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Monday, February 18, 2019

The Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings - February 18 2019

Well Bellator 215 and 216 happened. That's really all there is to say about that. MVP makes his rankings debut off a horrible fight against Paul Daley. Daley is no longer ranked. The heavyweight division went through a significant remodeling, with Cheick Kongo and Mirko Cro Cop both rising to the top. Somewhat surprisingly, former champion Vitaly Minakov did not break the top 5. Not too much movement in any other divisions, but there were some interesting fight announcements in the past few weeks.

Anyway, here are the Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings for January 28 2019.

HEAVYWEIGHT

DROPPED

(#5) Roy Nelson

Scheduled Match-Ups

None Reported

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

4/21/2019: (#5) King Mo Lawal vs (NR) Jiri Prochazka - Rizin Fighting Federation

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WELTERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#4) Paul Daley

Scheduled Match-Ups
4/27/2019: (C) Rory MacDonald vs (#2) Jon Fitch - For Bellator Welterweight Title
5/11/2019: (#1) Douglas Lima vs (#5) Michael Page - WGP Semi-Final
3/29/2019: (#3) Lorenz Larkin vs (#4) Andrey Koreshkov

LIGHTWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
5/11/2019: (C) Michael Chandler vs (C FW) Patricio Pitbull
5/4/2019: (#3) Brent Primus vs (NR) Tim Wilde

FEATHERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
3/22/2019: (#1) Emmanuel Sanchez vs (NR) Ashleigh Grimshaw
5/11/2019: (#4) AJ McKee vs (NR) Pat Curran

BANTAMWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#3) Cindy Dandois - Last Fought in European Beatdown

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/23/2019: (#2) Olga Rubin vs (NR) Iony Razafiarison

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
4/27/2019: (C) Ilima-Lei Macfarlene vs (#4) Veta Arteaga - For Bellator Women's Flywight Title

Fighter Thumbnails taken from Bellator website (http://www.bellator.com/). Rankings data taken from http://www.fightmatrix.com/. Font is Dream MMA.

Monday, January 28, 2019

The Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings - January 28 2019

Well it wasn't easy to watch but we finally have a new Bellator Heavyweight champion. Ryan Bader knocked out the legendary Fedor winning the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, and becoming the first simultaneous two division champion in Bellator history. In the co-main event Henry "OK" Corrales defied the odds, knocking out uber-prospect Aaron Pico in just one round. Elsewhere on the card, former featherweight Juan Archuleta made good on his Bellator bantamweight debut, defeating a very game Ricky Bandehas in a close and entertaining contest. Both Corrales and Archuleta are now eyeing title shots in their respective divisions.

Anyway, here are the Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings for January 28 2019.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

2/15/2019: (#1) Matt Mitrione vs (#3) Sergei Kharitonov
2/16/2019: (#2) Cheick Kongo vs (NR) Vitaly Minakov
2/16/2019: (#5) Roy Nelson vs (NR) Mirko Cro Cop

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
4/21/2019: (#5) King Mo Lawal vs (NR) Jiri Prochazka - Rizin Fighting Federation

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WELTERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
4/27/2019: (C) Rory MacDonald vs (#2) Jon Fitch - For Bellator Welterweight Title
3/29/2019: (#3) Lorenz Larkin vs (#5) Andrey Koreshkov
2/16/2019: (#4) Paul Daley vs (NR) Michael Page

LIGHTWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/19/2019: (#1) Patricky Pitbull vs (NR) Ryan Scope

FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Aaron Pico

Scheduled Match-Ups
3/22/2019: (#1) Emmanuel Sanchez vs (NR) Ashleigh Grimshaw

BANTAMWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/15/19: (#1) Eduardo Dantas vs (NR) Toby Misech

WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/23/2019: (#2) Olga Rubin vs (NR) Sinead Kavanagh

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

Saturday, January 5, 2019

The Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings - January 5 2019

The next Bellator event isn't for a few more weeks but since the mma world is pretty quiet this weekend I so figured I might as well update these rankings. Since nothing's really happened the changes are minimal but there were a couple. The next Bellator event takes place on January 26 with Light Heavyweight champ Ryan Bader facing former Pride Heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Title.

Anyway, here are the Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings for January 5th 2019.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

1/26/2019: (#1) Ryan Bader vs (#5) Fedor Emelianenko - For Vacant Bellator Heavyweight Title

2/15/2019: (#2) Matt Mitrione vs (#4) Sergei Kharitonov
2/16/2019: (#3) Cheick Kongo vs (NR) Vitaly Minakov

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WELTERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
Date TBD: (C) Rory MacDonald vs (#2) Jon Fitch - For Bellator Welterweight Title
2/16/2019: (#3) Paul Daley vs (NR) Michael Page
3/29/2019: (#4) Lorenz Larkin vs (#5) Andrey Koreshkov

LIGHTWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/19/2019: (#1) Patricky Pitbull vs (NR) Ryan Scope

FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#2) Pat Curran - Removed due to Inactivity

Scheduled Match-Ups
3/22/2019: (#1) Emmanuel Sanchez vs (NR) Ashleigh Grimshaw
1/26/2019: (#4) Henry Corrales vs (#5) Aaron Pico

BANTAMWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
Date TBD: (C) Darrion Caldwell vs (NR) Kyoji Horiguchi - For Bellator Bantamweight Title
1/26/2019: (#3) Juan Archuleta vs (NR) Ricky Bandejas

WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

Fighter Thumbnails taken from Bellator website (http://www.bellator.com/). Rankings data taken from http://www.fightmatrix.com/. Font is Dream MMA.

Monday, December 17, 2018

The Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings - December 17 2018

Bellator 212 wasn't the fastest paced broadcast, but the fights delivered for the most part. Juliana Velasquez secured her spot as the #1 contender at 125 with a win over Alejandra Lara. Sam Sicilia punched his way back to relevancy against brawler Derek Campos, improving to 2-1 in Bellator. AJ McKee scored an impressive submission over Daniel Crawford, though it is definitely time for a step up in competition. Javy Ayala became the first man to submit Frank Mir, forcing the aging legend to tap to strikes on the feet. And in the main event, Michael Chandler regained the title he controversially lost to Brent Primus, outclassing Primus for 5 rounds.

Bellator 213 also had it's share of meaningful fights. Liam McGeary picked up a much needed win against veteran King Mo, snapping a two-fight losing streak. Neiman Gracie proved the oddsmakers wrong, pulling the upset against heavy favorite Ed Ruth. His next bout will be a title fight against the winner of MacDonald-Fitch. Lyoto Machida won his Bellator debut, defeating former champion Rafael Carvalho in a very close match. He is expected to take on the winner of Mousasi-Lovato Jr. next. And last but not least, Ilima-Lei MacFarlane successfully defended her title at home against UFC veteran Valerie Letourneau, submitting her in the 3rd round by triangle choke.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

1/26/2019: (#1) Ryan Bader vs (#5) Fedor Emelianenko - For Vacant Bellator Heavyweight Title

2/15/2019: (#2) Matt Mitrione vs (#4) Sergei Kharitonov
2/16/2019: (#3) Cheick Kongo vs (NR) Vitaly Minakov

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

None Reported

MIDDLEWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Alexander Shlemenko - Last Fought in Russian Cagefighting Championship

Scheduled Match-Ups
1/26/2019: (C) Gegard Mousasi vs (#3) Rafael Lovato Jr. - For Bellator Middleweight Title

WELTERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
Date TBD: (C) Rory MacDonald vs (#2) Jon Fitch - For Bellator Welterweight Title
3/29/2019: (#3) Lorenz Larkin vs (#5) Andrey Koreshkov
2/16/2019: (#4) Paul Daley vs (NR) Michael Page

LIGHTWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Derek Campos - Moved to Featherweight

Scheduled Match-Ups
2/19/2019: (#1) Patricky Pitbull vs (NR) Ryan Scope

FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Aaron Pico

Scheduled Match-Ups
3/22/2019: (#1) Emmanuel Sanchez vs (NR) Ashleigh Grimshaw
1/26/2019: (#5) Henry Corrales vs (NR) Aaron Pico

BANTAMWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Ricky Bandejas

Scheduled Match-Ups
12/31/2018: (C) Darrion Caldwell vs (NR) Kyoji Horiguchi - Rizin Fighting Federation
1/26/2019: (#3) Juan Archuleta vs (NR) Ricky Bandejas

WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

Fighter Thumbnails taken from Bellator website (http://www.bellator.com/). Rankings data taken from http://www.fightmatrix.com/. Font is Dream MMA.

Sunday, December 2, 2018

The Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings - December 2 2018

Bellator 210 had one of the deepest preliminary cards of any Bellator event and it really showed in this weeks rankings. Featuring upsets over top fighters, and close decisions between hardened veterans, the prelim card really delivered. The main card was also pretty solid despite not having much of an effect on the rankings, although it did keep John Salter in the mix at 185.

Bellator 211 was kinda sad. Alessio Sakara suffered a harsh knockout at home. Again. The rest of the card consisted of regional talent and kickboxer Hesdy Gerges getting has ass kicked. If you saw it live, I'm sorry. If you didn't, you don't need to.

Anyway here are the Official Unofficial Bellator Rankings for December 2 2018.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

1/26/2019: (#1) Ryan Bader vs (#5) Fedor Emelianenko - For Vacant Bellator Heavyweight Title

2/15/2019: (#2) Matt Mitrione vs (#4) Sergei Kharitonov
2/16/2019: (#3) Cheick Kongo vs (NR) Vitaly Minakov

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

12/15/2018: (#4) King Mo Lawal vs (#5) Liam McGeary

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups

1/26/2019: (C) Gegard Mousasi vs (#1) Rafael Lovato Jr. - For Bellator Middleweight Title
12/15/2018: (#2) Rafael Carvalho vs (NR) Lyoto Machida
12/15/2018: (#5) Alexander Shlemenko vs (NR) Jonas Billstein - Russian Cagefighting Championship

WELTERWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
Date TBD: (C) Rory MacDonald vs (#2) Jon Fitch - For Bellator Welterweight Title
2/16/2019: (#4) Paul Daley vs (NR) Michael Page

LIGHTWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Saad Awad

Scheduled Match-Ups
12/14/2018: (C) Brent Primus vs (#3) Michael Chandler - For Bellator Lightweight Title

FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#3) Daniel Weichel - Moved to Lightweight
(#4) Darrion Caldwell - Moved to Bantamweight

Scheduled Match-Ups
3/22/2019: (#1) Emmanuel Sanchez vs (NR) Ashleigh Grimshaw
12/14/2018: (#3) AJ McKee vs (NR) Daniel Crawford
1/26/2019: (#4) Henry Corrales vs (#5) Aaron Pico
12/14/2018: (#5 LW) Derek Campos vs (NR) Sam Sicilia

BANTAMWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#5) Kester Mark

Scheduled Match-Ups
12/31/2018: (C) Darrion Caldwell vs (NR) Kyoji Horiguchi - Rizin Fighting Federation

WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT

DROPPED
(#4) Janay Harding - No longer ranked by FightMatrix

Scheduled Match-Ups
None Reported

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

Scheduled Match-Ups
12/15/2018: (C) Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs (#2) Valerie Letourneau - For Bellator Women's Flyweight Title
12/14/2018: (#1) Juliana Velasquez vs (NR) Alejandra Lara

Fighter Thumbnails taken from Bellator website (http://www.bellator.com/). Rankings data taken from http://www.fightmatrix.com/. Font is Dream MMA.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs Tuivasa Predictions

Yushin Okami vs Aleksei Kunchenko

I wasn't overly impressed with Kunchenko's UFC debut. A lackluster decision over what's left of Thiago Alves just didn't do it for me. As young and dangerous as Kunchenko supposedly is I still have faith in Okami's ability to wrestle-fuck the shit out of people. I'm taking 'Thunder' for the moderate upset.

Pick: Okami by Decision

Wilson Reis vs Ben Nguyen

I got a feeling.

Pick: Nguyen by R1 SUB

Jim Crute vs Paul Craig

No offense but Paul Craig was literally one second away from not being in the UFC anymore in his last fight. It was a great comeback win but I doubt it happens again. I haven't seen too much from Jim Crute but his striking is decent and that should be enough to take out the 'Bearjew'. Unless of course he gets caught in a flying gogoplata in the final second of the fight.

Pick: Jim Crute by R1 KO

Shogun Rua vs Tyson Pedro

This is more of a prayer than a prediction. Who thought this fight was a good idea? Either way #PRIDENEVERDIE

Pick: Shogun by Decision

Mark Hunt vs Justin Willis

Strange matchmaking. Why put Hunt against a wrestler at home? Again! Willis is inexperienced against high-level opposition so Mark can still win this on the feet. But if this one hits the mat it's going to be a rough night for the 'Super Samoan'. The lines are currently about even so 'Big Pretty' is definitely worth a wager with a favorable match-up on Saturday.

Pick: Willis by Decision

Junior Dos Santos vs Tai Tuivasa

I'm staying the hell away from this one. There's a chance Junior kick-boxes the brakes off this kid for 25 minutes. There's also a chance Tuivasa wallops him in the opening minute while Junior is backing up. There are no safe bets here. Currently Tuivasa sits as the underdog at about +125, but at that line it's just not worth it. If I had to make a predicition I would probably lean toward Tuivasa just because of Junior's age and bad habits, but it's just too close to call.

Pick: Tuivasa by R1 KO

TUF 28 Finale: Dos Anjos vs Usman Predictions

Roosevelt Roberts vs Darrell Horcher

Contender Series guys tend to be a bit overrated, but I haven't seen anything out of Horcher that says he should beat Roberts. I think Roberts gets the finish, but Horcher makes him work for it.

Pick: Roberts by R2 KO

Joseph Benavidez vs Alex Perez

Alex Perez has looked impressive as of recently, and Joe B has definitely lost a few steps. But it's going to take more than one bad performance before I start picking against Joseph Benavidez. Even with Slim Shady hair.

Pick: Benavidez by Decision

Ji Yeon Kim vs Antonina Shevchenko

I'm sensing an upset. Shevchenko had a decent Contender Series performance against a short notice opponent. I would've liked to have seen her against better opposition before throwing her into the octagon. Kim may not be the most polished fighter in the world but she's tough as hell and can take a shot. Should be a close one, but I'll take Kim.

Pick: Kim by Decision

Pedro Munhoz vs Bryan Caraway

Munhoz's last fight was a treat to watch, but I was more impressed by the toughness of Brett Johns than the skill of Munhoz. I wouldn't consider myself a huge Bryan Caraway fan, but not long ago he was a legit contender and he's still a solid fighter. This could be a close one but at around +200, Caraway is worth a bet.

Pick: Caraway by Decision

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Kamaru Usman

This will most likely suck. I honestly can't remember the last entertaining fight Usman has been a part of, and Dos Anjos just lost to an opponent with a similar style to Usman's. I guess rankings-wise the fight makes sense, but I just don't see it going any differently than the Dos Anjos-Covington fight. Usman's size and strength should be enough to boringly pummel RDA for 25 minutes. Maybe less. Probably not.

Pick: Usman by Decision