UFC 130 Results: Ranking the Top 10 Heavyweights in the UFC

The results are in from UFC 130 and, predictably given the fight card, the heavyweight rankings have been stirred up quite a bit.

Frank Mir’s victory over Roy Nelson marked what may be the re-establishment of Mir as one of the top contenders for the UFC Heavyweight Title. Meanwhile, Travis Browne may be making a push toward the top-10 after his huge knockout over the young, giant phenom, Stefan Struve.

While none of the top-of-the-mountain challengers for Cain Velasquez’s title were fighting tonight, there was still some movement in the rankings, so let’s take a closer look at where things stand after tonight’s UFC 130 pay-per-view event.

10. Roy Nelson

UFC 130 was tough on Roy Nelson. Not only did the former IFL champion lose his second straight fight, but he did so against a fighter who, for the most part, beat him at his own game. Thoroughly, at that.

In fact, in his last two fights against Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir, Nelson has not even won a single round. Of course, losing to Mir and dos Santos doesn’t make a guy a bad fighter or anything, but Roy Nelson has to be taken down quite a bit given the ways that he lost the fights.

9. Travis Browne

Many fans would’ve asked, “Who?” about Travis Browne coming into UFC 130. But the undefeated fighter from San Diego made a name for himself with a punishing and some would say shocking knockout of 23-year old prospect, Stefan Struve.

Browne fought to a draw with Cheick Kongo last October after knocking out James McSweeney in his UFC debut. He is now 2-0-1 in the Octagon and took a big step forward in becoming a top-10 UFC heavyweight at UFC 130.

Perhaps his next fight should be against the man he surpassed on the rankings, Roy Nelson? That could be a slugfest worth watching.

8. Matt Mitrione

A castmate on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, Matt Mitrione has taken the UFC by storm since the show’s completion, likely earning himself the title as the man who benefited most from the show.

Mitrione had not even fought professionally before appearing on the show and was submitted by James McSweeney in the quarterfinals, but has since pushed his official record to 4-0, including his most recent victory over Tim Hague in January.

Mitrione is scheduled to fight Christian Morecraft in June, which should be an interesting fight between two warriors looking to push themselves to the next level.

7. Brendan Schaub

Since losing to Roy Nelson in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, Brendan Schaub has been on a warpath through the UFC’s heavyweight division.

It started in March 2010 when he destroyed Chase Gormley in just 47-seconds. Less than three months later, he was back in the cage, unleashing another violent knockout on Chris Tuchscherer.

But it has been his thorough domination of Gabriel Gonzaga and Knockout of the Night winner over Mirko “Cro Cop” that have Brendan Schaub all the way up at No. 7 on the most recent rankings.

“The Hybrid” is set to face the next fighter on this list at UFC 134, in Brazil...

6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

“Big Nog” has dropped two of his last three fights, but both have been against consensus top-5 fighters in Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez. Between those losses, however, Nogueira proved that he still “has it” by winning a Fight of the Night bonus in the main event of UFC 102 where he defeated fellow legend, Randy Couture.

Nogueira may not be the unstoppable force that he once was, but he is still worthy of his spot here in the UFC’s heavyweight rankings. His fight with Brendan Schaub will likely answer a lot of questions about whether he can still go at this age.

5. Frank Mir

As I mentioned in another article I wrote, I wasn’t quite as impressed with Frank Mir’s performance tonight as many other fans appeared to be. While I agree that it was a good win against a quality, top-10 opponent in Roy Nelson; I just feel like Mir could have done much more to finish the fight.

Nevertheless, this was a win that will put Mir back in the conversation for a title shot down the road. With Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez both out and Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos coming up, Mir’s next opponent will be very interesting.

Hopefully the UFC will hold off on booking anything for him and possibly give him the loser of the Carwin vs. Dos Santos fight.

4. Shane Carwin

Shane Carwin should be thanking his lucky stars that Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis flared up again and that he will likely need to be out until early 2012. If it weren’t for that, Carwin was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 in June.

The fight against Einemo was really a lose-lose for Carwin. If he didn’t win or didn’t turn in a dominating performance, people would be questioning whether he ever deserved to be in the title conversation to begin with, given that he didn’t do well against a UFC newcomer. But even if he went in and crushed Einemo, there would still be naysayers who said, “Well, he didn’t do it against anyone good.”

Now with Lesnar out and Carwin in the main event at 131, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A win may even catapult the Colorado native into another crack at the UFC Heavyweight Title.

3. Brock Lesnar

I had Brock Lesnar ranked No. 2 last month on my own persona list, but the fact that he won’t be back until at least January 2012 makes it hard for me to put him above the man he was supposed to fight in the main event at UFC 131, Junior dos Santos.

I believe that a healthy Brock Lesnar is the second-best heavyweight on the planet, but who knows if we will ever see that version of the man again? Dana White announced tonight that Lesnar had surgery to repair the infected area of his colon, but the effects of that kind of surgery could be long-lasting.

2. Junior Dos Santos

Undefeated in the UFC, Junior dos Santos has been unstoppable in his quest for a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

After dealing knockouts to Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga, dos Santos went to the first decision of his career against Roy Nelson at UFC 117. A lot was said about the heart Roy Nelson showed in that fight, but the dominance was evident on the scorecards in that fight as dos Santos won a unanimous decision, even earning a 10-8 round on one judge’s scorecard.

The win earned dos Santos a chance to fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar in the main event at UFC 131, but Lesnar’s illness will keep him out of the bout. Instead, a showdown with Shane Carwin may well determine the next contender for Cain Velasquez’s title.

1. Cain Velasquez

It has been seven months since Cain Velasquez destroyed Brock Lesnar to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion at UFC 121. The TKO victory improved Velasquez’s unbeaten MMA record to 9-0.

Unfortunately, we later learned that the champion would need surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, an injury which would sideline him for nearly a year.

Velasquez is looking forward to getting back into the cage and is expected to make his first title defense by the year’s end, likely against the winner of the UFC 131 main event between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.

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