Middleweight powers shift in latest ESPN rankings
ESPN.com updated their power rankings for the middleweight division’s top 10 MMA fighters. Topping the list as always is UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva followed surprisingly by Vitor Belfort. By most accounts Chael Sonnen despite his 2nd loss to Silva, or Chris Weidman should probably have that spot. According to ESPN they are stalemated in a tie for 3rd place. Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold sits comfortably in the middle of the pack still in 6th place. The rest of the rankings are as follows.
1. Anderson Silva 32-4-0
2. Vitor Belfort 21-9-0
3. Chris Weidman 9-0-0
3 Chael Sonnen 27-12-1
5 Michael Bisping 22-4-0
6 Luke Rockhold 10-1-0
7 Hector Lombard 31-2-1
8 Mark Munoz 12-3-0
9 Alan Belcher 18-6-0
10 Ronaldo Souza 15-3-0
Do you agree?
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Wtf has weidman really done its another UFC hype train he needs at LEAST one more fight against a true top 5
I agree with you 100% Cody….Weidman should not be ranked third. Also Belfort has no business being at two either. Obviously ESPN has no idea what they’re talking about…
Belfort has dominated everyone in the octagon in the first round apart from AS has every right to be there. We all know he will decapitate bisping , Lombard and anyone else who thinks they can stand toe to toe
Outside of Sonnen and Belfort losing to Silva who has a better last 3 fights than Belfort?
Franklin( KO)
Akiyama( KO) Same person who went the distance with Belcher and Pillow Hands Bisping
Johnson( !st Rd Sub)
Very true. He won one recent fight. That doesn’t make him #1 contender.
i think Chael should be number 2 since he’s been the most dominate against Anderson
nah i think victor belfort or micheal bisping should get a shot Sonnen f***ed up when he tried to get all fancy and end silva with a move that Anderson sees 10 time outta 10 is striking is above average at best so… no
vice, they should get a shot, you’re right. but chael is the second best in the division until someone besides anderson silva beats him
Jermery Horn did it 3 times so he should be the #2 guy at midweight
Nick, what are you talking about? Jeremy Horn hasn’t fought a fighter worth a damn since Nate Marquardt in ’08, and Nate beat him. Just because Jeremy has beaten Chael in the past doesn’t make him a top contender.
Put belfort against chael cuz he’s saying he’s always te top contender but is always dodging him and other fighters.
Jeremy horn.. LMAO!! That was back in the day.. he beat chuck to and look what chuck did to him in the rematch so stop bringin up old shit.. the only MW that has a chance against Silva is Sonnen
I hope your joking lol
Vitor got a shot…I think he’s still seeing birds from that kick…and bisping is a panzy…a real chump that would get dominated by any top contender…stann will probably ko that stupid chap
I actually think that bisping should be ahead of Chael. Due to me thinking that bisping won their fight.
I think he won that fight as well. Chael has not looked the same at all since he has had to lower his TRT to an acceptable level since getting busted abusing TRT to achieve extreme levels in the body.
Where is Brain Stann and Michael Bisping, I like Belcher but I think they should be higher than him.
Bisping is at number 5.
Everybody is freaking out about Weidman, he hasnt proved shit yet, anybody who saw the munoz fight could see he wasnt on his game, other that that fight he has beaten nothing but pushovers, lets see him againts a Sonnen, Bisping or belfort and he will be totally dominated
Well said THETUDE.I agree.He looked like a can on the feet when he fought Maia.
Other than A close fight against each other who have bisping and chael beat? Vitor is a beast but you give chael props for what? At least chael had some notable wins over Nate, okami, and stann. (none of whom made that top 10 list) bisping strings some wins against pushovers too and failed to set himself apart in the chael fight, knocked out by Hendo and couldn’t even hold it together against wandy ( who was a beast but his glory days are gone now IMO). At least weidman has actually beat a fighter in that top 10 list decisively. I don’t think he is amazing just yet or anything but discrediting his wins and praising wins of lower caliber in the form of bisping makes little sense to me.
You’re crazy. Munoz off his game or not, he got destroyed. The flexibility of Weidman has me excited to see him fight Silva– he has the best shot at winning imo. No matter what though, if you think he’d be “dominated” completly by those guys you’re just being a hater.
+100000 … Weidman is def. the #1 contender because he just looks like the perfect matchup. He has the wrestling of Chael but the standup to follow it up. And we all see what happens when Anderson gets put on the ground by a good wrestler, but with Weidman, I think that he will be a little bit mpore technical and watch for submissions instead of leaving his left arm in EVERY SINGLE TIME he GNP’s like Chael does. I think he can pull a major upset and dethrone Silva just by watching his technique and seeing how comfortable he is in the cage. Thats only if Silva doesn’t dodge this fight, or delay it until mid 2013 or some crap… And let the Silva nuthugger’s come out the woodwork to defend their boyfriend… EMERGE from your little cracks and begin your anti-anything Silva attitude!!! EMERGE!!!
Hahaha. He just had one fight so he’s fresh in your head. No one in the division has a realistic chance. Look at who’s lost to who and Anderson has beat all the winners just about. But now there is a new bandwagon for people to jump on. Lol. Let’s see how people feel over the next few events as fighters fight.
He’s the next person with a real shot. They say that about the last and the last before that and the one before that. But no one has yet. One fight does not make a person the next. Lol
switch sonnen and chris and hell yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
why is vitor number 2?!?!
Where’s #4???? Lol
it’s a tie between the two 3′s
no
bisping, lombard, and belcher should all be above weidman.
Vitor as number 2? Thats a joke…Chael beats every one of these guys except Anderson IMO
Weidman doesnt belong in top 5..should be outside of 8th rank if anything
Belcher is ranked 9 that’s crazy.he hasn’t fought top contenders yet agreed but bisbing hasent either.belcher should be top 5
Bisping did, and he lost to Sonnen, I agree about Belcher
Everybody seems to be complaining about Weidman but what about Vitor? What has he done at MW aside from KO Akiyama and getting ko’d by silva? How should that warrant him the number 2 spot?
Sonnen is still #2
lol @ this
Belfort ahead of Sonnen? Really? Belfort???
What a croc of sh*t
You mean sides doing something belcher and Bisping couldn’t do which is end akiyama in 1rd or that he koed Franklin at 195 or destroyed an obvious light heavy in Anthony Johnson.
Sides he’s number two because hecactualy finishes people
+100000000000000000000000000000
And gets finished by Silva with a front kick for Christ’s Sake!!!???
I think the reason why Vitor is above Sonnen is because ESPN probably considered his last two fights… which ended by KO and Submission. Though His loss to Anderson is still fairly recent. I say Vitor Vs Belcher or Weidman. Bisping vs Stann.. Lombard in the mix somewhere if he wins this week. Interesting match ups.
But Vitor is a more agrasive striker were Anderson is a counter striker so he probly just tried not to get caught but then let front kick land on his chin
Chael Sonnen number one forever….michael bisping number three
i agree that vitor is the number 2 guy on paper! but he got knocked out in 2 mins against silva and didnt land a punch, that puts u way back of the line. beating a black robot and knocking out a welterweigth akiyamma dosnet cut it. he needs 1 more win! if bisping beats stann they should make weidman vs vitor. for number 1 contender fight against bisping its that simple. if stann beats bisping i dont think he should get it he would need another win after getting destroyed so easy by chael. the reason that bisping is still in the mix is that he was on a 4 fight win streak before chael fight, and we all know that fight was a fix for the biggest ufc fight in history just so they could make alot off$$$$$$$ even dana white said bisping got it so one would think that bisping perfromance would keep him as a contender even if he got the L
Then what does going the distance with a Welterweight Akiyama get you then? ( Bisping) and to the poster below I hate Bisping but to say Stann deserves to be higher when he was Chaels first finish in like 6 years is ridiculous.
Agree. Simple too
Middle weight grand prix or something damnit
I agree with Vitor being #2,But I think Hector Lombard should be #3.And Brian Stand. Should be higher than Bisping,than again he’ll get a chance to prove that
Looks pretty good!
sonnen vs belfort in brazil
Wherew tim boetch on this list. Hes getting no respect.
Don’t agree! Sonnen is still number 2. Weidman still needs to fight some top contenders, def, hyping that kid up. Who in the hell has he beat besides Mark Munoz. Silva would most likely ko that cat for sure. Luke Rockhold and Hector Lombard have yet to face any current lUFC weight talent so how can you put them in the top 10. Bellator and Strikeforce don’t have anywhere close to UFC talent. Not to say there not some of the best, but you have to prove it against the best before you can be put in this conversation. Alan Belcher again another hype story, the guy gets one great win and now he’s one of the best. The guys very talented and he may be one of the best guess thats why he has the nick name the talent, but its not about talent and potential its about production and consistency and he hasn’t had very much of that. And I have one question where the hell is Okami name in this picture. The guys great and hardly ever loses. He has recent loses to Anderson Silva and Time Boetsch in a fight in which he was completely dominating. That guy is def, in the top 10 for sure no doubt and probably top 5 in the middleweight division. So no the list is def. incorrect!!
The list looks good but look out for Nate Marquardt as a middle weight.
This list is bullshit. ESPN should focus on stickball and rigged boxing fights.
All I know is some1 is seriously smoking some good stuff. With those rankings.
Weidman will go down a few ranks after 1 loss (which shouldnt be too far ahead in the future) , that 0 is keeping him where hes at.
wtf is bisbing doing 5th. Ed Herman should at least be 10th and brian stann should be on there to.
Chael is the only person to have won more than one round against AS. And 5 out of 7 rounds is serious! Until Weideman beats him, I think they should switch. And the difference between Chael and Belfort is Chael at least lasted longer than 2 minutes lol!
And, I think Rockhold and Lombard would eat Bisbing for lunch!
Yea and Stephen Bonnar lasted longer than Machida, Rua and Bader against Jon Jones, whats your point? Are you really saying Bonnar is better than any of those?
Chael is the only freekin person to beat AS for more than one round! And 5 out of 7 is serious, thats why he got another chance. Stupidest move ever lost him #2 lol.
I think Rockhold and Lombard would eat Bisbing’s lunch!
Wiedman beat 2 top 5 guys and 5 straight in the UFC he for sure deserves that ranking! The rest of the people that are hating need to just accept this!
Sorry, never saw the 1st until I posted the 2nd. Dork.
Brain stann would beat weidman
Brian Stann is the first man to be finished by Sonnen in like 6 years, he should never be considered a top contender again.
That is like being finished by Fitch, if it happens that should count against you ten fold.
I never said he was a top contender jackass. I said he would beat weidman
This is bullshit. Chael is still number 2. And where the hell is Brian Stann? Weidman is 6 at best. Whoever made these ratings is retarded.
Brian Stann isn’t up there because he A) Sucks and B) is the first person Sonnen has finished in 6 years.
Automatic point deduction for that crap.
Rockhold ahead of Belcher……. Seriously?????
Belcher is so underrated he’s only lost to Jason day akiyama and okami in the span of 6 yrs.most underrated fighter ever in the MW division.
Why does espn even have a ranking list?? Espn doesn’t give a **** about mma, it’s the fastest growing sport and they rarely if ever cover it, ****ing asssholes.
Sonnen should be #2
WTF?? ANDERSON SILVA AT1?? WTF HAS HE DONE OR BEAT? THIS LIST IS SHIT! ahaha jk
I think Silva should fight Weidman next. The sooner the better.
Wheres Marquardt?
Marquardt is Strikeforce champ Welterweight. This is the middleweight list.
Two fighters are Ranked number 3? Wtf?
alright, children.I’m here to save you and answer all of your questions. To those who said weidman doesnt belong here, good posts! he beat a out of character mark munoz, and that is all folks. Idgaf if he has the “skills” to beat silva(which he doesnt), he still doesnt have the wins. Vitor is above bisping and belcher because he finishes everyone he beats, is on a two fight winning streak, and finished akiyama, something bisping and belcher couldnt do. yes, sonnen should be above him, but belfort still should be above bisping and belcher. brian stann should be on here, jacare hasnt beat anyone so idk why is name is even being mentioned, and to be fair, lombard has no ufc wins either, so idk no why he’s so hyped either. in conclusion,weidman sucks, vitor should be near the top, and this list is no good. *GET EDUCATED*
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Dafuqs boestch at
They got the first 3 right it’s funny how people diss vitor but everybody turns down a fight with him in the ufc
Silva, Belfort, Lombard, Bisping, Belcher, Okami, Sonnen, Stann, Mayhem
Silva is the only one to beat Vitor (8-1) since 2006. Obviously Silva felt he was a big enough threat to pull out a move out of his bag for him. Weidman still needs to prove himself! He hasnt done anything worth a shot yet except for Munoz. As for Sonnen, I do think Bisping could of won that descision and if Anderson didnt clearly state that he was going to submit Chael in their first fight; the outcome would have been the same as the second fight (KO) and no one would be saying that Sonnen dominated Silva the first match- WAKE UP people! The next matchup should be Belfort vs Bisping/Weidman for a shot.