UFC Division Snapshot: UFC 120 Edition

After every UFC event, TapouTVTC.com takes a look at how each division shapes up. For more information on the Division Snapshot, take a look at our first snapshot

Michael Bisping: +4 (Was 10, now 6) (Middleweight)

This fight was Bisping at his best; outwork, outpoint and wear down your opponent. Bisping was clearly the superior boxer, and Yoshihiro Akiyama never tested his takedown defense. If "The Count" can string together a couple more wins, he may get back into title contention in a suddenly-wide-open middleweight division.

Yoshihiro Akiyama: -7 (Was 33, now 40) (Middleweight)

Akiyama is a razor-thin decision away from being 0-3 in the UFC. While it's nice to be exciting (and three "Fight of the Night" bonuses attest that he is just that), "Sexyama" needs to learn how to change strategies mid-match if he hopes to stick around.

Carlos Condit: +7 (Was 14, now 7) (Welterweight)

Did anyone think that Condit standing and banging with Dan Hardy was a good idea? Apparently it was, as Condit's thunderous knockout pushed his winning streak to three. He could easily be 4-0 and fans are seeing why he entered the UFC with so much hype.

Dan Hardy: -13 (Was 29, now 42) (Welterweight)

Hardy thought he had the fight right where he wanted it and then Condit turned his lights out. Point to Hardy for a charming and funny post-fight interview. Hardy obviously isn't the 42nd-best welterweight, but he is closer to the middle of the pack than he is a top-ten fighter.

Mike Pyle: +4 (Was 17, now 13) (Welterweight)

Most people didn't give Pyle much of a chance in this fight, and most people were wrong. Pyle used his striking to win round one, then his superior ground skills to almost put John Hathaway away in round two. It was an impressive win for the veteran, who would like to make a run at the title before time closes the window.

John Hathaway: -24 (Was 3, now 27)  (Welterweight)

Props to Hathaway for even surviving a brutal top-side triangle/ crucifix/ pounding in the second round, but he mounted virtually no offense against Pyle for much of the 15-minute affair. The question now becomes how will Hathaway bounce back from his first career defeat?

Cheick Kongo: -4 (Was 8, now 12) (Heavyweight)

Kongo cost himself the fight by repeatedly grabbing Travis Browne's shorts and subsequently getting a point deducted. Worse, Kongo is rapidly earning the reputation of a dirty fighter, a label no fighter wants to have.

Travis Browne: -3 (Was 10, now 13) (Heavyweight)

Browne's wild style seemed to confuse Kongo in the first round, but some knees in the clinch slowed Browne and he was unable to maintain the pace he held early. Browne was spared his first career loss due to Kongo's point deduction, but he won't be happy with this performance.

Alexander Gustafsson: +12 (Was 24, now 12) (Light Heavyweight)

Gustafsson bounced back from his first career loss in dominant fashion, blasting Cyrille Diabate on the feet and on the ground before locking in a rear-naked choke. It was such a good performance by the Swede that the bout made the Spike TV broadcast, despite being on the undercard.

Cyrille Diabate: -13 (Was 12, now 25) (Light Heavyweight)

Despite having the better striking credentials, Diabate was dominated on the feet before eventually getting beat up and submitted on the ground. The loss saw Diabate's six-fight win steak snapped.

Paul Sass: Debuts at 18 (Lightweight)

Prior to this bout, Sass had won seven bouts by triangle choke and two of his last three by heel hook. Those were the only two submissions he looked for on Saturday and he eventually locked Mark Holst in a triangle to finish it. Are those the only two moves Sass has in his arsenal, and if he keeps winning, does it even matter?

Mark Holst: -7 (Was 37, now 44) (Lightweight)

Holst is no slouch on the ground, but he had no answer for the "Sassangle." Holst now sits at 0-2 in the lightweight division and is dangerously close to being cut.


Preliminary bouts and full snapshots after the jump...

UFC Division Snapshot: UFC 119 Edition

After every UFC event, TapouTVTC.com takes a look at how each division shapes up. For more information on the Division Snapshot, take a look at our first snapshot

Frank Mir:  +6 (Was 13, now 7) (heavyweight)

Can you be a loser and still win? Mir came as close as you can, turning in a lackluster 14-minute performance before an out-of-nowhere finish. Win or lose, Mir is usually an exciting fighter, so this could be an aberration, but the fact that Dana White refused to give him a Knockout of the Night bonus goes to show that Mir will need to come through in spades in his next bout.

 Mirko 'Cro Cop': -11 (Was 4, now 15) (heavyweight)

Tentative. Uninterested. Boring. These are not the words that should be used to describe a legend like 'Cro Cop,' and yet he was all those things on Saturday. If the head kick specialist decides he wants to fight again (and all indications say he does) he has been relegated to gatekeeper status.

Ryan Bader +1 (Was 2, now 1) (light heavyweght)

It wasn't a statement win, but Bader used his superior wrestling to best Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. The "Ultimate Fighter" winner remains unbeaten at 12-0, including a 5-0 mark in the Octagon. A collision course with fellow rising star Jon Jones seems inevitable.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: -15 (Was 7, now 22) (light heavyweight)

Any time 'Little Nog' started to find his rhythm on the feet, Bader was able to stifle with a takedown. Hailed as a potential contender when he entered the UFC, Nogueira could very well be 1-2 in the UFC had his decision victory over Jason Brilz swung the other way (which many people think it should have).

Chris Lytle: +5 (Was 7, now 2) (welterweight)

It was redemption of sorts for Lytle, who defeated Serra in a rematch of their "Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale" bout. Lytle battered Serra on every exchange, and has now won four in a row in the UFC.

Matt Serra: -11 (15, now 26) (welterweight)

Rather than work to get the fight to the mat, where he held a distinct advantage, Serra elected to fight in a boxing match he lost from bell to bell. It's one thing to try and be exciting, it's another to do so at the complete expense of winning.

Sean Sherk: +9 (Was 21, now 12) (lightweight)

Let's be clear; Sherk lost this fight. That doesn't mean, however, that he deserved to be booed after the fact. Sherk went back to the wrestling base that made him a killer earlier in his career, and opened up a nasty cut on Evan Dunham's face in the first round. "The Muscle Shark" might have one more title run left in him after all.

 Evan Dunham: -21 (Was 4, now 25) (lightweight)

Dunham did everything in this fight that you want to see a young prospect do except win. Rather than wilt after sustaining a massive cut, Dunham came out energized for the second round, battering Sherk on the feet and threatening with guillotine attempts that would have tapped most lightweights. Even after being robbed by the judges, Dunham was humble and gracious. This is a kid to take notice of going forward.

Melvin Guillard: +1 (Was 5, now 4) (lightweight)

Fans of Guillard's swing-for-the-fences style are bemoaning his UFC 119 performance, as he was content to stick and move against Jeremy Stephens. He got the job done, though (with a little help from the judges), and Guillard is starting to creep into the title hunt.

 Jeremy Stephens: -15 (Was 9, now 24) (lightweight)

Stephens seemed to land the harder punches, but the judges saw it differently (heard that one before?).  Now he will begin the long climb back up the lightweight ladder.

CB Dollaway: +3 (Was 7, now 4) (middleweight)

Since his time on the "Ultimate Fighter," Dollaway has started to mature in the Octagon. Instead of gassing himself out with a futile guillotine attempt, Dollaway stayed calm, created a scramble, and eventually snagged a choke that almost popped Doerksen's head off. Dollaway has quietly gone 5-1 in the UFC since losing the TUF 7 finale to Amir Sadollah, and is on a three-fight win streak.

Joe Doerksen: -12 (Was 19, now 32) (middleweight)

Who would have predicted that submission specialist Doerksen would be the one tapping out? This loss should spell an end to the journeyman's most recent UFC stint.

Matt Mitrione: +3 (Was 7, now 4) (heavyweight)

He always has a grin on his face, and he hits like he has cement in his gloves. Mitrione bounced back from losing the first round to pound Joey Beltran en route to a unanimous decision. 'Meat' is fast becoming a heavyweight prospect to watch, but will his age (32) and NFL wear-and-tear be his biggest obstacles?

Joey Beltran: -12 (Was 6, now 18) (heavyweigt)

Beltran dominated the first round, but had no answer for Mitrione's reach after that. You can't question Beltran's toughness, but he desperately needed to get the fight back to the mat, and he never did.

Preliminary bouts and full snapshots after the jump...

UFC Division Snapshot: UFC Fight Night 22 Edition

After every UFC event, TapouTVTC.com takes a look at how each division shapes up. For more information on the Division Snapshot, take a look at our first snapshot.

Nate Marquardt: +15 (Was 25, now 10) (middleweight)

It is hard to evaluate this win, as we did not get to see a lot of Marquardt's gameplan. He jumped on a mental error by Palhares early, and that was the fight. Marquardt remains in the upper echelon of the middleweight division, but his next fight will tell us more. 

Rousimar Palhares: -23 (Was 4, now 27) (middleweight)

A win would have put Palhares firmly in title contention, but one grievous mental error is all it takes to tumble back down the ranks. Palhares learned that lesson hard, and you can bet he won't make the same mistake again.

Charles Oliveira: +7 (Was 18, now 11) (lightweight)

Oliveira looks like a future star, showing off a striking game that no one (especially Escudero) knew he had. Between his high level jiu jitsu, creative striking and buckets of charisma, Oliveira is certainly someone to watch in the next year. 

Efrain Escudero: -13 (Was 16, now 29) (lightweight)

The former "Ultimate Fighter" winner is now 1-2 in his last three fights. Escudero got the striking match he thought he wanted, but Oliveira proved to be a handful on the feet as well. Did missing weight factor into his poor performance?

Jim Miller: +0 (Was 3, remains 3) (lightweight)

Miller remains one of the top lightweights in the division, and is very much in the title mix. Remember, his only two career losses are to lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and number-one contender Gray Maynard.

Gleison Tibau: -16 (Was 7, now 23) (lightweight)

Tibau claimed his boxing had vastly improved, but he looked much the same fighter against Miller that he has always been. When Tibau was able to score takedowns, he was afraid to engage on the ground, electing instead to stay in a stand-up battle that he was losing.

Cole Miller: +7 (Was 14, now 7) (lightweight)

Miller's reach was a big problem for Pearson, who was tagged repeatedly with counter punches as he tried to engage. The win has Miller talking of title aspirations, but he'll have to prove that he can win more than two fights in a row before that becomes a true possibility.

Ross Pearson: -23 (Was 5, now 28) (lightweight)

It was not a good night for "Ultimate Fighter" winners, as Pearson and Escudero both fell. When your opponent is that much taller, throwing looping hooks is not going to win you the fight. Pearson wasn't able to get inside on Miller, and it cost him.

Preliminary bouts and full snapshots after the jump...

UFC Division Snapshot: UFC 118 Edition

The UFC Division Snapshot is a segment designed to let you see where every fighter in the UFC stands in their weight class at a glance. Since sustained success is the quickest route to a UFC title, we order fighters first by win streak in the UFC, then by total number of wins in the UFC. Finally, if all other things are equal, we take into account overall records. Here are the results and movement from all UFC 118 fighters.

Note: This snapshot is NOT a ranking, or a representation of talent. B.J. Penn is not the 38th-best lightweight in the UFC, but that's where his current losing streak has him in this snapshot.

MAIN CARD:

Frankie Edgar: +0 (Was champion, remains champion) (lightweight)

If you pardon the pun, Edgar "answered" all the questions about his UFC 112 win against then-champion B.J. Penn with a dominant display at UFC 118. He will look to avenge his one career loss when he takes on undefeated Gray Maynard next.

B.J. Penn: -15 (Was 23, now 38) (lightweight)

A year ago, the only question asked about Penn was who in the lightweight division could possibly challenge him? What a difference a year makes. Will he move back to welterweight? Does he need to revamp his training camp and partners? All we know is that at the end of those five rounds, Penn looked lost for answers. 

Gray Maynard: +0 (Was 1, remains 1) (lightweight)

Maynard doesn't move up in the division, but only because he was already at the top. He will get his deserved title shot against champion Frankie Edgar next.

Randy Couture: +1 (Was 4, now 3) (light heavyweight)

While his fight with James Toney took place at heavyweight, Couture and the UFC have made it clear that Couture will stay at 205 moving forward. Couture did exactly we expected him to do, and the outcome was never in doubt once the fight hit the mat. At his advanced age, we will see if Couture has what it takes for one more title run.

James Toney: Enters at 24 (heavyweight)

Toney's inclusion in this list is semantics. A fighter enters the list when he makes his UFC debut, but is removed if he is cut, and Dana White already said that Toney is done in the UFC. For all his bluster, Toney was absolutely clueless once Couture took him down, and at the end of the day, it was his lights that were turned out.

Kenny Florian: -16 (Was 6, now 22) (lightweight)

Florian has tumbled down the lightweight division before, only to claw back up again. This time, though, the forecast that Florian will one day wear the lightweight strap is looking increasingly dim.

Demian Maia: +16 (Was 27, now 11) (middleweight)

No post-Anderson-Silva hangover for Maia, who dominated Mario Miranda for 15 minutes in route to a unanimous decision. He wasn't able to finish, but came close on several occasions, and should still be regarded as one of the more dangerous fighters in the division.

Mario Miranda: -11 (Was 23, now 34)

Miranda wilted under Demian Maia's jiu jitsu onslaught, and could do little more than survive once the fight went to the ground. Since coming into the UFC undefeated, Miranda has gone 1-2 in the promotion.

Nate Diaz: +5 (Was 14, now 9) (welterweight)

Diaz improved his welterweight record to 2-0 with two dominant performances. Talks of moving down to lightweight should be shelved, this is Diaz's best weight class.

Marcus Davis: -10 (Was 13, now 23) (welterweight)

Davis dropped to 1-3 in his last four UFC appearances. More worrisome, though, is that he's been stopped in two of those losses after only getting stopped twice in his first 21 professional bouts.

Preliminary bouts and full snapshots after the jump...