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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"I think it's a joke that you guys have guys like Ben Henderson ranked above guys like JZ. You guys got to be freaking kidding me. This kid is a beast. The guy's a great fighter. He's well-rounded, has great ground and pound. He's fought Masato [Kobayashi] in K-1. Are you guys kidding me? Really? You guys have a guy named Ben Henderson ranked above this guy? You guys are out of your mind. This guy's a savage. He's good on the ground, he's got good submissions, he's got everything you need... He's one of the best fighters I'm ever going to face in my life."
-Josh Thomson decries the media's lightweight rankings for MMA during the pre-fight press conference for Saturday's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons 2 event. (Quotes transcribed at MMAFighting.com).
Penick's Analysis: While rankings are a completely subjective system, and everyone that provides their rankings has their own criteria when putting them together, there's a case for having Henderson over JZ. I don't have either of them on my personal top ten, as although Henderson has won eleven straight fights there are more fighters that have taken on tougher competition overall. But Thomson clearly believes past competition and success weighs more heavily than what's been done recently. Personally I put more weight over what fighters have accomplished recently, as the fight game is always in flux. Just because a fighter was a top five or ten fighter two years ago doesn't mean they just keep that spot if they haven't performed since then. In JZ's case, he's gone 1-2 with one no contest since 2008. Ben Henderson has won eight straight fights in that time frame. I'd say he absolutely should be ranked ahead of JZ, but I still wouldn't put him as a top ten fighter yet.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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