HaVoK

Sorry if someone has already posted this....but who is gonna get the next title shot for WW? At 69 they said pretty much the winner of Kos/Diego gets the title shot or is it gonna be Hughes? Personally I don't think either of them should have a shot right after that fight.

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"Georges is a likeable guy. He's definitely a very good poster boy. If you look at him, he's got the looks. Whatever man. I don't know. The abs. What are people looking at? They like him. He's like a real life Van Damme. And then they got me in there, who's the real life Joe Pesci or something." -Matt Serra.

SmashingMachine

I think calling Matt Serra the number 1 ww in the world is a little premature. If he beats GSP again, and Matt Hughes then by all means...make him #1 but until then...it's premature.

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Heatwaves

Great point. I also think that RockemSockem has made some exceptional points with this argument.

For a ratings system, I have no problem if you want to rank all of the champions #1, but you can't pick and choose which champions vault to #1 and which ones stay behind the champion. RockemSockem provided a great example with Diaz/Gomi. How can Serra vault to #1 after beating GSP, yet Diaz is still behind Gomi after beating him? They're just no logic to the system and imo MMA Weekly's rating system continues to lose credibility.

6-4 in the UFC with a great victory over GSP makes Serra the champion, it does not make him the #1 ranked WW in the world.

For those of you who do believe that Serra should be ranked #1... do you believe that he could fight Hughes, Diego, Koscheck, Parisyan, and Fitch without losing? He's already lost to Parisyan and BJ Penn, not to mention Din Thomas and Shonie Carter.

I really don't want to take away from Serra's amazing victory as he completely deserves it, but he's not the #1 WW in the world. My view will change only if he beats Hughes and wins the GSP rematch.

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Super Warrior

If he is not #1, who would you say is #1 then?

Heatwaves

In the post-fight press conference, Dana allegedly said that it's going to be Hughes.

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Heatwaves

That actually is a great question. No matter what anyone's top 5 is, it is completely flawed.

My current top 5 would be:
1. Matt Hughes
Even though he makes me cringe personally, he previously defended his title 9 or 10 times and only lost to a super-talented GSP.
2. GSP
Serra beat him, no bones about it. But I believe GSP would win 2/3 or 8/10 for that matter.
3. Diego Sanchez
Diego/Kos are 1-1. Diego's victory simply impressed me more than Kos's did.
4. Karo Parisyan
Parisyan beat Serra before and I believe he'd do it again.
5. Josh Koscheck
I honestly don't know where I'd truly place Koscheck until I see him face more top talent. He's a wildcard in my book similar to Evans and Jardine.
6. Matt Serra
Phenomenal victory, but it will take more than one win to sway me on him. I view him similarly to Jason McDonald who had two strong victories, but succumbed to top talent. Time will tell if Serra can repeat the trend.

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Super Warrior

Matt Hughes #1 WW?! Ha!

So GSP was not top talent then?

SmashingMachine

Well, that's a good point and one that is hard to argue. All I am saying is that I think if you line them up 10 times in row GSP would win the other 9. I am not totally convinced off of one fight that he is the best in the world. It'd be like calling Buster Douglas the best HW in the world after he beat Tyson...with guys like Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, Razor Ruddock, etc all fighting at that time. It was a freak. Tyson would've hammered Douglas the next 9 times too...more than likely. And, Holyfield did a few months later by knocking Douglas out in the third round. I need to see Matt Serra be more road tested before I buy into all of that. Personally, I think this win over GSP was a freak too. I am not saying it was lucky, but one of those incidents where anything can happen in a mma fight. All of that said, to answer your question, I think GSP is still the best all around WW in the world right now.

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Super Warrior

Wait...which was one GSP again? Are you referring to that guy who got beat up and lost his belt recently?

Heatwaves

It's so easy to dismiss a great fighter when he loses the belt. Love him or hate him, I don't believe anyone has defended his title more times or held a belt longer. Do you feel that Serra would beat Hughes? And if so, would you be willing to wager all of your FF points with me when the fight happens?

It's funny... as I was writing that I figured it would be misinterpreted. GSP is top talent and was the strong victory that I was referring to. For Serra to gain my #1 ranking, he has to beat more top talent. This was along the lines of my analogy of McDonald, he had strong victories to earn him more respect and a higher ranking, but he didn't maintain it to solidify himself as a top contender. If Serra loses his next fight, no one will be on his bandwagon any longer.

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SmashingMachine

Well, all I have to say is we'll see how long you stay on Serra's bandwagon when GSP reclaims the crown. Actually, I should say "we'll see how long you stay on Serra's bandwagon after Matt Hughes beats him in his first title defense." Serra could be for real. Personally, I don't think so, but to say he's the Number 1 WW in the world off of one fight is a little far fetched for me.

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Dreamfield

That was my point.. GSP is #2 and Serra is #1, and that's the way it should be. I never said Serra should not be ranked #1.

gekko07

How can someone be the champ and someone else be ranked higher? If you're the champ, that means you beat the best, and now you're the best, until someone beats you. I guess I just don't get the logic of a champion being outranked by a challenger. IMO, the champ should always be #1 for as long as he holds the title.

Dirty Fighter

With two major organizations not every champ is going to be #1. I am happy for Serra but think this ranking is way off. I think anybody in the top 5 under him would be heavy favorites to win.

But the worst thing of all out of all this is that the UFC WW champion of the world was a game show contestant that had to work his way through b level fighters on his way to the crown. The only official win was over Lytle, and that is not a fighter that should put anybody in contention for a title.

Damn you Matt Serra for adding credibilty to TUF4!!!

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Heatwaves

Very easily. By ranking a fighter #1 (regardless whether he's the champion or not) it suggests they are the best fighter in the world. I don't think Serra is the best fighter in the world, just because he fought one outstanding fight.

Think about it this way, should the Oakland Raiders, the worst team in the NFL last year, be ranked #1 if they upset Indianapolis in a single game? Although would be an impressive victory, they would have to build a reputation as a winner against other top teams to gain that ranking. Matt Serra is 6-4 in the UFC, that's not the record of the #1 WW in the world.

My gripes aren't just about MMA Weekly's ranking of Serra #1, it is about "selective logic". They're not consistent with the reasoning you're supporting. As I stated before, Nick Diaz took out PRIDE's LW champion Gomi, yet Gomi is ranked about Diaz. They can't have it both ways.

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RebLMunkE

Well the UFC has a 170 weightclass and PRIDE doesn't or at least it didn't so who ever holds the UFC title at WW is #1.

PRIDEs classes were like LW, MW, LHW, HW they don't have a div = to the UFCs WW class.

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RockemSockem

That doesn't mean UFC is the only place with a WW class. There are ranked fighters outside of UFC and Pride. There are top10 WW fighters not in the UFC. And even so it doesn't change the fact that rankings are not based upon a single performance. They take into account everything the fighter has done for the past few years, possibly their entire career.

GSP still deserves at least the #2 spot, under Hughes if anyone. He has wins over the #3,5,7 WWs. Also Sean Sherk, who would be on this list if he did not move to LW. Also Frank Trigg, the #10 MW, who would also be on that list if he still fought at WW. Plus a handful of wins over other notable MMA names.

Although all his losses were by a very close margin, and that should play a factor, Serra's biggest win before GSP was either Yves Edwards in 2001 or Ivan Menjivar in 2004(who GSP also beat). Both good fighters, but neither are ranked. Edwards is a LW and Menjivar is a FW.

A single win over GSP cannot boost him to the status of #1 because he has not fought enough top competition and has had trouble finishing the unranked opponents he's fought. While GSP has finished many of his ranked opponents.

Harms

While I think that career should be considered a little bit, rankings are basically who is the best at this moment. While other orgs have WW divisions, you would have to agree that the UFC is the top level of competition in the world for WW. Think of it like this, if you asked every WW in the UFC who would they want to fight, almost all of them would want Serra the WW champ. GSP, Hughes, Kos, and Sanchez would all help someones legitimacy in establishing themselves, but Serra is the one to beat. If someone beats Hughes or GSP, they would say they deserve a shot at the title.

I agree that the WW ranking is a unique situation. Once you add in Pride's LW, MW, LHW, and HW, the ranking systems get kinda clouded. Consider the rankings in boxing (which are usually a mess), but the champ is always on top and the next person is the #1 contender.

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