MMA Weekly top ten for July

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Scoring: 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc., down to 1 point for a 10th-place vote. Fighters who are under suspension for usage of performance-enhancing substances or drugs of abuse are ineligible to be considered for the duration of their suspensions; fighters who have been inactive for more than 12 months are ineligible for consideration until after the completion of their next fight.


Lesnar
10. Brock Lesnar
Points: 46
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Heavyweight (UFC heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Webster, S.D.
Record: 5-1 (has won past five)
Last month’s ranking: unranked
Most recent result: def. Shane Carwin, R2 submission, July 3
Analysis: With strength, athleticism, wrestling ability, a ferocious ground and pound, and the heart needed to find his way out of tough situations, Lesnar is turning into the heavyweight version of a prime Matt Hughes.




Shields

9. Jake Shields
Points: 49
Affiliation: Free agent
Weight class: Welterweight/Middleweight (Strikeforce middleweight champion)
Hometown: San Francisco
Record: 25-4-1 (has won past 14)
Last month’s ranking: 8
Most recent result: def. Dan Henderson, unanimous decision, April 17
Analysis: It appears all but a certainty Shields will end up in the UFC. With welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre tied up with Josh Koscheck for awhile, it will be interesting to see with whom Shields is matched in his company debut.




Emelianenko
8. Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 52
Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 31-2, one no-contest (lost past 1)
Last month’s ranking: 3
Most recent result: lost to Fabricio Werdum, R1 submission, June 26
Analysis: No snarky comments about Emelianenko here. Every fighter loses eventually, the Russian was a true sportsman in defeat, and both Strikeforce and M-1 owe him the opportunity to work his way back to the top.




Machida
7. Lyoto Machida
Points: 55
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Belem, Brazil
Record: 16-1 (lost previous fight)
Last month’s ranking: 7
Most recent result: lost to Mauricio Rua, R1 TKO, May 8
Analysis: With Rua out indefinitely due to knee surgery, Machida’s camp is floating the idea of an interim title bout between Machida and Rashad Evans. No word yet on whether Evans is up for the idea.





Penn
6. B.J. Penn
Points: 67
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Record: 15-6-1 (lost previous fight)
Last month’s ranking: 6
Most recent result: lost to Frank Edgar, unanimous decision, April 10
Analysis: Getting down to training for the rematch with Edgar.




Edgar

5. Frank Edgar
Points: 72
Affiliation: UFC (UFC lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Hometown: Toms River, N.J.
Record: 12-1 (has won past four)
Last month’s ranking: 9
Most recent result: def. B.J. Penn, unanimous decision, April 10
Analysis: Has his chance to prove win against Penn was no fluke.



Rua

4. Mauricio Rua
Points: 118
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 19-4 (won previous fight)
Last month’s ranking: 5
Most recent result: def. Lyoto Machida, R1 TKO, May 8
Analysis: Knee surgery is expected to keep the new champ out until at least March.





Aldo

3. Jose Aldo
Points: 150
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro
Record: 17-1 (has won past 10)
Last month’s ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Urijah Faber, unanimous decision, April 24
Analysis: No. 3 is the highest a WEC fighter has ranked in the poll.




St. Pierre

2. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 188 (8 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 20-2 (has won past seven)
Last month’s ranking: 1
Most recent result: def. Dan Hardy, unanimous decision, March 27
Analysis: Lost the No. 1 spot without fighting and isn’t likely to return to action until the end of the year, given his Ultimate Fighter commitments.




Silva

1. Anderson Silva
Points: 192 (12 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 26-4 (has won past 11)
Last month’s ranking: 2
Most recent result: def. Demian Maia, unanimous decision, April 10
Analysis: Whether pollsters shifted their votes to Silva because he had the longest win streak after Emelianenko, or they’ve forgiven his transgressions against Demian Maia, his performance against Sonnen will show whether he deserves the top spot.

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• Votes for others: Dominick Cruz 42; Rashad Evans 18; Gilbert Melendez 8; Jon Fitch 7; Jon Jones 6; Cain Velasquez 3; Joe Benavidez, Kenny Florian, Nick Diaz 2.

Very interesting to see Fedor falling behind Machida. He was obviously above Machida before the Werdum and Shogun fights, but somehow 1 controversial win and loss by Machida was better than 1 convincing win and loss by Fedor.

Agreed, but he should be far behind Lesner. Lesner is the HW Champion of the toughtest HW Div in MMA and Fedor dropped right into a triangle. For me, Lesner has to be in the top 5 or 6 at least. I would put him infront of Edgar because Lesner has had 2 successfull title defenses.

I think Edgar being higher is because he's had more fights than Lesnar, but also he's beat more top guys so far. Lesnar beat Herring, Couture, Mir, and Carwin, but all those guys weren't really top ranked guys in terms of P4P. However, Edgar beat BJ Penn, who is a staple on P4P lists for a long time.

OK, I accept that point, but he should at least be hire then BJ. BJ doesn't even have a belt anymore.

I've never really been happy with BJ Penn's rankings because he's just never really been that great. He's got all this potential, physical ability, blah blah blah. But you know what, at the end of the day, he's 15-6 (not a bad record, but not as dominant as others), 6-4 in his last 10, and he's gotten whooped whenever he tries and moves up (so P4P doesn't help him much when he adds on the weight obviously).

Do you agree on putting Brock above Fedor?

Based on track record, no. Do I think Brock could beat Fedor right now? Yes. But I think these rankings are more based on track record and where they fit into the big picture of MMA fighters. If this was more of just heavyweights and who is the best in the division, Brock would be ahead since he would probably beat Fedor.

^^That is exactly why Fedor needs to fight in the UFC. If he wants to be the best, he has to fight the best, and Brock Lesner is currently the best. He is wearing the HW strap, that makes him the man to beat in my opinion.