Your UFC #1 Contender Matchups

Underground
1

I agree with those of you that think the UFC should do a better job with the matchups, and should really try to build a #1 contender spot instead of throwing just anybody at the champions of each weight class for a title match and pay-per-view buys. So here are my picks for top spots in the UFC. What would yours be?

LIGHTWEIGHT: #1 Joe Stevenson, #2 Hermes Franca, #3 Spencer Fisher, #4 Kenny Florian. Still a threat are Guillard, Pulver, and Lauzon.

WELTERWEIGHT: #1 Matt Hughes, #2 BJ Penn (he could be champ again if he actually trains hard) #3 Diego Sanchez, #4 Thiago Alves (as long as there is no more banned substances violations), #5 Parisyan. Watch out for Koscheck, Burkman, and Neer.

MIDDLEWEIGHT: #1 Rich Franklin, #2 Mike Swick, #3 Dean Lister, #4 Travis Lutter, #5 Chris Leben. Watch for Terrell, Scott Smith, and Marquardt.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: #1 Rampage Jackson, #2 Tito Ortiz, #3 Renato Sobral, #4 Forrest Griffin, #5 Keith Jardine. Bisping can hang with either #4 or #5. AND RASHAD EVANS (KING OF LAY AND PRAY) SUCKS, SO DON'T EVEN FLAME ME FOR THAT ONE.

HEAVYWEIGHT: #1 Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic (until he takes Sylvia's title), #2 Andre Arlovski, #3 Gabriel Gonzaga, #4 Heath Herring, #5 Assuerio Silva. Not really much to choose from in this division.

Your thoughts? Flame away if you like...I can take it.

2

can't argue with that

3

Thanks jpb, I've just caught my first fish!! lol. just messin with you.

4

Lightweight will be the winner of BJ and Pulver. welterweight i cant argue with
middleweight is not Franklin after the ass whipping he took i say its the winner of Marquadt and Lister
Lt. Heavy Rampage all the way
and Heavyweight dont matter whoever has the belt is just holding it for Cro Cop

5

Lightweight not bad.

Welter, Diego is #1 with Hughes depending on rematch clause, Koshcheck is #4.
What weight does Fitch fight at now, if he's 170 then he's in the top 5?

Middleweight I would have Marquardt first then Rich, Swick, Lister.

LHWT, sorry but you have to put Rashad at 3 or 4. Machida will be making that list soon as will Heath.

HWT, list is fine except for Assuerio, you should put Kongo, Hardonk, or O'Brian before him. Sanchez is also a nice prospect. It will take this year to get this sorted out.

6

TTT

Keep 'em coming.......

7

I'd put Diego above BJ at WW...BJ may be highly skilled, but like you said he doesn't train hard and is prone to "giving up" in the cage. Diego will be in the fight to the end of the 5th round, guaranteed.

I'd also put Jardine above Griffin at LHW, since he did knock him out impressively. Some might argue over Babalu after that KO loss to Chuck, but in my mind he's still up there, until someone else beats him.

Otherwise, hard to argue with those. Great analysis.

8

agree that mcdonald should be ahead of leben.
john fitch is top 5 in the ww.
otherwise it looks good to me

9

BJ is goin to Lightweight

10

good to know, I'm still a threat at 155... Oh wait that's Joe. lol

11

Dan, your time will come

12

Okay, first, I think Leben was winning that fight against McDonald before the surprise choke. You can't say McDonald planned that guillotine or was trying to set it up. I think it would be a different fight 2nd time around.

BJ has said he will not drop back down to lightweight, although he is possibly fighting Pulver after TUF season. I personally think he's too lazy to drop to lightweight.

Marquardt has only fought a few decent fighters in the UFC and has gone to a decision. Lister finishes him when they fight soon.

NO RASHAD EVANS. PERIOD.

Diego better beat Thiago Alves and Matt Hughes first before you guys claim he is the #1 contender. Otherwise, you're doing exactly what the UFC has been doing all along (putting an up-and-comer in front of legit contenders for a title match b/c it sells).

Dan Lauzon, if you had more time to prepare for Spencer Fisher, you'd probably be on my list. After all, you're from Massachusetts (as am I).

13

lw- can't establish top 5 much too soon too many upsets

ww-1 hughes 2 diego 3 karo 4 fitch 5 kos alves has lost two fights in
div and diego has to beat him to be a contender, thats silly diego is no
joke, and i hate his persona

mw- 1 franklin 2 swick 3 marquardt 4 terell 5 lutter

lhw- 1 ? 2 ortiz 3 babalu 4/5 hard to tell everyone has beat everyone
else and i don't think rashad is that good either 1-rampage after he
gets a win

hw- 1 cro cop 2 randy 3 vera 4 arlovski 5 gonzaga

14

Fredrico,

So what if BJ is fighting Pulver at LW after the next TUF. That doesn't mean he is even going to fight at LW, much less a LW contender. There's a new sheriff in town at lightweight. Maybe you've heard of him, Sean Sherk?

Rashad Evans should be up there? Are you kidding me? When will people see this guy is going nowhere in the UFC? So he's undefeated, big deal. Carmelo Marrero was undefeated too, and Gabriel Gonzaga made him look like a beginner. Just because you're undefeated against TUF guys, it doesn't mean you're a top contender. Have him fight Tito, then we'll see.

If this was a popularity contest, I'd win.....hands down.

15

ew, your excuse for Leben just made me puke.

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canuck34, first, Hunt wasn't doing anything to put Fedor in danger, and McDonald admitted to being in trouble against Leben before the choke.

Fredrico, post the link to the article on Penn/Pulver. It still doesn't make Penn a contender at lightweight. Penn is lazy about training and diet. And keep in mind, I like Penn as a fighter, but I think he'll stay at WW, or jump ship.

Jardine just beat Forrest Griffin. Forrest, by the way, fought Tito Ortiz to a decision. Yes Forrest lost according to the judges, but many people feel he won that fight. So I think that gives both of them some legit status in top 5.

17

lightweight:

1: Winner of Fisher/ Franca

2: Stevenson: 2 more wins and he's set

3: Guillard: 3 more wins

4: Loser of Fisher/ Franca: 5 wins after the loss

5: Kenny Florian: 7 wins and he's back in line for a title shot

BJ Penn hasn't fought in the new class yet, but I see him skyrocketing up the ladder.

welterweight:

1: Diego Sanchez (I would still like to see him get 1 more win before fighting for the belt)

2: Matt Hughes - Needs a win, maybe 2 before challenging for the belt again.

3: Josh Koscheck: 2, maybe 3 wins away from a title shot... would be a boring champ.

4: Karo: 5 wins before a shot, but would settle for 3

5: Jon Fitch: 5 to 7 more wins

Serra is ONLY getting a title shot on a technicality, and I would still rather see him drop to 155 and contend against Sherk instead of GSP.

middleweight:

1: Winner of Lister/ Marqaurdt

2: Swick: Needs one more win

3: Franklin: He was a defending champ for a few fights, and that is something.

4: Loser of Lister/ Marquardt: Would need around 5 more wins before a title shot.

5: Either McDonald or Yushin Okami... that would be a good fight. Would like to see both of these guys built up as contenders, though. Maybe each getting 3-4 more wins.

light heavy:

1: Rampage if he beats Eastman.

2: Jardine: I think he's still 2-3 wins away from a title shot.

3: Rashad: Similiar to Jardine, still 2-3 away from a title shot.

4: Tito: Needs about 7-8 wins before seeing a title fight again. Don't know if he'll hang with it that long.

5: Forrest: Needs 7-8 wins as well, maybe if him and Tito go on tears, they can rematch in about 18 months for a title shot.

heavyweight:

1: Truly, Brandon Vera... who knows what the fuck is going on with that, though.

2: Gabriel Gonzaga: Still needs a couple more wins before a title fight.

3: Cro Cop: Only because he hasn't fought in the UFC yet, and even if he beats Eddie Sanchez, that shouldn't make him a #1 contender... now, before you jump on me, I know he won the OWGP, but I would still like to see him win at least 2 fights before getting a title fight. But, I don't see him losing for a long time.

4: Andrei Arlovski: Only ranked so low on here, because I don't want to see Arlovski/ Sylvia 4. If he can rattle off 3 or 4 more wins, he's the #1 contender.

5: Antonio Hardonk: About 5 wins away from a title fight... could be a huge player in the UFC, though.

18

Wow, it's so easy to see the TUF UFC fans, isn't it. MMA rankings shouldn't be based on pure statistics. In that case, whoever was undefeated at every weight class should be champion or #1 contender. Contender status should be based on consistent wins over quality fighters. Lay-and-pray decisions over TUFers is not consistent wins over quality fighters. Bonnar beat himself when he fought Rashad. Bonnar hasn't been the same fighter since Bonnar/Griffin 1. Let Rashad fight Bisping first, then give him Babalu or Tito, then he's worthy of losing to Chuck by vicious KO.

19

How the fuck is Herring or Cro Cop an automatic contender? If the rankings are based on statistics, then shouldn't you have to win at least one fight in the organization before being considered the #1 contender?

20

Picks, Reading Comprehension = F-

Larry LaRose, thank you.