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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
It's time to talk about the welterweights. This is clearly the deepest and most talented division I have sifted through so far. Georges St-Pierre at the top of the division has dominated the rest of the field in a manner rivaled only by Anderson Silva at middleweight. The next five welterweights in my rankings all could make a legitimate claim at being the next best welterweight in the world behind GSP. And then the next twelve or thirteen welterweights could be ranked in damn near any order, and a case could be made for each permutation.
Because there is so much parity from 7 through 19 or 20, I decided to be a little more clinical this time around. Rather than using just my gut, I am including the win-loss record for every fighter against the other 24 fighters on this list. St-Pierre is 11-2 against the top 25 welterweights in the world, and the fighter with the next highest win total is Jake Shields with four wins. No other welterweight has more than three wins against the fighters on this list.
I relied more heavily on past results in compiling these rankings than I did with any previous division that I ranked. That said, it's not a straight MMA Math list either. I have Rick Story ahead of Charlie Brenneman by a dozen spots, I have Josh Koscheck ahead of Thiago Alves, etc. There's a balance between past results and overall resumes to consider here. A strong case could be made for more than a hundred combinations of fighters from 7 through 19 or 20. These are mine. Feel free to share yours.
Check out the divisions we've covered so far and the schedule for for upcoming divisions:
July 5: Bantamweights - Immediately after UFC BW title fight
July 12: Light Heavyweights
July 19: Middleweights
Welterweight Rankings as of June 28, 2011
1.) Georges St-Pierre (11-2 vs. top 25; Wins: Hieron, Penn (x2), Hughes (x2), Serra, Fitch, Alves, Hardy, Koscheck, Shields. Losses: Hughes, Serra) - Just look at that list. He's beaten everybody. Next fight: Nick Diaz, October 29
2.) Jake Shields (4-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Condit, Pyle, Daley, Kampmann. Losses: GSP) - He also defeated Yushin Okami at 170 on the same night he beat Condit. Shields was the first guy to take a round off of GSP since GSP regained the title in 2007. Next fight: Jake Ellenberger, TBA
3.) Jon Fitch (3-2-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Alves (x2), Sanchez. Draw: Penn. Losses: Pyle, GSP) – Fitch has beaten a lot of guys who were perceived to be good, but aren't really. I'm frankly skeptical that he's this good, but beating guys you're supposed to beat, every damn time, is impressive nonetheless. Next fight: TBA
4.) B.J. Penn (2-3-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Hughes (x2). Draw: Fitch. Losses: GSP (x2), Hughes) – My MMA man crush has more talent in his pinkie finger than most fighters will ever know. I just wish I could figure out what runs through his head. Next fight: TBA
5.) Nick Diaz (1-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Daley. Losses: Sanchez) – Another guy whose head I can not penetrate figure out. There is no fighter I enjoy watching more than Diaz, because his in-cage style (and out-of-cage style for that matter) is completely unique. Next fight: Georges St-Pierre, October 29
6.) Carlos Condit (3-2 vs. top 25; Wins: Ellenberger, MacDonald, Hardy. Losses: Shields, Kampmann) – Interesting note that may nothing, but Condit's 3 wins against the top 25 have come in each of his last 3 fights. I love Condit's relentlessness, heart, and spirit. I just hope that it's enough to prevent him from being dry-humped into an awful fight on Saturday night. I don't care who wins between him and Dong Hyun Kim this weekend necessarily, I just want it to be a typical Condit fight rather than a typical Kim fight. Is that so wrong? Next fight: Dong Hyun Kim, July 2.
7.) Jake Ellenberger (1-3 vs. top 25; Wins: Pyle. Losses: Hieron, Story, Condit) – I think he has championship talent (if GSP ever, you know, eats a pound of pure kryptonite). He is just lacking a breakthrough performance against a top 5 guy. Speaking of which… Next fight: TBA (Shields?)
8.) Josh Koscheck (3-3 vs. top 25; Wins: Sanchez, Johnson, Daley. Losses: GSP (x2), Alves) – I went into this exercise expecting to rank the male nurse hater outside of the top 10, but he has as many big wins as any mortal on this list. If his face ever recovers, he could jump back into the top 5 quickly. Next fight: TBA
9.) Diego Sanchez (2-3 vs. top 25; Wins: Diaz, Kampmann. Losses: Koscheck, Fitch, Hathaway) – Sanchez has a lot of wins over guys who aren't on this list, either due to weight class changes, or other factors. His gas tank might be the best in the sport. Next fight: Matt Hughes, September 24
10.) Rick Story (3-2 vs. top 25; Wins: Ellenberger, Hendricks, Alves. Losses: Hathaway, Brenneman) – This was tough. How do you factor in the Brenneman loss? It doesn't count as a full loss to me, but it hurt him, for sure. He can move back up the list with a strong win this fall. Next fight: TBA
11.) Thiago Alves (2-4 vs. top 25; Wins: Hughes, Koscheck. Losses: Fitch (x2), GSP, Story) – I've never been an Alves guy for whatever reason. I think he's a one-dimensional fighter with overrated power. The Koscheck win was a long time ago. Looked great against John Howard, which is kind of like looking thin next to Gabourey Sidibe. Next fight: TBA
12.) Martin Kampmann (1-3 vs. top 25; Wins: Condit. Losses: Daley, Shields, Sanchez) – I've always been a Kampmann guy, but I'm starting to think I was wrong on that front. He just doesn't have the big wins to match his exciting fighting style. Next fight: TBA
13.) Dong Hyun Kim (0-0 vs. top 25) – Kim is probably a top 10 talent, but he hasn't fought anybody. And in such a tightly packed division, that fact is enough to drop him a few spots. He's in the top ten if he beats Condit on Saturday night. Next fight: Carlos Condit, July 2
14.) Jay Hieron (1-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Ellenberger. Losses: GSP) – All he does is win, get ducked by Nick Diaz and Scott Coker, and sign with Bellator. Whoops. Upcoming fight against Ben Askren will either be awesome or awful, there will be no in between. Next fight: Ben Askren, TBA
15.) Rory MacDonald (0-1 vs. top 25; Losses: Condit) – Probably a top ten talent, but with no top ten wins, he needs to show the world he is in fact top ten. I'm awestruck that someone so young can be so good. Next fight: Mike Pyle, August 6
16.) Anthony Johnson (1-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Hardy. Losses: Koscheck) – Johnson is just one more kid with massive talent. He missed a ginormous opportunity when he was unable to fight Nate Marquardt. But the win over Hardy was a real eye opener for me. Next fight: TBA
17.) Paul Daley (1-3 vs. top 25; Wins: Kampmann. Losses: Shields, Koscheck, Diaz) – Daley has massive power, and looks great against chinless sluggers like Scott Smith. Tyron Woodley is about to make a name for himself off of Daley's back. Next fight: Tyron Woodley, July 30
18.) Mike Pyle (2-2 vs. top 25; Wins: Fitch, Hathaway. Losses: Shields, Ellenberger) – Solid veteran who really messed with the UFC's British plan by smothering John Hathaway. He's ready to do the same to Canadian Rory MacDonald, but MacDonald will be ready. Expect a war. Next fight: Rory MacDonald, August 6
19.) John Hathaway (2-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Story, Sanchez. Losses: Pyle) – Which performance was more indicative of the real John Hathaway: Diego Sanchez or Mike Pyle? He turns 24 this week, so he has plenty of time to figure it out. Next fight: TBA
20.) Ben Askren (0-0 vs. top 25) – I love Funky Ben. Jay Hieron is a real test, and could be a hell of a fight. It's a shame he's tied down to that onerous Bellator contract. Next fightL Jay Hieron, TBA
21.) Matt Hughes (3-5 vs. top 25; Wins: GSP, Penn, Serra. Losses: Penn (x2), GSP (x2), Alves) – That 3-5 record is misleading. He's been around so long that he's fought tons of guys who were top 25 guys when he fought them. I don't know why he took the Sanchez fight, because he's in the position where he's taking fights that personally intrigue him. I really hope he can hang. Next fight: Diego Sanchez, September 24
22.) Charlie Brenneman (1-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Story. Losses: Hendricks) – Look, I know he just beat Rick Story, and I ranked Story in my top 10. But Brenneman had shown nothing before the Story fight to indicate he'd be a top 25 guy, and he would have been unranked had Nate Marquardt not, um, gotten pregnant? Brenneman is now on the radar. Next fight: TBA
23.) Dan Hardy (0-3 vs. top 25; Losses: GSP, Condit, Johnson) – The welterweight division is deep. Exactly 22 fighters deep. Next fight: Chris Lytle, August 14
24.) Matt Serra (1-2 vs. top 25; Wins: GSP. Losses: GSP, Hughes) – I love Matt Serra. If there were one guy in the UFC I could spend the entire day with, it'd probably be him. As long as it wasn't in New York, of course. Next fight: TBA
25.) Johny Hendricks (1-1 vs. top 25; Wins: Brenneman. Losses: Story) – He fights Mike Pierce in August, and Pierce is either 26 or 27 at welterweight. And, um, yeah, I'm tapped out. Next fight: Mike Pierce, August 6
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