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COLUMN: MMA Rankings and the importance of finding the right criteria
Mar 8, 2010 - 9:07:03 PM COLUMN: MMA Rankings and the importance of finding the right criteria

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By Laramey Leet, MMATorch Columnist

The sport of MMA is evolving as much as the athletes; the ranking systems need to be evolving and maintained as well. Depending on what rankings you look at (Sherdog, InsideMMA, our own here at MMATorch etc.) depends on how you look at some fighters. The ranking systems can completely lead (or mislead) a casual fans' opinion. I believe that many of the websites and organizations do not modify their rankings after every event. Much consideration should be taken when switching or making a ranking system.

A ranking system is what keeps MMA a sport and not strictly for entertainment purposes. It would be nice if the UFC could rank there own fighters, but it would probably hurt them more than help them.

For instance, when Anderson Silva was fighting Vitor Belfort, if the UFC had a ranking system they could have sold the fight as "The Number 1 and 3 Middleweights in the World!"

While that sounds good, Belfort got injured; you cannot say what rank his replacement Demian Maia is because it would not intrigue fans to watch the fight if they said what it was. What would help the sport a great deal is to have a major company put together an official ranking system, such as ESPN.

I think that most of the current ranking systems dwell too much on a fighter's past. Just because a fighter had a great couple of years does not allow him to linger in the top ten of a division for years. I guess you can say that Matt Hughes is an example in this situation. (It might not be a great example, but you can see my point.) Hughes is one of the greatest champions of all time, but has gone 2-3 in his last five fights. He has stated that he is not going to make another run at the title and refuses to fight up and coming fighters. He is in the top of the division, but I do not know if he makes the cut for the top ten in the division these days.

Ranking systems should not be based on who has the best record or who is undefeated in the division. For this reference, let’s look at Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor has arguably one of the best records in MMA, but unlike every other number one fighter in there division, Fedor does not fight the best. Realistically, you have to fight the best to be the best. Not taking anything away from Fedor, as he has only so much control over whom he fights, but a fighter should not be number one for record and past alone.

In the earlier part of the decade no one would doubt that Fedor was the best, but lately his performances have been merely decent and have not looked like the obvious dominant no. 1 heavyweight in the world. Now I am not saying that he does not deserve to be in the top ten, but I just believe that it's not accurate to assume he's no. 1 without hard analysis of his performances recently, including quality of opponents.

Another thing that I see in a lot of ranking systems is if fighter A beats fighter B, sometimes fighter B will be higher in the polls than fighter A. There are actually plenty of examples of this taken place. Antonio Nogueira beat Josh Barnett, but in many polls Barnett is ranked higher. Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson, another example. The list goes on and on. I still see Nate Marquardt ranked over Chael Sonnen in some polls. I understand if the winner dropped a fight or two after their fight, but sometimes it gets ridiculous.

A singular accepted national ranking entity would do wonders to put the sports in perspective, especially if the rankings were explained and justified (and defended against counter points of view). It might prove why Wes Sims vs. Tim Sylvia was denied in Ohio, too!

Let me know what you think about the current ranking systems and what you would like to be fixed. Or let me know if you completely disagree with me! You can either email me at LarLLeet@yahoo.com or leave a comment on MMATorch.com's reader comment area.