The big story of the week of course is Jon ‘Bones’ Jones taking the UFC light heavyweight title from Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in a dominating performance. A few other key matchups from UFC 128 caused ranking fluctuations, as well as several smaller MMA events that took place.
Jones captures the title; Division Dominance shifts
In his first title shot, 23-year old Jon Jones laid an impressive beating on Mauricio Rua, dominating the champion on the feet and on the ground until a TKO stoppage due to a body shot in the third round. Jones captures the UFC’s light heavyweight title, the #1 ranking at 205, and #6 in the Division Dominance list. Rua falls 2 spots to #3 LHW, and out of the Division Dominance Top 10, where he was previously ranked at #7.
The shift in the light heavyweight power balance also caused #2 LHW Rashad Evans to lose his #10 ranking in the Division Dominance list.
Notable
At 23, Jon Jones is the youngest UFC champion since the introduction of weight classes. In the early years, Vitor Belfort won the UFC 12 tournament at the age of 19.
Other notes from UFC 128
Brendan Schaub rises to #12 HW with a third-round knockout of Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ Filipovic. Mirko falls to #23; retirement seems imminent for the K-1 and Pride FC legend.
Light-heavyweight Luis Arthur Cane earns a much-needed victory after having been knocked out in his past two fights, stopping Elliot Marshall in the first round. Cane rises 2 spots to #27, while Marshall falls 6 to #63. Marshall’s return to UFC may have been a very short-lived one.
Nate Marquardt defeats [#27 MW] Dan Miller in a unanimous decision. Miller’s ranking remains unchanged, while Marquardt rises a spot to #6, trading places with Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei’s rating is continuing to decay due to inactivity.
Welterweight Mike Pyle posts his third consecutive win and moves into the Top 10 with a decision victory over Ricardo Almeida, who falls 8 spots to #26.
Jim Miller rises a spot to #6 LW after stopping [#54] Kamal Shalorus in the third round. The younger Miller brother is now on a seven win streak, and should be the top pick to challenge the winner of the upcoming rubber match between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard. Also in the lightweight division, Gleison Tibau moves up 8 spots to #21 with a split decision over [#31] Kurt Pellegrino. Pellegrino and Shalorus keep their pre-fight rankings.
Featherweight Eric Koch moves up 14 spots to #17 after putting Raphael Assuncao’s lights out with a well-placed punch in the first round. Assuncao falls 14 spots to #43.
In bantamweight division, [#2] Joseph Benavidez and [#3] Urijah Faber keep their respective rankings, as Benavidez earns a decision over Ian Loveland and Faber does the same with Eddie Wineland. Loveland, previously ranked at #28 FW, enters the bantamweight rankings at #16, pushing Wineland down a spot to #17. Benavidez also enters the division dominance list at #8.
KSW & Ultimate Glory
In Poland, [#13] middleweight Mamed Khalidov retained his ranking when scored a first-round submission over UFC veteran James Irvin at KSW 15. The matchup was originally scheduled to take place at 185 lbs, later changed to 192. It ended up taking place at a catchweight when Irvin was unable to make even the higher weight, coming in at 201 lbs. Previously ranked at #121 HW, Irvin ends up ranked at #112 LHW. Also at KWS 15, Sokoudjou rises 14 spots to #31 LHW when Jan Blachowicz was unable to continue after the second round.
Meanwhile in Belgium, Siyar Bahadurzada rises 8 spots to #13 WW with a first-round TKO of John Alessio, becoming the top ranked welterweight not under the Zuffa banner. Alessio falls 13 spots to #42.
Bellator tourneys continue
While the first round of Bellator’s lightweight tournament which took place in the previous week didn’t have significant impact on the rankings, last week’s featherweight tournament kick-off caused some fluctuations. Daniel Straus, Patricio Freire, Wilson Reis, and Kenny Foster all defeated their opponents in the quarter-finals, and formerly ranked at #61 LW Straus ended up with the highest ranking of the bunch at #16.
Also at Bellator 37, UFC veteran [#427 LW] Roli Delgado made his organizational debut as a featherweight with a win over Jameel Massouh. Delgado enters the featherweight rankings at #39; Massouh falls to #46.