Upon the next update, Bantamweight will be expanded to the Top 100.
Strikeforce & WEC 41 Reviews
Over the weekend, MMA fans were treated to a double-header of exciting action, with the Strikeforce ‘Lawler vs. Shields’ broadcast on Showtime on Saturday, followed by WEC 41 shown on VS. channel on Sunday. With one event full of UFC veterans, and the other featuring some of the top featherweights in the world, I had high expectations going into the weekend. Needless to say, I was not disappointed!
Strikeforce ‘Lawler vs. Shields’
While there were no title belts on the line, or any bouts of major significance on this card, it was packed full of very familiar names and most fights had a promise of non-stop action – at least on paper. In the main event and namesake of the card, the welterweight standout Jake Shields took a step up in weight to face Robbie Lawler at a catch weight of 182 lbs. The commentary for this event was provided by a trio of Gus Johnson, Frank Shamrock, and Mauro Ranallo. The televised broadcast began with a former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman taking on a one-time ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ participant Mike Whitehead.
Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Friday, April 4th 2025: Invicta FC 61: Ferreira vs. Palacios | |||
 [#2 W105] Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira |  [#7 W105] Ana Palacios | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/20/2024 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [#5 W105] Andressa Romero Last 5: L W W W W | Last Fight Date: 12/13/2024 [Invicta FC] Last Opponent: [NR] Monique Adriane Last 5: L L W W W | ||
| Saturday, March 29th 2025: RIZIN 50 | |||
 [#3 SW] Haruo Ochi | [#12 SW] Nobuyoshi Nakatsukasa | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 12/08/2024 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [NR] Rikito Tago Last 5: W W W W W | Last Fight Date: 9/16/2024 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [NR] Rikito Tago Last 5: W W W L W | ||
| Sunday, March 23rd 2025: Deep - Jewels 48 | |||
| [#3 W105] Ayaka Hamasaki | [#12 W105] Moeri Suda | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/17/2024 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [NR] Yu Ri Shim Last 5: L L W L W | Last Fight Date: 12/22/2024 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [NR] Akari Kamise Last 5: W W L W W | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#5 LW] |  Justin Gaethje | [#1 LHW] |  Magomed Ankalaev | |
| [#4 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev | [#13 W135] |  Nora Cornolle | |
| [#2 LHW] | Alex Pereira | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [#1 HW] | Jon Jones | [#1 LW] | Islam Makhachev | |
| [#44 FLW] | Rei Tsuruya | [#18 LW] | Ignacio Bahamondes |
MMA Rankings Updated: 6/7/09
Notable Info
- Aside from the recent shows, quite a few missing older bouts were added — more than the usual for the weekly update.
- We missed the 6/7 Shooto show (was also one on 6/6). Daiji Takahashi and Fumihiro Kitahara will move into the Top 25 Flyweights, around #20.
TUF Season 9 – Remaining Semi-Final Matches
Welterweight
8. 
James Wilks vs. 9B. Frank Lester*
The winner will face: 5. Damarques Johnson
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Lightweight
4. Andre Winner vs. 12. Cameron Dollar
1. Jason Dent vs. 3. Ross Pearson
TUF Season 9 – Episode 10 Results
Welterweight
5. Damarques Johnson beat 10. Nicholas Osipczak
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The higher seed is now 18-6.
May Archive Published
Fightmatrix.com Mixed Martial Arts Rankings Archive has been updated with the rankings as of May 3, 2009.
Just how bad are MMA databases?
More frequently than not, when a new fighter creeps into the rankings, I’ll take a close look at our reported professional W-L-D record for the fighter. Verifying the records sounds straightforward, right? Wrong.
Depending on the fighter’s background, you have to know where to go in order to verify the numbers. This is quite an art. Let’s take a look at an example fighter.
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Example 1: Olly Bradstreet
Olly Bradstreet is a fighter out of Utah, who built his career based on fights from the Ultimate Combat Experience. Never heard of them? I’m not surprised, but they have had dozens of shows in Utah, all of which are considered professionally sanctioned (I verified this with the state). MixedMartialArts and CombatRec seem like the second-tier verification, with Sherdog being the first.
Database records as of 6/2/09 11:00AM EST for Bradstreet are as follows:
FightMatrix: 36-11
Sherdog: 34-9
MixedMartialArts: 18-11
CombatRec: 29-4
MMAUniverse: 3-1
In this example, MixedMartialArts seems to have all of his losses, but only half of his wins. There are quite a few professional bouts classified as amateur as well. CombatRec and Sherdog are just missing bouts here and there, while MMAUniverse obviously doesn’t care much about the American scene.
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Example 2: 
Jesse Taitano
Jesse (or Jess, not sure) Taitano is a Flyweight from Guam. Local news sources have his record at 7-4-2, but even I cannot locate a couple of those bouts. Taitano recently burst into the World Flyweight scene with draws against Shinichi Kojima, and Yasuhiro Urushitani, while accumulating a 1-1 record between those two draws. There’s no real good sources for Pacific Rim results, so fighters from places like Guam are lacking coverage.
Database records as of 6/2/09 11:00AM EST for Taitano are as follows:
Fightmatrix: 5-4-2
Sherdog: 4-3-2
MixedMartialArts: 3-1-1
CombatRec: 1-1-1
MMAUniverse: 1-1-3
OK, now this is pretty sad… considering Taitano is Top 10 in his division. MMAUniverse actually has Taitano drawing twice against Kojima in the same night. Interesting.
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Although we’re not perfect, we like to think our database is one of the best, if not the best out there. However, the MMA scene as a whole has a lot of work to do on keeping track of professional fighters’ records.
A FightMatrix-ranked fighter you may not have heard of… #3
This week, the focus is on 
Rory MacDonald.
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Notable Info
- Ranked #61 at Welterweight.
- 19 years old.
- Undefeated at 8-0.
- Has finished all of his opponents within the distance.
- Recently defeated respectable journeyman Clay French in late 2008 for the KOTC Lightweight title.
.I have heard rumors that the UFC is scouting MacDonald and he may end up fighting for the organization in the near future. A name to look out for, and the guy is only 19 years old.
MMA Rankings Updated: 5/31/09
Notable Info
- Featherweight rankings have been expanded to Top 150.
More expansion ahead…
Next week, Featherweights will join the heavier weight classes by expanding to the Top 150.
Heavier weight classes will likely expand even further before the end of summer.
TUF Season 9 – Episode 9 Results
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Welterweights
9B. Frank Lester* beat UR. David Falkner
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The higher seed is now 17-6!
MMA Rankings Updated: 5/24/09
Notable Info
- Updates include effects from big shows such as UFC and DREAM, as well as several minor shows.
- As always, some older obscure shows have been added as well.
This update sparked some interesting changes due to divisional changes, upsets, etc.
UFC 98 Review
UFC 98 took place in Las Vegas and featured a lightheavyweight title bout with two undefeated fighters: challenger Lyoto Machida and the champion Rashad Evans. The undercard was highlighted by a long-overdue ‘grudge match’ between former welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Here’s how it went down:
Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar (155 lbs)
Round 1: In the opening round of the televised broadcast, Sherk chose to stand and trade strikes with Edgar, despite a clear reach disadvantage. Sherk stalked Edgar but most of his strikes didn’t find their target while Edgar circled away and landed counters. Sherk shrugged off Edgar’s takedown attempts, until Edgar caught a leg kick and attempted a guillotine. Sherk escaped to finish the round on his feet. Round 10-9 Edgar
Round 2: Sherk continued to stalk Edgar and had some success with his punches early on. Eventually Edgar picked up his rhythm and began scoring with jabs, kicks, and combinations while evading Sherk’s strikes. Round 10-9 Edgar
Round 3: Sherk finally changed his strategy and quickly took Edgar down, but Edgar escaped and successfully defended all subsequent takedown attempts. In the final seconds of the round, Sherk shot for another takedown and was caught in a tight guillotine as the time ran out. Round 10-9 Edgar
Frankie Edgar wins the unanimous decision, 30-27 on all scorecards.
Fight Grade: 2.5/5
Aftermath: With no clear-cut challenger for the winner of an upcoming lightweight title bout between champion BJ Penn and Kenny Florian, Frankie Edgar positioned himself as one of the top contenders. Sherk’s decision to be a kickboxer has cost him this fight, and he needs to go back to his roots as a ground-and-pound wrestler if he wants to contend for the title again.
UFC 98: How they stack up
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
[#1] Rashad Evans vs. [#4] Lyoto Machida
Welterweight
[#8] Matt Serra vs. [#19] Matt Hughes
Middleweight
[#51] Drew McFedries vs. [#59] Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Middleweight
[#9] Chael Sonnen vs. [#20] Dan Miller
Lightweight
[#8] Sean Sherk vs. [#15] Frankie Edgar
Welterweight
[#20] Brock Larson vs. [#28] Chris Wilson [#25] Mike Pyle
Heavyweight
[#46] Tim Hague vs. [#89] Patrick Barry
Lightweight
[#261] Kyle Bradley vs. [#550] Phillipe Nover
Light Heavyweight
[#34] Krzysztof Soszynski vs. [#77] Andre Gusmao
Welterweight
[#31] Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. [#133] Brandon Wolff
Lightweight
[#400] George Roop vs. [*] Dave Kaplan
Ranking Notes: Dark green font represents an approximate ranking. An asterisk represents a fighter who is ranked, but too low for an approximation. These two scenarios will clear up slightly as we move forward. “NR” means the fighter is not ranked, due to inactivity, or due to a rating that is at or below the default starter rating.
TUF Season 9 – Episode 8 Results
Lightweights
1. Jason Dent beat 2. Jeff Lawson
.The higher seed is now 16-6!!