Rankings Focus: Is welterweight the best division in the UFC?
Traditional wisdom says lightweight is the UFC's best division. Maybe that is true. But doesn't it seem like ever since Georges St-Pierre stepped away the welterweight division has been better than ever?
It has been 10 months since St-Pierre went into semi-retirement, vacating the welterweight title. Johny Hendricks won the belt in a Fight of the Year contender against Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 in March. The two will meet again in a rematch at UFC 181 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas after Lawler knocked off Matt Brown in another bout that might have been the best of the year.
This is the best the 170-pound division has been since, well, maybe ever. At least since B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes and St-Pierre called the weight class home. And even then, beyond those three it was somewhat thin.
On Saturday, welterweights headlined two UFC events. Rory MacDonald, most people's next No. 1 contender after Lawler, knocked out Tarec Saffiedine in Halifax and Rick Story dominated Gunnar Nelson in Stockholm. Story vaulted to No. 12 this week in the 170-pound contender rankings after being absent since March.
The top seven welterweights in the UFC -- Hendricks, Lawler, MacDonald, Tyron Woodley, Carlos Condit, Brown and Hector Lombard -- are probably the most fearsome front of any division in the organization. And the crazy thing is that St-Pierre could come back and Nick Diaz, a former No. 1 contender and Strikeforce champion, is returning at UFC 183 to face Anderson Silva.
When you go a little further down, you still have names like Saffiedine, Jake Ellenberger and Dong Hyun Kim and there are serious prospects, too. Kelvin Gastelum, Jordan Mein, Gunnar Nelson, Ryan LaFlare and the unranked Brandon Thatch have the potential to be top 10 or better in the near future.
So, yes. Lightweight is still an incredible division loaded with talent throughout the top 15. But welterweight in a post-GSP world might have overtaken it. We'll find out more as the year comes to a close and in 2015.
Inexplicable move of the week: Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt moved up this week in the rankings despite not fighting.
There must be a lot of people who want to see Hunt get that title shot. Hunt moved up one spot to No. 4 in the UFC heavyweight contender rankings this week, over Stipe Miocic. Hunt is coming off an impressive second-round knockout win over Roy Nelson last month in Japan and Miocic has not fought since obliterating Fabio Maldonado in May.
Miocic also has a victory over Nelson, so Hunt's résumé isn't really considered better. This might be more of a testament to Hunt's popularity, even among the media voters. If Miocic beats Junior dos Santos at UFC Fight Night on FOX on Dec. 13 in Phoenix, he'll have the inside track to a title shot. But maybe Hunt can also make a case for getting the winner of champion Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum, which is set for UFC 180 on Nov. 15.
Rankings riffs
-- Speaking of Cain Velasquez, Chris Weidman moved one spot over him to No. 4 in the pound-for-pound rankings for no apparent reason. Weidman is coming off a unanimous decision win over Lyoto Machida in July, while Velasquez has not fought since dominating Junior dos Santos last October. It's possible Velasquez's reputation has been somewhat affected by only beating two people -- dos Santos and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva -- in his last five fights.
-- Mitch Gagnon and Max Holloway both made their rankings debuts after impressive showings Saturday. Gagnon choked out UFC newcomer Roman Salazar and Holloway crushed Akira Corassani by TKO. Gagnon is now No. 15 at bantamweight and Holloway is in the same spot at featherweight.
-- Can we take Vitor Belfort out of the light heavyweight rankings for good? It's a weak division, but "The Phenom" likely won't be competing there again for a long time. This week, he moved down to No. 14 with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira going up a spot. Belfort challenges Chris Weidman for the UFC middleweight title in February.
