The Great Debate: Round 1

The Great Debate: Round 1 by 5thRound.com

The discussions have been made, arguments left unsettled, and theories put forth…but the answers still remain unclear. How do MMAWeekly and Sherdog come up with their ranking systems? What criteria is used to judge which fighters are better than others if they have never fought each other, or even fought common opponents? How can it be justified that one is more accurate than the other and how important are these rankings for fighters?

Mainly, the rankings are based on talent, some are based on potential, but I believe that right now, these rankings will remain subjective until all these fighters unify into one organization, or at least fight the best that an organization has to offer, only then can we truly gage the proper pecking order. That being said, much love to MMAWeekly and Sherdog for providing these rankings for comparison. I totally appreciate that they do it as I check them out all the time.

What I am going to do is write 5 Rounds of articles, one Round, per day, for each of the 5 major weight classes. I will give you my two cents on which sets of rankings that I like better, and why. I will then immediately start a topic in our forum to allow you to discuss your thoughts on that day’s weight class’ rankings. The most exciting aspect of this will be the competitive and interactive debate with all you MMA fans.

The forum names will be “(Weight class abbreviation) Debate” (i.e. “LW Debate” for the Lightweights). I want you MMA fans to post your thoughts and opinions on which rankings you agree with more, if there is anything you would change and most importantly fight for your arguments.

Round 1 - Lightweights

Lightweight Division (155)
MMAWeekly Sherdog
1. Takanori Gomi 1. Takanori Gomi
2. Hayato Sakurai 2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gilbert Melendez 3. Tatsuya Kawajiri
4. Tatsuya Kawajiri 4. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
5. Shinya Aoki 5. Sean Sherk
6. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro 6. Mitsuhiro Ishida
7. Joachim Hansen 7. Joachim Hansen
8. Mitsuhiro Ishida 8. Marcus Aurelio
9. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 9. Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti
10. Joe Stevenson 10. B.J. Penn

Let’s turn a blind eye to the fact the Nick Diaz embarrassed Takanori Gomi and submitted him with the greatest of ease. He is a consensus #1, and until someone can beat him legitimately, we must accept that. Overall , I would have to favor MMAWeekly’s rankings for the lightweights. I find it odd that Sherdog has completely left off Sakurai from their rankings. I can understand moving Melendez up to #2 and Sakurai down to #3, but there is no way that he is not a Top 3 Lightweight. With a record of 30-7-2 against top tier Pride LW’s, there is no way that he is not at least a Top 10 LW.

MMAWeekly may be premature in taking Sean Sherk off of their Top 10. As of now, he is innocent until proven guilty, so the decision to take him off could have waited until October when he has his hearing. I would have Sherk at #5 and take Aoki off the list. I don’t think that Aoki has established himself as a top tier fighter as of yet, but he is still young and very crafty with his ground game.

I would also replace Stevenson with Penn for the last spot. I just think that if they fought each other right now, Penn would take it hands down. He just needs a couple more fights at 155 to prove himself amongst his peers, and Stevenson has not accomplished enough to be ahead of Penn at this point in their respective careers.

Now it’s your turn. Post what do you think about the Lightweight Rankings and fight for your Top 10. Also, be sure to check out tomorrow’s rankings for arguably MMA’s the deepest division, Welterweight. Can’t wait to talk with you guys about that the 170’s. TO BE CONTINUED…

5thRound.com - Where Champions are Born. (Your source for all things MMA Mixed Martial Arts) (Sherdog Rankings and picture courtesy of Sherdog.com. MMAWeekly Rankings and picture courtesy of MMAWeekly.com)

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