The rankings list has made its way back to the heavyweight division.
There have been a few shake ups in this group as of late, mainly near the top. Still, the division has remained pretty solid as we work toward the big meeting of Velasquez vs. dos Sanots.
1. Cain Velasquez (9-0): Velasquez will return in November to take on Junior dos Santos. It will be a tough test for the UFC champ, as he has not fought in nearly a year and is coming off a major surgery.
2. Junior dos Santos (13-1): dos Santos tore through Shane Carwin in an impressive victory that solidified his spot as the top contender to the UFC crown. Junior has proven he can out-strike a striker and stuff a takedown, but will he be able to handle the explosiveness and speed of Velasquez?
3. Brock Lesnar (5-2): Lesnar may not return anytime soon, but I still think he deserves a high ranking as he was able to beat some of the best on this list before getting injured. Lesnar is going to need to show he can handle getting hit when he returns if he hopes to contend for the title ever again.
4. Alistair Overeem (35-11): Overeem was able to beat Werdum without too much difficulty but wasn’t impressive in his own right. Now, some debate with Zuffa has gotten him taken off the rest of the Strikeforce Grand Prix and leaves his MMA future in question. Hopefully Overeem will return and maybe someday step inside the octagon.
5. Shane Carwin (12-2): Sure Carwin didn’t look that great against JDS, but his only two MMA losses come against Santos and Lesnar. He still is an explosive striker and has the ability to knockout anyone. Carwin is going to need a strong performance in his next outing and show that he wasn’t a flavor of the month.
6. Frank Mir (15-5): Mir is still one of the best despite having lost to a number of big names in the last few years. Mir is coming off wins over Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson, but neither outing was that impressive. Mir has become more of a striker in recent years and gotten away from his impressive submission skills.
7. Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1): Werdum didn’t look very good against Overeem last month as he looked too desperate at times. The stigma of beating Fedor certainly wore off in that loss. Now, Werdum must find a worthy opponent to keep him relevant in Strikeforce.
8. Antonio Silva (16-2): Silva is looking like he might be the man to beat in the Grand Prix, especially with Overeem now out of the running. Silva has been improving with each fight and has the ability to overwhelm opponents with his size.
9. Josh Barnett (30-5) – Some criticized Barnett for a lackluster win over Brett Rogers, but he had the right game plan and executed it perfectly. Rogers wasn’t worthy of being in the cage with Barnett due to his poor ground skills and Barnett proved it. Barnett is still a threat in the heavyweight division and he may be the dark horse to win the Strikeforce Grand Prix.
10. Fedor Emelianenko (31-3): Fedor returns to action this week to take on Dan Henderson. Fedor will have the size edge, but he may be lacking in other areas. After two-straight losses, can Fedor rebound and be the legend he once was?