Monday, July 21, 2008

P4P Rankings and Dream 5 Highlights

When I found out Fedor (and later Anderson Silva) were fighting I held off on revising my P4P rankings until after he fought. Sorry for the delay.

1. Anderson Silva: Still in my opinion 1a. He dominated a 205 lb fighter even more than his opponents at 185, what?

2. Fedor Emelianenko: Really 1b but then this wouldn't be much of a list if I started replacing digits with letters. Fedor proved for damn sure that he is the best fighter not named Anderson Silva. His fight with Sylvia made him look like the Terminator or Ivan Drago, whichever you think is scarier. Personally Dolph Lundgren on steroids tips the scales as opposed to a made up android Arnold Schwarzenegger on steroids.

3. Georges St. Pierre: Will have to prove he belongs here against Jon Fitch in two weeks.

4. BJ Penn: Hopefully we'll see a Penn v St. Pierre rematch soon to prove who is 3 and who is 4. Dana White is actually open to this idea so it's not as much of a pipe dream as I first thought.

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira: Will be inactive for a long time as he is one of the new coaches on TUF. We'll have to see how his ranking here stands up until November/December. However, he's still the champ so he belongs in the top 5.

6. Urijah Faber: He is the best fighter under 155 lbs period.

7. Miguel Torres: He is giving Faber a run for his money in terms of status in the WEC.

8. Jon Fitch: Can prove he is the best welterweight in the world on August 8th. If he wins that fight he will leapfrog many people on this list.

9. Takanori Gomi: Has not fought since March but is still a monster.

10. Forrest Griffin: The guy is really on a roll right now. He may not be as talented as anyone else on this list but does anyone use what they were given more or try harder? Not even close.

Falling off: Quinton Jackson (after loss to Forrest Griffin)

Also garnering consideration: Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddell, and Paulo Filho

Here are the highlights from DREAM 5 which concluded their Lightweight Grand Prix:

Shinya Aoki won a unanimous decision over the impressive Caol Uno who has catapulted himself back into relevance in the lightweight division with his performance in this tournament. Aoki advances to the finals with this win.

Eddie Alvarez upset Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO to advance to the finals. Unfortunately Alvarez was injured in this fight and could not continue forcing Joachim Hanson to fight for the title as the alternate bout winner.

Alistair Overeem defeated Mark Hunt by submission in Round 1. After a 3 fight losing streak in PRIDE to top notch competition Overeem appears to be back on track with a 3 fight win streak. Two of those wins coming over decent competition in Paul Buentello and now Mark Hunt. I watched his fight with Buentello and he looks like a much more complete fighter and not just a striker. I'm hopeful for Overeem. He seems to be getting back into contention for a title somewhere.

In another huge upset and what has to be a worst case scenario for DREAM officials, Hanson beat Aoki for the DREAM lightweight grand prix championship. Hanson beat Aoki by TKO in round 1. That is the only downside to holding tournaments where more than one round takes place in a night. Sometimes alternates are given the opportunity to fight for the title. This was a huge upset for Hanson as Aoki was a heavy favorite. If you're DREAM management this has to be a nightmare. Granted Hanson was a competitor in earlier rounds of the tournament but to have someone who was eliminated come back and win as an alternate against a huge fan favorite, it can not be what DREAM was hoping for as an organization.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for my Elite XC preview. Until then,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...

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