnt go from 13 to 7 on a night when he doesnt even fight.
Sergei isnt going to break the top 10 after tomorrow nights fights regardless of what happens, especially since he is inactive.
IF Barnett wins, he probably jumps up to 7 or 8.
Beating a ranked 14 Rogers doesnt put him all the way up to 6, above Mir .
If Overeem wins, he still doesnt become number 1. Fight Matrix has Cain at 1 and Brock at 2. No matter what Overeem does, he doesnt jump past either of them, but does end up probably ranked #4, with JDS taking Werdum's spot at #3, and Werdum falling Down to around #10.
If Overeem loses to Werdum, he is out of the top 10 completely, and Werdum probably moves into the #2 position behind Cain.
JDS is a solid 4 in that case. Bigfoot stays at 5.
Mir at 6 and Carwin at 7 probably stay about the sameish.
Granted this is all going by fight matrix rankings, and everyones look different, but this is the most realistic of the rankings out there imo.
IF overeem and Barnett win tomorrow night, I would have the rankings somewhat like this
1.Cain
2.Brock
3.JDS
4.Bigfoot
5.Overeem
6.Mir
7.Barnett
8.Carwin
9.Werdum
10.Fedor
The fights are tomorrow, not tonight. What time zone do you live in OP?
Rankings arent very effecient... it's more accurate to rank by grouping instead of by individual.
For example if I were to rank the HW's and where they stand:
1st level: Cain, JDS
2nd level: Brock, Carwin
3rd Level: Werdum, Mir
4th level: Big Foot, Shuab, Barnett
etc..
If I were to rank the LHW's:
1st level: Jon Jones
2nd level: Machida, Shogun
3rd level: Rashad, Rampage
etc...
grouping the talent is a more accurate depiction of where a fighter stands. You can do it based on solely accomplishments or based on talent which is what I do. Talent obviously also takes into account accomplishments.
For example, overeem has no quality wins but he looks to be a top 10 talent. Whether he's a top five talent is difficult to say unless he beats better talent and does so under commission testing which is what every other top fighter goes through.
If he can beat werdum, id group him with mir which is top 5ish.
disbeliever - Explain how Brick is #2 in some of your rankings?
Brock was recognized as #2 While Fedor was #1.
Fedor's loss put Brock at #1, and he stayed there until he lost to the #2 ranked fighter (at the time) Cain.
SO now Cain is #1, Brock is #2.
Brock has faced and for the most part won against all top 10 competition after the Herring fight.
Brock was #2 and Carwin was #3 behind Fedor when they fought.
The mir fights, the carwin fight, and the Randy fight were all top 10 opponents that he won.
He was easily #1 until Cain dethroned him. Brock gets a lot of hate, but his top 10 wins pale the wins Overeem has at HW, so its ludicrous to rank overeem a head of brock unless you are a fanboy or a hater, or both.
Swamuel McSwamuelson - present day i have it:
cain
jds
overeem
werdum
mir
bigfoot
fedor
carwin
barnett
kharitanov
(with bigfoot and mir being switchable)
just my opinion.
How can you honestly not have Brock in there when all his wins post herring are against top 10 opponents, and he has only lost to one (the current #1 ). Haters are not even logical.
Ask yourself this question.
If you consider Cain to be the #1 Ranked HW (and you should)...what is your basis for ranking him at #1, if not for beating a very highly ranked HW (Brock)
If Brock is not even top 10, how do you have Cain ranked so high?
Paradox......
Swamuel McSwamuelson - present day i have it:
cain
jds
overeem
werdum
mir
bigfoot
fedor
carwin
barnett
kharitanov
(with bigfoot and mir being switchable)
just my opinion.
Mir is ranked higher than Carwin?
Cain
REEM
JDS
Lesnar
Werdum
Bigfoot
Fedor
Carwin
Barnett
Carwin
LOL @ REEM being in the top 5 or hell even 10 in MMA. K1 wins cant be considered and his best MMA wins in the last 3 years are Hunt,Duffee, and Rogers.
Alistair may be one of the best HWs on the planet but till he proves it he shouldnt be ranked as such. Tomarrow is a big fight for Reem.
mixedmartialparks -Swamuel McSwamuelson - present day i have it:
cain
jds
overeem
werdum
mir
bigfoot
fedor
carwin
barnett
kharitanov
(with bigfoot and mir being switchable)
just my opinion.
Mir is ranked higher than Carwin?
Since Carwin's loss he is
awilson82 - LOL @ REEM being in the top 5 or hell even 10 in MMA. K1 wins cant be considered and his best MMA wins in the last 3 years are Hunt,Duffee, and Rogers.
Alistair may be one of the best HWs on the planet but till he proves it he shouldnt be ranked as such. Tomarrow is a big fight for Reem.
This is what many fans dont understand.
Like the guy above you who has REem at #2.
HE may be a great fighter, but he has no results in the HW mma division to rank him so high.
Putting him that high on the list at this moment is sheer fanboyism