After UFC 99, I wrote that Cain Velasquez looks like a future UFC heavyweight champion. I've heard some pushback on that from people who take a contrary view, saying Velasquez didn't look very good in the stand-up, and that he ate some hard punches from Cheick Kongo at the start of all three rounds of their fight.I agree that Velasquez needs to work on his stand-up, and he definitely needs to learn better head movement so he doesn't get punched right on the button the way he did against Kongo. But I also think Velasquez showed a lot of heart in taking those punches from Kongo and managing to quickly take him down in all three rounds, and I think people are too quick to dismiss how impressive it is to win all three rounds against Kongo: In nine previous UFC fights, Kongo was 7-2, and the two losses were by split decision. No one has ever dominated Kongo in the Octagon the way Velasquez did. And that's why Velasquez is on my list of the Top 10 heavyweights in MMA, which is below.
Top 10 Heavyweights in Mixed Martial Arts
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Frank Mir
3. Josh Barnett
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
6. Randy Couture
7. Shane Carwin
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Cain Velasquez
10. Brett Rogers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2009 @ 2:27PM
mike said...
Junior dos Santos is right on the border of being in the Top 10, I just wish the UFC would put him on a live show instead of in dark matches.
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6-15-2009 @ 4:37PM
claytor said...
True, but its hard to argue with this list as is, no?
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6-15-2009 @ 4:41PM
Alistair Azimuth PSN: johnnynumber5 said...
I think Lesnar is a little high but other than that it's about right. I don't seem him being the #3 HW in the world after only 4 professional fights once of which was a defeat. I think Gonzaga is still one of the top 10 in the world but I guess one loss will do that to a fighter.
6-15-2009 @ 4:40PM
Alistair Azimuth PSN: johnnynumber5 said...
Interesting that Velazquez would be ahead of Rogers after the way he dominated Arlovski. I would have to put Rogers ahead of Velazquez at this point. This list just kind of shows how weak the heavyweight division in MMA really is.
It's kind of odd how fast Syliva has fallen since his loss to Fedor. I guess after you fight Fedor and get knocked out you are never the same. Just ask AA and Sylvia ... Doesn't bode well for Barnett.
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6-15-2009 @ 9:26PM
chubang! said...
I think Mirko CroCop can beat brett rogers even though he hasn't been very impressive lately. Brett rogers doesn't deserve number 10 in the world because he knocked out arvloski.
http://thingsthatmakeyoumad.blogspot.com/
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6-15-2009 @ 9:22PM
imshortyk said...
Well in my opinion Brett Rogers didn't dominate Arlovski like Velasquez dominated Kongo. Rogers flashed KOed the Pitbull . . with four or five punches, lol. While Cain absolutely dominated Cheick the entire fight (and showed off a granite chin in the process). I like these standings. And I never, ever ever ever believed Tim Sylvia was even in the top twenty of Heavyweights. If anything he is the only super tall heavyweight that actually used his height as a true advantage, but he never was OFFENSIVE. He is an absolutely boring fighter to watch.
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6-16-2009 @ 12:17AM
goofykufsgunit said...
i think fedor is over rated he fights the scrubs/ aka rejects of the ufc i mean both silva and arlowski got dropped by nobodys and it only makes fedor look even crappier. he needs to sign with the ufc fight some good people
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