MMA 10 ten - Your thoughts

[SDonovan]

Here is the MMA top 10 taken from MMAWEEKLY.COM any thoughts?

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION

Minotauro Nogueira - 108 Points - (10 first place votes)
Josh Barnett - 99 Points (2 first place votes)
Ricco Rodriguez - 93 Points (1 first place vote)
Emelianeko Fedor - 69 Points
Randy Couture - 57 Points
Heath Herring - 45 Points
Vladimir Matyushenko - 34 Points
Pedro Rizzo - 24 Points
Gan McGee - 20 Points
Tim Sylvia - 19 Points
Others receiving votes - Igor Vovchachin (14), Semmy Schilt (10), Mark Coleman (6), Wes Simms (1)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS DIVISION

(205 lbs.)
Tito Ortiz - 104 Points (9 first place votes)
Chuck Liddell - 102 Points (3 first place vote)
Vanderlei Silva - 86 Points (1 first place vote)
Ricardo Arona - 65 Points
Dan Henderson - 60 Points
Vitor Belfort - 45 Points
Jeremy Horn 42 Points
Kevin Randleman - 36 Points
Quinton Jackson - 30 Points
Murilo Ninja Rua - 20 Points
Others receiving votes - Evan Tanner (14), Marvin Eastman (9), Vernon Tiger White (6), Rich Franklin (5)


MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION

(185 lbs.)
Murilo Bustamante - 109 Points (13 first place votes)
Matt Lindland - 89 Points
Phil Baroni - 78 Points
Anderson Silva - 69 Points
Kaz Sakuraba - 57 Points
Pele Landi - 41 Points
Dave Menne - 32 Points
David Loiseau - 31 Points
Paulo Filho - 29 Points
Ivan Salaverry - 28 Points
Others receiving votes - Renzo Gracie (15), Phillip Miller (13), Jorge Riviera (12), Tony Fryklund (7), Jermaine Andre (6), Dustin Denes (2), Amar Suloev (2)


WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION

(170 lbs.)
Matt Hughes - 110 Points (12 first place votes)
Carlos Newton - 99 Points
Sean Sherk - 86 Points
Pat Miletich - 40 Points
Hayato Sakurai - 39 Points
Frank Trigg - 36 Points (Tie)
Robbie Lawler 36 Points (Tie)
Nathan Marquardt - 26 Points
Dennis Hallman - 17 Points
John Alessio - 16 Points
Others receiving votes - Tetsugi Kato (15), Jason Black (14), Shonie Carter (14), Gil Castillo (13), Tony DeSouza (3), Aaron Riley (3), Robbie Arum (2)

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION

(155 lbs.)
Takanori Gomi - 102 Points (9 first place votes)
BJ Penn - 99 Points (2 first place votes)
Jens Pulver - 95 points
Caol Uno - 64 Points
Matt Serra - 48 Points
Duane Bang Ludwig - (1 first place vote) 46 Points
Genki Sudo - 43 Points
Din Thomas - 42 Points
Dokonjonosuke Mishima - 17 Points (Tie)
Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro - 17 Points (Tie)
Other votes - Josh Thompson (10), Ryan Bow (8), Yves Edwards (7), Rumina Sato (5), Hermes Franca (2), Rich Clementi (2), Alberto Crane (1)

[Hywel Teague]

very interesting.

HWs-
nog is definitely top of the tree, no doubt about it. i think josh is rightfully placed second- the guy has some big wins to his credit, and its a crying shame he not still actively in MMA. if he were to come back he would wipe the floor with most of the UCFs guys, but if her were to come back rest assured he would be fighting in pride. can anyone imagine the possiblities? josh vs heath/igor/fedor/nog? man i'm gushing just thinking about that...

LHWs-
porbably one of the most stacked divisions right now. tito is number one IMO but only cos of who hes been fighting. after bitching tanner and sinosic he was given last minute replacement Vladdy, and was taken to a decision? if this is the case i think people should be asking serious questions- sure tito might look impressive compared to a retiring MMA veteran, but against the current crop of young guns hes got his hands full and he knows it.
fights i would like to see happen- tito vs chuck, chuck vs vanderlei, vanderlei vs tito, tito vs arona, chuck vs arona.

MWs
Come on murillo, don't leave the UFC. he knows whats up behind the scenes and he desperately wants to jump ship, effectively taking the title with him. if he does UFC have lost three champions without contestation. they CANNOT afford this.
if busta leaves, then we will see a MW tourny for the gold. predictably, we will see the same guys fighting each other akin to what we recently saw in the LWs.
basically we would most likely end up with:

baroni vs weir/miller/Loiseau
menne vs lindland

then lindland vs baroni AGAIN but this time for the gold. deja vu? more like deja snooze...

WWs
Matt hughes is untouchable at 170lbs- fact. the guy is in a class of his own- is there anyone who can even consider taking it to this guy? if you're talking best lb 4 lb, you talking matt hughes.
however IMO matt hughes is now in a quandry- who does he fight? this is a guy who is so on top of his game its scary. basically Zuffa have no choice but to feed him young relativly inexperienced fighters to keep him busy. THERE IS NO-ONE TO CHALLENGE MATT HUGHES AT THIS WEIGHT.
Pat Militech does not deserve to be on the list- this is a guy who really a MW, but found the competition too stiff so decided to drop down, but of course now is stuck cos he can't fight his own student. Militech is all but retired and should be removed from the list.
Carlos Newton is fast running out of opponents as well- after eating pete spratt for breakfast (does this guy know what a submission is? he does now) carlos is now left with having to go to Japan to fight bigger brazilians. not bad for us, we get to see some great matches, but bad for ZUffa- they haven't got anyone for him except hughes (and we're not going to see that one again soon).

LWs.
Troubled times indeed- but for Zuffa only. The LWs are one of the strongest divisions in MMA- just not in the UFC.
UCC in canada and shooto in Japan, and to a lesser extent KOTC and WFA are bringing us quality match-ups full of excitement and drama.
and now for the ratings- gomi is top- oh yes gomi is top. no question. BJ second? definitely. Pulver third? mmmm.
Pulver eeked out decisions over Penn and Uno is the UFC before leaving due to contractual difficulties. Then he got rudely KTFO by Bang Ludwig, one of the most dangerous fighters in the game. why? because Jens was trying to prove something. he was trying to prove he still had it in him to KO suckers the way he used to with that big left hand of his. However, jens has not been on top form in any of hs last few matches (maybe a contributing reason to why hes leaving Militech?) and got brought crashinn down to earth by one of the hottest prospects at 155.
and now why the fuck isn't Ludwig hihger in those ratings? why is Matt Serra above Duane? Serra is an excellent BJJ player, and a competent MMA fighter, but his performances have not indicative of someone halfway up the top ten.
Sudo deserves to be higher, and would be had he been fighting but due to his love affair with all things K1 and various injuries we haven;t got to see him fly.
Shaolin Riberio also deserves to get a bigger shot at things- this guy has some serisou skills, and is a hungry fighter dying for meatier prey- lets give him the chance.

[widge milward]

LW - gomi is good no doubt but #1 has to be javier vasquez, the guy is awesome.

sato should be higher as should mishima.

WW - marquadt should be higher

[Hywel Teague]

agreed i forgot javi.

he definitely deserves a lot more resperct than he gets- lets hope he gets better soon from that knee injury.

[SDonovan]

I heard somewhere that his whole career is in doubt.

That really would be a shame because he is a really tough and talented guy.

[Maccavelli]

Gomis the lightweight king hes undeafeated and has fought much better guys than Javi.

Id like to see Javi fight palling, Kid or one of the UFC guys.

As for the midget weights, Pequeno is the king, so long as he keeps choking everyone the fook out. I reckon hes the real p4p best fighter in the world on account of him dominating his division for like a million years

[Maccavelli]

Looking at those listing youd think the UFC has the best stable of fighters in the world.

[Lhn]

Looks quite accurate to me

[Godders]

Being a lightweight myself im quite fond of the division.

Its action packed and you generaly get to see some seriously cool shit.

[iandean]

Originally posted by Godders
Being a lightweight myself im quite fond of the division.

Its action packed and you generaly get to see some seriously cool shit.

lol a lightweight...which year was that then

1995 or 96 :)