Official B/R MMA Rankings May 2011: Top 10 Heavyweights in MMA

Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA rankings. Each month on the first and 15th, we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month, we will post our pound-for-pound rankings. 

The rankings were voted on by numerous writers on Bleacher Report and do not reflect any of their rankings personally. The rankings are an average of each writer’s vote for each weight class. 

Special thanks to those who contributed:

Jason Schielke

Nick Caron

Nick Colon

J.P. Smith

Dale De Souza

Blake Dreisbach

Andrew Mahlmann

Michael Evans

Sean Smith

Sal DeRose

Honorable Mentions

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Record: 32-6-1 (one no contest)

Promotion: UFC

Age: 34 years old

Stefan Struve

Record: 21-4

Promotion: UFC

Age: 23 years old

Sergei Kharitonov

Record: 18-4

Promotion: Strikeforce

Age: 30 years old

Cole Konrad

Record: 7-0

Promotion: Bellator

Age: 27 years old

10. Roy Nelson

Record: 15-5

Promotion: UFC

Age: 34 years old

Reason

“Big Country” may be ranked surprisingly high to some who only look at his 2-3 record over his last five fights. But with wins over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve in the UFC, and a surprisingly impressive performance in a loss against Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson deserves his ranking in the top 10.

He may not look the part of an elite athlete, but the jolly, big-bellied fighter can compete with just about anyone on the planet and has a chance to move up the rankings later this month when he faces the next man on the list... 

9. Frank Mir

Record: 14-5

Promotion: UFC

Age: 31 years old

Reason

It seems that people either love him or hate him, but Frank Mir remains a dangerous opponent for anyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

While Mir has crushed fighters like Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, it has been the strong, big-bodied fighters like Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar who have been able to break the technical skill that Mir possesses.

He’ll have another chance against a larger opponent when he fights Roy Nelson at UFC 130, but Nelson doesn’t exactly possess the same kind of strength that Lesnar and Carwin did. 

8. Fedor Emelianenko

Record: 31-3

Promotion: Strikeforce

Age: 34 years old

Reason

Formerly considered the unquestioned top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Fedor Emelianenko has now dropped each of his last two fights. The first one looked to be somewhat of a fluke against Fabricio Werdum, but the second left no such questions as he was thoroughly dominated by a much larger, much stronger Antonio Silva.

“The Last Emperor” has considered retirement at this late stage of his career, but is currently scheduled to face Dan Henderson in a catchweight dream bout later this summer.

7. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva

Record: 16-2

Promotion: Strikeforce

Age: 31 years old

Reason

“Bigfoot” Silva is one of the most difficult-to-understand fighters on the planet. While he absolutely dominated a man who many considered to be the best heavyweight fighter on the planet, it was only three months before that he barely survived a bout against Mike Kyle, who weighed in as one of the smallest heavyweights in recent memory.

Nevertheless, Silva won both fights and even defeated Andrei Arlovski before that. He has secured his place in the second round of the highly-important Strikeforce heavyweight tournament.

If he wins it all, he may see himself as high as the No. 1 ranking on some lists.

6. Shane Carwin

Record: 12-1

Promotion: UFC

Age: 36 years old

Reason

It will be over 11 months since Shane Carwin last fought when he steps into the cage in the main event of UFC 131 to fight Junior dos Santos.

It was in his last fight, though, that the unstoppable train that was Carwin’s career, seemed to fall off the track. While he nearly knocked Brock Lesnar out in the first round of their fight, Carwin gassed terribly and was eventually submitted with an arm-triangle choke midway through the second round.

He was scheduled to fight Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131, but will now be replacing Lesnar, who had to pull out of the main event against dos Santos. The winner is expected to earn a fight against UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez.

5. Fabricio Werdum

Record: 14-4-1

Promotion: Strikeforce

Age: 33 years old

Reason

Since leaving the UFC after a loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 90, Fabricio Werdum has strung together three-straight victories, including two over fellow top-10 heavyweights, Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Silva.

Werdum still isn’t being given quite the respect that some believe he should be getting, but a victory over Alistair Overeem in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament will certainly go a long way in doing that.

4. Alistair Overeem

Record: 34-11

Promotion: Strikeforce

Age: 30 years old

Reason

“The Reem” had lost five of his previous seven fights before he made the move to Strikeforce where he won the promotion’s inaugural heavyweight championship over Paul Buentello. It was on that night that his push toward the top-10 heavyweights began.

It has been over three years since a fighter has even made it out of the first round against Overeem, and most of the fights haven’t even made it to the two-minute mark. Though he hasn’t faced the best competition during that time, he did defeat a respectable Brett Rogers extremely easily.

If Overeem can make his Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament look as helpless as his recent competition, he could see himself shoot all the way to the top of the rankings. 

3. Brock Lesnar

Record: 5-2

Promotion: UFC

Age: 33 years old

Reason

Heartbreaking news broke last week when we found out that Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis flared up again, and that he would also need to drop out of his scheduled UFC 131 fight with Junior dos Santos.

With no return date in site, this will likely be the highest that the former UFC heavyweight champion gets on this list until he not only gets back in the cage, but defeats another top-level opponent. 

The Bleacher Report MMA team wishes Brock Lesnar a very speedy recovery. 

2. Junior dos Santos

Record: 12-1

Promotion: UFC

Age: 26 years old

Reason

An impressive string of victories over numerous top contenders has shot Junior “Cigano” dos Santos all the way up to the No. 2 spot on the first official Bleacher Report MMA heavyweight rankings list.

The Brazilian is an undefeated 6-0 in the UFC, winning all but one of those fights by way of knockout or submission. The only man that has even gone the distance with dos Santos in a UFC cage is fellow top-10 heavyweight, Roy Nelson.

Dos Santos would’ve likely been the next man in line to fight Cain Velasquez for the UFC heavyweight championship, but an injury forced the champion out of competition. In the meantime, dos Santos and Brock Lesnar have been scheduled to fight another while coaching against one another on The Ultimate Fighter: Season 13.

With Lesnar pulling out of the fight because of his illness, dos Santos will be fighting an opponent who many consider to actually be more dangerous to him, former UFC interim heavyweight champion, Shane Carwin.

1. Cain Velasquez

Record: 9-0

Promotion: UFC

Age: 28 years old

Reason

The UFC heavyweight champion checks in on top of the consensus heavyweight rankings after a punishing victory over former champion, Brock Lesnar. Velasquez defied the size odds and not only defeated, but even out-powered, the much larger Lesnar at UFC 121 to earn himself the top ranking in the world.

In nine career fights, Velasquez has gone the distance only once while earning three UFC “Knockout of the Night” bonuses.

A torn rotator cuff has knocked the champion out of competition through the early part of 2011, but he is expected to be back by the end of the year and will likely defend his championship against the winner of the Shane Carwin versus Junior dos Santos fight at UFC 131.