(Okami weighs in at UFC 104.)
At FIGHT! Magazine, we believe there is a need for a completely objective and unbiased ranking system for fighters to replace the myriad subjective rankings that have become skewed, in many instances, by fighter popularity. In an effort to address this issue FIGHT! Magazine brings you its computerized rankings system which takes into account a fighters strength of opponent, strength of performance, and frequency of activity.
Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami fought for the right to challenge for the UFC Middleweight Championship but their lackluster fight left fans – as well as their employer – with little interest in seeing either fight for the belt. The fighters flip-flopped, with Okami vaulting from #12 to #2 in FIGHT!’s Middleweight Rankings and Marquardt falling from #2 to #12.
In other Middleweight action, Kyle Noke continues his slow climb, moving from #58 to #49 with his submission win over Rob Kimmons, who falls from #99 to #111. TUF vet Kris McCray dropped his second fight in the Octagon, this time to unranked Carlos Eduardo Rocha, falling from #107 to #119 at 185#.
In what turned out to be the evening’s co-main event, German Dennis Siver stopped Andre Winner in a Lightweight bout but both stayed put at their positions; #20 and #84, respectively.
Duane Ludwig has been competing as a lightweight but moved back to Welterweight, a weight at which he has competed in the past, for a fight with “Slick” Nick Osipczak. Ludwig won the fight, moving from #144 in our Lightweight Rankings to #99 in our Welterweight Rankings, while Osipczak falls from #93 to #128 at 170 pounds. Also at Welterweight, TUF vet Amir Sadollah stayed put at #42 in the poll with a win over Peter Sobotta, who enters our rankings at #111 and remains winless in the Big Show.
The only other movement in the rankings took place at Light Heavyweight, where Kryzstof Soszynski moved from #45 to #26 with his win over Goran Reljic, who fell from #44 to #50. Vladimir Matyushenko escaped with a decision win over unranked IFL vet Alexandre Ferreira, moving from #23 to #19 in the process, and unranked Karlos Vemola made a statement in his 205-pound debut by crushing Seth Petruzelli, who falls from #76 to #86 with the loss.
No other ranked fighters appeared on the card.
Several other UFC vets were active over the weekend at events in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jake Rosholt and Matt Horwich tangled at an Xtreme Fight Night event with Horwich taking a TKO victory. Horwich moves from #80 to #45 in our Middleweight Rankings while Rosholt falls from #61 to #104.
At Maximum Fighting Championship 27, Pete Spratt lost to Canadian prospect Ryan Ford for the second time and dropped from #129 to #154 in our Welterweight Rankings. Razak Al-Hassan slipped from #62 to #73 at 205 pounds following his loss to MFC’s homegrown talent Dwayne Lewis, who enters our Light Heavyweight Rankings at #60. Also at Light Heavyweight, David Heath lost his fight – and 20 spots in the rankings – to Rodney Wallace. Heath falls from #51 to #71 while Wallace climbs from #60 to #43 with the short-notice win.
In Australia, TUF vets Jesse Taylor and Jeremy May competed on the inaugural Australian Fighting Championships card. Taylor stayed put at #76 in our Middleweight Rankings with his win over unranked Dylan Andrews and unranked May took him a DQ win in his second qualifying fight.
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