Ivan's Blog

Featuring Ivan Trembow's Self-Important, Random Rants on Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, Pro Wrestling, Television, Politics, Sports, and High-Quality Wool Socks



Friday, April 23, 2010
 
The April 2010 Women's Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

Much like the Men's Independent World MMA Rankings, which were launched in June 2009, the Women's Independent World MMA Rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody's vote counting more than anybody else's vote, and no computerized voting.

In the time since last month's rankings were published, the heads of two of the largest athletic commissions have clarified via e-mail that they use the same names for the weight classes in both men's MMA and women's MMA. For example, 145 pounds is featherweight, whether it's in men's MMA or women's MMA.

The members of the voting panel for the Women's Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter and MMA Journalist Blog); Yael Grauer (MMA HQ); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); and Ivan Trembow (Freelance).

April 2010 Women's Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on April 20, 2010

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (9-1)
2. Erin Toughill (10-2-1)
3. Marloes Coenen (17-4)
4. Gina Carano (7-1)
5. Yuko "Hiroko" Yamanaka (8-1-1)
6. Cindy Dandois (3-0)
7. Shana Olsen (3-0)
8. Amanda Nunes (5-1)
9. Jamie Seaton (2-1)
10. Emily Thompson (3-2)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Sarah Kaufman (11-0)
2. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
3. Roxanne Modafferi (14-5)
4. Hitomi Akano (15-7)
5. Takayo Hashi (12-2)
6. Shayna Baszler (11-6)
7. Miesha Tate (9-2)
8. Vanessa Porto (10-4)
9. Jennifer Tate (6-1)
10. Adrienna "AJ" Jenkins (17-3)

Flyweight Rankings (116 to 125 lbs.)
1. Rosi Sexton (10-1)
2. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
3. Aisling Daly (9-0)
4. Sally Krumdiack (7-3)
5. Rin Nakai (6-0)
6. Lena Ovchynnikova (6-0)
7. Monica Lovato (4-1)
8. Mutsumi Kasai (4-1)
9. Jeri Sitzes (3-1)
10. Anita Rodriguez (3-1)

Junior Flyweight Rankings (106 to 115 lbs.)
1. Megumi Fujii (19-0)
2. Yuka Tsuji (22-2)
3. Lisa Ward (12-5)
4. Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi (6-2)
5. Jessica Pene (7-0)
6. Kyoko Takabayashi (11-4)
7. Jessica Aguilar (7-3)
8. Angela Magana (8-4)
9. Saori Ishioka (8-4)
10. Elena Reid (4-1)

The Women's Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated and published on a monthly basis, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters' actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they've actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win hypothetical match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that she is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until her first fight in the new weight class has taken place.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Joshua Stein, and Yael Grauer for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

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Sunday, April 18, 2010
 
... And there goes Strikeforce's CBS deal. Regardless of how big or small the ratings were for tonight's event, I think that Strikeforce's CBS deal is kaput. I don't think they're going to continue to air MMA after the garbage that took place following the main event.

Jason Miller went into the ring and did something that we have seen done by countless fighters on countless occasions after major fights: He asked about a potential upcoming match-up (and in this case, he did so with a smile on his face).

The problems started with the reaction to Miller's question. If you slo-mo the instant replay (the one that aired when CBS came back from the commercial break), you can see that Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields both shoved Miller at about the same time.

What elevated it from a shove or a "scuffle" into an actual brawl was when punches were thrown, and if you slo-mo the instant replay (again, the one that aired when CBS came back from the commercial break), you can clearly see that Shields landed the first punch, as his red MMA glove connects with the side of Miller's head.

At that point, the trashy-as-usual Diaz brothers jumped in and turned it into a full-fledged brawl, as they threw numerous punches, even after security intervened. The same goes for a large man in a t-shirt who also appeared to be part of Shields' camp.

In any case, the Cesar Gracie camp used to hold the distinction of being home to the trashiest brothers in MMA, the Diaz brothers, who have instigated major incidents on multiple occasions. After the actions tonight of Shields, Melendez, Nick Diaz, and Nate Diaz, they have now comfortably secured the position of "trashiest all-around MMA team." Congratulations, guys.

There's a reason that when similar "scuffles" happen in the NBA (like the one on this very night during the Celtics-Heat game), actual punches are usually not thrown: It's because throwing a punch on the court before, during, or after an NBA game results in an automatic suspension.

If Tennessee's athletic commission allows this B.S. to happen without handing out disciplinary suspensions to Melendez, Shields, Nick Diaz, and Nate Diaz, then their handling of the situation would be just as much of a joke as the way that the Florida commission "handled" StandGate (with their non-investigative investigation), or the way that the Nevada commission "handled" GreaseGate (with their "this is not a hearing" hearings).

At the very least, even if they drop the ball on suspending those four fighters, I can't imagine any athletic commission being able to justify giving a cornerman's license to Melendez, Nick Diaz, or Nate Diaz in the future, especially in the case of the Diaz brothers, since this was the second time they were involved in a disgraceful post-fight brawl.

Four other things from tonight's event were also disappointing:

-The decision by Strikeforce and CBS to replay the beginning of the brawl was disgusting in its own right. Shame on whoever made that call.

-Gus Johnson made a bad scene look even worse when he said something to the effect of, "Things like this happen in MMA!" Off the top of my head, I can think of two other times that something like this has ever happened in MMA: Tank/Cabbage in the UFC, and Diaz/Noons in EliteXC. "Things like this happen" a lot more often in the NFL, and even in the NBA and MLB.

-Mario Yamasaki continued to demonstrate why he's the worst referee in MMA this side of Jason "It Would Have Been a Late Stoppage Dozens of Punches Ago" Herzog, as Yamasaki apparently didn't even know the rules under which tonight's bouts were being fought. Early in the first round of the Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya Aoki fight, Melendez landed several elbows to the head on the ground, which are illegal in Strikeforce. This would be news to Yamasaki, who didn't call the elbows as fouls or even issue a verbal warning. Fortunately for Yamasaki, those elbows did not lead to the end of the fight, and I'd imagine that 95% of the people who saw that fight have already forgotten about those elbows, but that doesn't change the fact that Yamasaki failed yet again do his job properly. (Remember Yamasaki's actions during the Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson fight?) It used to be that Yamasaki was a bad referee purely because of his often dangerously late stoppages, but now he's adding new reasons to the list.

-Wow, the EA Sports MMA game looked awful in the pre-fight "Keys to Victory" segments. How did animations that choppy even get into the game in the first place? I'm guessing that EA Tiburon's response would be that they still have months of development time left to polish the game, but as with any game, they shouldn't be showing it off yet if it's not ready to be shown off.

Update on 4/19/10:
Clearly, some of Team Cesar Gracie’s trashiness comes from Cesar Gracie himself, based on the quotes from Cesar Gracie in this article.

Remember, Cesar Gracie is also the same guy who said that he had a "secret deal" in place with former California State Athletic Commission director Armando Garcia so that Nick Diaz would still be able to use his marijuana. Cesar Gracie is also the same guy who said that he had a deal in place with Armando Garcia to keep his own positive drug test for marijuana a secret (as in, Cesar Gracie's positive test when he fought Frank Shamrock). There's a history of unprofessional behavior.

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Friday, April 09, 2010
 
The April 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form an independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Head Kick Legend).

Note: Due to the fact that Joachim Hansen has moved to the featherweight division, he is no longer eligible to be ranked in the lightweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the featherweight division.

April 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on April 6, 2010

Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)
1. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1, 1 No Contest)
2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)
3. Shane Carwin (12-0)
4. Cain Velasquez (8-0)
5. Frank Mir (13-5)
6. Junior dos Santos (11-1)
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 No Contest)
8. Brett Rogers (10-1)
9. Alistair Overeem (32-11, 1 No Contest)
10. Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1)

Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)
1. Lyoto Machida (16-0)
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (18-4)
3. Rashad Evans (14-1-1)
4. Anderson Silva (25-4)
5. Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1)
6. Forrest Griffin (17-6)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3)
8. Dan Henderson (25-7)
9. Thiago Silva (14-2)
10. Jon Jones (10-1)

Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva (25-4)
2. Dan Henderson (25-7)
3. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)
4. Nathan Marquardt (29-9-2)
5. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
6. Demian Maia (12-1)
7. Jake Shields (24-4-1)
8. Robbie Lawler (17-5, 1 No Contest)
9. Yushin Okami (24-5)
10. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (11-2, 1 No Contest)

Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
2. Jon Fitch (22-3, 1 No Contest)
3. Thiago Alves (16-6)
4. Josh Koscheck (14-4)
5. Paulo Thiago (13-1)
6. Nick Diaz (21-7, 1 No Contest)
7. Dan Hardy (23-7, 1 No Contest)
8. Matt Hughes (43-7)
9. Paul Daley (23-8-2)
10. Matt Serra (10-6)

Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)
1. B.J. Penn (15-5-1)
2. Shinya Aoki (23-4, 1 No Contest)
3. Eddie Alvarez (19-2)
4. Kenny Florian (13-4)
5. Tatsuya Kawajiri (26-5-2)
6. Gray Maynard (9-0, 1 No Contest)
7. Frankie Edgar (11-1)
8. Gilbert Melendez (17-2)
9. Diego Sanchez (21-3)
10. Tyson Griffin (14-2)

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo (16-1)
2. Mike Brown (23-5)
3. Urijah Faber (23-3)
4. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2)
5. Bibiano Fernandes (8-2)
6. Marlon Sandro (16-1)
7. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-3)
8. Raphael Assuncao (14-2)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (9-8-1)
10. Manny Gamburyan (10-4)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Dominick Cruz (15-1)
2. Brian Bowles (8-1)
3. Joseph Benavidez (12-1)
4. Miguel Torres (37-3)
5. Scott Jorgensen (9-3)
6. Takeya Mizugaki (12-4-2)
7. Masakatsu Ueda (10-1-2)
8. Damacio Page (15-4)
9. Wagnney Fabiano (13-2)
10. Akitoshi Tamura (14-8-2)

The Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody's vote counting more than anybody else's vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters' actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they've actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win hypothetical match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until his first fight in the new weight class has taken place.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

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