Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Bantamweights in North America
Jul 23, 2011 - 2:30:22 PM HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Bantamweights in North America

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By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist

I know this is a few days late. Real life gets in the way, and that. But had I been able to publish this on Tuesday, it would have been run before the UFC announced Cruz vs. Johnson and Faber vs. Bowles, so there's that, right?

Also, I just wasn't able to find enough fight footage to do a worldwide top 25 in this division. so many of the fights I needed to watch I just wasn't able to find. So rather than scrapping a fun and developing division entirely, I'm doing the top 15 bantamweights in North America. that in itself is less daunting, but still a challenge. It's really hard to find a lot of guys who have won more than two fights in a row, so a lot of this is just gut feel.

Check out the divisions we've covered so far and the schedule for upcoming divisions:

Week 1: Lightweights
Week 2: Featherweights
Week 3: Heavyweights
Week 4: Welterweights
Week 5: Light Heavyweights
Week 6: Middleweights

July 26: Pound for Pound
August 2: We start all over again

Bantamweight Rankings as of July 23, 2011

1.) Dominick Cruz - UFC champion has beaten Faber, Benavidez (twice), Jorgensen, Bowles. Yeah, he's the best bantamweight in the world. Next fight: Demetrious Johnson, October 1

2.) Urijah Faber - Was the best featherweight in the world when nobody was watching. Back at bantamweight once the featherweight division caught up to him. He's great, but needs a huge win to get a shot to complete the Cruz trilogy. Being 0-4 in his last four Zuffa title fights might be a problem, though. Next fight: Brian Bowles, November 19

3.) Joseph Benavidez - He has to be praying for a UFC flyweight division, because he's 0-2 against Cruz, and won't fight Faber. He's the Jon Fitch of this division, but even worse since he's had two shots at the sitting champion. UFC can't put him up against anyone they want to see succeed, because he's likely to derail future contenders. Next fight: Eddie Wineland, August 14

4.) Brian Bowles - Was in line for the next title shot, but his win over Takeya Mizugaki was very uninspiring. He's very well rounded, but a fragile right-hand seems to be in his head now. Next fight: Urijah Faber, November 19

5.) Demetrious Johnson - Hard to imagine anyone at 135 being faster than Mighty Mouse. We'll know for sure on October 1 when he fights Dominick Cruz. Hard to see how he wins this fight if it is revealed that he can't keep up with the pace Cruz sets. Next fight: Dominick Cruz, October 1

6.) Scott Jorgensen - Another top guy who is hoping to get a second shot at the champion. It's hard to get a huge public groundswell of support when your fights are never on the main card. I miss the WEC. Next fight - TBA

7.) Joe Warren - his last fight was fought at a 137 pound catchweight, and he's scheduled to fight in the Bellator bantamweight tournament, so I'm ranking him as a bantamweight too. Warren is a badass, what can I say? Winning ugly is a lot better to than losing pretty. Next fight: Alexis Vila, September 24

8.) Miguel Torres - Best bantamweight in North American history (so far), Torres started 5-0 in the WEC and 37-1 overall, dominating his local Chicagoland MMA scene. He hasn't seemed to be the same fighter since Brian Bowles knocked him out for the WEC title two long years ago, but Greg Jackson might be shaping him into a better overall fighter. Like when Tiger Woods re-engineered his swing while he was dominating in the late 90's. But while Torres might improve, the competition level has definitely improved. Next fight: TBA

9.) Brad Pickett - Picket might be the best English mixed martial artist going today, not that you'd know it by the amount of attention the division receives. Pickett has a signature victory, defeating Demetrious Johnson at the WEC 48 PPV last year. Unfortunately, that momentum was stifled by losing his next fight, dropping a WEC 50 scrap to Scott Jorgensen. "One Punch" hasn't dropped anyone since he was in Cage Rage in 2008. Lots of potential here, but lots to prove as well. Next fight: Renan Barao, November 5

10.) Renan Barao - Lost his first fight, and has then rattled off 26 victories in a row. Of course, the first 23 of those wins are against the elite of the division. Or the gatekeepers of the division. Or against anyone with any sort of future in the division. He's now 3-0 in the WEC and will be facing a huge test in his next fight. Next fight: Brad Pickett, November 5

11.) Zach Makovsky - It's hard to know how good the Bellator champion is, but the same can be said about most of the other Bellator champions as well. Makovsky was extremely impressive en route to winning the belt, but there is a glass ceiling hovering over the head of anyone who hasn't fought the elite competition that Zuffa has to offer. Next fight: TBA

12.) Michael McDonald - It's hard for anyone who saw his fight with Edwin Figueroa to not be a fan of the well rounded 20 year old fighter. Yes, I said 20. Damn kids. Next fight: TBA

13.) Takeya Mizugaki - Mizugaki has gone 3-4 in his seven WEC/UFC fights, alternating wins with losses. The losses are to the elite of the division (Torres, Jorgensen, Faber, Bowles), and the wins are against some good names (Curran, Yahya, Duran). It's hard to hold those losses against him too heavily, but it is clear that he's never going to be a contender. Gives good fight, though, so he's always going to be around if he can hang around .500. Next fight: Cole Escovedo, September 24

14.) Eddie Wineland - Well, at least he can say he was in the co-main event of a UFC PPV. and in his UFC debut, no less. Next fight: Joseph Benavidez, August 14

15.) Wagnney Fabiano - Fabiano reminds me of Takeya Mizugaki in that everyone expects each of these two fighters to become an elite bantamweight, but the results just aren't there. Fabiano was being groomed for a featherweight title shot when Mackens Semerzier triangled him in barely two minutes at WEC 43. After winning a couple of tune up fights at 135, Joseph Benavidez schooled him at WEC 52 and he hasn't been heard from since. Next fight: TBA