UFC Heavyweight Division:Who's Closest To Contention with Brock Lesnar?

Tyler Dunn by Contributor Written on June 19, 2009
NEW YORK - MARCH 11:  Wrestler Brock Lesnar attends a press conference to promote Wrestlemania XX at Planet Hollywood March 11, 2004 in New York City.  (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images) (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

After wondering what article I'd write first, I decided to publish my personal rankings on the UFC's divisions. I did these quite some time ago and have updated them after UFC events.

When I first did themI thought they may be stupid and biased, but I've begun to think differently because as UFC matchups were announced, the fighters were very close together, so maybe there is some relation between them.

These rankings tell who is in line for a title shot. Yes, I have that much free time.

I've ranked every fighter in the division. This list is up to date, the only people possibly not mentioned are those now entering the weight class and have not competed, newly signed UFC fighters who have not competed, or fighters have have been cut. This means some of these fighters may have been cut, I just don't know for sure.

The fighters are ranked on a number of variables including; popularity, key wins, and key losses.

For example, televised fights help a fighter more than un-viewed fights. Losses to lower ranked people hurt, while losing to the current champ or number one ranked fighter does not really hurt their status. And the worst flaw to this rating is wins over people cut by the UFC, or no longer in the weight class are very little help in the rankings.

Comment any disagreements because I love arguing my points. I've started with the Heavyweight Division. It was the easiest to rank being that it has the least amount of fighters. When I started there were 19 now there are only 17. Enjoy!

 

#17 Dennis Stojnic

 

Stojnic is 0-and-2 losing first to Cain Velasquez, which is not nearly as harmful as his loss to Stefan Struve. This is probably the last we'll see of Stojnic but at the moment he is in the UFC so he is on the list.

 

#16 Todd Duffee

Though Todd has not been in a fight in the UFC he picked up a little popularity because he was scheduled to face Moustapha Al Turk at UFC 99. Plus 0-and-2 is worse than 0-and-0.

 

#15 Moustapha Al Turk

Yes, I know this is hypocritical that Al Turk is 0-and-2 like Stojnic, and ranked above Duffe, but Al Turk's two losses were to high ranked opponents. At the time he fought Cheick Kongo, and though he's no longer in the UFC, Mirko Cro Cop counts for something, especially since there was some controversy.

 

#14 Pat Berry

Pat Berry stands in the UFC at 1-and-1 with a win over cut fighter Dan Evensen, and a loss to Tim Hague. Luckily his win was televised while his loss was not. This helps a little but not enough to beat anyone with a win under their belt.

 

#13 Stefan Struve

Now this is where the rankings are skewed. I believe Pat Berry is better than Stefan Struve by a lot. But with Struve coming off a win over a ranked opponent, and Berry's opponent no longer in the UFC and coming off a loss, the rankings speak for themselves. Plus a loss to Junior Dos Santos is not much to cry over.

 

#12 Antoni Hardonk

Hardonk was hard to place. His losses are all to ranked guys and his wins are to people no longer in the UFC. His record stands strong enough to put him in twelfth, but he must rack up some wins against real opponents or he's going to get passed, or worse, fired.

 

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written on June 19, 2009 Rankings/List

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