Fightmania Mailbag: Heavyweight Rankings Edition

Some situations just demand a mailbag, and when the top heavyweight who has reigned for seven years finally loses, it’s one of those situations. To commemorate the internet-breaking, jaw-dropping, fanboy-inciting event that was Fedor-Werdum, here is your latest Fightmania Mailbag. This one is all about the heavyweights, baby.

Jay from Moline, IL writes:

So, you’re keeping Fedor at #1 in the world even though he just lost in 69 seconds? How is that possible, exactly? How can you be number one if you just lost?”

Hold on there, amigo. I should have probably been clearer in my article about the lessons learned from Fedor’s defeat, but what I said was that we can’t definitely say that Fedor’s not still the world’s best heavyweight. Like I said in the column, he is at least in the discussion for a position that is now admittedly up for grabs. I’m not saying he’s definitely worthy of the top spot (although at this moment I think he is), but that you have to consider him due to all of his accomplishments prior to his foolish strategy on Saturday night. Now, after July 3rd, perhaps Brock Lesnar or Shane Carwin will have distinguished themselves in order to attain the top position. We’ll see. My point was that it’s a “we’ll see” case, not a “he’s definitely not the best” situation.

That’s not all, though, as Frank from Nevada has something to say, too:

How can you not have Lesnar at the top spot? He’s the best heavyweight in the UFC, and the best heavyweight outside of the UFC just lost. How much clearer could it be?

Then, there’s DJ from Fort Worth:

I get your example about Matt Serra, but Fabricio Werdum was a top five heavyweight before the Fedor Emelianenko fight. Therefore, he’s more than worthy of moving into the top spot after beating Fedor. Werdum is the clear-cut top heavyweight IMO.

Let’s not forget Drew from Chicago, IL, who is apparently a huge Shane Carwin fan:

Why not take a chance and put Shane Carwin at the top spot? He will prove himself when he destroys Brock in a week. Also, he’s undefeated, so he has a legitimate claim to being the best, just like Fedor did before he finally lost. Works for me!

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! Let’s break this down. You want to know why I’m hesitant to take Fedor out of the top spot? Let’s take a good look at the other possible choices for the top spot in the heavyweight class.

Brock Lesnar

Pros-Current UFC Heavyweight Champion, wins over two opponents who were Top 5 at the time- Frank Mir and Randy Couture. Was the consensus #2 at the time Fedor lost, which makes bumping him up seem pretty rational.

Cons-Only five professional fights and two wins against top ten opponents. Has been inactive for nearly a year after a serious health ailment that threatened his career.

Number One?- The problem is that he has so few fights and is coming off a very long layoff. So we have questions not only about his health and any possible ring rust, but also about so many other things, as well. How would his cardio hold up in the championship rounds? How will he do against someone his own size? How will he handle being put on his back? Can he do well against another good wrestler? And so on, and so forth. He will get the chance to answer many of those questions on July 3rd. Until then, I can’t put him at #1. Is it too much to ask to see someone’s sixth career fight before declaring them the top heavyweight in the sport?

Fabricio Werdum

Pros- Three-fight winning streak. Wins over Antonio Silva, Brandon Vera, Gabriel Gonzaga (twice), Alistair Overeem, Aleksander Emelianenko. Only one loss by submission or KO/TKO, other three by decision. Defeated the man himself.

Cons- Didn’t fare so well in the UFC, losing to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos.

Number One?- You know, I could almost be talked into having Werdum at the top spot, and I wouldn’t necessarily strongly oppose someone else doing it. He’s a well-rounded fighter with excellent jiu-jitsu and a number of quality wins. Furthermore, he has the huge advantage of being the only man in the running to have beaten Fedor himself. However, how can you just hand the spot over to Werdum, who has lost four times in the last five years, while Fedor has lost…just once? Finally, I know it sounds crazy, but a longer, more drawn out victory would have helped Werdum some. With the quick submission, it fuels the “got caught” explanation, which drives many people crazy but makes sense to anyone who has trained jiu-jitsu. Fedor made a dumb mistake and it cost him. Werdum did his job, but in many ways, a dominating decision or late round victory where we get to see all areas of the fight game is more helpful for rating fighters than a quick KO or submission.

Shane Carwin

Pros-Undefeated. Has finished every fight decisively in the first round. Wins over Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga.

Cons-Other than those two wins, has built his record on non-top ten fighters. Quick finishes are great, but leave questions about his cardio and strategy over the course of a long fight.

Number One?- Carwin is in the same boat as Brock, in my book. There are too many questions still surrounding him at this point. I would concede that fighting another big, strong wrestler in Lesnar will answer a lot of them, and leave him in a strong position to take the top spot. Still, how can we give him the top spot with only wins over Mir and Gonzaga? Lesnar has beaten Mir as well, and Werdum has beaten Gonzaga twice.

My point is that the field badly needs some sorting out. Lesnar-Carwin will take care of much of this, and perhaps give us a new number one heavyweight. Can Werdum take the top spot by beating Alistair Overeem? I don’t know about that. I don’t know that anyone in Strikeforce can give him a definitive claim to the top position. Beating Fedor again in a rematch, though, would give him a very compelling case.

A lot of this points out how silly rankings can be, anyway. Are they fun to do? Sure. Do they make for great debates? Absolutely. Do they really mean anything? Not really, unless there is a consensus like what Fedor had going for him for the better part of the last decade. There will be differing opinions on who the top heavyweight is for awhile now. However, it will all get figured out, since Fedor has a possible rematch with Werdum ahead of him and the winner of Lesnar and Carwin has Cain Velasquez coming down the pipe.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, Strikeforce, UFC