THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Others receiving votes: Jason Miller (5), Michael Bisping (5), Kazuo Misaki (3), Chael Sonnen (3), Matt Lindland (2), Chris Leben (1)
WELTERWEIGHT
1. Georges St. Pierre (60)
2. Jon Fitch (51)
3. Thiago Alves (42)
4. Jake Shields (39)
5. Josh Koscheck (35)
6. Mike Swick (21)
7. Matt Hughes (16)
8.(tie) Paul Daley (12)
8.(tie) Carlos Condit (12)
10. Nick Diaz (11)
Others receiving votes: Martin Kampmann (10), Brock Larson (7), Paulo Thiago (7), Dan Hardy (4), Jay Hieron (2), Mike Pierce (1)
LIGHTWEIGHT
1. BJ Penn (60)
2. Shinya Aoki (48)
3. Eddie Alvarez (40)
4. Diego Sanchez (30)
5. Kenny Florian (29)
6. Frankie Edgar (25)
7. Gray Maynard (24)
8. Joachim Hansen (20)
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (16)
10. Gilbert Melendez (8)
Voters: Jamie Penick, Frank Hyden, Alex Williams, Matt Pelkey, Rich Boles, Bjorn Hansen
Pelkey's Analysis: We added a couple new voters this week and it did a pretty good job of shaking up the rankings. Big winners since last time were Vitor Belfort and Paul Daley, while the losers were Martin Kampmann and Brock Larson dropped out of the welterweight top-10. Diego Sanchez backers should be satisfied. He's gone from unranked all the way up to #4 without even having to fight. Strange. Same goes for Matt Hughes, who I thought was gone for good, only to reappear despite not having fought in months.
Lightweight continues to be the deepest division around, with 18 fighters total receiving votes. Light-heavyweight is the most top-heavy with a near consensus top-10. For people who complain about the UFC's title shots being handed out without rhyme or reason, the middleweight division seems to have set up a nice little mini-tournament, right down to the 1 seed facing the 4, the 2 vs. the 3, and the winners of the two fights assuredly meeting to crown one true champion. It won't change the fact that Anderson Silva is beyond unbeatable at 185, but it sure looks nice on paper. If you have any other questions or comments about the rankings, let me know at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP