Two Strikeforce bouts are of great importance to next month's weight-class rankings. First off, Gilbert Melendez' domination of former #1 lightweight Shinya Aoki, combined with Frankie Edgar's close (but officially unanimous) decision over ex-#2 B.J. Penn, puts Melendez at #1 next month in the lightweight ratings.
Unofficial May Lightweight rankings:
last month |
LW Rank |
Fighter | Rating |
Rated Record | April Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 1 |
Gilbert Melendez |
34.11 |
12-2-0 |
Def #1 Shinya Aoki |
7 |
2 |
Frankie Edgar |
30.30 |
7-1-0 |
Def #5 B.J. Penn |
1 | 3 |
Shinya Aoki |
27.19 |
14-4-0 |
Lost to #3 Gilbert Melendez |
4 | 4 | Kenny Florian |
25.09 |
10-2-0 |
|
2 | 5 | B.J. Penn |
24.87 |
14-6-1 |
Lost to #7 Frankie Edgar |
5 |
6 |
Tatsuya Kawajiri |
24.06 |
13-3-1 |
|
6 |
7 |
Gray Maynard |
21.16 |
5-0-0 |
|
8 |
8 |
Bibiano Fernandes |
20.56 |
3-0-0 |
|
9 |
9 | Sergey Golyaev |
19.61 |
1-1-0 |
inactive 15 months. |
10 |
10 | Takanori Gomi |
19.08 |
25-6-0 |
With Strikeforce's Melendez at #1 and the UFC's Edgar at #2, we're no closer to having a clear-cut #1 in in the lowest weight class, particularly with the Penn-Edgar decision being so controversial.
But perhaps that's better than the other weight classes, each of which has a fighter so dominant that they are out of reach of the rest of the pack. Case in point, the middleweight division, where Anderson Silva is so far ahead that even Jake Shields' impressive win over Dan Henderson does little more than solidify him as a distant #2.
last month |
MW Rank |
Fighter | Rating |
Rated Record | April Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
1 |
Anderson Silva |
52.86 |
22-3-0 |
Def #14 Demian Maia |
2 | 2 |
Jake Shields |
36.45 |
20-4-1 |
Def #5 Dan Henderson |
3 | 3 | Paulo Filho |
30.65 |
16-1-0 |
|
4 |
4 | Chael Sonnen |
29.48 |
14-10-1 |
|
6 |
5 | Vitor Belfort |
23.93 |
17-8-0 |
|
5 |
6 | Dan Henderson |
22.72 |
25-8-0 |
Lost to #2 Jake Shields |
7 |
7 | Jorge Santiago |
19.76 |
14-8-0 |
|
8 |
8 | Robbie Lawler |
19.10 |
12-5-0 |
|
9 | 9 | Nate Marquardt |
18.93 |
22-9-2 |
|
10 | 10 | Rich Franklin |
18.24 |
22-6-0 |
Shields controlled the later rounds against Henderson, but what was perhaps more impressive was his recovery from a near-KO in the first minute. Surviving that first round and coming back as strong as he did might not suggest that he could give #1 Anderson Silva a run for his money, but it makes the prospect of an eventual fight a lot more interesting. In the least, Silva shouldn't be able to do what he did against Maia.
Shields and Melendez will both break into the overall top ten, with Aoki falling out.