Top 10 Featherweight Rankings
Posted by Drew Ellis (07/06/2011 @ 9:01 pm)
The rankings schedule has made it way back to featherweight.
Not too much has changed in the division since I last came out with my 145-pound top 10, but we did have some debuts and a mild upset or too.
Here is a look at my latest top 10 for the featherweight division.
1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Aldo is the champion and awaits his next opponent. It looks to be Kenny Florian, but a date and location have yet to be set. Aldo showed some signs of vulnerability against Mark Hominick, but still dominated a great deal of their 25-minute fight. Florian will need to be on top of his game to take Aldo’s title.
2. Chad Mendes (10-0) – The wrestling master has been labeled the No. 1 contender for Aldo, but he opted not to wait for the champion to heal up with some injuries and will now take on Rani Yahya at UFC 133, with his title shot on the line. Mendes likely has the grappling edge in this one, but will have to avoid the slick submissions of Yahya.
3. Kenny Florian (14-5) – Florian won his featherweight debut over Diego Nunes and now appears to be in line for a title shot. Florian didn’t look his best, but the first fight at a lower weight class is always the toughest. Florian will have a strong game plan to fight Aldo, the question will be if he can execute it?
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Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Rankings, UFC
Tags: Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes, Dustin Poirier, Erik Koch, Hatsu Hioki, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Manny Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Tyson Griffin
Top 10 Featherweight Rankings
Posted by Drew Ellis (05/11/2011 @ 7:19 pm)
It’s Wednesday night, which means another edition of my top 10 rankings.
The featherweights get the spotlight this week, headlined by UFC king, Jose Aldo.
So, without further ado, here is my top 10.
(If you need to go back and find my pound-for-pound, heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight or lightweight rankings, click on the links)
1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Aldo is one of the top strikers in all of MMA as his leg kicks are one of the most devastating strikes in the game. Aldo struggled toward the end of his win over Mark Hominick at UFC 129, but it was later discovered he was dealing with an infection leading up to the fight. Still, Aldo found a way to beat up Hominick for four rounds and retain his title.
2. Chad Mendes (10-0) – The protégé of Urijah Faber is unbeaten in his MMA career and he continues to develop his striking to go along with his overpowering wrestling. Mendes is set to take on Aldo for the title later this year, but the memory of seeing Faber get blasted in the leg by Aldo may haunt him heading into the fight. Mendes appears to posses the ability to take Aldo to the ground. But, the question is, what will Mendes be able to do to Aldo when the fight hits the ground and can he hold the champ down for 25 minutes?
3. Kenny Florian (13-5) – Florian has yet to fight at 145 pounds, but I still consider him one of the best now that he is jumping into the mix. Florian has only suffered losses to some of the best at 155 pounds and his style should pose a lot of problems for the top featherweights in the UFC. He begins his march towards a title against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, and a win will likely make him the No. 1 contender to the featherweight title later in 2011.
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Posted in: Dream, Fighters, UFC
Tags: Chad Mendez, Diego Nunes, Dustin Poirier, featherweight division, Hatsu Hioki, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Manny Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Michihiro Omigawa, rankings, Tyson Griffin
