HEAVYWEIGHT (206 lbs. – 265 lbs.)
- Brock Lesnar (4-1 / UFC Heavyweight Champion)
- Shane Carwin (12-0 / UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion)
- Cain Velasquez (8-0 / UFC)
- Alistair Overeem (33-11, 1 NC / Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion)
- Junior Dos Santos (11-1 / UFC)
- Fabricio Werdum (15-2 / Strikeforce)
- Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 NC / WAMMA Heavyweight Champion)
- Frank Mir (13-5/ UFC)
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1 / UFC)
- Roy Nelson (15-4 / UFC)
Over the course of one week, we saw an Emperor fall and Brock Lesnar prove himself both resilient and the #1 ranked Heavyweight in the World. I honestly don’t think there can be any question as to the latter; the former I’ve suspected for quite some time. Sure, anybody can get caught, but the general consensus has been that Fedor was above it. Well, sorry to say, I was right all along: Fedor Emelianenko is human, and not facing a legitimate heavyweight challenge in the last several years has finally caught up to him.
Shane Carwin, despite the loss, stays right where he is. Carwin came as close as anyone’s going to come to putting Brock away. Carwin is the biggest heavyweight in the UFC besides Lesnar, was able to stuff his takedown, and hits harder than anyone else in the division. If he can’t put him away, what hope does anyone else have?
Meanwhile, Fabricio Werdum proved he still belongs in the conversation, and maybe that devastating loss to Junior Dos Santos wouldn’t go down quite the same way if a fight between the two were to go down again. Immediately after the fight Werdum was asked what was next, and he expressed a desire to grant Fedor a rematch rather than face off against controversial Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem. With only one fight remaining on Fedor’s contract, the smart money is on that rematch happening. And, once again, Overeem will be left in limbo unless he expresses a willingness to fight Antonio Silva. Which, I’ll be frank, I’m not sure is a fight Overeem wants, since he (nor anybody else for that matter) seems to be talking about it.
The next shake-up in the rankings occurs when Junior Dos Santos faces off against Roy Nelson on August 7th. For some reason, I have a feeling the winner’s going to have a date with either Frank Mir or the loser of Brock vs. Cain (in other words, Cain).
Cain Velasquez may have the next title shot, but I honestly don’t see him coming anywhere near giving Lesnar the type of trouble Carwin gave him. Despite him not having much of a chance, this is actually a big fight for the UFC, as they’ve struggled to break through to the Hispanic market. The question is, can they convince them (and the rest of us) that Cain presents a legitimate threat? It’s a tough sell to be certain.
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And that wraps up the breakdown of my wholly inconsequential, just-for-s***s-and-giggles rankings.