FIGHTSTALKER

The second fight card of April delivered from several different aspects. It obviously cleared the air in the welterweight division, but it also created intrigue in the lightweight and middleweight divisions.

Remember, this list is based on who will get a title shot, and when. In other words, I’m not sating that Ryoto Machida is a better fighter than Mauricio Rua, I’m simply stating that Machida is more likely, this second, to get a title shot sooner.

Ranking notes: Mac Danzig takes home the 10th spot in the lightweight division for no other reason than his Ultimate Fighter stature. Had it not been for that, Thiago Taveres, Rich Clementi, Manny Gamburyan and Marcus Aurielio would have a legitimate claim to that spot.

The middleweights saw some juggling as well with the entrance of another Ultimate Fighter champion, Mike Bisping. If it were not for his entrance into the division and Jason MacDonald’s strong showing, fighters like Damian Maia and Nate Quarry could have been argued for top ten contention.

Heavyweight Champion: Randy Couture (16-8)) (13-5) 1TD*

Interim Heavyweight Champion: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueiro (31-4-1) (2-0)

* Randy Couture has yet to be stripped of the heavyweight title.

1. Brandon Vera (8-1) (4-1)
2. Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1) (1-1)
3. Cheick Kongo (11-4-1) (4-2)
4. Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) (3-2)
5. Andrie Arlovski (12-5) (10-4)
6. Frank Mir (11-3) (9-3)
7. Heath Herring (28-13) (2-2)
8. Eddie Sanchez (8-1) (3-1)
9. Brock Lesnar (1-1) (0-1)
10. Cain Velasquez (3-0) (1-0) +1

* Randy Couture has yet to be stripped of the UFC Heavyweight Championship

Other Notables: Antoni Hardonk (6-4) (2-2), Christian Wellisch (8-3) (2-1), Anthony Perosh (6-3) (0-2), Justin McCully (8-3-2) (1-0), Colin Robinson (9-4) (0-2), Scott Junk (6-2) (0-1), Soa Palelei (8-2) (0-1), Brad Morris (9-3) (0-1)

Light Heavyweight Champion: Quinton Jackson (28-6) (2-0) 1TD

1. Forrest Griffin (15-4) (6-2)
2. Chuck Liddell (21-5) (16-4)
3. Keith Jardine (13-2-1) (5-1)
4. Ryota Machida (12-0) (4-0)
5. Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) (1-3)
6. Mauricio Rua (16-3) (0-1)
7. Rashad Evans (11-0-1) (6-0-1)
8. Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) (14-5-1)
9. Rameau Sokoudjou (4-2) (0-1)
10. Matt Hamill (4-1) (4-1)

Other Notables: Stephan Bonnar (11-4) (5-3), Eric Schafer (7-3-2) (1-2), David Heath (7-3) (2-3), Victor Valimaki (9-4) (0-2), Cory Walmsley (8-2) (0-1), James Irvin (14-4) (4-3), Hector Ramirez (6-3-1) (0-2), Rex Holman (4-2) (0-1), Seth Petruzelli (7-4) (0-2), Elvis Sinosic (8-10-2) (1-6), Wilson Gouveia (10-4) (4-2), Carmelo Marrero (6-2) (1-2), Tomasz Drwal (14-2) (0-1), Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-7) (0-1), Jason Lambert (23-7) (4-2), Luis Cane (7-1) (0-1), Houston Alexander (8-3) (2-2), Thiago Silva (12-0) (3-0), Tim Boetsch (7-2) (1-1)

Middleweight Champion: Anderson Silva (20-4) (5-0) 3 TD

1. Nathan Marquardt (26-7-2) (5-1)
2. Dan Henderson (22-6) (2-1)
3. Rich Franklin (23-3) (9-2) +/-
4. Yoshin Okami (22-4) (6-1)
5. Jason MacDonald (20-9) (4-2) +3
6. Mike Bisping (15-1) (5-1) +5
7. Chris Leben (18-4) (8-3) -2
8. Dean Lister (10-5) (3-1) -2
9. Martin Kampmann (15-2) (3-0) -2
10. Ricardo Almeida (9-2) (2-2)

Other Notables: Ed Herman (14-5) (3-3), Pete Sell (7-4) (1-4), Jorge Rivera (15-6) (4-4), Terry Martin (16-4) (2-4), Rory Singer (11-7) (2-2), Steve Byrnes (6-1) (0-1), Thales Leites (10-1) (3-1), David Terrell (6-2) (2-1), Alan Belcher (11-4) (3-3), Alessio Sakara (12-7) (3-4), Mike Nickels (4-2) (1-1), Charles McCarthy (10-4) (1-1), Andrew McFedries (6-3) (2-2), Jason Gilliam (9-2) (0-2), Thales Lietes (11-1) (2-1), Ivan Salaverry (12-5) (3-3), Jordan Radev (11-3) (0-2), Floyd Sword (9-3) (0-1), Nathan Quarry (10-2) (5-1), Demian Maia (7-0) (2-0), Joe Doerksen (39-12) (1-5), James Lee (13-3) (0-1), Jeremy Horn (79-17-5) (5-5), Rob Yundt (6-1) (0-1), Marvin Eastman (14-7) (1-3), Kendall Grove (8-5) (3-2), Evan Tanner (32-7) (11-5), Jason Day (17-5) (1-0), Patrick Cote (12-4) (3-4)

Welterweight Champion: Georges St.Pierre (16-2) (10-2) 0TD

1. Jon Fitch (16-2) (8-0)
2. Matt Serra (9-5) (6-5) -2
3. Josh Koscheck (10-2) (7-2) -1
4. Matt Hughes (41-6) (15-4) -1
5. Thiago Alves (14-3) (7-2) -1
6. Diego Sanchez (18-2) (7-2) -1
7. Karo Parisyan (18-5) (8-3) -1
8. Mike Swick (11-2) (6-1) -1
9. Marcus Davis (13-3) (5-1) -1
10. Akihiro Gono (28-12-7) (1-0)

Other Notables: Dustin Hazelett (10-4) (3-2), Shonie Carter (38-18-7) (3-3), Tony DeSouzo (10-4) (3-3), Forrest Petz (13-5) (2-3), Anthony Torres (5-1) (1-1), Jeff Joslin (5-3) (0-1), Diego Saraiva (9-6-1) (0-3), Luke Cummo (6-5) (3-3), Chad Reiner (13-3) (0-2), Roan Carneiro (12-6) (2-1), Chris Lytle (25-15-5) (4-7), Junior Assuncao (5-3) (1-1), Jess Liaudin (12-9) (2-1), Edilberto de Oliveiro (8-2-1) (0-2), Paul Taylor (8-3-1) (1-2), Jason Tan (4-2) (0-1), Steven Lynch (4-1) (0-1), Anthony Johnson (5-1) (2-1), Tamden McCrory (8-1) (1-1), Jonathan Goulet (22-9) (4-3), Ryo Chonan (14-8)) (0-1), Paul Georgieff (5-2) (0-1), Roman Mitichyan (4-2) (1-1), Dorian Price (7-3) (0-1), Matt Arroyo (3-1) (1-0), John Kolosci (8-5) (0-1), Troy Mandaloniz (3-1) (1-0), Ritchie Hightower (7-2) (0-1), Ben Saunders (5-0-2) (1-0), Daniel Barrera (0-1) (0-1), George Sotiropoulos (9-2) (2-0), Billy Miles (2-2) (0-1), Jon Koppenhaver (5-1) (1-0), Jared Rollins (6-4) (0-1), Paul Kelly (7-0) (1-0), Kyle Bradley (13-5) (0-1), David Bielkheden (12-6) (0-1), Luigi Fioravanti (11-3) (3-3), Chris Wilson (13-4) (0-1), Josh Burkman (9-5) (5-3)