Sports Untapped Top 10 MMA Heavyweights for February…
10. Fabricio Werdum, Strikeforce Werdum lost to Junior Dos Santos in his last UFC fight. He then signed with Strikeforce and has won his first 2 fights in the promotion, with victories over Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva. Werdum is said to have the next shot at Fedor.
9. Shane Carwin, UFC You have to feel for Carwin. He was going to have a shot at the title until Brock Lesnar took ill. When he steps inside the octagon to fight Frank Mir at UFC 111, it will be more than a year since his last fight. Still, he gets his shot at the interim title against Mir. If he wins he gets Brock. If he loses, he goes to the back of the line.
8. Alistair Overeem, DREAM, Strikeforce, K-1 As you can see by the 3 different organizations, Overeem is a busy man. He is currently the Strikeforce world champion, the only one the organization has ever crowned. But he hasn’t defended it yet and won it in November of 2007. With Fedor, Werdum, Rogers and others now in Strikeforce, it’s time for Overeem to pick a lane.
7. Brett Rogers, Strikeforce Rogers put up a valiant effort against Fedor in Chicago, and I will forever believe he had The Last Emperor in trouble. 2 scenarios for Rogers’ next fight: He should get Overeem for a shot at the Strikeforce title. Or if Fedor beats Werdum he should get a rematch with Fedor.
6. Cain Velasquez, UFC Velasquez likely has the most upside potential of the fighters on this list. He destroyed a very good mixed martial artist in Ben Rothwell for his 7th straight win. He has tremendous power and wrestling. We will know much more about Velasquez and his development after he fights Big Nog at UFC 110.
5. Junior Dos Santos, UFC Perhaps the most overlooked of the fighters on this list, Dos Santos certainly should be considered a top contender for the UFC belt. He has 4 UFC fights and 4 KO wins. Up next if Gabriel Gonzaga. Don’t be surprised if one day Dos Santos is the champ. He’s that skilled.
4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, UFC The Velasquez fight will tell us a lot about the future of Big Nog’s career. If he wins he stays in the short line of contenders. If he loses he moves back into the pack and will have to win a few fights before he gets another shot at a belt. He’ll have to contain a phenom with massive strength in Cain Velasquez. It could be the fight of the year.
3. Frank Mir, UFC If there ever was a man on a mission in the UFC it’s Mir. He desperately wants to avenge his loss to Lesnar and get the belt back. With his increased size and improved striking, look for Mir to get through Carwin. Then hopefully we get to see Mir and Lesnar battle a third time.
2. Brock Lesnar, UFC He doesn’t have a lot of fights under his belt, but he sure does have a belt — the UFC heavyweight champion belt. Hopefully Lesnar is ready to go after the Mir/Carwin fight. Until he’s not the champ, he is #2 on this list.
1. Fedor Emelianenko, M-1, Strikeforce He is the #1 fighter in the world and of all-time. He will lose at some point, but it won’t be to Fabricio Werdum. It would be nice to see him fight Overeem or give Grim a rematch.
14 Responses to “Top 10 MMA Heavyweights”
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Good list apart from Rogers. I’d rather him have a rematch with Arlovski. Maybe you could justify 10th but not 7th.
Thanks Chris. Arlovski has really fallen off the map and I think fans in general would rather see Fedor/Rogers II before Arlovski gets another shot.
No your wrong Matt more people would rather see Arlovski vs Fedor 2. Sorry but your wrong.
Bobba- please explain why you think people would rather see Arlovski get a rematch with Fedor than Rogers. Arlovski lost to Rogers and Fedor and hasn’t won since 2008.
Good list, Brett Rogers is the true underdog of MMA. Put him in UFC and he will maul everyone there except Lesnar. With Lesnar he has a 50/50 chance.
Not sure what you are saying but Fedor has indeed won after 2008….
Matt says:
February 7, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Bobba- please explain why you think people would rather see Arlovski get a rematch with Fedor than Rogers. Arlovski lost to Rogers and Fedor and hasn’t won since 2008.
should have put a comma after Fedor in my last comment. I’m talking about Arlovski.
It’s over for Arlovski. He has absolutely no chin. I don’t want to see him get another shot at Fedor, and there’s no logical way to explain one.
Fedor needs to fight Overeem for the title.
After that Rogers is the only other heavyweight in Strikeforce I know of and put up a good fight against Fedor.
Let me be sure I understand what you’re saying here…
“He should get Overeem for a shot at the Strikeforce title. Or if Fedor beats Werdum he should get a rematch with Fedor.”
The way that sounds, you’re asking Fedor to qualify himself (win his next fight) to get a rematch with a guy he recently beat… or the alternative is the guy he beat could get a title shot?
What happened to the world in which a fighter has to win – consistently – to be a #1 contender?
Fedor is only ranked so high because he’s never fought Lesnar or Mir… lame.
Misinterpretation-
I’m speaking about Rogers in that sentence. And Rogers is still the #1 contender for the Strikeforce HW belt, even though he lost to Fedor. That was for the WAMMA HW belt. Fedor is the WAMMA HW champ and is not an official fighter on the Strikeforce roster.
So yes, I believe Rogers should get to fight Overeem for the belt, or a rematch with Fedor.
“Fedor is only ranked so high because he’s never fought Lesnar or Mir… lame.”
Or perhaps given the quality of githers Mir and Lesnar have faced so far, one could say they are only ranked so high because they haven’t faced Fedor…
Rogers at number 7? Are you kidding me? His only decent win was against arlovski and he was at best a top 15 fighter. I cannot see anyone justifying Rogers being in the top 10.
Overeem DESTROYED Rogers with a VERY lopsided 1st round k.o., ….. Lets see Overeem vs. Fedor, and then Overeem/Fedor vs. Lesnar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!