SportsRatings: Boxing/MMA

McGregor's Loss to Diaz Shakes Up...the Welterweight division?

By now every MMA fan has had time to digest Conor McGregor's loss to Nate Diaz. For our ratings there are ramifications, of course. Naturally our top ten pound-for-pound rankings, where McGregor was at #9 prior to the bout, are affected.

SportsRatings MMA pound-for-pound top 20, as of March 5th bouts:

Prev	Rank	Fighter	WC	Rating	Rated Record	Early March results
1	1	Jon Jones	LH	98.39	15-1-0	last win -14 months.
2	2	Georges St. Pierre	WW	83.61	23-2-0	last win -28 months.
3	3	Fabricio Werdum	HW	83.27	19-5-1
4	4	Luke Rockhold	MW	74.68	12-1-0
5	5	Rafael dos Anjos	LW	73.06	16-5-0
6	6	Chris Weidman	MW	64.23	9-1-0
7	7	Daniel Cormier	LH	53.33	13-1-0
8	8	Robbie Lawler	WW	51.14	28-10-0
10	9	Eddie Alvarez	LW	47.47	21-4-0
11	10	Cain Velasquez	HW	46.22	10-2-0	last win -29 months.
12	11	Anthony Johnson	LH	45.44	18-5-0
13	12	Yoel Romero	MW	44.41	7-0-0
14	13	Shinya Aoki	WW	39.74	31-5-0
113	14	Nate Diaz	WW	37.66	17-10-0	Beat #9 Conor McGregor
15	15	Jose Aldo	FW	37.54	17-2-0	last win -17 months.
16	16	Donald Cerrone	WW	37.46	22-7-0
17	17	Demetrious Johnson	FL	36.42	12-1-1
9	18	Conor McGregor	WW	34.11	7-1-0	Lost to #113 Nate Diaz
18	19	Alistair Overeem	HW	33.16	33-14-0
19	20	Dominick Cruz	BW	33.10	13-1-0

McGregor remains in the top 20 while Diaz jumps to his highest ranking ever at #14. For now, it looks like neither #5 Rafael dos Anjos nor #8 Robbie Lawler will be facing McGregor any time soon; Diaz might get a shot at either one, depending on whether he remains at 170 or returns to 155.

For our weight class ratings we face a dilemma; where do we put McGregor and Diaz? McGregor is likely to return to 145 but there's no guarantee, and Diaz's plans aren't clear either. So for now we're going to rank them where they just fought: at Welterweight. This adds to a rather confusing picture at the 170 weight class.

SportsRatings Welterweight rankings for April, 2016 (fights through March 5th)

Prev	Rank	Fighter	WC	Rating	Rated Record	March 5 Results
1	1	Georges St. Pierre	WW	83.61	23-2-0	last rated win -28 months.
2	2	Robbie Lawler	WW	51.14	28-10-0
4	3	Shinya Aoki	WW	39.74	31-5-0
28	4	Nate Diaz	WW	37.66	17-10-0	Beat #3 Conor McGregor
5	5	Donald Cerrone	WW	37.46	22-7-0
3	6	Conor McGregor	WW	34.11	7-1-0	Lost to #28 Nate Diaz
6	7	Ben Askren	WW	31.18	8-0-0	last rated win -19 months.
7	8	Benson Henderson	WW	30.75	15-4-0
8	9	Tyron Woodley	WW	29.17	10-3-0	last rated win -14 months.
9	10	Rousimar Palhares	WW	28.37	14-4-0

First, of course, we still rank George St. Pierre at #1, though since he hasn't fought in over two years he's declared inactive and the interim Welterweight belt goes to UFC champ and #2 Robbie Lawler. At #3 is Shinya Aoki, who fought at 155 until a recent catchweight bout with Kazushi Sakuraba. Going forward, Aoki may stay at 170 since he, along with all One Championship fighters, are moving up a weight class due to the promotion's new no-weight-cut policy. #7 Ben Askren is also affected by the policy and thus we assume he'll be fighting at 185—a Welterweight in name according to One, but a Middleweight in actual mass.

Then we have Nate Diaz at #4. Diaz claimed he had told Dana White he was going to move up to 170 anyway. We'll see where he lands. #5 Donald Cerrone only recently moved up to 170 as well. Is he permanent? With Conor McGregor at #6, that leaves Lawler as the only active, permanent Welterweight among our top seven.

Rounding out the top ten we have Bellator's Benson Henderson who has fought at 170 for over a year; #9 Tyron Woodley is a true Welterweight but hasn't fought in over a year. Rousimar Palhares is serving a 2-year suspension for fighting dirty against Jake Shields.

In short, Welterweight is the most messed-up division in MMA, full of transients and the inactive. But in some ways it has the potential to be the most interesting division, too. With Diaz at least a temporary big name, Lawler a compelling belt-holder, and the possible return of GSP, the division's unpredictability might become an asset.

Browne, Ortiz win big fights, advance in top ten

Lucas Browne's win was an upset while Luis Ortiz' defeat of Tony Thompson was expected, and both move up in our rankings. Ortiz slides up two spots to #8, while Browne leaps all the way to #7.

SportsRatings Top Ten Heavyweight rankings through fights of March 5, 2016:

-3 Yr	-1 Yr	-6 mo	Mar 1st	Mar 5th	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	March 1-5 results
5	4	1	1	1	TYSON FURY	64.56	15-0-0
1	1	2	2	2	WLAD KLITSCHKO	57.16	42-4-0
3	3	3	3	3	ALEX POVETKIN	33.60	24-1-0
2	2	4	4	4	VITALI KLITSCHKO	29.40	27-2-0	last win -42 months.
17	6	5	5	5	DEONTAY WILDER	26.29	12-0-0
24	12	6	6	6	CHARLES MARTIN	24.83	5-0-0
21	13	17	18	7	LUCAS BROWNE	21.31	10-0-0	KO 10 #7 RUSLAN CHAGAEV
50	31	10	10	8	LUIS ORTIZ	19.78	10-0-0	KO 6 #43 TONY THOMPSON
36	16	9	8	9	ERKAN TEPER	18.33	7-0-0
9	11	8	9	10	ANDY RUIZ JR	17.98	9-0-0	last win -15 months.

Over the next several months there is the potential, at least, for many interesting fights. There is of course the rematch of new #1 Tyson Fury with former perennial champ Wladimir Klitschko for several belts including the WBA, WBO, and IBO. That fight is most likely to occur in June.

The WBC mandatory pits #3 Alexander Povetkin with #5 Deontay Wilder. When, or if, that fight takes place is anybody's guess right now, but May 21st has been suggested for some time.

Then there is the only officially scheduled rumble, with #6 Charles Martin taking on #15 Anthony Joshua for the IBF title on April 9th.

New #7 Browne faces a mandatory defense of his version of the WBA belt against Fres Oquendo, currently at #162 in our rankings. Ortiz presumably faces #33 Alexander Ustinov next.

With #4 Vitali Klitschko long inactive and officially retired, that leaves only #9 Erkan Teper, currently on steroids ban, and Andy Ruiz Jr., who hasn't faced a reasonable opponent in over a year.

The heavyweight division suddenly become more interesting with Klitschko's loss. If he beats Fury in the rematch—as we would expect—then what becomes of that interesting scenario? It doesn't disappear. Klitschko certainly looks vulnerable now, and even if he becomes champ again he won't hold the belt for several more years. While Martin and Browne probably aren't championship caliber. Ortiz has been very impressive and Wilder can't be dismissed. The worst-case scenario is a Klitschko win over Fury, Povetkin defeating Wilder, and Ortiz being upset by Ustinov.

But if any of Fury, Wilder, or Ortiz survive the next round the heavyweight division is moving in a more entertaining direction.

Top Ten Double-Header, pt. 1: #7 Ruslan Chagaev vs. #18 Lucas Browne Live Round-by-Round Scoring

Today's heavyweight boxing action is pretty solid, and that's a good thing because after today the rest of March is a wasteland. But today, two top-ten boxers are in action. Later tonight, #10 Luis Ortiz takes on #43 Tony Thompson, and in just minutes, #7 Ruslan Chagaev tries to hold off a challenge from #18 Lucas Browne is Grozny, Chechnya.

Incredibly, Chagaev has been in our top ten for just over 9 years, with losses only to #2 Wladmimir Klitschko and #3 Alex Povetkin. Browne is undefeated at 23-0-0 with 20 knockouts. The two are roughly the same age but Chagaev has more wear on him, and in some recent bouts has been sluggish. Still, on a skill level only there's no comparison as Chagaev was an amateur world champion while Browne started in MMA before taking up boxing as a pro only 7 years ago.

In an action-packed run-up fight, #119 ranked Edmund Gerber stopped #205 Brian Minto in the 2nd round.

From a rankings standpoint, Chagaev will likely hold at #7 with a win, while Browne would jump to around the same if he gets the upset.

The headline fight is nearly ready to start.

• Round 1: Browne is moving a lot with Chagaev at the center of the ring. Chagaev looks a bit pudgy but appears more active than he did in his more sluggish outings. Browne is working the jab from the outside. Both fighters looking to connect first rather than counter, leading to a lot of gloves meeting. Chagaev had the only real contact of the round, but Browne held his own well. Chagaev 10-9.
• Round 2: Busy jabs from Browne to start the round and keep Chagaev at bay. Browne able to follow up with right hands against the southpaw, too. Chagaev already looking a bit flat-footed in the 2nd round. Browne's jab keeps Chagaev out, Chagaev manages a flurry that backs Browne up but no damage done. A left hand does sneak in and stumble Browne back again. Hard to score but we'll even it up. Browne 10-9; 19-19.
• Round 3: Browne lunges with a right but misses. Wrestling at center ring is broken up at the ropes. Browne pawing, circling around as Chagaev holds at center ring. Browne comes in with a few short uppercuts. Chagaev not pulling the trigger much, gets in a good jab, Browne returns fire. Flurry from both with Chagaev scoring. Late exchange. Another close round, no one in trouble. Chagaev 10-9; 29-28.
• Round 4: Browne starts the round busy again, and scores pushing the pace. Very busy through the first minute, but Chagaev comes back with shots of his own. Fight is getting much more interesting, starting to look like Gerber-Minto for a bit. Chagaev stalking more in the 2nd half of round, firing with left hooks. Exchanges late, but Browne's early agressiveness might have won a close round. Browne 10-9; 38-38.
• Round 5: Browne more measured at the stat, working short jabs and trying to move around the perimeter. Browne is fighting a smart fight, trying to negate Chagaev's advantages and wear him down. Chagaev's guard is up, blocking most of what Browne is throwing. Chagaev connects with some good shots that might have wobbled Browne but he looks ok. Browne leads with his shoulder coming in and Chagaev bounces him off and lands a few good punches. Browne gets his own in with Chagaev against the ropes. Last 30 seconds are even exchanges. Close again, but Chagaev had most meaningful connections. Chagaev 10-9; 48-47.
• Round 6: Very even fight so far, if scored wholistically. Browne jabs in, Chagaev whiffs with looping left. He gets a good left in later, however. Chagaev winning the infighting as Browne isn't circling. Browne pushes Chagaev to the ropes and connects with an uppercut. Chagaev left blocked by Browne's shoulder. Chagaev combination is effective. Chagaev left FLOORS Browne, huge punch with 30-45 seconds left. Chagaev trying to pour it on but looks tired. Another punch connects and wobbles Browne. Bell sounds and Chagaev is still punching as no one heard it in the ring. Chagaev 10-8; 58-55.
• Round 7: Browne is cut and looks a bit unsteady to start the round. Browne throws three uppercuts that connect as Chagaev gets lazy in his defense. Browne is all uppercuts but is having success as he tries to pour on his offense. Chagaev being careful and is probably tired after last round's work. Browne is hit with a left but unleashes a flurry of punches. Chagaev returns fire, but Browne survives the round, and probably won it. The bell seemed to ring early by at least 30 seconds. Browne 10-9; Chagaev 67-65.
• Round 8: With Browne the walking dead and Chagaev gassed, it's almost back to square one with the fighters looking tentative, and after last round there are a lot fewer punches thrown than last round. Chagaev gets one good left in but not much else is connecting. Browne is trying to produce some jabs. Neither fighter doing much as Browne is being evasive and has his legs back for the most part. 10-10; Chagaev 77-75.
• Round 9: Browne looks recovered and still has a real chance to win, depending on how tired Chagaev is. But he's got some work to do in the last four rounds if he wants to pull off an amazing comeback. More tentative action early in the 9th. The two mix it up a bit inside. A lot of missed jabs and arm punches from the fighters. Chagaev starting to look recovered from his gassedness, too, so maybe the 10th round will be better from both fighters. 10-10; Chagaev 87-85.
• Round 10: By our accounting Browne needs to take the last three rounds to win, but it's been a fight full of close rounds. Browne comes out jabbing, Chagaev returns fire with a straight left. Chagaev backs Browne to the ropes but can't take advantage. Browne dancing like he did early in the fight, Chagaev stalking. Short shots from Browne finding their way in past Chagaev's defenses. Browne right hand stumbles Chagaev and he is down, Browne has Chagaev in trouble against the rope, fight is stopped, with BROWNE UPSETTING CHAGAEV.

A huge, amazing comeback by Lucas Browne, who was nearly stopped in Round 6, survived, slowly came back, and stunned Chagaev with a shot that made him stumble and fall. Chagaev never quite recovered from the knockdown, and took a dozen shots without returning fire, and the ref had no choice but to stop the right.

Stunning work by Browne, who looked to have dug himself a deep hole but got out of it by employing more boxing skill than he ever had in the past, and won the fight by using his power, something he's always had.

All in all this was a great fight, something the heavyweight division doesn't have enough of these days. Lucas Browne will jump into our top ten at #7 and now holds the WBA "World" Heavyweight belt. Ruslan Chagaev falls out of the top ten for the first time since November of 2006, as Browne is only the third fighter to beat Chagaev in a pro bout.