Kris P Lettus
11-20-2008, 12:08 AM
Brock Lesnar Debuts at #4 in Latest WAMMA Heavyweight Rankings
Submitted by Fight Ticker on November 19, 2008 - 10:53am.
The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts' (WAMMA) new rankings for the month of November have been released through its official website at www.GoWAMMA.com and they include upheaval in several weight classes.
The most notable moves include the elevation of a new number one ranked featherweight, the return of a legend to the heavyweight top ten, as well as new UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's debut as a ranked WAMMA fighter.
Lesnar, who defeated Randy Couture to claim the UFC heavyweight title following a second round TKO this past Saturday at UFC 91, debuts in the WAMMA heavyweight top ten at number four. The 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion finds himself only ranked behind undisputed WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, current interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett.
"With his dominating win over Randy Couture, Broke Lesnar proved one thing -- he is for real," said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch. "The WAMMA Ranking Committee is the best in MMA and for these guys to rank Brock Lesnar as the number four heavyweight in the world speaks volumes as to where he has come as a Mixed Martial Artist."
The November's rankings also mark the return of Couture. During a September vote, WAMMA pollsters created a new bylaw that declared fighters that had been idle for 12 months be declared ineligible to receive votes. Prior to this past weekend's event, Couture hadn't competed since UFC 74 on August 25, 2007.
WAMMA pollsters seized the opportunity to vote for Couture the first time in the past several months by voting him back into the heavyweight top ten poll as the sixth best-ranked heavyweight in the world.
"Well before his fight with Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture had all ready cemented his place as a legend in the sport of MMA and one of the most dominating and popular fighters of all time," said Lynch. "Even in his loss to Lesnar, our WAMMA Ranking Committee voting Couture with the number six spot proves that Randy is still a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division."
WAMMA pollsters also voted on a brand new number one ranked featherweight. During WAMMA's October poll, Urijah Faber was a consensus number one rated featherweight with every WAMMA pollster voting him as their top ranked fighter at 145 pounds. Considered one of the most dominant fighters in the game, Faber was upset earlier this month at WEC 36 following a first round TKO loss to Mike Thomas Brown.
With the win, Brown not only supplanted Faber as the WEC's featherweight champion but also as WAMMA's top ranked featherweight competitor. The term upset should also be used rather loosely, as Brown had been ranked as the third featherweight in the world by WAMMA pollsters in October.
In a true testament to Faber's ability, WAMMA pollsters collectively voted to only drop him one spot from number one to number two.
Unlike Faber, WEC middleweight Paulo Filho experienced a more precipitous drop in the rankings. Ranked as the number two middleweight in October, WAMMA pollsters penalized Filho for his unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at WEC 36 earlier this month. One could safely speculate that the native Brazilian's failure to make weight for the fight also contributed to his falling from the number two spot in WAMMA's middleweight rankings in October to number eight in November.
Several other notable changes took place this month and can be viewed online via WAMMA's official website at www.GoWAMMA.com. WAMMA's group of pollsters -- which includes nationally recognized MMA experts such as CBSSports.com's Todd Martin, MMAjunkie.com's Dann Stupp, and Ron Kruck of HDNet -- will next convene to vote on Monday, December 15.
Story Here (http://www.fightticker.com/story_1119081054_brock_lesnar_debuts_at_number_four_in_latest_wamma_heavyweight_rankings)
Heavyweight
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="middle">
WAMMA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion
Fedor Emelianenko
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="65">1
</td> <td width="317">Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">2
</td> <td width="317">Andrei Arlovskihttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">3
</td> <td width="317">Josh Barnetthttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">4
</td> <td width="317">Brock Lesnarhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">5
</td> <td width="317">Tim Sylvia
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">6
</td> <td width="317">Randy Couturehttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">7
</td> <td width="317">Gabriel Gonzagahttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">8
</td> <td width="317">Fabricio Werdumhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">9
</td> <td width="317">Frank Mir http://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">10
</td> <td width="317">Alistair Overeem</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">Also Receiving Votes</td> <td>Ben Rothwell
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mirko Filipovic
Junior dos Santos
Sergei Kharitonov
Cheick Kongo
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Light Heavyweight
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"> <tbody><tr> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="65">1
</td> <td width="317">Forrest Griffin
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">2
</td> <td width="317">Quinton Jackson
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">3
</td> <td width="317">Lyoto Machida
</td> </tr><tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">4
</td> <td width="317">Rashad Evans
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">5
</td> <td width="317">Wanderlei Silva
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">6
</td> <td width="317">Chuck Liddell
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">7
</td> <td width="317">Thiago Silva
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">8
</td> <td width="317">Rich Franklinhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">9
</td> <td width="317">Keith Jardinehttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">10
</td> <td width="317">Antonio Rogerio Nogueira</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">Also Receiving Votes</td> <td width="317">Vladimir Matyushenko
Renato Sobral
Luiz Cane
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Submitted by Fight Ticker on November 19, 2008 - 10:53am.
The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts' (WAMMA) new rankings for the month of November have been released through its official website at www.GoWAMMA.com and they include upheaval in several weight classes.
The most notable moves include the elevation of a new number one ranked featherweight, the return of a legend to the heavyweight top ten, as well as new UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's debut as a ranked WAMMA fighter.
Lesnar, who defeated Randy Couture to claim the UFC heavyweight title following a second round TKO this past Saturday at UFC 91, debuts in the WAMMA heavyweight top ten at number four. The 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion finds himself only ranked behind undisputed WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, current interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett.
"With his dominating win over Randy Couture, Broke Lesnar proved one thing -- he is for real," said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch. "The WAMMA Ranking Committee is the best in MMA and for these guys to rank Brock Lesnar as the number four heavyweight in the world speaks volumes as to where he has come as a Mixed Martial Artist."
The November's rankings also mark the return of Couture. During a September vote, WAMMA pollsters created a new bylaw that declared fighters that had been idle for 12 months be declared ineligible to receive votes. Prior to this past weekend's event, Couture hadn't competed since UFC 74 on August 25, 2007.
WAMMA pollsters seized the opportunity to vote for Couture the first time in the past several months by voting him back into the heavyweight top ten poll as the sixth best-ranked heavyweight in the world.
"Well before his fight with Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture had all ready cemented his place as a legend in the sport of MMA and one of the most dominating and popular fighters of all time," said Lynch. "Even in his loss to Lesnar, our WAMMA Ranking Committee voting Couture with the number six spot proves that Randy is still a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division."
WAMMA pollsters also voted on a brand new number one ranked featherweight. During WAMMA's October poll, Urijah Faber was a consensus number one rated featherweight with every WAMMA pollster voting him as their top ranked fighter at 145 pounds. Considered one of the most dominant fighters in the game, Faber was upset earlier this month at WEC 36 following a first round TKO loss to Mike Thomas Brown.
With the win, Brown not only supplanted Faber as the WEC's featherweight champion but also as WAMMA's top ranked featherweight competitor. The term upset should also be used rather loosely, as Brown had been ranked as the third featherweight in the world by WAMMA pollsters in October.
In a true testament to Faber's ability, WAMMA pollsters collectively voted to only drop him one spot from number one to number two.
Unlike Faber, WEC middleweight Paulo Filho experienced a more precipitous drop in the rankings. Ranked as the number two middleweight in October, WAMMA pollsters penalized Filho for his unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at WEC 36 earlier this month. One could safely speculate that the native Brazilian's failure to make weight for the fight also contributed to his falling from the number two spot in WAMMA's middleweight rankings in October to number eight in November.
Several other notable changes took place this month and can be viewed online via WAMMA's official website at www.GoWAMMA.com. WAMMA's group of pollsters -- which includes nationally recognized MMA experts such as CBSSports.com's Todd Martin, MMAjunkie.com's Dann Stupp, and Ron Kruck of HDNet -- will next convene to vote on Monday, December 15.
Story Here (http://www.fightticker.com/story_1119081054_brock_lesnar_debuts_at_number_four_in_latest_wamma_heavyweight_rankings)
Heavyweight
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="middle">
WAMMA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion
Fedor Emelianenko
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="65">1
</td> <td width="317">Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">2
</td> <td width="317">Andrei Arlovskihttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">3
</td> <td width="317">Josh Barnetthttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">4
</td> <td width="317">Brock Lesnarhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">5
</td> <td width="317">Tim Sylvia
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">6
</td> <td width="317">Randy Couturehttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">7
</td> <td width="317">Gabriel Gonzagahttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">8
</td> <td width="317">Fabricio Werdumhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">9
</td> <td width="317">Frank Mir http://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">10
</td> <td width="317">Alistair Overeem</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">Also Receiving Votes</td> <td>Ben Rothwell
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mirko Filipovic
Junior dos Santos
Sergei Kharitonov
Cheick Kongo
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Light Heavyweight
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"> <tbody><tr> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="65">1
</td> <td width="317">Forrest Griffin
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">2
</td> <td width="317">Quinton Jackson
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">3
</td> <td width="317">Lyoto Machida
</td> </tr><tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">4
</td> <td width="317">Rashad Evans
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">5
</td> <td width="317">Wanderlei Silva
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">6
</td> <td width="317">Chuck Liddell
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">7
</td> <td width="317">Thiago Silva
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">8
</td> <td width="317">Rich Franklinhttp://www.gowamma.com/images/up.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">9
</td> <td width="317">Keith Jardinehttp://www.gowamma.com/images/down.gif
</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">10
</td> <td width="317">Antonio Rogerio Nogueira</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle">Also Receiving Votes</td> <td width="317">Vladimir Matyushenko
Renato Sobral
Luiz Cane
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>