BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 LBS.)

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Scott Jorgensen
5. Miguel Torres
6. Brian Bowles
7. Demetrious Johnson
8. Masakatsu Ueda
9. Renan Barao
10. Brad Pickett

It was a quiet month for the world’s top bantamweights, but it won’t stay that way for long. Faber and Cruz, of course, will take center stage in the first FX-aired season of The Ultimate Fighter, and will face each other in the cage after the show concludes. Ueda will be back in action on January 8th against Kyoji Horiguchi as part of Bellator’s bantamweight tournament. Barao will fight Jorgensen in February. Torres had a tumultuous month without ever setting foot in the Octagon, being dropped from the UFC and then re-hired weeks later after an ill-advised Twitter joke.

“Mighty Mouse” will fight Ian McCall in the UFC’s flyweight tournament in March, and will be ranked with the flyweights when I add them next month. The same goes for Benavidez, who will face Yasuhiro Urushitani on the other side of the flyweight bracket.

FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 LBS.)

1. Jose Aldo
2. Chad Mendes
3. Hatsu Hioki
4. Kenny Florian
5. Diego Nunes
6. Marlon Sandro
7. Pat Curran (8)
8. Dustin Poirier (9)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (10)
10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (NR)

Dropped out: Manny Gamburyan (7)

Nunes got back on track with a win by unanimous decision over Manny Gamburyan, who drops out after his third straight loss. Freire is a quality fighter and, though he lost to Joe Warren by split decision, I think he’s looked better than Warren since that fight. It’s interesting that I have two Bellator fighters ranked ahead of Warren, though he’s the divisional champion there.

The next UFC event in Brazil comes in mid-January and pairs Jose Aldo and Chad “Money” Mendes, which should be a challenging fight for both men. Hioki will face Bart Palaszewski, who received some consideration for inclusion on this month’s list, on February 26. Finally, Curran will get a chance at wearing Bellator gold when he faces featherweight champ Warren at some point in the near future

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155 LBS.)

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Anthony Pettis
6. Ben Henderson
7. Melvin Guillard
8. Eddie Alvarez
9. Jim Miller
10. Michael Chandler (NR)

Dropped out: Donald Cerrone (10)

Cerrone had just one month in the top ten, and looked lethargic and just plain “off” throughout most of his bout with Diaz. Bellator champ Michael Chandler takes his place. Melendez beat the tough Jorge Masvidal decisively, even if it wasn’t an amazing performance by any means, and he stays at the two-spot. Also staying put is Aoki, who won a five-round decision over Satoru Kitaoka on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Realistically, I need to see him against a good wrestler to put to rest my concerns after the Melendez debacle before he can really move up.

Henderson will take on Edgar in the UFC’s first Zuffa-run show in Japan on February 26. The next title contender for whoever wins that bout could likely come from either the winner of Guillard-Miller in January or, more likely, Pettis-Joe Lauzon in February.

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170 LBS.)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Josh Koscheck (3)
3. Jon Fitch (2)
4. Nick Diaz
5. Johny Hendricks (NR)
6. Jake Shields (5)
7. Nate Marquardt (NR)
8. Thiago Alves (6)
9. Carlos Condit (7)
10. Jake Ellenberger (8)

Dropped out: Martin Kampmann (10), BJ Penn (9)

Hendricks became the first person to finish Jon Fitch in nine years, and thus I think has earned a pretty big jump in the rankings. With his wrestling credentials and outstanding power, he’s a tough matchup for just about any fighter on this list. Fitch, meanwhile, only drops one spot. I hope you’ll pardon me for giving a guy a “pass” when he had gone 21-1-1 in his last nine years as a pro, with his only previous loss in that span coming to St. Pierre. Marquardt will fight for the BAMMA Welterweight Championship on Feb. 11 against Yoshiyuki Yoshida, and thus now appears on this list instead of the middleweight one.

February is when one of the biggest fights in the division will go down as Diaz will face Condit for the interim championship on Super Bowl weekend. Of course, we’ll be waiting on St. Pierre’s next appearance after yet another injury setback will keep him out until mid-2012 at earliest. Elsewhere, Shields will attempt to right the ship against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 144. Alves-Kampmann is another fantastic welterweight fight, and will occur on the UFC’s first FX show in March.

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185 LBS.)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Vitor Belfort (4)
4. Yushin Okami (5)
5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (6)
6. Demian Maia (7)
7. Hector Lombard (8)
8. Luke Rockhold (9)
9. Mark Munoz (10)
10. Brian Stann (NR)

Dropped out: Nate Marquardt (3; moved to Middleweight)

Belfort will face Anthony Johnson at UFC 142 as Johnson makes his middleweight debut. Marquardt drops out as he’ll be fighting at welterweight now, and Stann moves back in the fold one month after being squeezed out by Munoz. We’ll see Maia-Bisping in late January on Fox’s second UFC event.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205 LBS.)

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
4. Dan Henderson
5. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Gegard Mousasi (8)
8. Forrest Griffin (7)
9. Phil Davis
10. Rich Franklin

Jones finished off an unbelievable year with a dominant finish against Machida, though Machida doesn’t drop after being the first man to take a round from Jones during his title run. Mousasi looked great while defeating Ovince St. Preux, who may have been a touch overrated, and moves up a spot over Griffin, who has been talking about retiring after a couple more fights. Franklin has had shoulder surgery and won’t be back until mid-2012 at earliest. Rampage will take on former top ten LHW Ryan Bader in Japan next year. Then, of course, there’s Evans-Davis, which will determine the next title contender according the result of their scrap on the next UFC on Fox card.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (265 LBS.)

1. Junior dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Alistair Overeem (5)
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Brock Lesnar (3)
6. Frank Mir (10)
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (6)
8. Antonio Silva (7)
9. Fedor Emelianenko (8)
10. Shane Carwin (9)

Overeem looked pretty good in his destruction of Lesnar, though Lesnar didn’t look like he even wanted to be in there. He moves up nonetheless, and he’s ranked third, even though I’ll say right away that I think he will beat dos Santos. Lesnar retires as the number 5 heavyweight on the planet in my eyes, right ahead of his old nemesis, Mir.

Mir looked pretty good in his win over Nogueira, though everyone quickly forgot that Nogueira had Mir in a very bad spot right before the finish. Had he not gotten a little cocky and gone for the sub instead of the TKO finish, allowing Mir to recover, who knows what might have happened? Nonetheless, submitting Nogueira in such a fashion is highly impressive and Mir moves up as a result. I still feel the five fighters ahead of him would beat him the majority of the time, as well as the number ten fighter, Carwin. Fedor racked up his second win in as many months on New Year’s Eve in Japan, but again against less-than-stellar opposition.

The action slows down in the coming months in this busy division, as Werdum will be re-welcomed into the Octagon by Roy Nelson at UFC 143, while Carwin, Nogueira and dos Santos are all on the mend from injuries.

POUND-FOR-POUND (No Limit)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Georges St. Pierre
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Jon Jones (5)
5. Jose Aldo (4)
6. Dominick Cruz
7. BJ Penn
8. Lyoto Machida
9. Rashad Evans
10. Dan Henderson

Jones moves up a spot past Aldo, who is still looking for a signature performance in his UFC tenure. Machida stays put despite the loss, and yes, Penn is a P4P top ten fighter even though he fell off the welterweight list. He was never a true welterweight and would be top two or three in the world still at lightweight. The guy decisively beat both Fitch and Diaz in the first round of each of those fights before his lack of cardio got the best of him. He really is a good idea of what P4P is all about. Well, besides my definition of “imaginary journalist bullshit”, which I think still sums it up pretty well.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

E-Mail Jon Hartley

You’d think that we’d learn to never say never in this sport by now. We saw Matt Serra send Georges St. Pierre stumbling around the cage before the great welterweight champion had to tap out, unable to get his bearings as Serra relentlessly hounded him. We saw Nick Diaz stand toe-to-toe with Takanori Gomi when Gomi was possibly the most feared lightweight on the planet, then gasped when Diaz finished him with one of the rarer submissions in the game, the gogoplata. Oh wait, that fight never happened? My bad.

Hell, we even saw Tito Ortiz, who was featured on Saturday night but failed to do much of anything against the younger Nogueira brother, rock Ryan Bader and then choke him out for his first submission win in ten years and first meaningful win in five. Yet, somehow seeing things like we saw at UFC 140 can still take us by surprise.

Of course, that’s for the better. If I ever get so desensitized to the “anything can happen” nature of MMA that seeing something like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic get head-kicked out of consciousness by Gabriel Gonzaga fails to make my jaw drop, it will be a sad day.

So I don’t mind the fact that I still shake my head when I not only see the great “Minotauro” not only get submitted, but get his arm broken by Mir. Mir has taken other trophies in his career, sure, but this was different. Nobody does that to Nog. Nobody. The fact that Mir appeared to be nearly out of it just moments beforehand only accentuated the surprise factor. One second, Nogueira passes up what appears to be a foregone conclusion of a TKO in order to go for the sub instead, and the next second, he’s headed for the hospital and Mir’s making his Frank Mir face (eyebrows raised and duck lips) and strutting around the cage.

And as I mentioned in my UFC 140 Preview, the majority of the “what have you done for me lately?” MMA community may have forgotten about Machida, but I hadn’t. Not too long ago, this guy was amazing all of us with the way he dominated his opponents. Then, on Saturday, he was the first person since- when…ever?- to take a round from Jon Jones. What happened? Jones responded Anderson Silva style and said, “enough of this crap.” Takedown, slicing elbow strike, short left, crafty guillotine choke and it was a wrap.

It’s easy to forget when you see someone like Nogueira on the mat holding his arm in pain, or someone like Machida dropped unceremoniously to the mat as Jones coolly walks away, but these guys were once the aces of their respective weight classes. Even when both showed proof of actual weaknesses in the cage, they were never treated the way that they were on Saturday night. It’s important to give Mir and Jones all the credit in the world, because they both accomplished something that was unprecedented four days ago.

Quick Shots

–So, how do we appraise Jones and Mir, and furthermore, Nogueira and Machida after those two fights? Here’s the short version: Jones is looking impossible to beat and likely faces one last stiff test in the form of Rashad Evans, and Mir is better than I thought and looked like a borderline top five heavyweight, though I suspect that fighters like Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez will still give him trouble.

Nogueira still has something left in the tank and you have to feel for him, as he had Mir right where he wanted him but couldn’t capitalize because Mir protected well and covered everything but the back of his head. Meanwhile, Machida will simply join his rival Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the ranks of those who are great fighters, but have shown to have little for Jones. Machida has a better chance at a future rematch since he actually won a round against the champ, though.

–Is Tito Ortiz done? He probably should be. If not, it is simply due to the charity of the UFC, and I would be surprised to see them give him another shot after a growing list of others have been not-so-subtly nudged toward retirement when in his position.

–Every time I see a fight like Chan Sung Jung vs. Mark Hominick, I feel as exhilarated as anyone else, but then immediately feel badly for the fighter who came up short. Hominick trained for three months for that? It’s hard not to feel bad for someone when they don’t even get a real chance to show what they’ve been working on. Wouldn’t that be the worst part of being a fighter? All of that preparation, the flight, cutting weight, staying in the hotel, all the pre-fight nonsense and everything for a seven-second TKO loss?

Say What?!?

It told me he bleeds, so let’s do this!- Jon Jones in the post-fight press conference explaining his thoughts after he cut open Lyoto Machida in the second round of their bout.

Not an outlandish quote like those that I usually choose, but a great one. It’s long been thought that something like cutting your opponent can be a momentum-changer and confidence-builder, and there’s tangible proof of that fact. Jones seemed to immediately change gears after he did some damage on the mat, and the rest is history.

The Beautiful Loser Award

This goes to Big Nog, who seemed seconds away from finishing Frank Mir before he was warned about punching the back of Mir’s head and decided to go for a submission finish instead. I still feel that Nog got a little greedy and wanted a feather in his cap by tapping out Mir, but he did look much better than in their first fight until he left his arm out there and got in trouble.

Movin’ On Up Award

On the prelims, Jake Hecht looked pretty impressive while putting away a fairly tough UFC veteran in Rich Attonito. Hecht was making his UFC debut and has now won eleven of his last twelve fights, standing at 11-2 overall. Hecht will need to work on his takedown defense and ability to stand up when put on his back, but showed impressive composure while coming back from a tough first round to TKO Attonito in his first UFC appearance.

Holy $#!% Award

This could go to either of the co-main event fights, but I have to go with Mir because he looked so close to defeat before he had the audacity to attempt a kimura on Nogueira himself. Mir’s hubris paid off and Nogueira could not escape the hold, leading to a sight none of us ever expected to see.

On a side note, it’s never good to see a fighter get injured, but when someone sustains an injury or passes out because he refuses to tap out to a submission hold, it’s a good reminder to all of us that an armbar, kimura or rear naked choke is every bit as devastating as a clean left hook.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung

A possible barn-burner will get us started tomorrow night as Hominick and “The Korean Zombie” square off. We haven’t seen either in several months, as Hominick was last seen sporting a massive hematoma after coming up short against Jose Aldo in late April, while Jung caught rival Leonard Garcia in a rare twister for the submission win in March.

The thing that jumps out at me style-wise here is the differing striking techniques employed by the two fighters. Jung favors wide punches, while Hominick likes to keep his striking a little tighter, which I think will grant him the opportunity to land a lot more often than his counterpart in this one. While Jung throws like a slugger, he lacks the power of one, which only makes the matchup more problematic for him.

Jung may very well have the advantage on the mat, where Hominick is a solid grappler but can have momentary lapses that cause him to get put in bad positions. That’s not a good thing against a guy who can pull off a move as unorthodox and complex as Eddie Bravo’s “twister”. However, Jung doesn’t likely have the grappling to put Hominick on his back, and what will Hominick’s incentive be to take the fight to the mat if he’s already tooling Jung on the feet? Should be a fun one, but I favor Hominick in a decision.

Prediction: Hominick by decision

Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick

While Patrick is a replacement for the injured Rory MacDonald (Ebersole dodged a bullet there), he was previously slated to fight on the card against Rich Attonito, so it’s not as if Patrick only had a four-week camp or anything. Ebersole, of course, has been riding a nice wave since his UFC debut, beating respected veterans Chris Lytle and Dennis Hallman.

It’s easy to peg Ebersole as an overachieving journeyman, with his 48-14-1 record. However, most of those losses were piled up early in his career and he has been an impressive 14-2 in the last five years. One loss was by split decision and another was a fourth round TKO loss to Hector Lombard, which is nothing to be ashamed of. He’s 31 years old and it seems that he simply fought a lot in his early 20s before rounding out his skill set. You see a lot of guys with that many fights take a similar path, especially when they’re accumulating a lot of fights so early and in such a small time.

Patrick has a much more impressive resume, at least in terms of his record. However, he hasn’t beaten anyone like Lytle and though he has definite finishing skills when it comes to his opportunistic decisions, he lacks the explosive, creative offense that Ebersole brings to the table.

This should be a close fight, but in a close fight things like aggression and the occasional flashy technique can win you rounds. Add to that the fact that Ebersole should be bigger and stronger, and I think he takes a close one in a good fight.

Prediction: Ebersole by decision

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz

One of these men will very likely be making his last UFC appearance tomorrow night. Nogueira has been 2-2 in his disappointing UFC run but very likely deserves to be 1-3 after being given a gift decision in his fight against Jason Brilz. Meanwhile, Ortiz has managed to win just one of his four UFC fights since his latest contract-related hiatus, and has likely been given amnesty for his one-sided loss to Rashad Evans because he took the fight on short notice when no one else in the division wanted to.

Both guys look near the end of the line, both are headed toward their late 30′s (Nogueira is 35, Ortiz is 36) and neither have performed in a way that indicates that they will become major players in the division again. There’s a lot at stake here, so I expect a spirited effort from both men.

Nogueira is the better striker, with crisper, cleaner boxing technique, although Ortiz’s boxing has always been pretty fundamentally sound, too. The thing that troubles me about Tito’s striking is that his reaction time has looked diminished in recent fights, especially in the early going against Ryan Bader. Of course, Ortiz has a little power in his hands and if he lands the right shot, he could hurt Nogueira.

The real question here is whether Ortiz can take Nogueira down and keep him there. In previous years it would have been easy to say “yes”, and it also would have been easy to expect Ortiz to wear Nogueira down, leading to a clear-cut third round where Ortiz would be much fresher than his tired opponent. However, Ortiz’s age seems to have affected his cardio, so even that’s a question mark.

Despite all this, I think Ortiz could pull off the upset. While Nogueira’s takedown defense is pretty good and Ortiz’s takedowns are not unstoppable, as they once seemed to be, I think Ortiz shows enough urgency and determination to plant Nogueira on the mat at opportune times throughout the fight. A lot of people expect Nogueira to get back up in that scenario, but I think that will be harder than expected against a controlling, strong grappler like Ortiz. I’ll take Ortiz in a very close, maybe even controversial decision.

Prediction: Ortiz by decision

Frank Mir (#10 HW) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (#6 HW)

This is a tough one. On one hand, Mir hasn’t looked all that great since his outstanding win over Cheick Kongo four fights ago. On the other hand, Nogueira hasn’t looked great either, other than his win over Brendan Schaub, who is still somewhat of an unknown commodity who may have been overrated to begin with.

Then you have Nogueira’s lengthy history of injuries and all of the surgeries he underwent to fix nagging problems. If he truly is a brand new man, physically speaking, does he beat Mir? Of course, with all of the mileage on his fight odometer he can’t be a brand new man, but both have had their share of damage absorbed over the years.

I do think that Nogueira may be a better overall heavyweight than Mir, so I don’t mind having him ranked higher. However, this is a bad style matchup for Nogueira. He gives up over 20 pounds to Mir and likely does not have the wrestling to take him down. Without the ability to turn it into a grappling match, he has to strike with Mir, who I think has better technique at this point and certainly has more power.

Now, I think Nogueira puts on a better showing than in their previous fight. He was reduced to being a punching bag in their first meeting and clearly didn’t have the ability to move and counter that he usually would. While he’s always taken a few too many shots for my liking, his striking has always been pretty solid. However, Mir has the advantage where it counts- power. Mir may even push Nog against the fence and bully him around a bit. That will be enough to give him the advantage here, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Nogueira makes it close when Mir starts to tire later on.

Prediction: Mir by decision

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Jon Jones (#1 LHW) vs. Lyoto Machida (#6 LHW)

I’m really excited for this fight. Since Jones became champ, I’ve been interested in seeing how he would match up against certain types of fighters. Let’s not forget that when he was champion, the list of top ten fighters he had faced included Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Ryan Bader and…that’s it. So even if you bought into Jones as an impressive talent, you may have had questions about how he would deal with certain fighters.

I wanted to see him against a strong fighter with an orthodox striking style, like Rampage. We saw how that turned out. I also wanted to see how he would handle Rashad Evans, a fighter with quickness, power, great cardio and excellent wrestling. Finally, I wanted to see Jones take on Machida.

Let’s not forget that before his close decision win and KO loss to Shogun, Machida was talked about in the way that Jones is spoken of now. It wasn’t whether Machida would remain champion, but how many years he would keep the title. He put on dominating, breathtaking performances where his opponents couldn’t touch him, let alone hurt him. He did so with a style we had never seen before in the sport, also.

It sounds a lot like Jones. And stylistically, this is an intriguing matchup. Machida is an absolute expert on breaking down opponents and finding holes to exploit. His style of counter-striking, which predicates on him actually landing a quick blow before his opponent’s initial strike gets to him, is one of a kind and requires great reflexes that at times seem near precognition. I would be surprised if Machida didn’t have answers for a couple of Jones’ signature moves- especially the spinning back elbow that Jones regularly uses in his fights. If Rampage was able to time a takedown attempt- which Jones thwarted, amazingly- during one of them, what will Machida have time to do?

The problem here is Jones’ reach. Even a fighter like Machida, who likes to fight with his opponents on the end of his kicks, will have trouble get in range to appropriately counter Jones’ strikes. This means that Jones can strike with near impunity if he controls distance well enough.

Jones is also a stronger wrestler than Machida, and if he does take the fight to the mat he can use his ground and pound (which I think may be the best in MMA right now) to put Machida in trouble instantly. Sure, Machida has very good jiu-jitsu, but we’ve already seen that Jones fights very intelligently on the mat and stays out of trouble. I don’t think that would change in this fight.

I’m hoping for a compelling, amazing fight tomorrow. However, I don’t see Machida being able to effectively get inside of Jones’ reach on a regular enough basis here. I do suspect that whatever we see, it will be extremely entertaining, however.

Prediction: Jones by KO/TKO

For the record, I hope there aren’t as many decisions as I’m predicting in this article. Fortunately, my predictions aren’t guaranteed to actually be right.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Now, it’s pretty much a given that the one-sided beatdown that Michael Bisping gave Jason “Mayhem” Miller isn’t going to rate all that highly. We also didn’t have a coach fight after season two (friends Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin coached, and were in separate weight divisions, to boot), season four (there were no coaches), season six (Matt Serra couldn’t fight), and season thirteen (Brock Lesnar fell ill, forcing Junior dos Santos to fight Shane Carwin). In season eleven, Tito Ortiz backed out of the fight due to injury and Rich Franklin was awkwardly inserted as coach right at the end of the show, but I’ll count that to give us an even ten. Let’s rank them in reverse order:

10. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans (TUF 10)
9. Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck (TUF 12)
8. Michael Bisping vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (TUF 14)

These three are all grouped together in my mind, and could really go in any order. I ranked them this way because at least Bisping-Mayhem saw a finish, even if it was just one guy collapsing out of exhaustion while his opponent pounded away. Still, we were spared the fight going the distance, which was not a consideration given to us in the other two fights. Also, at least Bisping and Miller fought with a little fire, at least as long as they could (in Mayhem’s case).

The three fights all share something: they were three of the more highly-anticipated coach fights because of the supposed dislike between the fighters in each pairing. However, the hype and the feuds never translated into great bouts. Evans was content to wrestle his way to victory in a by-the-numbers, rather uninspiring win, St. Pierre did the same thing with his jab, refusing to open up his striking even though he effectively blinded Koscheck early in the fight.

7. Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock (TUF 3)

It only adds to the audaciousness of Dana White’s claim that Bisping-Mayhem was the most lopsided fight he’d ever seen that he featured this ridiculous bit of matchmaking not once, but twice after The Ultimate Fighter 3.

In another bout where the hype was better than the actual action (a theme in the fights on this list, of course), Ortiz took down Shamrock and pounded him a few times en route to a quick stoppage at just 1:18 of the first round. It may have been a bit hasty, but nothing was going to change if the bout had been allowed to go on.

After another seemingly unnecessary three month training camp for both men, there was a rematch on Spike TV in order to give the fans their money’s worth…or something. Well, in a fight that was like a carbon copy of the first bout, Ortiz took Shamrock down with ease and got a TKO stoppage due to punches not quite halfway through the second round. This one gets ranked this highly mostly because in each case, it was mercifully short. Still, it was a fight that never should have happened a second time (Shamrock had already had a one-sided loss to Ortiz at UFC 40), let alone a third.

6. Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (TUF 8 )

Even if this wasn’t the best fight, we’re at least out of the territory of awful and/or disappointing bouts. Mir shocked us all in this one, besting Nogueira with ease on the feat before putting Nogueira away midway through the second round in a fight he dominated throughout.

It was only afterward, when persistent rumors that Nogueira had a staph infection going into UFC 92 were confirmed, that fans and pundits started to realize why Big Nog looked so listless in this one (remember, Big Nog had never been stopped before this fight). Still, it’s memorable for many reasons: the surprise we all felt when first watching it, Mir’s strange right uppercut that he kept landing at range, and his great reaction afterward where he called out Brock Lesnar.

5. Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell (TUF 11)

This was a good fight, even if substituting Franklin for Ortiz at the end of the season just because Ortiz couldn’t fight was weaksauce. I’m also tempted to ding this one a bit because it was depressing to see Liddell’s career definitively end, but that’s just part of the sport and a seemingly-inevitable end for a fighter like Liddell.

Liddell looked great for about four minutes and fifty seconds of the fight. He was using a more crisp, clean approach than he had in years and even throwing leg kicks- leg kicks! He seemed to be in great shape and it looked as if he was serious in extending his career by revitalizing his striking, taking care of his body and using his wrestling more.

Then, Liddell over-committed and ran into a short counter right that put him down for the last time.

Even if everything else is on point, if you can’t take a good shot, you can’t keep fighting. The sad thing is, this fight is a reminder that this is the end awaiting every fighter, no matter how good, if they stick around a bit too long. Still, it was a good fight and even a bit historic, as it was Liddell’s last appearance.

4. BJ Penn vs. Jens Pulver (TUF 5)

Not a bad fight, if a little anticlimactic. Penn took control of the fight from the start, though Pulver showed his talent in a few choice moments, landing a couple of good shots as well as escaping an armbar and standing back up after being taken down in the first round.

Penn took Pulver’s back in the second round and we all knew it was over at that point. Sure enough, Penn finished it before long, choking Pulver until the tap and beyond before finally letting his adversary go a couple of seconds after the stoppage.

Since then, the two insist that things are cool and much of the animosity the two supposedly shared- as well as the fight itself- have been largely forgotten. It was a pretty good fight and a finish is always appreciated, but nothing extremely special.

3. Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (TUF 7)

This was the rare coach fight where the fight itself was better than the feud beforehand. I never bought into any of the hype during the season, and even when Griffin got frustrated and flew off the handle, it wasn’t quite believable and felt a bit forced.

The fight didn’t have the level of aggression we’re used to seeing from either man, but that wasn’t so disappointing because we weren’t fed a bunch of b.s. about the two hating each other beforehand. Griffin used a strategy that we’ve seen used liberally against Rampage since then, peppering the powerful fighter with leg kicks to keep him off balance. Rampage was never able to land a big shot and won a very close decision in a pretty good bout.

Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell (TUF 1)

Had this been Couture-Liddell 3, it may have topped the list. Their second bout was a good one, but only lasted a couple of minutes before Liddell turned Couture’s lights out. Still, it was a highly-anticipated battle in which Couture was favored by many, as he had shown very few weaknesses in their first battle.

Suddenly, the strategy he employed in his first bout with Liddell wasn’t working so well, though. He was still sticking to mostly straight punches, but Liddell was landing with increasing frequency, which was never a good sign in “The Iceman”‘s prime. Sure enough, Liddell erased Couture from consciousness before too long, finally winning the light heavyweight championship in the process.

1. Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping (TUF 9)

This had it all- it was a great fight with a highlight reel finish that followed an entertaining feud. Henderson was the no-nonsense veteran who didn’t like Bisping’s cocky attitude, and all season long he said he was going to shut Bisping’s mouth for good. He may not have managed to do that, but he did it in the short term in their explosive UFC 100 fight.

Both men fought, well, like themselves- Henderson stalked Bisping, looking for that one big shot, while Bisping used his jab and tried to stay out of trouble while finding openings. Bisping actually turned in a pretty good performance for much of the fight, landing his jab and slipping Henderson’s big punches. He showed very good recovery when Hendo caught him in the first round, as well. However, this fight is all about the finish, which was one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history whether you’re a Hendo fan, a Bisping fan or none of the above. While the unnecessary follow-up flying elbow smash was either really sweet or extremely sour depending on your allegiances, this was likely the best TUF coach fight we’ve seen thus far.

So…who wants to bet where Cruz-Faber will go on this list after TUF 15 concludes?

E-Mail Jon Hartley

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 LBS.)

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Brian Bowles
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Miguel Torres
7. Demetrious Johnson
8. Masakatsu Ueda
9. Brad Pickett
10. Takeya Mizugaki

Not much happened at 135 lbs. this month, although Benavidez did get his third straight win since losing to Cruz last year when he beat Eddie Wineland at UFC Live 5. On October 1st, Cruz will defend his title on Versus against “Mighty Mouse” himself, Demetrious Johnson. Meanwhile, Faber and Bowles will meet in a great matchup in November.

FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 LBS.)

1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Kenny Florian
4. Diego Nunes
5. Chad Mendes (6)
6. Marlon Sandro (5)
7. Manny Gamburyan
8. Pat Curran (NR)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (8)
10. Dustin Poirier (9)

Dropped out: Tyson Griffin (10)

Mendes defeated Rani Yahya by unanimous decision at UFC 133, while Curran dropped the highly-ranked Sandro with a beautiful high kick in Bellator. Thus, Sandro drops, Mendes moves up, and Curran joins the party, moving Omigawa and Poirier down a slot apiece. Hioki is now with the UFC, and will debut at UFC 137 against George Roop. Florian is the lucky man to take on Aldo next.

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155 LBS.)

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Shinya Aoki
6. Melvin Guillard (7)
7. Anthony Pettis (8)
8. Ben Henderson (NR)
9. Jim Miller (6)
10. Tatsuya Kawajiri (9)

Dropped out: Dennis Siver (10)

Some good action at 155 pounds shook things up a bit this month. Ben Henderson put on a great performance in a fun fight with Jim Miller to re-enter the top ten, while Miller falls to the ninth spot. In the same event, Donald Cerrone delivered his third straight UFC win, and I’d love to rank him, but I just don’t have room. I didn’t have room for Siver anymore either, but Cerrone will be stepping in to face Siver at UFC 137. Whoever wins will likely end up right here where they belong. Edgar-Maynard 3 draws closer and closer, as does Melendez’s December Strikeforce bout with challenger Jorge Masvidal, who’s another fighter on the bubble. There is talk of Alvarez-Aoki in Bellator, to which I say, “Yes, please!”

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170 LBS.)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Josh Koscheck
4. Nick Diaz
5. Jake Shields
6. Thiago Alves
7. BJ Penn
8. Carlos Condit
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Rick Story

Nothing to see here (again). It’s been months now since anything has happened with this list, though we have some promising fights coming, including St. Pierre-Diaz and Penn-Condit.

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185 LBS.)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Nate Marquardt (4)
4. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (5)
5. Vitor Belfort (6)
6. Yushin Okami (5)
7. Demian Maia
8. Hector Lombard
9. Brian Stann
10. Mark Munoz

If Anderson could move up even more, he would. Okami isn’t necessarily dropping because he lost to Silva, but more as a matter of market correction, if you will. I think Belfort has earned the fifth spot, and he was very impressive in his destruction of Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. I’m still going to rank Marquardt at 185 pounds until he fights at welterweight in BAMMA. Jacare will defend his Strikeforce title against Luke Rockhold in September, while Sonnen and Stann will face one another next.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205 LBS.)

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
4. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
5. Dan Henderson
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Forrest Griffin
8. Gegard Mousasi (9)
9. Phil Davis (10)
10. Rich Franklin (NR)

Dropped out: “King Mo” Lawal (8)

Griffin earns a bit of a reprieve for his dreadful outing against Shogun for two reasons: for one, it’s Shogun. For another, I just can’t put Mousasi or Davis at the seventh spot. Rich Franklin comes back in at the tenth spot as King Mo drops out after a year of inactivity. That kind of break is troubling for a guy who has just eight fights and is still learning the sport. Griffin will likely bounce back his next time out, as he usually does. Evans beat Tito Ortiz, as he should, and looked great while doing so. Jones defends his title for the first time against Rampage in September. Will Hendo come back to the UFC in the near future, and if so, will he fight at 205, 185, or both?

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (up to 265 LBS.)

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Junior dos Santos
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Antonio Silva
7. Fedor Emelianenko
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (10)
9. Shane Carwin (8)
10. Frank Mir (9)

Nogueira looked great in his surprising win over Brendan Schaub, and I would favor him against both Carwin and Mir at this point. As I said in my UFC Rio Parting Shots column, I’d actually like to see Nogueira face Mir again (and healthy this time).

There’s now talk that Overeem will end up in the UFC after all, as he is in a Zuffa-exclusive negotiating period right now. We also have Velasquez-dos Santos to look forward to, as well as an admittedly less fun Strikeforce grand prix that should end up with a Bigfoot-Josh Barnett final. Sadly, we may have seen the last of Fedor against top competition, as he’s no longer under contract and I can’t see Zuffa signing him again to either Strikeforce or the UFC, for that matter.

POUND FOR POUND (No Limit)

1. Anderson Silva (2)
2. Georges St. Pierre (1)
3. Jose Aldo
4. Frankie Edgar
5. BJ Penn
6. Dominick Cruz
7. Jon Jones
8. Lyoto Machida
9. Rashad Evans
10. Dan Henderson

Considering pound-for-pound rankings are just imaginary journalist bullshit, I don’t know why I’ve agonized so much over the “GSP or Silva?” debate over the last several months. Well, St. Pierre carrying guys that he should be able to put away while Silva puts forth absolutely jaw-droppingly awesome efforts has cemented my decision: Silva’s number one. Well, for now, anyway. Of course, this is subject to change and could very well leapfrog as each man takes his turn winning in impressive fashion.

Would even a GSP-Silva fight solve the debate? I don’t know. Would St. Pierre moving up 15 pounds, then losing a close fight (for example) at Silva’s natural weight mean that he’s a lesser pound-for-pound fighter? They’re essentially “1A” and “1B”, anyway.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Okami sold himself short

You know, it’s hard to take a guy to task for not looking his best against a talent the likes of Anderson Silva, but that’s kind of my job, isn’t it? If I’m Yushin Okami right now, I’m probably thinking that yeah, I’m not ashamed at being outstruck by The Spider. However, I’m also thinking that I lost a title fight that I worked for years to earn without truly fighting my type of fight.

How could he not feel any regret after only making one half-hearted takedown attempt in seven minutes of competition? Besides a quick attempt to clinch in what was a nightmare of a second round, that was it in terms of Okami trying to do what new-BFF Chael Sonnen was able to do a year ago.

Of course, taking down Silva isn’t exactly easy, and it isn’t exactly safe, either. Diving in desperation at Silva’s dangerous lower limbs is a sketchy proposition, but so is standing with him for several minutes at a stretch, knowing that you can’t offer him anything in the standup.

Whenever I see someone like Okami go down without truly committing to a takedown attempt, it reminds me of the opposite scenario, when a great striker is so worried about inevitable takedown attempts that he never really plants his feet and throws a good shot. As a fighter, you’d have to regret knowing that your cautious approach still yielded a loss, and you never even tried to do what got you to that point in the first place.

Viva Minotauro!

You know who isn’t disappointed with his approach? Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, that’s who. I’m not afraid to admit that my jaw dropped when Big Nog, well, dropped Brendan Schaub in their heavyweight tilt on Saturday night.

Sure, Cynical Guy, Schaub’s chin isn’t the sturdiest in the division, and he’s still a young’n to the sport. However, it’s not as if Nogueira has made a habit of knocking mofos out in his long and distinguished career, right? Combine that with an 18-month layoff and a return at 35 years of age, and I think we’ve all earned the right to be impressed by Minotauro’s performance.

It’s hard to say what his ceiling is at this point in his career, especially because age is becoming a bigger factor and one more loss may leave him without enough time to put together a last title run, anyway. I think he matches up well against a good portion of the UFC’s heavyweight division, although I don’t know that he’d fare any better against the likes of Cain Velasquez in a rematch. I think both Nog and I would like to see a rematch with Frank Mir, however.

One last thing- you can imagine how pleased I was to see that Dana White is once again throwing around retirement talk on a great fighter’s behalf. Look, I get that White doesn’t want this sport to be like boxing. However, perhaps he could, just in these situations, be a little less candid with the media? If he thought Liddell needed to retire, or thinks that Nogueira needs to, talk to them in private. Even if he insists that they be done, let them make their own announcement and at least have the appearance of going out on their own terms. Sure, going out several fights too late and absorbing a few beatings is not a graceful way to go out. But neither is having the car keys taken out of your hand by your boss in front of the world. Liddell deserved better, and so does Minotauro.

Quick Shots

–Call me convinced that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is back to at least a close approximation of where he used to be. If anything, his demolition of Forrest Griffin makes Jon Jones look even better in retrospect. I don’t know if working with his former Chute Boxe trainer has been the difference, or if he just had a great night, but Shogun was back to his old scary self on Saturday night.

–Stanislav Nedkov beat Luiz Cane, but I was not all that impressed with his performance, nonetheless. He almost instantly looked out of his element, as you would expect when an 11-0 fighter who has been able to dispatch all of his previous competition finally meets a little resistance. I don’t believe in “lucky” punches, but he sure was fortunate that he landed on the button and turned the tide in what was looking to be a rather dreadful first UFC appearance.

–Whenever Rousimar Palhares fights, you know something crazy’s going to happen. Whether he’s questioning the ref in the middle of the fight and getting KO’ed for his inattentiveness or holding on to an absolutely brutal heel hook several seconds longer than needed, nobody should be visiting the restroom when Palhares is on the tube. When he debuted, I loved that he had Lego hair (seriously, look at a picture of him with hair), and now, I just look forward to his antics. He didn’t let me down on Saturday, raucously celebrating a win that he hadn’t yet earned, and then nearly getting put away himself right afterward. Classic stuff.

Say What?!

“My clone.”- Anderson Silva, when asked by Kenny Florian who he would like to fight next, having already decimated Yushin Okami.

Why You Don’t Bet on MMA

Coming into Saturday night’s fight with Schaub, Nogueira had KO’ed exactly one opponent in over 30 wins: Sanae Kikuta back in 2002. Wouldn’t you know it? He comes in off of the longest layoff of his twelve year career and knocks Schaub out.

The Bob Seger “Beautiful Loser” Award

Ross Pearson is the unlucky winner of this award, having put together a strong effort in what was truly a razor-thin decision that could have gone either way without any grumbling on my part. He looked much better than I thought he would against Edson Barboza, even controlling much of the bout with good movement and a consistent level of output. Honorably mention goes to Luiz Cane, who looked well on his way to a one-sided win over newcomer Stanislav Nedkov before getting caught with some vicious punches that flipped the fight all the way in the other direction, leading to a stunning and disappointing loss.

Movin’ On Up Award

Erick Silva showed no signs of the fabled “Octagon jitters” in his UFC debut, absolutely steamrolling Luis Ramos after catching him with a brutal overhand right that Ramos simply couldn’t recover from.

Holy Crap Award

If there was a real statue for this award, it would have a tiny gold Anderson Silva sitting on the top of it, as most of his career has been full of “holy crap” moments. No matter how many times I see him do it, though, watching him toy with an elite challenger and throw absolutely pinpoint strikes that not only put his opponent down, but completely break his spirit is absolutely remarkable.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Watch the UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami post-fight press conference. There were no submissions wins, but Big Nog earned himself an extra $100,000 for knocking out Brendan Schaub in the first round.

Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson earned $100,000 each for their close three round battle which Barboza won in the end with a split decision win.

Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson

Knockout of the Night: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Submission of the Night: None

UFC Rio Results:

MAIN CARD PAY-PER-VIEW
Anderson Silva defeats Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:04
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua defeats Forrest Griffin via KO (punches) – Round 1, 1:53
Edson Barboza defeats Ross Pearson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeats Brendan Schaub via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:09
Stanislav Nedkov defeats Luiz Cane by TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:13

SPIKE TV PRELIMS
Thiago Tavares defeats Spencer Fisher via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:51
Rousimar Palhares defeats Dan Miller via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-25)

FACEBOOK PRELIMS
Paulo Thiago defeats David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Raphael Assuncao defeats Johhny Eduardo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Erick Silva defeats Luis Ramos via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:40
Yuri Alcantara defeats Felipe Arantes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Yves Jabouin defeats Ian Loveland via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov

Nedkov will play the role of the undefeated newcomer, bringing an 11-0 MMA record into the Octagon with him. His most notable victories are against Kevin Randleman and Travis Wiuff, which is more likely to be a reflection of the shallow talent pool outside of Zuffa’s promotions than anything else. His inactivity may be a concern, as he hasn’t fought in a year and three months, and has competed about once per year over the last four years.

Cane, on the other hand, overcame a lengthy layoff of his own earlier this year, coming back after ten months off to quickly swarm and stop Eliot Marshall at UFC 128. He’s had a rough go of it lately after a promising start to his UFC career, losing two of his last three. One of the losses was acceptable (a TKO defeat to Lil’ Nog) and the other was much more surprising (a TKO defeat to a resilient Cyrille Diabate, who had been hurt by Cane early in their fight).

The two are likely to have much different game plans, so the question is one of who will be more successful at what they try to do. Cane will unquestionably be looking to avoid takedowns and dominate the standup portion of the bout. Meanwhile, although Nedkov has okay (if rigid) technique and decent power, he uses his striking almost purely to close the distance and get a takedown or clinch opportunity. He will be hoping to take Cane down and pound him out.

Although Nedkov showed very strong hips and a wide variety of takedowns at his disposal in his previous fights, I’m going with Cane here. I think Cane’s standup edge is the biggest advantage in the fight for either man, and as a bonus, Cane may be able to submit Nedkov if he is taken down and his Bulgarian opponent gets too sloppy.

Prediction: Cane by KO/TKO

Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson

This fight is a prospective challenger for fight of the night honors, as both men bring a willingness to strike, albeit with wildly different styles of doing so.

Barboza is the exciting Brazilian prospect who brings an 8-0 record to this contest, while Pearson has a few losses, but only one in five UFC fights, which occurred when he was submitted by Cole Miller a year ago. He has impressive wins, however, against Dennis Siver and Spencer Fisher.

So we know that Pearson’s boxing-centric style can handle kickboxers, right? However, Barboza is a different kind of animal. He will show a lot more dedication to landing leg kicks early and often than Siver or Fisher did, and will also likely move around better and make Pearson miss more often.

Pearson is likely to try to cut off the cage whenever possible while trying to keep the distance close. At least, that’s what he should do. There is no profit to be had by staying at kicking range with Barboza and pittering around while having your legs hacked at. Also, while Pearson’s defensive wrestling is still a problem, he has shown a willingness and an ability to clinch and even take down opponents with about the same level of defensive wrestling as Barboza has. He may do that if the going gets a bit too tough while standing or if he senses that he needs to steal a round.

I still think this is a standup battle in the making, though, and while I can see Pearson doing well and maybe even winning, Barboza simply has more tools. Barboza’s lack of killer instinct against Anthony Njokuani was troubling, but I think he can out-point Pearson this Saturday.

Prediction: Barboza by decision

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub

There are plenty of reasons for Nogueira fans to feel optimistic leading up to his matchup with the talented Schaub. Chief among them is that he should be healthier than he has been in years, thanks to surgeries addressing hip and knee problems that have plagued him in recent years.

However, there’s always a flip side: those surgeries have kept him out for a year and a half, and he returns at 35 as a largely unknown commodity, at least compared to what you’d expect of a veteran with 39 fights. Who can say what a healthy Nogueira would even look like? Furthermore, how much will age and the mileage of so many brutal fights continue to affect him?

Then, there’s Schaub, who is always hard to handicap for other reasons: he’s getting better with every fight. He has undoubtedly continued to grow as a fighter in the last five months, but how much?

If Schaub fights like a moron, Nogueira will win. There’s simply no way in hell that Schaub should be willing to take this fight to the mat. If he does, they need to immediately stand up both fighters and administer a field sobriety test to the younger fighter, as he clearly is not of his right mind. I don’t care how much he worked on his jiu-jitsu, this is not his “Matt Hughes taking Royce Gracie down” moment.

Barring that, Schaub wins. I’m sorry, but his movement, striking, and power are too much. On top of that, I’m not sure how much Nogueira’s boxing has been affected by his previous injury problems, but his technique is lacking, particularly defensively. He is too content to eat shots, and that will be his undoing here. Hey, I wouldn’t mind being wrong and marking out with the rest of you to another great submission win by Minotauro, but I just can’t call it that way.

Prediction: Schaub by decision

Forrest Griffin vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

What do we make of their first fight back in 2007? We all remember nearly four years ago when a determined Griffin shocked us all by weathering the early storm and prevailing against what appeared to be a very out-of-shape Shogun, tapping him out with a rear naked choke that even the biggest Griffin fan would have to admit was merely academic at that point in the bout.

I say we cast it aside and pretend it didn’t happen. Too much has happened since then, after all. In Shogun’s case, there are much more recent fights that can be used to build a compelling argument in favor of a Griffin win, anyway. Shogun looked fairly awful against Jon Jones, although Jones certainly had plenty to do with that. Still, I haven’t seen the explosive, scary Shogun that we saw in Pride at any point in Shogun’s UFC career, save for his quick knockout of rival Lyoto Machida at UFC 113. Yet another knee surgery followed that bout of course, and then we have the Jones disappointment, and now, here we are.

I have no doubt of Shogun’s talent, but I also have no doubt of Griffin’s determination, ability to build a good game plan (and more importantly, to stick with it) and sound fundamentals. I actually think Griffin is in the most trouble in this one if Shogun is able to take him down, though I don’t know that Shogun will feel he’ll need to do so.

The problem is that Griffin isn’t going to fight him in a patient, moderately paced bout where Shogun is allowed to pick his shots, like he did in his first fight with Machida. Instead, Griffin will pressure Shogun, which means he will inevitably wear him out. Then, it becomes a much more one-sided affair (again).

I want to pick Shogun here, but I can’t. I decided awhile ago to stop incorporating my own natural sense of optimism into my picks whenever possible. Sometimes, a fighter isn’t going to bounce back, isn’t going to look the way he used to, and isn’t going to be the “old” version of himself again. Shogun hasn’t shown me enough evidence to the contrary to pick him here. Forrest will want it more, and that will make the difference.

Prediction: Griffin by decision

UFC Middleweight Championship
Anderson Silva (champion) vs. Yushin Okami

So, Okami’s finally done it. After a 10-2 record in the UFC, he will get a shot at the middleweight title just two days before the fifth anniversary of his Octagon debut. Also, there’s the whole “Silva’s fought everybody else already” thing, so let’s not forget that.

While just about everybody is picking Silva here, a number of people are getting cute with the MMAth and deducing that because Sonnen was able to take Silva down and beat him for nearly 25 minutes, Okami should be able to do so and avoid getting submitted at the last moment, thereby winning the title. Right?

In the words of Brand Nubian, “slow down“. Have we not learned by now that while you can learn from previous fights, each fight takes place in its own little bubble, and you can’t count on Fighter B simply following Fighter A’s blueprint?

That’s not to say that Okami won’t try, of course. And by the way, there was nothing particularly genius about a guy (Chael Sonnen) going “huh, I’m a pretty good wrestler and Anderson’s takedown defense is holier than a gaggle of Christmas carolers.” Also, even if Anderson’s takedown defense was Liddellian in its greatness, Sonnen would have worked the same damn strategy regardless, because that’s what he does. Same with Okami.

However, Silva is not stupid. It’s not as if he has no idea what Okami will be planning on doing. It’s not as if he’ll be surprised when Okami tries to double-leg him through the cage and into Dana White’s lap on Saturday night.

Furthermore, let’s not forget that Sonnen still went through a number of standup exchanges en route to winning the first four rounds of his bout with Silva. One of the reasons he did so well is that he did a great job of striking with Anderson. Okami will not be able to do the same, and I think his more one-dimensional focus on takedowns will make him predictable and put him in danger.

Unless Silva goes absolutely batshit crazy again and starts breakdancing in the cage while galloping away from Okami and telling “yo mama” jokes in Portuguese to get under his skin, this is his fight to lose. We all get a little bored of greatness now and then and want to talk ourselves into the position of devil’s advocate, but Okami will find nothing but disappointment in Rio. It’s just a matter of when and how.

Prediction: Silva by KO/TKO

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Before we get started, a quick note on my criteria: for one, I place emphasis on how close to being defeated the eventual winner was. It’s not much of a comeback without being close to losing, right? Another important thing is how quick and dramatic the swing of momentum is. What we saw last night was a great comeback because in literally just a few seconds, the tables turned. Finally, there’s the all-important aspect of my own impartiality. That’s right, overruling even the first two criteria will be my own vague reasons and personal opinion. That’s the criterion I’ll be pointing you too if you write me an e-mail to disagree, by the way. We MMA writers are nothing if not fully accountable for our opinions, after all!

10. Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef (Strikeforce: Miami, Jan. 2010)

The Setup

Everyone expected the proverbial sparks to fly in this matchup between two of the most powerful and aggressive strikers in the sport. However, early on it was Manhoef’s stinging leg kicks that made Lawler uncomfortable as the fight started to look like Lawler’s doomed effort against Pete Spratt at UFC 42.

It Was “Over” When…

Lawler was backed up into the cage with 2:15 remaining by repeated leg kicks that sent his lead leg flying out from under him. As Manhoef started looking for the kill with powerful hooks to the head and body, all Lawler could do was put his guard up and try to block the punches as well as possible. Naysayers may say that Lawler was never that close to being put away in this one, but I beg to differ. He couldn’t have taken many more of those leg kicks (“[Manhoef] tore my legs up,” he said afterward) and it was about as one-sided a round as you’ll see. Right before Lawler changed everything, Manhoef had landed 24 of 38 strikes while Lawler had only even thrown three strikes total.

It was Really Over When…

With 1:31 left, Lawler ate yet another hard kick to the inside of his lead leg while backup up to the cage. Immediately after, he ducked and threw a massive overhand right that connected perfectly and dropped Manhoef. As Manhoef was falling, Lawler followed him to the floor and landed a follow-up left that put Manhoef completely left. Another right landed just after Lawler fell down on top of Manhoef, but it was unnecessary and the fight was being broken up anyway. Lawler landed just three strikes the entire fight- the punch that dropped Manhoef, the left that put him out completely, and the follow-up right on the ground.

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Everyone (Various, 2002-2008)

The Setup

It’s hard to leave any Nogueira fights out, so I have three choices. And yes, that makes this a Top 12 instead of a Top 10, but I’m okay with that and you should be too, dear reader. The three fights would be Nogueira’s wins over Bob Sapp (Pride-Shockwave), Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Pride-Final Conflict 2003), and Tim Sylvia (UFC 81). Sapp isn’t the most talented fighter, but had over 100 pounds on Nogueira, while Cro Cop was one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the world and Sylvia was an unpopular but effective former UFC champion.

It Was “Over” When…

Sapp literally dropped Nogueira on his head with a piledriver, Cro Cop finished a dominating ten-minute opening round with a head kick that knocked Nogueira on his backside at the bell, and Sylvia hurt Nogueira multiple times with punches en route to winning the first two rounds of their bout.

It was Really Over When…

Nogueira took advantage of Sapp’s lack of ground skills and cardio by locking in an armbar from side control, finally got Cro Cop to the mat and beat him by armbar, and pulled guard on Sylvia, swept him and guillotined him from side control as the bigger man attempted to get up. In MMA history, no one has turned imminent defeat into victory via submissions like Nogueira has.

8. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kestutis Smirnovas (K-1 Hero’s 6, Aug. 2006)

The Setup

Sakuraba was making his K-1 Hero’s [sic] debut against Smirnovas, a Lituanian fighter who had compiled an 18-5 career record but hadn’t done anything of note before their fateful matchup. Sakuraba, of course, was a legend in Pride whose career was only marred by Pride’s repeated decision to put him up against much larger fighters. He then debuted in the grammatically incorrect K-1 Hero’s with high hopes of returning to his former glory.

It Was “Over” When…

Smirnovas dropped Saku with a left hook, then right hook during a wild exchange just forty seconds into the fight. Saku fell to his hands and knees and Smirnovas straddled him, turning him to his back and landing eight stiff right hands in a row right on Saku’s chin as he alternately appeared to be out of it or just plain dazed. There was a quick restart as Saku’s head had gone under the bottom rope and Sakuraba was dragged back into the ring quickly, and an impatient Smirnovas landed another right before the fight was even restarted. When it was resumed just a couple of seconds later, Smirnovas went back to work with left-handed hammerfists and more rights as Saku struggled to get to his hands and knees and escape. He took several shots to the back of the head as well, as this bout wasn’t exactly an example of great refereeing, to put it incredibly lightly.

It was Really Over When…

Saku finally overwhelmed a completely gassed Smirnovas with punches standing up, prompting the Lithuanian to roll to the mat. Sakuraba sloooowwwwly pushed Smirnovas’ legs aside almost casually and settled into side control. From there, it was just a moment before he spun for the armbar and got it, ending a fight that 99.9% of MMA referees would have stopped minutes earlier, and with good cause. Still, though you wouldn’t have blamed the referee for stopping it when Smirnovas was playing the conga drums on poor Saku’s head and face, you also can’t argue with the fact that Sakuraba obviously was able to continue and finish the fight in his own favor. Sadly, Sakuraba was already a shell of his former self and has been even worse since this fight, putting up a mediocre 6-6 record since then.

7. Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee (UFC 114, May 2010)

The Setup

You couldn’t find a better antithesis to Duffee than Russow. Duffee was the new, marketable prospect in the UFC’s heavyweight division with a chiseled body and intimidating look. Russow was the doughy, hype-less wrestler with a workmanlike attitude that was supposed to provide more material for Duffee’s highlight reel.

It Was “Over” When…

Halfway through the third round, Duffee had dominated Russow, outstriking him 45-10 while thwarting all of his takedown attempts easily. Duffee had used his reach and superior striking technique to frustrate and hurt Russow, though Russow’s sturdy chin had kept him conscious through it all. With a couple of minutes to go, a tiring Duffee was cruising to a unanimous decision victory.

It was Really Over When…

Literally out of nowhere, a Russow right hand landed flush on the temple of Duffee, sending him down to the canvas. A follow-up shot forced Josh Rosenthal to jump in and stop the fight at 2:32 of the third round as fans reacted in disbelief and awe. The punches were just the 14th and 15th strikes that Russow landed in the entire 12 1/2 minute fight, and Russow was 0 for 9 on takedown attempts, to boot. Duffee had injuries and other issues push him out of his scheduled bouts after that before the UFC finally just released him from his contract after a 1-1 record in the UFC.

6. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (UFC 117, Aug. 2010)

The Setup

After months of trash talking, Chael Sonnen was finally going to face Anderson Silva for Silva’s UFC Middleweight Championship. Few believed that Sonnen could actually back up the epic levels of verbal vomit he had spewed at anyone who would listen for months before the matchup.

It Was “Over” When…

The fifth and final round began and Silva had barely put up a fight through four full rounds of action. Sonnen had taken Silva down at will and even out-struck him in several exchanges, and even though the majority of the fight had taken place on the mat, Silva had not even attempted a submission other than a short-lived kimura attempt in round two. Sonnen had landed more strikes in every single round and with 2 1/2 minutes to go, he was on top of Silva again and looking at not only a win, but a possible 50-45 or even 50-44 result on the judges’ scorecards.

It was Really Over When…

Sonnen allowed Silva to control his left wrist for about 45 seconds while he simply continued punching away with his right hand, and then Silva suddenly went for the triangle choke, which was obviously trouble for Sonnen from the get-go. Sonnen fought it off as well as he could, but when Silva torqued his arm as well, Sonnen had to tap to the triangle/armbar combination to end the fight in stunning fashion.

5. Scott Smith vs. Cung Le (Strikeforce: Evolution, Dec. 2009)

The Setup

This fight was a striker’s delight on paper between the tough and powerful Smith and the technically proficient and flashy Le, who hadn’t fought in almost two years after his one-sided win over Frank Shamrock, but also hadn’t lost in 6 professional MMA bouts.

It Was “Over” When…

Le had battered Smith for three straight rounds, landing just about any kick he could imagine with apparent ease and hurting Smith multiple times with kicks and punches to the head and body. Smith had dropped both rounds, with the first being a likely 10-8 for Le as Smith was nearly finished in the opening stanza. With just two minutes left, Le was picking his spots while closing out what was surely a one-sided decision victory.

It was Really Over When…

Smith followed up a short left hook that clipped Le with a desperation rally that concluded when a right cross dropped Le to his stomach. Smith finished with right hands on the ground to force intervention from “Big” John McCarthy to complete the stunning and sudden comeback.

4. Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin (UFC 116, July 2010)

The Setup

Billed as a fight that couldn’t possibly go the distance, everyone expected this one to be finished within one round. Carwin, the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, had never gone past the first round in his career- a career in which all of his fights had ended in KOs or TKOs in his favor. Meanwhile, Lesnar was possibly the only man in the UFC or elsewhere that could match Carwin in size, power, and wrestling ability, making Lesnar’s title defense a much anticipated one. The fact that Lesnar was returning from a lengthy layoff due to a career-threatening bout with diverticulitis just hyped fans for the fight even more.

It Was “Over” When…

Carwin swarmed on Lesnar after clipping him in the first round, landing 52 strikes on the mat as Lesnar just tried to stay alive however he could. Several times during the one-sided beating it appeared as if referee Josh Rosenthal was about the stop the fight, but he wisely did not even as Carwin continued punishing the champ.

It was Really Over When…

Well, when Lesnar took a fatigued Carwin down in the second round, but it was really over much earlier than that. I would almost say that it was a done deal when Carwin wasn’t able to finish Lesnar in the first and Lesnar popped up and finished the first round with a takedown attempt of his own. Carwin was seriously exhausted and had nothing left in him, as Lesnar easily took him down early in the second and finished him with an arm triangle from starting from the mount, then side control shortly after.

3. Scott Smith vs. Pete Sell (The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale, Nov. 2006)

The Setup

Neither fighter was in reach of a title shot, nor was either fighter any kind of household name, the fight was just a fun matchup between two pretty good strikers at the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter 4. If not for the finish, this fight would have simply been another good fight and nothing more.

It Was “Over” When…

As Smith circled away with 1:41 left in the second round, Sell reached out with a left and landed a hook to Smith’s body that immediately hurt him. Smith winced and started to double over in pain and Sell moved in for the kill.

It was Really Over When…

Smith pulled himself together just long enough to launch a perfect straight right that instantly dropped Sell (and another look in slow-mo). Another right followed, but it was unnecessary as Sell had already been beaten and the fight was being stopped. Smith couldn’t even celebrate the victory, as he immediately went back to being doubled over in pain after the fight was stopped. It was one of the most incredible sequences in MMA history.

2. Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg II (UFC 52, Apr. 2005)

The Setup

Trigg had previously challenged Hughes for his title at UFC 45, but fell to a rear naked choke in the first round. Humbled, he TKO’d both Dennis Hallman and Renato Verissimo to earn another shot at Hughes at UFC 52. Trigg was determined to make sure that this one didn’t end up like their first fight.

It Was “Over” When…

Referee Mario Yamasaki didn’t see Trigg land a knee right to Hughes’ twig-and-berries early in the first round. Hughes winced in pain and circled away to get some space to recover, but Trigg was all over him. He swarmed Hughes with punches and ended up mounting, then attempting a rear naked choke of his own on Hughes.

It was Really Over When…

Hughes escaped the choke as Trigg had gotten too far off onto Hughes’ left side when he took his back. He turned into Trigg against the cage to escape, and as Trigg went to stand he picked him up and carried him quickly across to the other side of the cage before slamming him down. After gaining the mount, he peppered Trigg with punches and elbows before Trigg was forced to give up his back. From there, Hughes sank in a rear naked choke to get another submission win over his rival. It was possibly the greatest momentum change in MMA history and was even Dana White’s favorite fight of all-time for many years (and possibly still is).

1. Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (UFC Live 4, June 2011)

The Setup

Two heavyweights needing a win to move towards the upper echelon of the division were facing off. Both were accomplished strikers, but many expected Kongo to use his improved wrestling to get an extra edge against the flashy and powerful Barry.

It Was “Over” When…

Barry clipped Kongo with a right hand with 2:47 left in the first round, setting off an unbelievable 26 seconds of MMA. The right hook landed behind Kongo’s ear and wobbled him to the mat, and Barry was all over him. You could make very compelling cases for a referee stoppage with 2:41 and 2:34 remaining, and Miragliotta even made contact with the fighters at one point when he had moved in for a stoppage but decided against it as Kongo suddenly showed signs of life. Kongo was stumbling around and trying to get to his feet however he could, as he was dropped two seperate times.

It was Really Over When…

After getting up for the second time, Kongo stumbled back to the fence with Barry swinging aggressively at him. Suddenly, Kongo landed a right that gave Barry pause for just an instant, and then a perfect right uppercut that knocked Barry out cold as he continued trying to put Kongo away. Barry flopped limply to his back as Kongo gave a couple of extra shots for good measure, prompting Dan Miragliotta to stop the fight officially at 2:39 of the first round.

Honorable Mentions:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (Pride 26, June 2003)
–”The Last Emperor” got nailed early with a right hand that had him wobbling around the ring, but hung with it long enough to land some big shots of his own and finish the powerful Fujita with a rear naked choke.

Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida (The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, Dec. 2007)
–Huerta was down two rounds to none going into the third round and Guida looked as fresh as ever going into the final stanza. An epic staredown before the third round came just a half-minute before the finish as a suddenly-reinvigorated Huerta landed a head kick and submitted Guida with a rear naked choke to complete the sudden comeback.

Scott Smith vs. Benji Radach (Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, Apr. 2009)
–Similar to the Cung Le fight in that Radach had dominated the action early on, winning the first two rounds. Radach notched a 10-8 second round in the opinions of many as he cut Smith open and rocked him badly, as well. Then, Smith landed a right hand just after being tossed on his head that changed the fight. Radach tried to rally in return, but another right put him out cold and completed yet another comeback for Smith.

Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski (UFC 59, Apr. 2006)
–Think Smith vs. Sell, except that Arlovski hurt Sylvia by going to the head, not to the body, and the whole thing was quite a bit more lumbering and sloppy-looking. Arlovski hurt Sylvia early in their fight with a big right hand, but when he moved in for the kill, Sylvia clipped him with a short right that ended his night suddenly and brutally. This actually gets knocked down a notch simply because the two were so overly respectful in their following fight (the rubber match between the two) that they laid one of the all-time stinkers in the cage at UFC 61 in a five-round snoozefest.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Jackson from Nevada writes:

It is interesting to me that Chael Sonnen will get an immediate rematch with Anderson Silva, even though Sonnen was beaten by submission. It seems like most of the time, an immediate rematch only happens after a close decision or a fight that has some controversy to it, like a bad stoppage. I think that maybe this shows that people don’t respect the submission game enough…like Anderson was getting beaten and pulled off a “lucky submission”. What do you think?

It’s an interesting theory. However, I think that most of it just has to do with how Sonnen was dominating 23 minutes of the fight until that point. That kind of quick comeback just doesn’t happen much. Here are the reasons why I don’t take it the way you took it:

1) Because people do the same thing with knockouts. How many times have we heard a fighter shrug off a knockout loss and say “I just got caught”, or something similar? As if being knocked unconscious by an opponent is somehow not decisive. We’ve all heard the phrase “lucky punch”, too. To me, it seems like sudden knockouts that aren’t the cause of a referee stoppage due to nonstop, consistent abuse are often passed off as luck, much more so than submissions, actually.

2) Look at a similar result from the Fedor-Werdum fight. Now, notice I said a similar result. The fights were completely different- one was a one-sided 23-minute war, and the other was a quick submission in 69 seconds, of course. However, the result was similar in each. In each fight, a fighter (Fedor in one, Sonnen in the other) made a tactical mistake, and paid the price by being submitted.

However, you don’t hear nearly as much outcry over the Fedor fight being fluky as you do with the Sonnen fight, which I think backs up my point that much of the desire for an immediate rematch has to do with the entire fight and not just the way it ended. I mean, there are still plenty of people out there who don’t understand or appreciate the ground game, but anyone who knows MMA knows that the finish was all skill on Silva’s part.

Now, it wouldn’t have happened if Sonnen hadn’t relinquished wrist control and gone into defensive mode, allowing Silva to set it up, but that’s a different matter, entirely…

Daryl from parts unknown keeps it short and sweet:

Nogueira’s out and Cro Cop is in against Frank Mir at UFC 119. Thoughts?

I like it. I think I actually like it more than the original fight, honestly. I don’t know that Mir-Nogueira 2 would have been that different than the first one, honestly. If the fight had a better chance of hitting the mat for an extended period of time, I would be much more interested, but I think Mir would just out-strike Nogueira again like last time, though we may not get such a decisive, early finish because Nogueira was sick for that one.

Mir-Cro Cop should be good, if Cro Cop can continue to party like it’s 2005. I also think that while Cro Cop’s takedown defense hasn’t had a good test in a while, Mir has just the right combination of cockiness and confidence in his standup to test out the former Pride superstar standing up. It’s an interesting fight, for sure.

Jay from Moline, IL writes:

Sooooooo, I thought you were going to have more Bellator coverage. We haven’t had anything for the past two weeks, though. What gives?

I hate to pass the buck, Jay, but you need to take this one up with my cable company for their “outstanding service”. Things should be back on track for next week, though. I was able to see both of the last two weeks of Bellator events, but not until time had long since passed to actually cover the events, sadly.

E-Mail Jon Hartley