"The Half-Guarded Truth"
By: Mike Coughlin
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For the week of 09/21/08

"September Rankings"

Five Star Radio / The Half-Guarded Truth Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Another month, another round of fights, and another set of rankings.  Some fighters made big splashes – Rashad Evans comes to mind.  Some did not – Chuck Liddell.  Every #1 stayed the same, mostly because none of them have fought in the past month.  October will see Anderson Silva defend his title, but the real big news will be made in November and December when the UFC's heavyweight division takes center stage.  

As of 09/23/08

HEAVYWEIGHT

1) Fedor Emelianenko

2) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

3) Randy Couture

4) Josh Barnett

5) Andrei Arlovski

6) Tim Sylvia

7) Fabricio Werdum

8 ) Gabriel Gonzaga

9) Cain Velasquez

10) Frank Mir

CHANGES:  No changes.  Fedor's still on top.  Nogueira and Couture follow.  November sure will be interesting…

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

1) Forrest Griffin

2) Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

3) Rashad Evans

4) Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

5) Lyoto Machida

6) Chuck Liddell

7) Wanderlei Silva

8 ) Keith Jardine

9) Rameau Sokoudjou

10) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

CHANGES:  Um, yeah, Rashad Evans=2 0moves into the top 5.  You go out and crush Chuck Liddell's chin like you're Quinton Jackson and you get to be ranked really, really high.  Next up for Evans: a title fight with Griffin and a chance to become the number one ranked light heavyweight on earth.  How on earth did this guy once only beat Sam freaking Hoger by split decision?

MIDDLEWEIGHT

1) Anderson Silva

2) Dan Henderson

3) Paulo Filho

4) Matt Lindland

5) Robbie Lawler

6) Yushin Okami

7) Thales Leites

8 ) Nathan Marquardt

9) Frank Trigg

10) Gegard Mousasi

CHANGES:  Well, I've removed Rich Franklin.  After his defeat of Matt Hammil, it appears he'll be at light heavyweight from now on.  Good on him.  But, that left a spot open in the top 10.  Thus, Gegard Mousasi, winning the DREAM middleweight grand prix gets a top 10 ranking.  He ran through Yoon Dong-sik, Dennis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Jacare de Souza.  That's a nice little winning streak and the well-rounded European is looking more and more legitimate every time out.  Kazuo Misaki, with a 2nd round KO of Joe Riggs, also has a case for being in the top 10, but I just like Mousasi a bit more and remind folks that I sometimes like to use the #10 slot to spotlight a newer fighter.

WELTERWEIGHT

1) Georges St. Pierre

2) Jon Fitch

3) Jake Shields

4) Josh Koscheck

5) Thiago Alves
< br> 6) Matt Hughes

7) Diego Sanchez

8 ) Carlos Condit

9) Karo Parisyan

10) Matt Serra

CHANGES:  No changes.  Karo gets to keep his spot because he was too injured to fight.  Next month, with Alves v. Sanchez should be a great matchup between two top-10 welterweights.

LIGHTWEIGHT

1) BJ Penn

2) Takanori Gomi

3) Eddie Alvarez

4) Shinya Aoki

5) Joachim Hansen

6) Tatsuya Kawajiri

7) Gesius “JZ” Calvancanti

8 ) Vitor “Shaolin” Riberio

9) Caol Uno

10) Tyson Griffin

CHANGES:  No changes.  This might be the most stable the lightweight division has ever been.  Next month will see Tyson Griffin fight Sean Sherk in a fight that definitely has top 10 ranking ramifications.


POUND FOR POUND

1) BJ Penn

2) Anderson Silva

3) KID Yamamoto

4) Fedor Emelianenko

5) Georges St. Pierre

6) Urijah Faber

7) Miguel Torres

8 ) Shinya Aoki

9) Lyoto Machida

10) Dan Henderson

CHANGES:  No changes.  Seriously, everyone in this group could probably have some sort of claim to being the best fighter on earth, pound for pound.  If you like Fedor, go for it.  If you back Silva, awesome.  If you think Faber's the cat's pajamas … well, stop using that phrase.


Mike Coughlin is the host of Five Star Radio, foun d right here at the new f4wonline.com.  A weekly look at all things MMA, 5SR~! is your one-stop for non-stop MMA.  Sometimes he stares at ponds full of ducks.

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