MMA rankings: Frankie Edgar poses a vexing problem because of two razor-thin losses

Ranking fighters is a difficult proposition under perfect circumstances. Doing it in situations like the one involving Frankie Edgar increases the degree of difficulty a hundredfold.

Edgar is clearly one of the elite fighters in the world. He's proven that repeatedly, in wins over lightweight stars such as B.J. Penn, Gray Maynard and Jim Miller, among others.

He's fought a very high level of opposition and has yet to be blown out in his fights.

He's 14-3-1, which in MMA qualifies as an exceptional record. But he's 1-2-1 in his last four.

Of course, the losses were razor-thin decisions to Benson Henderson in lightweight title matches. Edgar lost his title to Henderson on Feb. 25 in Japan in a fight so close it merited an immediate rematch. Henderson then took a split decision Aug. 11 at UFC 150 in the rematch, though many have been outraged at the call, believing Edgar won.

At this point, the question becomes how to deal with Edgar in the rankings given the stark reality of his poor recent record. Henderson was listed on the ballots of all 23 voters in the August Yahoo! Sports rankings. Edgar was listed on 19 of the 23.

Four voters who included both men on their ballots had Edgar rated above Henderson, indicating they disagreed with the judges' call, at least at UFC 150.

Those voting for Edgar are essentially keeping flyweight Joseph Benavidez out of the rankings. Benavidez finished 11th in the August voting, appearing on just 11 of the 23 ballots.

Four voters – Mike Chiappetta of MMA Fighting, Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting and SI.com, John Morgan of MMA Junkie/USA Today and myself – voted for Benavidez but not for Edgar.

The other seven who voted for Benavidez all voted Edgar above him. Benavidez enters his flyweight title fight against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 152 on Sept. 22 with a 16-2 record. He's won his last four and six of his last seven, though he's fought mostly above his weight class.

The only losses in his career were both to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

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There is no right answer in this, and clearly both Edgar and Benavidez are great fighters. So, too, are guys like Rashad Evans, Cain Velasquez, Renan Barao and Daniel Cormier, all of whom received votes but did not make the Top 10.

I chose not to vote for Edgar, even though I scored UFC 150 for him four rounds to one (49-46). However, I agreed with the judges in February when they gave the decision to Henderson.

My tipping point became Edgar's number of tremendously close fights. I felt others, including Benavidez, Evans and Velasquez, had separated themselves more from the pack than Edgar.

I dropped Henderson to eighth on my ballot, down from fifth, because I thought he lost at UFC 150. But he has excelled recently and has compiled a series of big wins.

My own personal votes – and remember, I'm just one of 23 voters on the panel – were: Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, Cruz, Junior dos Santos, Velasquez, Benavidez, Henderson, Evans and Carlos Condit.

For those wondering, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is ineligible because he's been inactive more than a year. Welterweight contender Nick Diaz is ineligible because he's on a suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

With that, let's take a look at the updated rankings, which are very similar to the previous ones:

1. Anderson Silva
Points: 229 (22 of 23 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion)
Weight class: Middleweight
Record: 30-4
Last outing: TKO2 Chael Sonnen, July 7
Previous ranking: 1
Up next:TBA

2. Jon Jones
Points: 208 (1 of 23 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Record: 16-1
Last outing:W5 Rashad Evans, April 21
Previous ranking: 2
Up next:Title defense vs. No. 9 Dan Henderson, UFC 151, Sept. 1

3. Jose Aldo
Points: 183
Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion)
Weight class: Featherweight
Record: 21-1
Last outing: TKO1 Chad Mendes, Jan. 14
Previous ranking: 4
Up next:Title defense vs. Erik Koch, UFC 153, Oct. 13

4. Dominick Cruz
Points: 146
Affiliation: UFC (bantamweight champion)
Weight class: Bantamweight
Record: 19-1
Last outing: W5 Demetrious Johnson, Oct. 1
Previous ranking:5
Up next:TBA

5. Junior dos Santos
Points:134
Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Record: 15-1
Last outing:TKO2 Frank Mir, May 26
Previous ranking: 5
Up next:Title defense vs. Cain Velasquez, UFC 155, Dec. 29

6. Benson Henderson
Points: 108
Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion)
Weight class: lightweight
Record: 16-2
Last outing: W5 Frankie Edgar, Aug. 11
Previous ranking: 6
Up next:Title defense vs. Nate Diaz, date TBA

7. Frankie Edgar
Points:56
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight
Record: 14-4-1
Last outing: L5 Benson Henderson, Aug. 11
Previous ranking: 7
Up next: TBA

8. Gilbert Melendez
Points:54
Affiliation: Strikeforce (lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Record: 21-2
Last outing: W5 Josh Thomson, May 19
Previous ranking: 8
Up next:Title defense vs. Pat Healy, Sept. 29

9. Dan Henderson
Points: 53
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Record: 29-8
Last outing: W5 Mauricio Rua, Nov. 19
Previous ranking:9
Up next:Title challenge vs. No. 2 Jon Jones, UFC 151 Sept. 1

10. Carlos Condit
Points: 38
Affiliation: UFC (interim welterweight champion)
Weight class: Welterweight
Record: 28-5
Last outing: W5 Nick Diaz, Feb. 4
Previous ranking: 10
Up next:Likely on Nov. 17 vs. welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, UFC 154

Others receiving votes: Joseph Benavidez, 30; Cain Velasquez, 12; Rashad Evans, 9; Renan Barao, 4; Daniel Cormier, 1.

Voting panel:Denny Burkholder, CBSSports.com; Mike Chiappetta, MMA Fighting and Fight! Magazine; Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press; Dave Deibert, Post Media; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/SI.com; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Ben Fowlkes, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Josh Gross, ESPN.com; Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting; Rafael Hernandez Brito, Univision; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun; Steven Marrocco, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Damon Martin, MMA Weekly; Todd Martin, freelance; Franklin McNeil, ESPN.com; Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer; John Morgan, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com; Ken Pishna, MMA Weekly; Mike Straka, Spike TV and Sirius/XM; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com.

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