Current Top 5 Prospects by Division (Issue #3)

BloodyElbow analyzes and follows prospects around the sport.  They don’t use criteria quite as strict as ours, but it is interesting to see which fighters crossover on both lists.  This is issue #3 and will show changes from the second issue of our rankings (Summer 2011).

The listed prospects fulfilled the following criteria:

• Have not fought in any of the “Big 15” organizations.  Please see the FAQ for more info.
• Have no more than one defeat.
• Have five wins or more.
• Have fought in the last 450 days.

Sorted by current rating [2011+2012 BloodyElbow ranking in brackets]

Heavyweight+

1. (NEW) Magomed Malikov (6-1-0) [BE 2012 #1 HW]
2. (=) Guram Gughenishvili (11-0-0) [BE 2011 #1 HW]
3. (=) Chris Barnett (7-1-0)
4. (NEW) Ben Reiter (5-0-0)
5. (NEW) Beau Tribolet (7-1-0)

Dropped out: (#1) Shamil Abdurahimov [2nd Loss], (#4) Stipe Miocic [Fought in “Big 15”], (#5) Edinaldo Oliveira [Fought in “Big 15”]

Light Heavyweight

1. (NEW) Jimi Manuwa (11-0-0) [2011 BE #3 LHW]
2. (+3) Doug Sparks (6-1-0)
3. (NEW) Tom DeBlass (7-0-0) [2012 BE #3 LHW]
4. (NEW) Gadzhimurad Antigulov (5-1-0)
5. (NEW) Timo Karttunen (5-1-0)

Dropped out: (#1) Marcos Rogerio de Lima [Fought in “Big 15”], (#2) Ronny Markes [Fought in “Big 15”], (#3) Jonas Billstein [Lost Twice], (#4) Dan Spohn [Fought in “Big 15”]

 

Middleweight

1. (=) Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (15-1-0) [2011 BE #4 MW]
2. (+1) Bruno Santos (12-0-0) [2011 BE #5 MW]
3. (NEW) Claudio Henrique Da Silva (8-1-0) [2012 BE #3 MW]
4. (NEW) Mats Nilsson (8-1-0)
5. (=) Alex Makhonin (9-1-0)

Dropped out: (#2) Jorge Lopez [Fought in “Big 15”], (#4) Elvis Mutapcic [2nd Loss]

 

Welterweight

1. (NEW) Ramico Blackmon (7-1-0)
2. (NEW) Nordine Taleb (6-1-0)
3. (NEW) Adam McDonough (8-0-0)
4. (NEW) Brock Jardine (8-1-0)
5. (NEW) Eric Dahlberg (5-1-0)

Dropped out: (#1) Shamil Zavurov [2nd Loss], (#2) Quinn Mulhern [2nd Loss], (#3) Erick Silva [2nd Loss/Fought in “Big 15”], (#4) Rashid Magomedov [Moved to MW], (#5) Manuel Rodriguez [2nd Loss]

 

Lightweight

1. (=) Alexander Sarnavskiy (18-0-0) [2011 BE #7 LW]
2. (+3) Francisco Drinaldo (10-1-0)
3. (-1) Gordon Bell (7-0-0) (-1)
4. (NEW) Eduard Folayang (11-10) [2012 BE #6 LW]
5. (NEW) Jhon Teixeira (13-0-1) [2012 BE #8 FW]

Dropped Out: (#3) Guillaume DeLorenzi [Inactivity], (#4) Joseph Duffy [Surpassed]

 

Featherweight

1. (NEW) Rasul Mirzaev (5-0-0)
2. (NEW) Renato Carneiro (5-0-0)
3. (NEW) Joey Gambino (9-0-0) [2012 BE #2 FW]
4. (NEW) Mike Wilkinson (7-0-0)
5. (NEW) Alexander Pimentel (11-0-0)

Dropped Out: (#1) Mitch Gagnon [Moved to BW], (#2) Matt Fiordirosa [Inactivity], (#3) Landon Piercy [Inactivity], (#4) Rodolfo Marques Diniz [Fought in “Big 15″/2nd Loss], (#5) Gerald Sedillo [Surpassed]

 

Bantamweight

1. (NEW) Mitch Gagnon (8-1-0)
2. (-1) Frank Baca (12-1-0)
3. (NEW) Melvin Blumer (6-1-0)
4. (NEW) Josh Hill (7-0-0) [2012 BE #4 BW]
5. (NEW) David Aranda (7-0-0)

Dropped Out: (#2) Cody Gibson [2nd Loss], (#3) Sirwan Kakai [Surpassed], (#4) Joseph Sandoval [Lost Twice], (#5) Kevin Belingon [Surpassed]

 

Flyweight

1. (+3) Brandon Merkt (11-0-0)
2. (NEW) Czar Sklavos (6-1-0)
3. (+2) Roy Docyogen (9-0-0)
4. (NEW) Rafael de Freitas (5-0-0) [2012 BE #4 FLY]
5. (NEW) Agustin Delamino (5-1-0)

Dropped Out: (#1) Alexis Vila [Fought in “Big 15”), (#2) Darrell Montague [2nd Loss], (33) Louis Gaudinot [Fought in “Big 15”]

 

Women (Sorted by DD rating)

1. (=) Cat Zingano (5-0-0)
2. (NEW) Romy Ruyssen (5-1-0)
3. (NEW) Barb Honchak (5-1-0)
4. (NEW) Sara McMann (5-0-0)
5. (NEW) Marianna Kheyfets (5-0-0)

Dropped Out: (#2) Cindy Dandois [Surpassed], (#3) Milana Dudieva [Surpassed], (#4) Karla Benitez [Fought in “Big 15″/2nd Loss], (#5) Claudia Gadelha [Inactivity]