Rankings: Lesnar closes in on Top 10
Brock Lesnar is just four fights into his mixed martial arts career. But the new UFC heavyweight champion is already edging his way toward the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound Top 10.
After stopping Randy Couture to claim the gold in the main event of UFC 91 on Nov. 15, Lesnar received a smattering of eighth, ninth and 10th place votes, good for nine points. That put him at 12th place overall in the monthly rankings.
Few knowledgeable MMA observers doubt that Lesnar has the raw potential to become one of the game's all-time greats. The powerful 6-foot-3, 280-lb. fighter boasts freakish speed and agility for someone his size, and already boasted an elite amateur wrestling pedigree before ever putting on a pair of five-ounce gloves.
And he has demonstrated vast improvement in each of his three UFC fights. Against Frank Mir in February, Lesnar dominated the fight right up until he made a white-belt mistake and got trapped in a kneebar, the sort of rookie error he isn't likely to make again.
In his August win over Heath Herring, who is generally considered a top-15 heavyweight, he broke Herring's orbital bone with his first punch of the fight, then out-muscled the veteran on the ground for 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Finally, against five-time UFC champion Couture, a man who was ranked in the Yahoo! Sports Top 10 until our one-year inactivity clause was applied in August, Lesnar took all three judges' cards after a spirited first round. In the second, Lesnar answered the questions about his heart, as Couture cut him under the eye with a punch, and the South Dakota native responded with the vicious flurry that ended the fight.
Still, is that enough to put Lesnar in the top 10 now? While Lesnar has no doubt sealed Most Improved Fighter of 2008, most voters want to see more from the new champ before they're ready to give him the nod.
Lesnar is slated to face the winner of the Dec. 27 match between Mir and interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; a victory over the No. 5 ranked Nogueira would go a long way toward earning Lesnar a top-10 spot.
As for the top 10, Urijah Faber's stunning first-round TKO loss to Mike Brown sent him down three spots in the rankings, from No. 5 to No. 8. Nogueira, Miguel Angel Torres (No. 6) and Forrest Griffin (No. 7) all moved up one as a result. The top four, led by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, remained unchanged.
For info on the Y! Sports MMA Top 10 panel, go here.
10. Lyoto Machida
Points: 16
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Belem, Brazil
Record: 13-0
Last month's ranking: 10
Most recent results: def. Tito Ortiz, unanimous decision, May 24
Analysis: On the shelf since his win over Ortiz, Machida tests himself with a clash against fellow unbeaten Thiago Silva on Jan. 31.
9. Quinton Jackson
Points: 21
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Record: 28-7 (lost last one)
Last month's ranking: 9
Most recent result: lost to Forrest Griffin, unanimous decision, July 5
Analysis: Which "Rampage" will show up against Wanderlei Silva next month: The one who rolled over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson, or the one who looked unprepared in his loss to Griffin?
8. Urijah Faber
Points: 27
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight
Hometown: Sacramento, Calif.
Record: 21-2 (lost last one)
Last month's ranking: 5
Most recent result: lost to Mike Brown, R1 TKO, Nov. 10
Analysis: Even the best get caught, which is why Faber didn't drop out of the top 10 despite his WEC featherweight-title losing TKO at Brown's hands.
7. Forrest Griffin
Points: 66
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Las Vegas
Record: 16-4 (won past two)
Last month's ranking: 8
Most recent result: def. Quinton Jackson, unanimous decision, July 5
Analysis: Griffin submitted jiu-jitsu ace Mauricio Rua and stood and banged with Jackson. How will he fare on Dec. 27 against Rashad Evans' blend of wrestling and knockout power?
6. Miguel Angel Torres
Points: 87
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Bantamweight (WEC bantamweight champion)
Hometown: East Chicago, Ind.
Record: 34-1 (won past 15)
Last month's ranking: 7
Most recent result: def. Yoshiro Maeda, TKO R3, June 1
Analysis: Faces a quality test on Dec. 3 against unbeaten Manny Tapia.
5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Points: 91
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Heavyweight (UFC interim heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil
Record: 31-4-1 (won last three)
Last month's ranking: 6
Recent results: def. Tim Sylvia, R3 submission, Feb. 2
Analysis: Nogueira has to be salivating over the thought of fighting Lesnar now, while he's still raw. But he best not look past Frank Mir.
4. B.J. Penn
Points: 120 (one first-place vote)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Record: 13-4-1 (won past three)
Last month's ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Sean Sherk, R3 TKO, May 24
Analysis: Even if Penn manages to beat Georges St. Pierre on Jan. 31, let's hope he makes one more defense of the lightweight title. The fans deserve to see whether Ken Florian can "kill the master."
3. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 135
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 17-2 (won past four)
Last month's ranking: 3
Most recent result: def. Jon Fitch, unanimous decision, Aug. 9
Analysis: Winner of his fight with Penn becomes a legitimate contender for the No. 1 spot.
2. Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 137 (four first-place votes)
Affiliation: Affliction/M-1 (WAMMA heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 28-1, one no-contest (won last nine)
Last month's ranking: 2
Most recent result: def. Tim Sylvia, R1 submission, July 19
Analysis: Faces his biggest test in quite some time when he goes up against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski in Anaheim on Jan. 24.
1. Anderson Silva
Points: 154 (11 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 23-4 (won last nine)
Last month's ranking: 1
Most recent result: def. James Irvin, R1 TKO, July 19
Analysis: Pollsters weren't fazed by his bizarre win over Patrick Cote at UFC 90.
More
• Votes for others: Thiago Alves 11; Brock Lesnar 9; Shinya Aoki 5; Rashad Evans 3; Mike Brown, Jon Fitch, Dan Henderson 2; Eddie Alvarez, Carlos Condit, Wanderlei Silva, Narofumi Yamamato 1.
• Upcoming matches for ranked fighters: No. 6 Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia, Dec. 3; No. 5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir, Dec. 27; No. 7 Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans, Dec. 27; No. 9 Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva, Dec. 27.
