The heavyweight division has never been as deep and talented as it is now. Big match ups are happening at nearly every UFC and Strikeforce event. Some major upsets recently have altered the heavyweight division tremendously. Here’s the rankings:
1. Brock Lesnar – Lesnar added another weapon to his arsenal in his victory over Shane Carwin: resilience. Brock was pounded by Carwin for nearly the entire first round. Carwin’s heavy hands are well known, so over coming this beat down is very impressive. Winning by submission was just icing on the cake. Brock has solidified himself as the best heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts. He will have a chance to dig in even more at the number 1 spot when he fights Cain Velasquez this fall.
2. Fedor Emelianenko – Despite losing to Werdum in his latest outing Fedor only drops to the number 2 spot. If “The Last Emperor” had been beaten down for three rounds and utterly dominated he would have fallen farther. Fedor’s body of work is enough to keep him near the top of the rankings for now. His next opponent is unknown at this time. A rematch with Werdum or a title fight with Alistair Overeem is most likely. This next fight will be the last on Emelianenko’s contract with Strikeforce, so it will be interesting to see who they pair him with.
3. Junior dos Santos - “Cigano” has been very impressive in his UFC run. His victory over Fabricio Werdum now looks even more impressive. Cigano’s next opponent will be Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson. While dos Santos is the favorite it would not be wise for him to sleep on “Big Country”. A win likely sets him up for a title shot against the winner of Lesnar-Velasquez.
4. Cain Velasquez - Cain is the last remaining unbeaten fighter in the top of the heavyweight division. That run will be put to the test when he faces UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar this fall. Velasquez has much better cardio than Shane Carwin so expect another great title fight. A win would move Cain to the top of the rankings.
5. Fabricio Werdum - Werdum pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time when he defeated the supposedly invincible Fedor Emelianenko. This win over shadow’s the fact that Werdum is actually a very talented fighter. He is recognized as having the best BJJ in the heavyweight division. His next opponent remains unknown, but Werdum has a lot less to gain from a rematch with Fedor than the Russian does. His ideal opponent would be Alistair Overeem. A win over the Strikeforce heavyweight champion would vault him even higher in the rankings.
6. Shane Carwin - Shane Carwin was seconds away from becoming the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion and ultimately number 1 ranked heavyweight in the world. He couldn’t quite finish Brock Lesnar off, and ended up gassing out in the second round. Carwin looked fantastic before he ran out of gas, so I believe he will work on his cardio and come back stronger.
7. Alistair Overeem – Overeem looked good against Brett Rogers. The Strikeforce champ simply needs to up his competition to move up higher in the heavyweight division. A rematch against Fabricio Werdum would be ideal for both fighters. A victory for Overeem would avenge an earlier loss and score him a victory over a top ranked opponent. Werdum could be lured into a rematch with Fedor which is not good for Overeem, Werdum, or Strikeforce for that matter, especially if Fedor doesn’t sign a new deal after his final fight.
8. Frank Mir – Mir has alternated fantastic performances with crushing defeats in his past four bouts. He looked great against Nogueira and Cheick Kongo, but was dominated by Carwin and Lesnar. Big powerful wrestlers seem to be his kryptonite. Next he will be fighting Nogueira again. The loser is likely to fall out of the top ten.
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – The twilight of his career as a top contender may be upon Nogueira. Rodrigo looked great against Randy Couture, but pedestrian against Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez. The coming rematch with Frank Mir could be his last as a top contender.
10. Josh Barnett - Barnett has fallen far since his bout with Fedor Emelianenko fell apart. He hasn’t been fighting top competition lately, but he still has a good record and hasn’t lost in nearly 4 years. Hopefully the “baby faced assassin” gets a crack at a name fighter soon.
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