I would like to introduce what I hope to make a weekly feature on FightMatrix.com: The Week in Rankings – an overview of some of the major happenings in the MMA world over the past week, and how they affected the FightMatrix rankings.
WEC 53
Of course the story of the week was the WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis. On the verge of being folded into the UFC, WEC delivered one final event, packed with two title bouts and a number of lightweight and bantamweight bouts on the undercard. For many of the fighters on the card, the outcome of their fight would determine whether they get a spot on the UCF roster, especially in the crowded lightweight division.
Bantamweight champion Dominic Cruz shut down and overwhelmed Scott Jorgensen for five rounds, en route to a unanimous 50-45 decision. Jorgensen hung in there but couldn’t find an answer for Dominic’s reach, movement, and speed. With the win, Cruz defended his WEC title one last time, and became the first UFC bantamweight champion. He retains his #1 ranking, and rises 3 spots to #6 on the Division Dominance list. Jorgensen falls 1 spot to #7 BW.
In the main event, challenger Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis sealed the close, back-and-forth fight in the last minute of the final round with an unbelievable off-the-cage-wall flying headkick. The kick knocked down reigning champion Benson Henderson, but failed to put him away. It did however weight the scales in favor of Pettis, who won a unanimous decision, becoming the final WEC lightweight champion and earning a shot at the UFC title. Pettis rises 25 spots to #14 LW with the win. Henderson falls 13 spots to #25.
In other televised fights, two former IFL lightweight standouts both lost their bouts, as Kamal Shalorus earned a split decision in a close contest with Bart Palaszewski, while Donald Cerrone stopped Chris Horodecki with a triangle choke. Cerrone jumps 7 spots to #39 LW, and wants to fight #48 Cole Miller next. Kamal Shalorus rises 14 spots to #57. Palaszewski falls 5 spots to #63, and Horodecki 22 spots to #172. Though Horodecki holds two controversial split decision wins over Palaszewski in the IFL, Bart has been more successful in the WEC and is much more likely to get a shot at the UFC. Another rematch between these two would also make for a fun fight to show on Spike TV.
On the undercard, former lightweight champion Jamie Varner was stopped in the first round courtesy of Shane Roller’s RNC. This makes Varner 0-3-1 in his last four bouts, which means he is not likely to get a UFC opportunity. Varner falls 15 spots to #103 LW, while Roller rises 16 to #47.
Chinese prospect Tie Quan Zhang suffered a big upset, losing a unanimous decision to unranked Daniel Downes. Zhang falls 102 spots to #223, and Downes debuts in the lightweight rankings at #193.
Former bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland knocked out Ken Stone with a vicious slam, but the first round knockout was not enough to keep him from sliding a spot to #16 in the rankings, supplanted by formerly #40 featherweight Renan Barao, who makes his bantamweight debut at #13 after a submission victory over Chris Cariaso. Cariaso falls 27 spots to #78, and Ken Stone 24 spots to #119.
Also dropping down to bantamweight, the veteran of UFC, K-1, Pancrase and IFL, #92 featherweight Ivan Menjivar, loses a unanimous decision to Brad Pickett. Menjivar debuts at #61 BW, while Pickett rises 14 spots to #19.
Lightweights Danny Castillo and Yuri Alcantra earn a couple of first-round knockouts over Will Kerr and Ricardo Lamas, respectively. Alcantra rises 41 spots in the lightweight rankings, to #36; Castillo 33 spots to #79. Kerr falls 66 spots to #228, and Lamas 29 to #74.
Notable
Dominic Cruz and Jose Aldo become the only fighters to be awarded a UFC title without ever setting foot in the UFC Octagon.
Other Events
Aleksander Emelianenko went 8-0 with 8 first round stoppages since his loss to Fabricio Werdum in 2007. Though he faced a lower tier of competition, the victories were enough to keep him in the Top 20. His streak came to an end this week, with an upset by Australian kickboxer Peter Graham, who defeated Emelianenko with a second round TKO at a Draka event in Khabarovsk, Russia. Graham jumps a whopping 122 spots to #26 HW, while Aleksander falls 18 spots to #37.
On December 10th, UFC veterans Keith Jardine, Paul Buentello, Mike Nickels, and Eliot Marshall all fought and were victorious in a Nemesis Fighting event in the Dominican Republic, the results of which which didn’t make it into the previous week’s ranking update. The most significant ranking movement as a result of these fights was Mike Nickels rising 16 spots to #110 LHW.
Inactive for over 450 days, #12 light-heavyweight Vitor Belfort drops out of the rankings. Belfort last bout was a catchweight of 195 lbs, placing him in the light-heavyweight list; he will return as a middleweight on February 5th, challenging Anderson Silva for the UFC title. Also in the light-heavyweight division, Forrest Griffin falls a spot to #7 for inactivity, trading places with #6 Dan Henderson.
Shooto’s 2010 Rookie Tournament finals caused some movement in the flyweight division. Junji Ito moves up 9 spots to #11 FLW with the first-round KO of #47 Atsushi Takeuchi. Takeuchi drops out of the flyweight Top 50.
In the Jewels Lightweight Queen Grand Prix, Ayaka Hamasaki defeated Sakura Nomura and Seo He Ham, moving up 8 spots to #5 in women’s flyweight rankings and winning the first Jewels Lightweight (115 lbs) title.