What fights have you watched today?

UFC 12

Coleman beats Severn to solidify his place as the best MMA fighter not called Shamrock or Gracie. Those two are still the most skilled I've watched in these 12 events imo.

The tournament at LW was a bit of a none entity. Bohlander looked good though, still a bit unproven in terms of greatness though.

The HW tournament finds me watching the first modern fighter. Vitor Belfort. He looks absolutely incredible here.

As well as being a Jiu Jitsu expert he has lightning in his hands, his opposition is weak so far but obviously it improves and he remains at the top level for an incredible amount of time.

I mean was he past his best? 2013 was an incredible year for him despite his age. Hard to say how I rate him at this point.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Mark Coleman
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Oleg Taktarov
Vitor Belfort

 

He'll probably hit my radar round about the Mark Kerr fight. I think that was when his reputation was it its highest in comparison with the UFC guys

 

UFC 13

Couture bursts on the scene with a dominant display of takedown and ground pound. Looks very impressive.

Belfort again looks phenomenal, like a Mile Tyson of UFC. He has cut through everyone like a knife through butter and it's mental thinking how long he has been around.

Mezger finally gets a shot at the limelight at grabs it with both hands catching Ortiz in a choke to win the fight and the tournament.

Also a chance to see Inoue in action, the man who beats Couture not far from now (that's probably the moment it becomes clear the best are now in other organisations)

Also there's more and more talk of other organisations now and for the first time I start getting the sense that there's world class fighters in other organisations. I still believe the best are in the UFC but I know that's about to change very soon. ATG list is growing. Not sure how realistically I'll be able to update it when Pride comes around as well.

I do still feel Gracie and Shamrock are the best there's been, both left the sport just before this boom of mixed style fighting and when they return they're too far past their best for me to hold losses against them.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Mark Coleman
Vitor Belfort
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Randy Couture
Oleg Taktarov
Guy Mezger

 

I'll still watch Pride, just not the full events like I have been doing with UFC. I'll cherry pick certain fights to watch from other organisations.

 

UFC 14

Mark Kerr repeated the trick that Coleman pulled off and outgrappled his way to the tournament victory. Kerr has a very high reputation coming in to the tournament and justifies it.

Kevin Jackson looks good at LHW, not at the level of Mezger but you can see quality starting to come through this division now.

The big headline is the main even though Smith came in with a huge reputation as a striker being a Kickboxing world champ and an extreme fighting world champ. There's a complete dismissal of his Pancrase fights though, a big emphasis now on reality combat as if Pancrase is fixed. I've heard a lot of rumours about that but this is the first time I've seen it alluded to in UFC. Mezger had his full Pancrase record quoted when he entered.

Anyways what Smith didn't say was his Jiu Jitsu training, he made Coleman look hapless on the mat. He let Coleman wear himself out from side control as he just shrimped and countered with elbows. When Coleman tires Smith gets up and dominated from stand up. Coleman far too tired to even shoot for the last 8 minutes of the match.

It's getting interesting now though because we have Smith as the world champion but we aren't convinced he's the best out there with Kerr, Vovanchyn, Frank Shamrock and Rutten all competing at a high level. Not to mention any potential return by Gracie or Ken.

Magazines from back then seem to agree that Kerr and Vovanchyn are the top two in the world going into their fight. Poor Randy Couture is dismissed by a lot of people, does himself no favours by leaving the UFC and getting tapped out Inoue. Obviously that's not happened yet in my timeline but it's good to just be aware of other competitors not in the UFC. I don't think anyone outside the UFC has proved themselves superior to anyone inside the UFC as it stands right now though.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Vitor Belfort
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Randy Couture
Oleg Taktarov
Guy Mezger
Kevin Jackson

 

UFC 15

Kerr again proves his worth and puts his name further in contention for best fighter in the world with some brilliant performances.

Smith defends his championship against a late notice Abbot.

Couture looks sensational in defeating Belfort, completely neutralises his speed with the best infighting we've seen in UFC so far.

For the first time two none UFC men have done enough to break the monopoly on my ranking list.

Rickson Gracie beats Takada in Pride 1. It's so hard to say how Rickson is but he has a huge reputation and did the goods on this fight against a very well regarded Jap wrestler. As well as that Rutten now has two world class victories against Mezger and Frank Shamrock. Plus he has so beaten Funaki and Suzuki who are well regarded.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Randy Couture
Vitor Belfort
Mark Kerr
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Rickson Gracie
Bas Rutten
Oleg Taktarov
Guy Mezger
Kevin Jackson

 

UFC Japan.

Don't own this so had to YouTube the different fights.

Couture proved he could do a better job than Coleman in keeping Smith down and not using up all his energy. Quite a low action fight but the right man won. Couture has beaten two of the new guard now and looks to be the best of the wrestlers to me.

Belfort comes back with a bang showing off his BJJ skills.

Sakuraba blatantly lied about his weight in his fight. No way on earth was he 203 pounds. Great work in taking down and submitting the much bigger man.

Frank Shamrock looks very dominant as he makes his UFC debut against former tourney winner.

Also roudn about this time a man by the name of Vovanchyn is winning just about every tournament going in the Eastern Block.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Randy Couture
Vitor Belfort
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Mark Kerr
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Rickson Gracie
Bas Rutten
Frank Shamrock
Igor Vovanchyn
Guy Mezger
Kazushi Sakuraba
Oleg Taktarov
Kevin Jackson

 

UFC 16

This is the same month of pride 2 so I watched quite a few fights this time.

Kerr has detected to Pride to keep his winning streak going and he looks the complete package. Vovanchyn wins yet another tournament and I see why he's so highly rated. Not sure I'd class any above Couture just yet though. In terms of greatness I'm not really sure he'd beat Severn or Frye but he's been hugely consistent dominating all these tournaments against many different styles so I'm gonna give him a very slight edge.

Rutten has a had a quiet few months so no changes for him ATM.

The big winners Frank Shamrock who defends his championship, Bohlander who throws himself back in the mix and Miletich who bursts into the scene.

Taktarov loses to Goodridge. For me him, Abbott, Ruas and Goodridge are all about the same level and none are what is call great MMA fighters, but more gatekeepers to greatness.

Another Gracie impresses me though, Renzo Gracie. So he makes my ATG rankings now.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Randy Couture
Vitor Belfort
Mark Kerr
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Igor Vovanchyn
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Rickson Gracie
Bas Rutten
Frank Shamrock
Kazushi Sakuraba
Guy Mezger
Pat Miletich
Jerry Bolander
Renzo Gracie

 

UFC 17

Dan Henderson makes his debut here looking pretty good in out grappling two BJJ experts.

Coleman is looking far from unbeatable now as Williams takes him out in devastating fashion.

More developments happen outside the UFC though.

Couture loses to Inoue as Kerr, Vovanchyn and Rutten continue to win fights. I think it's obvious that the best fighter in the world is one of these 3 men. All look very well rounded and the only question mark is how Rutten will do if he joins full combat tournaments like the other two have proven themselves in.

Sakuraba continues his impressive feats against much larger opposition beating Newton and holding Goes to a stalemate.

UFC Brazil also occurs seeing Belfort back to his devastating best against Wanderlei Silva. Miletich and Shamrock also continue their good runs of form.

Interesting Belfort is easily the best man at 205 pounds now but there's zero talk of him facing Shamrock for some reason.

Miletich is the WW champ but I highly doubt he'd have much chance against Sakuraba.

That adds up to my belief that the UFC champ is not the best fighter at any weight class.

HW: Kerr
LHW: Belfort
MW: Rickson Gracie
WW: Sakuraba.

3 of those are in pride and the 4th is fighting men in the higher division despite his own weight.

An extremely busy few months for MMA and a few big changes to my dynamic rankings.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Mark Kerr
Igor Vovanchyn
Bas Rutten
Randy Couture
Vitor Belfort
Frank Shamrock
Kazushi Sakuraba
Pat Miletich
Rickson Gracie
Dan Henderson
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Guy Mezger
Jerry Bolander
Renzo Gracie

 

UFC 18

Miletich again underlines his superiority in the Octagon but we all know the best WW is outside of it.

Finally talks of Belfort facing Shamrock which would be a great fight if it comes off.

Ortiz makes a splash in the UFC beating Bohlander and looking very good. The LHW division is heating up at present and the best are all currently with the UFC which is good.

The big story though is Rutten. He goes quite even with Kohsaka but has an incredible finish to force a stoppage.

Would it be enough to beat Kerr or Vovanchyn? I can't see it personally he looked more vulnerable then his record suggested.

For now Gracie and Shamrock look quite safe at the top of the rankings. Who's a threat to them at present? Belfort definitely is in the discussion as are Kerr and Vovanchyn but their competition stops them being considered at that level. Coleman looked to be the heir apparent but 3 losses in a row now make that unlikely to happen. Rickson Gracie looks to have the talent but he needs to beat a much higher level of opposition to be in that discussion.

So for now those two gods are safe. With the talent so far I have a decent top 20 list.

Royce Gacie
Ken Shamrock
Mark Kerr
Igor Vovanchyn
Bas Rutten
Randy Couture
Vitor Belfort
Frank Shamrock
Kazushi Sakuraba
Pat Miletich
Rickson Gracie
Dan Henderson
Maurice Smith
Mark Coleman
Dan Severn
Don Frye
Guy Mezger
Tito Ortiz
Renzo Gracie
Evan Tanner