Heavyweight top ten...

http://blog.mlive.com/its-just-sports/2009/10/mma_rankings_fedor_emelianenko_1.html

I'd appreciate it if you guys clicked the link. I post a ranking once-a-week for the Flint Journal and a recap of TUF for the state online paper, mlive. My friend runs the blog and is always worried about hits. Plus it's good exposure for the sport. Not too many papers are willing to give serious coverage to MMA, but my area is coming around.

*waits for Wolfy to see that you have ranked Frank Mir ahead of Big Nog*

Obviously people have differing opinions but I have no problem with the order

I just can't rank him ahead of Mir after he lost to him not even a year ago. And I know Nog was sick and looked terrible, but he always looks terrible to me, butjust keeps winning.

Rogers is nothing like Chuck and Mir's last two wins are completely questionable based on the fact he was getting dominated until he caught a very green fighter, who then later "Maskified" him, and Nog coming in under his circumstances.

Maskified is a new term based off the movie Mask, which describes what Brock did to Mir perfectly.

Takedown defense and KO power makes him similar to CHuck in my mind. His aggression is probably more Wand than Chuck, who's a counter puncher.

Who has he fought with great wrestling that showcased takedown defense? and he's nothing like Chuck or Wandy

No great wrestlers, but guys have tried to take him down and he easily sprawls.

He's a guy that likes to stand and bang. And you're telling me his hard charging hooks against AA didn't remind you of Wanderlei?

I can believe Grim would have good takedown defense. He has never fought a top wrestler i can think of, but guys have attempted takedowns on him and he appeared to know what to do in that situation. He's a big guy and he's not clumsy. I would think it's a point of emphasis in his training camp as it should be for any fighter lacking adequete grappling credentials.

boomer sooner wrote:

No great wrestlers, but guys have tried to take him down and he easily sprawls.

He's a guy that likes to stand and bang. And you're telling me his hard charging hooks against AA didn't remind you of Wanderlei?

Chuck's sprawl, and his ability to get a fight off the mat was world class, so we should not compare that aspect of their games. But if I had to compare the standup's I'd say Roger's is more like Chuck's. Brett, unlike Wandy is very relaxed. Even in the AA fight, it wasn't until he first caught AA that Brett came charging fwd. I don't find Brett and Chuck's styles to be overly similar, but I can't call the comparison crazy, not with the mohawks and all.

no cain velasquez? i cant take those rankings seriously

Well the rankings are an average of all the half-way reputable MMA sites, including my own personal top ten. Then I make adjustments, like if Gray Maynard happens to be below Frankie Edgar then I switch them since Maynard beat Edgar in the last year.

As for Cain, he looks great, but hasn't faced a real test until Kongo. I consider the early tests of Brett Rogers and Shane Carwin, who are in similar boats, to be superior. We'll see how Cain handles Rothwell and maybe still one more guy.

rogers has only had one true test but watevs haha i was jus joking around there pretty decent rankings

Looks like a good list to me. I would rank Nog higher than Mir but I understand the argument about keeping Mir above Nog.

Mir is number 3? Umm...uhhh...Okay?

Mir is the only guy beat Brock. The only guy to knock out Nog. Who has had tougher back-to-back opponents than Mir? He lost one recent fight, but for a second looked like he might score a knockout. There's too much Mir-hate on this board.

Both those wins are pretty controversial.

Nog had staph. He fought fucked up, plain and simple. I've had to serious staph infections and both times i could barely move so I have no idea how Nog even tried to fight with one. Beating a Nog at 100% (what only Fedor & Hendo have done) is impressive, Mir hasn't done that.

As for the Brock fight it was pretty clear Brock smashed Mir in the face and had him trapped on the mat and was seconds from a GnP victory when a ref stepped in and made them restart. Brock then got caught in a sub. The knee bar was great, but we all saw what happened i the rematch. Brock was clearly better than Mir with zero controversy.

Dude I like Frank Mir. I just don't think he is number 3 and I don't think he can beat Nog or couture at this point. But it is, purely speculative on everybodies part.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

Dude I like Frank Mir. I just don't think he is number 3 and I don't think he can beat Nog or couture at this point. But it is, purely speculative on everybodies part.

Exactly! Those are wins and they have to count for something.

I've never had staph, but I think if it were as serious they say, then Nog would have pulled out. Everyone keeps saying how terrible Nog looked in defeat, but he always takes heavy damage before pulling off the sub. I can't think of a single fight where he wasn't battered. You could have argued he had something against Sylvia with how bad he looked until the sub. Every fight goes that way with him.

Mir beat Nog by being quicker with his punches and having good enough BJJ to stay out of trouble. Mir looks like a much better stand-up fighter since even his Nog win so why would things change?

Nog has decent Boxing. Nog has nothing vs Mir standing. He just looked slow and sluggish.