Sherdog's Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
Old Dog, New Tricks
Welcome back, Andrei Arlovski.
Few could have envisioned the onetime UFC champion reentering the heavyweight top 10 in 2014. Then again, few predicted that Arlovski would bounce Antonio Silva’s unconscious head off the canvas on Sept. 13 in the main event of UFC Fight Night “Bigfoot vs. Arlovski 2,” avenging his 2010 decision loss to the Brazilian. In scoring his sizzling, first-round stoppage, “The Pit Bull” proved there is still some fight left in the old dog; he joins this edition of the heavyweight rankings at No. 8. Now winless in his last three outings, Silva takes a precipitous fall from No. 4 down to No. 9.
Speaking of surprises, how about Emanuel Newton? Just when Bellator’s 205-pound champion seemed to be having trouble with journeyman challenger Joey Beltran at Bellator 124, “The Hardcore Kid” unleashed another devastating spinning backfist knockout. Newton holds firm at No. 10 in the light heavyweight rankings as he readies for what could be the toughest test of his reign thus far, a future defense against undefeated tournament winner Liam McGeary.
In bantamweight action, Iuri Alcantara rises one spot to No. 7 with a hard-fought decision win against Russell Doane, while World Series of Fighting champ Marlon Moraes remains at No. 9 after tapping late replacement Cody Bollinger in a non-title catchweight affair. The women’s bantamweight list has a new No. 10 in the form of Jessica Andrade, who made short work of previously unbeaten Larissa Pacheco with a first-round guillotine choke.
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