Althought not a 'legit' victory by fan's standards, it is a victory, none-the-less.
Since the top LHW-spot is usually reserved for the champ of either Pride or UFC (and occassionally top contenders), it basically boils down between Silva and Vitor.
Both are the only top-LHW's that are not coming off losses.
Since Vitor demolished Silva, I now cannot consider Silva #1 until he avenges his loss to Vitor.
the chief
put your opinion to use, vote via the links at www.mmaranks.com
rfanking Belfort ahead of Silva is laughable. Belfort is #2 in the world right now.
1 vitor
2 silva
3 couture
4 tito
5 rampage
6 lidell
7 arona
8 henderson
jon hancock,
sweet tourney, though I'd replace Ninja with Babalu, not only due to credentials, but to avoid the dual Chute Boxe entries.
Are you crazy???????????????
Vitor has lost to Sak and Chuck.
In that same period, Silva hasn't lost.
How the hell could you put vitor at #1
Thank you, JudoMo, for speaking sense.
JudoMo
Yes, but Vitor didn't lose to Tito, and Silva never even fought Chuck.
Silva may have fought and won alot more fights, but a lot of those fights were "gimmies". Vitor faced much tougher competition except for Sak, in which in un-prepared Vitor (who was forced to lose 23 lbs in a single day by Pride) broke his hand in the opening round.
Silva hasn't lost in YEARS. With the way the Vito/Couture fight went down I'd say Silva is on top EASILY.
Of all the top light-heavyweights, he's gone unbeaten the longest.
Here's how I see it:
1. Silva
2. Vitor
2. Couture
3. Tito
3. Jackson
4. Liddell
4. Arona
5. Any one of about a half dozen guys (Babalu, Horn, etc.)
I would not put vitor at #1 I dont know about #2 either because of the way the fight went I have a hard time improving Vitors ranking at all, but if you did I could see #2.
Silva won how many big fights in those YEARS?
He beat Rampage and a bunch of hacks.Yeah, vitor loses, BUT WHEN YOU FIGHT TOP GUYS YOU LOSE SOMETIMES.
If you are gonna call Silva number 1 then you may as well call Rickson #1.
And that is to say NOTHING of Vitor beating up Silva in less than 20 seconds.
The anti-Vitor feelings on the UG are ponderous.
Just like the crowd booing him at the UFC as he was APOLOGISING for beating their hero Randy Couture too quickly.
Silva is 2-2 vs top 10 205ers.
Beat Jackson-Henderson, lost to Vitor-Tito.
Nope too long ago, same as Tito's win. Their wins over Silva help define who they are as fighters but the victories took place too long ago to make a case for the current status in the rankings.
Personally, I wouldn't rank Vitor above Randy until he beats randy in a non-freak-accident style. He's the paper champ to me until he beats the champ straight up. It's not Vitor's fault, but that win hardly convinced me that Vitor was a more skilled/durable fighter than Couture.
I still consider him below Chuck and Tito
estarriol, paper-champs don't train their ass off like they've never trained in their life.
You should re-think your statement.
chief, I meant he's only *technically* the champ to me until he beats Couture, nothing else. The champ on paper rather than in my heart and mind. If "paper champ" has other connotations to you, that's not what I intended.
Fair enough. I always thought of a paper-champ as somebody who wins the belt by default, or who doesn't take the belt from the previous champion.
I would love to see a rematch of Vitor and Silva.
I like Vitor but won't pick a winner.
Oliverfig
Vitor becoming #1 is good because it causes debate.
Debate will sometimes catch wind, and the possibilty of a Silva/Belfort Pride/UFC battle would settle this debate.
"Silva may have fought and won alot more fights, but a lot of those fights were "gimmies". Vitor faced much tougher competition"
Are you kidding? Like who? Bobby Southworth? Gilbert Yvel? Joe Charles?
I'd say Silva's demolition of Sakuraba & Rampage, his beatdown of Henderson, and his arguably superior performance over Crocop beat Vitor's 6 year old win over Silva (who, at the time, had fought only six times, three of those in one event, and one of those a loss). The fact remains that Vitor has NEVER outfought a top 10 opponent in his life, so it seems very premature to rank him highly.