Notes on April Rankings
Jake Rossen Apr 21, 2010
Rankings have always been and always will be subjective: different
organizations have different rules, environments, and standards,
which makes any kind of uniform evaluation impossible. Even
promotions within the same executive offices -- the UFC and WEC --
differ. The WEC has a smaller ring, which forces fighters to be
less evasive.
How would Lyoto Machida handle that? Would Shinya Aoki have fared any better in grappling pants and a ring against Gilbert Melendez last Saturday? Would Randy Couture’s cage clinching be erased against ropes? And on and on.
The Sherdog.com staff does what they can, and it’s generally a pretty agreeable list. The only thing I’d take a wrench to in their current list of top-ten divisional fighters (which I do not vote on) would be to have #4 heavyweight Shane Carwin switch places with #3 Cain Velasquez. Both men took their share of under-qualified opposition, but Carwin’s one-two demolitions of Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir are probably a more impressive combination than Velasquez getting wobbled against Cheick Kongo and finishing an aging Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
The next major shake-up could happen Saturday, when Urijah Faber might conceivably scrap his #3 ranking in a good performance against #1 featherweight Jose Aldo -- which would see #2 Mike Thomas Brown simply implode from the list. He beat Faber twice but lost to Aldo. That’s the kind of dynamic that makes me very happy this isn’t my headache.
How would Lyoto Machida handle that? Would Shinya Aoki have fared any better in grappling pants and a ring against Gilbert Melendez last Saturday? Would Randy Couture’s cage clinching be erased against ropes? And on and on.
The Sherdog.com staff does what they can, and it’s generally a pretty agreeable list. The only thing I’d take a wrench to in their current list of top-ten divisional fighters (which I do not vote on) would be to have #4 heavyweight Shane Carwin switch places with #3 Cain Velasquez. Both men took their share of under-qualified opposition, but Carwin’s one-two demolitions of Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir are probably a more impressive combination than Velasquez getting wobbled against Cheick Kongo and finishing an aging Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
The next major shake-up could happen Saturday, when Urijah Faber might conceivably scrap his #3 ranking in a good performance against #1 featherweight Jose Aldo -- which would see #2 Mike Thomas Brown simply implode from the list. He beat Faber twice but lost to Aldo. That’s the kind of dynamic that makes me very happy this isn’t my headache.
