This is part four of a five part series examining each of the most common weight classes including lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. See how your favorite fighters will rank and offer your own opinions. Let the debate begin.
Welterweight Rankings – 170 lbs.
1) Georges St. Pierre (UFC) – (15 – 2) MMA Record, Interim UFC Welterweight Champion, Former UFC Welterweight Champion
St. Pierre is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters currently in all of MMA. He has set out to avenge his fluke loss to Matt Serra and he will have his home crowd in Montreal, Quebec, Canada behind him on April 19 for the fight.
St. Pierre is constantly evolving into an even more dangerous fighter. He already has K-1 talent with his legs and is a very respectable striker with his hands as well.
Over the past few months, St. Pierre has coupled those skills with an improved ground game. His ground game is now a huge part of his style.
He has largely out-wrestled two of the best wrestlers in all of MMA over his last two fights in Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, leading the MMA world scratching its head trying to find a weakness.
Expect St. Pierre to beat Serra via knockout in April and to subsequently knockout Jon Fitch in the near future, as well. The sky is the limit for this extremely talented fighter.
2) Jon Fitch (UFC) – (16 – 2), 1 no contest
Fitch is currently the No. 1 contender at this weight class in the UFC and should get the winner of the Serra/St. Pierre fight. Fitch’s only two losses were at the light heavyweight level, and he has not lost since 2003.
He is on a 15-match winning streak, and has earned the right to get a title shot. His 15 straight victories are over a host of talented fighters including Diego Sanchez, Chris Wilson, Thiago Alves, and Josh Burkman.
Fitch has paid his dues over the last five years and deserves more respect for what he has accomplished up to this point.
3) Josh Koscheck (UFC) – (10 – 2)
In the UFC, Koscheck is essentially the fighter that everyone loves to hate. I can’t explain it. It could be his ridiculous bleach blond, curly hair or his cocky attitude. Who knows ?
What I do know is that he is a talented, well-rounded, and extremely underrated fighter. He is one of the few fighters on this list that is well above average on his feet and on the ground. His stand up has improved tremendously since the inception of his career and this was evident in his fight against Diego Sanchez.
During his fight with St. Pierre, he was overwhelmed by St. Pierre’s overall strength. St. Pierre was able to control the wrestling as well, which was unexpected, and is considered Koscheck’s greatest strength.
Koscheck may have overtrained with his stand up and taken his wrestling for granted leading up to the fight. I would still take Koscheck over any fighter ranked below.
4) Matt Hughes (UFC) – (41 – 6), Former UFC Welterweight Champion
Hughes is the best UFC Welterweight of all time, but he is showing signs of slowing down. He has expressed interest in fighting Matt Serra in the future if Serra loses his championship fight.
However, he has nothing left to prove in the UFC or to the MMA community. He will go down as one of the greats. I would not be surprised if he hangs it up sometime in the near future.
5) Diego Sanchez (UFC) – (18 – 2)
Sanchez is another fighter, like Koscheck, who I believe is slightly underrated. Both of Sanchez’ losses are extremely respectable coming at the hands of Koscheck and Fitch. He has notable victories over Karo Parisyan, Kenny Florian, and Nick Diaz.
Sanchez is a ground fighter by trade with a background in wrestling and gaidojutsu. Exactly half of his victories have come via submission. He is also only 26 years old and will only improve.
6) Karo Parisyan (UFC) – (18 – 4)
Parisyan, like Sanchez, has extremely respectable losses to Sanchez, Sean Sherk twice, and to St. Pierre. He is a ground specialist like Sanchez and has won nine times via submission. He has beaten the likes of Serra, Nick Diaz, Nick Thompson, and Josh Burkman.
7) Matt Serra (UFC) – (9 – 4), Current UFC Welterweight Champion
Serra orchestrated the greatest upset in UFC history when he defeated St. Pierre via knockout to win the UFC Welterweight Title at UFC 69. That victory was the first in Serra’s career via knockout and his first over a top welterweight.
The bottom line is his victory over St. Pierre was a fluke. This will be proven at UFC 83 where I expect him to lose via knockout to St. Pierre.
I am ranking Serra behind Parisyan because he lost a head-to-head. Sanchez has beaten Parisyan and has a better resume.
Fitch, Koscheck , and Hughes all have more impressive resumes as well. Serra is a good fighter, he’s just not a great fighter and doesn’t belong in the top tier of the welterweight discussion.
8) Jake Shields (Elite XC) – (20 – 4 – 1)
Shields has nine straight victories including wins over Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit. He has not lost since December 2004. Shields’ strength is his ground game and his wrestling and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt level skills.
On the other hand, he is still raw as a striker. Only three of his 20 victories have come by way of knockout. Shields will be challenging Drew Fickett for the Elite XC Welterweight Championship at the end of March.
9) Marcus Davis (UFC) – (14 – 3)
Davis has rolled off 11 straight victories since 2006. He is a well-rounded fighter with seven wins via submission and five via knockout.
However, arguably his biggest victory is over Shonie Carter. Davis has been largely untested. Expect to see Davis getting tougher opponents on a regular basis in the near future. He can start by defeating Mike Swick at UFC 85 in London, but that is easier said than done
10) Carlos Condit (WEC) – (22 – 4), Current WEC Welterweight Champion
Condit is an extremely talented up-and-coming fighter at the ripe age of 23. He is undefeated in his four WEC fights and has an impressive submission victory over Frank Trigg on his resume from 2006. He is an extremely well-rounded fighter and can only improve with age.
Condit believes he belongs in the upper echelon of welterweight fighters in the world. He recently expressed interest in unifying the UFC and WEC welterweight belts in order to fight the best crop of welterweights in the world. It’s safe to say he’s not lacking any confidence at this point in his young career.
Random Thoughts:
- B.J. Penn moving up to welterweight to challenge Georges St. Pierre to a rematch would be a great fight.
- Anderson Silva moving down from middleweight to challenge St. Pierre could be the best fight ever put on by the UFC.
- There are no pictures of any of the fighters ranked above to choose from. Frank Trigg is the only skilled welterweight fighter in the archive and so he is pictured above.
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3 months ago
Show serra some respect already. He's gonna knock out rush AGAIN, then where you gonna put him?
from 2 months ago
what was that douchey? Serra, at welterweight, is a joke. i've said it all along and the amount of people that contested that shows me how unknowlegeable many mma fans are. nice guy, but he is not a top 10 fighter in this STACKED division. gsp, as predicted, put on an absolute CLINIC. just toyed with him.
3 months ago
I have to admit that I'm a little bit torn on the Serra debate. He has excellent jiu-jitsu and obviously has shown that he has knockout power, but he is 9-4. I have been thinking about that for a white and realized that he has a worse record that many WEC fighters. I don't know why, but I always thought he had more fights under his belt. But I still think I would rank him higher just because I think he could be Diego on the mat.
I also would have put Condit higher. He seems to be very underestimated and has proven to be nothing short of impressive in recent memory, more so than at least three fighters above him.
from 3 months ago
I have seen Serra's record at 9-4, 11-4, and 16-4. It depends on what site you go to. I'm not sure why they can't come to a consensus.
I have a tough time w/ him too. I just can't get past the fact that if you take GSP out of the equation he has no other quality wins. Chris Lytle? Jeff Curran? I'm not totally sold on his standup either unless he pulled a complete 180.
Condit, along with other WEC fighters, are hard to gauge. I have seen his last handful of fights and he looked impressive, however, the talent level factor (or lack there of) weighs heavily on my mind as far as comparing the WEC to the UFC, which is where the majority of the best welterweights are.
3 months ago
WEC does tend to be a bit suspect when it comes to their champs, perhaps with the exception of Uriah Faber. Doug Marshall gets a title shot with a 5-2 record (losing two of his last 3)? Really?
Faber is another guy (Koscheck) that I just really dislike, but can't quite put my finger on why.
3 months ago
whoever wrote this top 10...is my mirror image..unbelievable i had the first 7 spots exactly the way it is put....so congratulations..i can see u have knowledge of mma...and serra in 7th is exactly where he belongs...
3 months ago
Excellent article Derek!
I'm with you 100% on the Serra debate - take away his win over GSP and his resume gets thin very quickly. To be fair, a win over GSP is quite the accomplishment, but I'd like to see his do it again before I can put him ahead of alot of the top welterweights.
Great list, good analysis! Keep up the great work.
3 months ago
So, I'm curious, would you rank BoDog welterweight champ Nick Thompson on the list, or at least near the list?
from 3 months ago
Absolutely, Thompson was one of my last cuts from the list. It was essentially a toss up between him and Condit. Again, hard to gauge leagues that don't put forth above average opponents on a regular basis.
I do, however, think there is a bit of a drop off after Jake Shields at #8. Marcus Davis, Condit, Thompson, Thiago Alves, Akira Kikuchi, Drew Fickett, etc... are all in that second tier of welterweights.
All these guys are young, talented, still learning, and none of them have really been tested up to this point. These are the guys knocking on the door at 170.
3 months ago
thats a damn shame you putting an elite ex fighter over marcus davis. i would say marcus davis vs john fitch for the winner of this upcoming title fight. fitch is one of my favorite fighters, but i would still give the win to davis. he is mean.
3 months ago
i am with who ever made this a 100%. Even though matt hughes is personally my favorite i agree with every spot
3 months ago
i am with who ever made this a 100%. Even though matt hughes is personally my favorite i agree with every spot
3 months ago
GSP numer one is arguable in my book , he dominated Hughes the last two fights, but was defeated by Serra, who should be top three, if not number one on the list (considering that he is the welterweight champion right now), the second problem on this list is Jon Fitch, he is in no way, shape or form a #2 on the welterweight rankings, i can see your argument for this but i believe we need to see him fight koscheck, hughes, or parysian before we start assuming that he is number two, in my opinion welterweight is the hardest division to classify rankings
from 3 months ago
GSP cannot be argued with at this point. He has the best resume at 170. Someone could even argue that he is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
Who do you feel should be #1 then?
Why can't fitch be #2? He's beaten everyone they've thrown at him over the past 5-6 years. I'd love to see him fight koscheck but that remains to be seen. Fitch will get the title shot first.
Also, the lightweight division was by far the hardest to rank in my opinion due to the depth of talent at many different MMA organizations.
3 months ago
I have (UFC only):
1. GSP
2. Serra
3. Hughes
4. Fitch
5. Koscheck
6. Sanchez
7. Parisyan
8. Davis
9. Swick
10. Alves
11. Burkman
12. Hazlet
13+ Gono, Lytle, Kelly, Goulet, Carneiro
from 3 months ago
Tell me why Serra should be #2 on the list and don't use st pierre in your response. Take the st pierre fight out and he has no quality wins in his entire MMA career. If gabriel gonzaga is the one kick wonder then Serra is the one punch wonder.
3 months ago
i think matt hughes is better then #4!!
3 months ago
updated after fight night April08
1. GSP
2. Serra
3. Hughes
4. Fitch
5. Koscheck
6. Alves (beats Parisyan)
7. Sanchez
8. Davis
9. Swick
10. Parisyan (swaps spots with Alves after loss)
11. Anthony Johnson (scary KO of Speer)
12. Burkman
13. Paul Kelly
14. Chris Lytle
15. Hazlet
Fitch should get the next title fight
Koscheck should fight Hughes or another top fivish is fighter
Alves or Sanchez should fight Swick-Davis winner
3 months ago
Serra deserves to be #2 because he earned the World Championship belt. He won the UFer, then he beat the champ in style. It wasn't one lucky punch it was a series, he gave GSP an ass whopping. GSP may very well return the favor, but until then........
2 months ago
This list is soo wrong. It's a good thing I'm finally here to help you boys out. GSP is first of course, no argument. Fitch and Koscheck will both loose to Matt Hughes, why do you think he wont? Just because Matt got ruled doesnt mean he's less of a fighter. He'll dominate anyone that's not GSP. I hate to say it but these 4 rankings show me you have a limited understanding of this sport. Chris Lytle will beat Fitch and Koscheck. Sanchez is a make believe fighter, Parisyan will gas, need I go on. Swick sucks. GSP should beat Serra but as a Canadian I'd love to see Serra win again. GSP is a Crazy French Canadian and should be refered to as CFC, Serra is a better/smarter fighter than he used to be (no more single leg takedowns into knees, ect), his record doesnt do him justice. Cant wait to show you how right I am.
2 months ago
Fitch has to be the #1 contender at this point based on his resume the past 5 years. I think a hughes/fitch fight would be ideal and a war on the ground. It would be a close fight, most likely decided by a decision, and one i'd love to see.
Koscheck, on the other hand, is a better striker than hughes. I'd call it even with their wrestling. Their both world class wrestlers. I think this fight would be standing up for the most part and I like Koscheck to get the better of those exchanges.
I'd knock parisyan down a few notches after his performance against thiago alves recently also ...
2 months ago
I'm not even going to touch this list.
Parisyan...he got caught, it can happen to everyone. Hope he comes back strong.
http://www.fromthecage.com
2 months ago
diego is a bum
2 months ago
I agree with this list for the most part, the most part being I think you completely boned Jake Shields on this list. He is an amazing BJJ fighter and your knock on him and cause for his so low ranking is cause he only has 3 knockouts in his 20 wins? If that is your case then I guess you would rank current UFC Heavyweight Champ Minotauro Nogueira, pretty low?
Shields has not lost since 2004 and has wins over Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami who could be next in line for a shot at Anderson Silva.
By the way just as a little foot note, while I do think Fitch is a damn good fighter and deserving of his number one contender status, Shields did submit him via rear naked choke at a Gracie Open grappling tournament, I know its not MMA but it is relevant in my humble opinion.
2 months ago
lkjlkjk
2 months ago
Shields is a great fighter. I was simply implying that everyone ranked above shields is a better striker. If I revised this list currently I would knock parisyan down a couple notches, so shields at #7 in the world is pretty respectable.
Fitch is the #1 contender at the moment, however, I expect him to slowly slide down this list in 2008. I'm not completely sold on him being a top 5 level fighter yet.
2 months ago
I recently saw interviews w Matt Serra on Spike. Franky, I was disgusted. GSP has a class and Serra looked arrogant & classless trashing him.
I hope GSP kicks his ass.
Signed,
~ no longer a Serra fan.
2 months ago
The only person glaringly lacking from this list now is Thiago Alves. I'd put him at 5 or 6. I'd remove Serra from the top 10 here altogether -- he's simply too small and would get outwrestled and overpowered by about everyone else on this list. He should really go back to 155 now and see if he can do any damage in that division again. And seeing as how Josh K. is ranked above Hughes, I'll say that I think if those two fought, Hughes would probably win -- I think he has superior jui-jitsu for sure. However it's really splitting hairs between those two guys. Either way, it won't be much longer before it's clear Josh is a higher ranked fighter than Hughes, he's on the rise and Matt is on the decline.
about 1 month ago
I agree with most of what you've presented here. I've a different approach; GSP is the ultimate comparative as follows:
He will beat the following out of 100 fights:
Fitch: 97
Koschek: 97
Hughes: 97
Serra: 99
Condit: 95
Sanchez: 98
Diaz: 96
Parysian: 97
Alves: 97
Sheesh... all of them are about the same other than BJ Penn who is somewhere in the 70/30 range... lose to win, especially if BJ keeps going on the same level of intensity.
The guys that have a "puncher's chance" would be that South African guy that fights on Bodog, the "Irish Hand Grenade", Nick Diaz (who I think will sometime win the whole thing for a few months), Condit, in spite of the scorn about him, and a few others that I simply don't know about. Feel free to inform me about them.
Fitch is talented, but boring and slow. GSP is exponentially beyond him AND Koschek for that matter. Yes, GSP is a better wrestler than both of them... Ten times the speed and maybe 3 or 4 times the power on top of an ability to visualize the likes of Gretzky. I sometimes think it would have been good if GSP did the Olympics with the Cdn. wrestling team just to make a point.
In fact I think Nick Diaz would kick Fitch's ass". Watch GSP knock Fitch silly.
GSP is human and he has a melon just like everyone else. He sometimes punches blind hoping to win the exchange... He's beautiful to watch, but he sometimes hopes for the best and puts himself in striking danger.
I still think he's 10x the fighter Hughes could ever be, and the best 170 pounder in the world, but the way MMA is going I don't think anyone is capable of standing on the throne for years and years including my fave mma fighter of all time, GSP.
These are some of my thoughts.
Ray Swanson
ragmund@yahoo.com
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