All Time Rankings: Welterweights

Welterweight has long been considered the second most competitive division in MMA.  If you think about it, most men walk around between 170-200 pounds, basically fitting in the welterweight division.  I know that the cutoff is 170 but when you factor in the weight cut and the fact that a 230 lber like Anthony Johnson could (sometimes) make it, they all fit in there.  However, this division is really about four men.  Four men made this division.  The Pride Fighting Championships only had one welterweight champion, Kazuo Misaki.  They did one tournament and never much more.  The UFC welterweight championship has been contested 25 times.  Matt Hughes or Georges St. Pierre have been involved in 19 of those fights.  Only Pat Miletich's reign was untouched by those two men.  So, who fills in the spots after those titans is where the discussion begins.

Honorable mentions: Carlos Newton (UFC champion, 1-3 in title fights), Matt Serra (UFC Champion, 1-1 in title fights), Hayato Sakurai (Shooto Champion, 2-3 in title fights), Carlos Condit (WEC, Interim UFC Champion, 5-2 in title fights)


5. Nick Diaz
Record: 26-8 (1)
Years Active: 2001-present
Championships Held: IFC, WEC, Strikeforce
Title Fight Record: 7-3
Against UFC/Pride Champions Record: 2-2 (1)

I hate this.  I really do.  More than you know.  Nick Diaz is my absolute least favorite fighter ever.  When he said he was leaving MMA for boxing, I did a little dance. Same thing when his title shot was taken away.  While I do not wish physical harm on any fighter, I sure hope GSP beats him so bad that he just quits MMA.  Diaz encapsulates everything I dislike about MMA.  He has that arrogant thuggish attitude that non-fans expect to see.  His behavior would find him collecting unemployment checks if he was in any other career field.  And Stockton?  Come on son, you don't see Andre Dirrell running around screaming "810!  what b****!"    All right, beyond that he still deserves to be on this list.  Diaz's iron jaw and triathlete endurance have served him well.  He wears opponents down, gets under their skin with his mean mugging and trash talking, and forces them to do something stupid.  We will see shortly if he deserves to be bumped up on this list by beating GSP.

4. BJ Penn
Record: 16-9-2
Years Active: 2001-present

Welterweight Championships Held: UFC
Welterweight Title Fight Record: 1-2
Against UFC/Pride Welterweight Champions Record: 3-3

The #1 all-time lightweight is also the #4 welterweight of all time.  Why is a guy with a losing record at welterweight even on this list?  Well, first off it's my list and I can do whatever I want.  The real reason is what I wrote about earlier.  BJ Penn helped to make this division the premier division that it is today.  His win over Matt Hughes at UFC 63 not only shocked Hughes, but also the rest of the world.  Hughes was the world beater at the top of his powers.  Penn was the guy that couldn't even win the lightweight championship, how was he going to move up a weight class and take out possibly the top pound for pound fighter in the world?  By RNC, actually.  Since then, Penn's battles with Hughes and GSP has piqued the interest of the casual fan in fighters that don't look like they should be playing the D line for the Cowboys.  While most diehard Penn fans wish he would just stay home at 155, the contributions he made at 170 cannot be forgotten.



3. Pat Miletich
Record: 29-7-2
Years Active: 1995-2008
Championships Held: UFC 16 Tournament, UFC
Title Fight Record: 6-1
Against UFC/Pride Champions: 0-2-1

The Croatian Sensation might be better known for his coaching and commentating nowadays, but he had himself a pretty good little career before all that.  Miletich was the original UFC 170 lb champion, then called the lightweight division.  Miletich was one of the first to combine skills to have a multi-faceted attack.  He was a junior college wrestler as well as a midwest Muay Thai champion.  Miletich once even fought UFC Hall of Famer and Super Fight Champion Dan Severn to a draw.  Miletich won the UFC 170 lb title in a barn burner over Mikey Burnett and defended it four times (although he lost twice in Japan during this stretch) before submitting to a Carlos Newton bulldog choke.  Forced to move to middleweight to make way for his student Matt Hughes, Miletich lost to the much larger Matt Lindland and then took a four year break.  Miletich, even during the pinnacle of his career, coached three future UFC champions in Hughes, Jens Pulver, and Tim Sylvia.

1a and 1b. Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre
These men, equally dominant are only equalled by each other.  If GSP takes out #5 on this list, Carlos Condit, I'll put him on his own at #1.  For now, these two titans are equal in my eyes.


Georges St. Pierre
Record: 23-2
Years Active: 2002-present
Championships Held: UCC/TKO, UFC
Title Fight Record: 12-2
Against UFC/Pride Champions: 7-2

It is hard to remember a UFC welterweight division without GSP being the dominant champ.  GSP's two losses were probably the best things to ever happen to him.  His first fight against Matt Hughes proved to him that he could compete at the highest level of the sport.  It also taught him to stop with his hero worship.  His loss against Matt Serra taught him to never take an opponent lightly.  Since that turning point, Rush has not looked back.  GSP ranks second behind Hughes in UFC wins.  Second behind Anderson Silva in title wins.  He easily outdistances everyone in significant strikes landed, BJ Penn is a distant second, behind by almost 200.  He also ranks first in takedowns and takedown success percentage.  GSP entered primarily as a karate fighter that had picked up BJJ and converted to become the greatest MMA wrestler in the sport.  He never wrestled competitively, but his timing and combination of striking and takedowns has led to a 78% chance of him putting the other guy on his butt.  GSP is simply one of the greatest pound for pound fighters of all time.


Matt Hughes
Record: 45-9
Years Active: 1998-2011
Championships Held: UFC
Title Fight Record: 9-3
Against UFC/Pride Champions: 9-4

I wrote an expose over Mr. Hughes career in an earlier blog post after he officially retired a few weeks ago.  However, it would be wrong of me to not do a write up here as well. With the controversial smash win over Carlos Newton in UFC 34, the Hughes reign started.  Hughes and GSP are tied for a welterweight record (and second overall behind Anderson Silva) seven title defenses.  Hughes is first in UFC wins and second in UFC fights.  He is the prototype for all high level wrestlers to follow.  He combined his high flying slams with black belt level BJJ to become a terror on the mat. Hughes was also involved in a match that showed the changing of the guard when he very well should have submitted Royce Gracie.  Late in his career, Hughes finally got that stand up KO that he'd always wanted in his TKO over Renzo Gracie.  At his peak, Hughes was the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world and stands as one of the true greats in MMA history.

Next week, I'll count down the top middleweights in MMA history.

All Time Rankings: Lightweights

All rankings are subjective, as such mine are going to be made under my own criteria.  These continue championships, title defenses, historical significance, and my personal preference.  As this is my blog, I get to use it to push my own narcissistic agenda.  If you agree/disagree/don't know go ahead and drop a comment.  I'd be happy to tell you why I'm right.
Lightweight is the smallest weight class that I am going to make All Time Rankings for.  This is not for a lack of talent but rather the short time period.  The lightweight class did not debut a champion at the highest levels of the sport until February 23, 2001 when Jens Pulver defeated Caol Uno to become the first UFC lightweight champion.  The lightweight division wasn't even much of a factor when I first became a fan and in fact had no champion for four years until Sean Sherk defeated Kenny Florian at UFC 64 to become the second UFC lightweight champion.  Over in Pride, Takanori Gomi was the only champion to ever be crowned.  The fighters on my top 5 have a combined career record of 104-25-4 and held Pride, UFC, Strikeforce, Shooto, WEC, Reality Fighting and Rumble on the Rock championships.

Honorable Mention : Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian

5. Benson Henderson

Years Active: 2006-present
Record: 18-2
Championships: WEC, UFC
Championship Fight Record: 6-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 2-0

This was probably the hardest slot for me to pick.  I had it narrowed down between Henderson and Jens Pulver.  What did it for me in the end is that championship fight record.  That, and the fact that a Ben Henderson fight is guaranteed to be a FOY contender.  Henderson is the current UFC champion, having won it from Frankie Edgar and defending it against both Frankie Edgar and Nate Diaz.  A black belt in both Tae Kwon Do and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Bendo combines exciting stand up with solid wrestling and a seemingly untappable submission defense.  Henderson will be defending his belt on April 20th against the next man on this list.


4. Gilbert Melendez
Years Active: 2002-present
Record: 21-2
Championships: WEC, Strikeforce
Championship Fight Record: 10-1

I had to set aside my disdain for Cesar Gracie's crew of thugs and recognize that Gilbert Melendez is simply one of the most talented lightweights ever.  Look at that championship fight record.  His only loss on there was Josh Thomson, who he has beaten twice since.  I had a periphery knowledge of the man but was never really took notice until he made a mockery of the hated Shinya Aoki.  The destruction of the formidable Tatsuya Kawajiri had me convinced that he just might be the top lightweight fighter in the world.  Scott Coker calls Gilbert Melendez a pillar of Strikeforce.  You can't get much more elite than that.  The only thing left for him is to win his April 20th fight against the UFC champion, Benson Henderson.

3. Takanori Gomi
Years Active: 1998-present
Record: 34-8 (1)
Championships: Shooto, Pride
Championship Fight Record: 4-2

Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 1-1

For a time the "Fireball Kid" was considered the greatest lightweight in the world.  His following (read fanboys, counting me as one of them) regaled at him throwing heat at opponents in the Pride ring.  His baseball influenced punching style sent many men crashing to the canvas.  Before entering Pride, Gomi was the Shooto welterweight champion.  He defended the title once before relinquishing it to Joachim Hansen and then losing to BJ Penn. Gomi shared the honor of Sherdog 2005 Fighter of the Year with Shogun Rua.  At the peak of his powers Takanori would have been favored against any 155 lber in the world.

2. Frankie Edgar
Years Active 2005-present
Record: 15-4-1
Championships: Reality Fighting Championships, UFC
Championship Fight Record: 4-3-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 3-3
The modern day Rocky.  In my "Why Love MMA" post, I listed Frankie "The Answer" Edgar as the epitome of one of my main reasons.  The man has an iron will to go along with his iron jaw.  As has been said a lot lately, never has a man lost three consecutive fights but not any standing.  Just as Rocky was known as the underdog that simply would not stay down, Edgar proved in trilogy with Gray Maynard  that he can never be counted out of a fight.  He proved in his two fights with the legendary BJ Penn that he could win as a gigantic underdog.  After the first of the two fights, he was even nominated for an ESPY.  To date, Edgar has won five post fight awards, fight of the year and is ranked on multiple UFC top 10 statistics list.  At 31 years old, he will only add to this legacy and possibly enter his name onto the list of greatest featherweights and all time pound for pound greats as well.


1. B.J. Penn
Years Active:  2001-Present
Record: 16-9-2
Championships: UFC (weltwerweight and lightweight), Rumble on the Rock
Championship Fight Record: 6-5-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 7-7

Could there be anyone else?  Especially if you have read any of my previous posts, you would have seen this coming.  The Prodigy came sprinting into the cage in his early days with such a fire and intensity that was nearly impossible to match.  His willingness to fight anyone at any weight has defined him. He has fought from lightweight all the way to light heavyweight.  His one time foray into the light heavyweight division found him on the losing end of a decision to UFC champion Lyoto Machida.  That's right, he didn't get stopped when he went 50 pounds up from his natural weight and fought one of the best, he lost a decision.  His first victory over Matt Hughes and his dominance of the lightweight division in the UFC cemented Baby Jay as the greatest  lightweight of all time. 




Next week I will go through the top 5 welterweights of all time. 

Where the Wings can build

  Detroit suffered a serious swing and miss this past off season when striking out on both free agents, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.  It seemed destiny for the two stars to come to the franchise with the winning tradition, a place where Suter could take over the place of an icon and Parise could grow into even more of a star while playing with the NHLs magician in Pavel Datsyuk and newfound captain, Henrik Zetterberg.  The table was set with Detroit having copious amounts of cap space and available slots to fill.  Detroit fans were on the edge of their seats for the majority of the summer, just waiting for the good news.  Then....Minnesota cashes in....Minnesota?  The Mitten state heard a collective "What the hell?  Minnesota?"
   Minnesota swooped in and stole the prized free agents and came out on top of one of the biggest off-seasons in recent memory, leaving Detroit with close to 18 million in cap space, a retired captain and a team that is in desperate need of players who can change their fortunes.  There is no denying that Datsyuk and Hank are still great players.  We saw Hank hustle just about as hard as you'll ever see to complete a hat trick in a game against the St. Louis Blues that was already decided.  Already, we have seen a few jaw dropping passes coming from the stick of #13 to lead to scoring plays.  But how long can this last?  With the league getting younger and more finesse, aging players like Datsyuk (34) and Hank (32) could be less and less effective on the game in the coming seasons.
   Lets look back to the past 4 Stanley Cup Champions.  Last year Los Angeles cruised through the playoffs on the skates of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards, all under 30 years old.  Kopitar may be the best of the three and he is only 25 years old.   The year before that, Boston took out the older Vancouver, mostly on the shoulders of Tim Thomas dancing on his head, but Boston was loaded with players born in the late 80s and Tyler Seguin is young enough to be MY younger brother.  In 2010 the Chicago Blackhawks ended their Stanley Cup drought with then 22 year olds, Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews leading the way.  Their defense was also loaded with young stars in Duncan Keith, Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Seabrook. Last, and most unfortunately, we saw the young Pittsburgh Penguins win the rematch against our Red Wings in a most agonizing game seven.  Who were their key players?  Sidney Crosby who was 21 at the time, Evgeni Malkin, 22, a 20 year old Jordan Staal and a 24 year old Marc-Andre Fleury.  See a pattern?
  Today, the NHL is an incredibly different game, even from 5-6 years ago. The Wings are still living in the past. Young players are coming into the league with more size and skills than ever before, something that age cannot withstand.  Experience can only  do so much against players who have more size, speed and hustle.  Sure, Darren Helm is loved among Detroit fans for his hustle and determination, but he is only one player on a roster that is aging.  Chicago and Pittsburgh have multiple players on their roster with the hustle of Helm, but they are also players that can be depended on to come through with timely goals.
   Odds are I will be ostracized by my family and friends, but I am suggesting a semi blow-up of the team.  Johan Franzen has been a great piece of the Red Wings for the past several years, but age has slowed him down recently.  The expensive part of his 11 year contract has mostly passed and the cap hit will be lower and lower until he contract is up.  Why not shop Franzen for a young defensive stud like Kieth Yandle out of Phoenix or Jay Bouwmeester from Calgary.  Teams would love to get a veteran scorer like Franzen with some smaller names added to the package.  The Wings would clear up some cap space for a big summer while gaining young talent to sustain the blue line for years to come.  When Jonathan Ericsson is the biggest defensemen on your team, it is obvious that there needs to be some shaking up.  Ericsson may have the size to be a dominant blue liner, but his play is about as aggressive as his baby face.  
   The summer of 2013 brings a few big, young names to free agency, with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf being the cream of the crop.  Perry would bring a legitimate scoring threat to compliment the play making ability of Datsyuk or Hank, while the physical play of Getzlaf would be able to rival that of Los Angeles or Chicago. With only 17 filled roster spots and roughly 18 million to spend on next season, there is no reason to believe that the Wings won't push hard for the two best players on the market.  Detroit fans need to come to the realization that our team will most likely look entirely different for the 2013-2014 season.  Obviously defense is a priority for the Winged Wheel, but you can't ignore the explosiveness of the possible combination of Hank, Pavel, Perry and Getzlaf.  Defensively, Ryan Whitney of the Edmonton Oilers is a name that comes to mind for available players in the upcoming off season.  Whitney has plenty of post season experience, is relatively young (29 years old) and has experience of playing for teams with lofty expectations (2010 Team USA).
   There are plenty of places where the Wings need improvement, defense being the biggest need.  It's obvious something has to change.  I am hoping, begging, praying, that the Wings will swallow their pride of making the playoffs for 20+ years and do some serious realigning to be the pinnacle of success in the National Hockey League.  Our current talent is great if we were in the mid 2000s, but unless something changes quick, we will continue to be talking about 'The Glory Years' instead of being defending champs.  

The Top 5 KOs of MMA history

Not only am I an unabashed MMA fan, but I am also a lists and rankings geek.  I am eagerly awaiting Andy's countdown of the top Super Bowl teams. Heck, if you sent me a link of the world's smelliest farts, I'd at least consider clicking on it.
In that vein, I decided to do my own rankings. I plan to put out a series including all time greatest rankings for each weight class and then current rankings.  But first, let's start with the KOs.  The knockout is one of the greatest moment in sports.  It is the punctuation of any fight.  There is know "yeah buts" after a KO.  Here is my list of the Top 5.  I know that I have seen some others that probably deserve a slot, but these are the ones that made the cut:


Top 5 knockouts of all time

Honorable Mention: Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping, Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov, Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture, Nick Newell vs Adam Mays, Cris Santos vs Gina Carano

5. Gerard Gordeau vs Teila Tuli, UFC 1 November 12, 1993
I went with this one more because of it's significance that style or brutality.  This was the first KO in UFC history.  Before the fight everyone was a little curious about what this ultimate fighting championship would be.  Never mind that no one expected a certain 170 pound Brazilian to beat a field of savage looking men that were larger than him.  This first fight would set the tone for the rest of the night.  Gordeau's counter-striking combination of the sumo fighter's bull rush ended with a kick to the face while Tuli was kneeling.  His tooth went flying and the referee decided to get a closer look.  Brutal as it was, the fight would not have been stopped at that point in modern MMA.  Well, except for the kicking a downed opponent rule.  Anyway, that knockout kicked off (see what I did there?) UFC 1 and American MMA.

please ignore this silly "This is Sparta" soundbite.


4. Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Pride 28 October 31, 2004
This was Wanderlei Silva at his terrifying peak.  What they call "vintage" Wanderlei.  The animalistic rage, the terrifying stare.  Funny enough, one of the nicest athletes I've ever met.  This was the second meeting between Silva and Jackson in 11 months.  Silva capped it off with sending Jackson through the ropes in possibly the scariest knockout in history.  However, this fight was not one sided as Rampage had his moments.  Rampage would eventually get his revenge at UFC 92, but on this night he ended on the wrong end of some hellacious knees.

3. Anderson Silva vs Tony Fryklund Cage Rage 16 August 22, 2006
In actuality, I could easily do a top 10 of Anderson Silva's KOs.  This was, in my opinion, his most brilliant offering.  Tony Fryklund, who had recently been a recipient of one of the best submissions in history by Ivan Salaverry's body triangle, was a serviceable but certainly not top flight middleweight.  Anderson Silva was coming off the last loss of his career, a DQ loss to Yushin Okami.  This fight was Silva's last fight before his dominant UFC run.

2. Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim UFC 142 January 14, 2012
The 2012 Knockout Of The Year is nearly the top KO in history.  Barboza vs Etim was billed as a clash of young, exciting strikers.  It was, just not for Etim.  What came next was one of the slickest KOs in history, a spinning hook Etim's dome.  He went stiff before he even hit the ground.

1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs Ricardo Arona Pride Critical Countdown 2004 June 20, 2004
Rampage was on the receiving end of our #4 KO but gets the top billing on my list.  This fight was actually the elimination bout for Rampage's ill-fated title shot against Silva.  Arona was a former Abu Dhabi Combat Club Open weight champion, 2x ADCC under 99 kilo champion, ADCC super fight winner, and RINGS middleweight champion.  His grappling style could best be described as incredibly boring.  I own the first three DVDs in ADCC's "best of" series.  Arona's match against Jean Jacques Machado is included, but I'm not quite sure why.  Arona just laid on the smaller man without attempting a single submission that I can remember.  Machado consistently attempted submissions and sweeps but the bigger stronger man just held him down. In his 14 career victories, Arona mustered two submissions.  Three if you count Alistair Overeem tapping to strikes.  However, in the fight with Rampage he locked up tight triangle. Then Rampage did what you are never supposed to do while being stuck in a triangle, he slammed Arona.  The result was brual.

Here's an extra one for you Eddy Gordo fans out there:

Super Bowl Betting Preview

Let's face it.  You don't want to read another Super Bowl preview, and I don't want to write one.   Sure, this fine website will have an excellent blog breaking down the game, but there is so many ways you can break down the big game on Sunday.  But lets look at it in a different way, a fun, more lucrative way.  On websites like Bovada.lv (I can not officially endorse sports gambling, sadly it isn't legal in this state.  Get on that, Rick) you can place a bet on almost anything in the Super Bowl, like first points score by who to MVP to Jay-Z joining Beyonce on stage during halftime.  But I feel a lot of prop bets, although fun, are mostly left up to luck and not sports knowledge or research.  So if you choose to play a prop bet only, you can stop reading now.

If you are reading this, you want to make some money.  Currently, the Ravens are getting 4.5 points going into the game (it means they basically start the game up by 4.5 points.  To lose against the spread, the score would have to be the Niners winning by 5.  If you have any questions on how it all works, hit up the comment section) The over/under is set at 48.  The money line has yet to be set.  A money line is basically a pick 'em.  If the game is close (under 10 point spread) you can pick the team who wins, taking home more cash if you pick the underdog.  

If I were betting (or if I did, its the mystery of the dance) I would take the Ravens at +4.5.  I think the Ravens will win the game outright, so if I am getting points, that is a no brainer.  I also think if the Niners do win, it'll be close.  Darn close.  Closer than five points close.  Sure the Niners destroyed the Packers and squeaked by the Falcon on the road, but the Ravens beat the Colts, a red hot number one seed Broncos, and the Patriots on the road, where New England rarely loses.  I feel the Ravens have played better competition, and that will prepare them for the slug fest.  The Ravens have more experience on both sides of the ball and have the story of the postseason with Ray Lewis retiring to take all the deer antlers he wants.  The Niners may be more complete, but I still have the Ravens, with Flacco pulling an Eli Manning and silencing the doubters forever.  

For the over/under, I am taking the under of 48.  Super Bowls, with the bye week, are usually lower scoring affairs.  Unless one team goes off (Bucs or Ravens in the last decade) the over is almost never covered.  But the popular money is always for the over because its more fun to root for scoring.  The Ravens average almost 25 points a game this season, and the Niners float around 25 as well.  The margin for error isn't very big when both teams average 50 points total, so the safe money is on the under.

Hope this helps you make some money as you spend money on food and drinks Sunday.  Don't forget the Pepto either.

Rev's Holy Picks: Baltimore +4.5, Under at 48.