Fedor Emelianenko returned to the top of the overall buzz rankings for February, and by definition also to the top of the heavyweight division. Emelianenko is increasingly of interest to mainstream MMA fans despite not having been active since his November 2009 win over Brett Rogers. Brock Lesnar dropped one spot to second, while Cain Velasquez jumped all the way to third place following an impressive first-round knockout of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110. In the biggest move, Australian heavyweight Anthony Perosh rose 106 spots as fans curious about the late replacement for Ben Rothwell who took to the stage to fight the aforementioned Velasquez. Full top 20 rankings below.
Tapology’s Buzz Rankings measure fan interest in individual MMA fighters based on online searches and pageviews for information about each athlete. The rankings are not a measure of a fighter’s skill or competitive standing within their division, but rather how much activity or “buzz” surrounds them (positive or negative).
Top 20 Heavyweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Brock Lesnar)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Kimbo Slice)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Fedor Emelianenko)
| February Rank |
Heavyweight Fighter | January to February Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Emelianenko | Up 1 |
| 2 | Brock Lesnar | Down 1 |
| 3 | Cain Velasquez | Up 15 |
| 4 | Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson | Up 1 |
| 5 | Herschel Walker | Down 2 |
| 6 | Bobby Lashley | Down 2 |
| 7 | Frank Mir | Down 1 |
| 8 | Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic | Up 3 |
| 9 | Ken Shamrock | Down 2 |
| 10 | Andrei Arlovski | Down 1 |
| 11 | Shane Carwin | Up 1 |
| 12 | Alistair Overeem | Down 4 |
| 13 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Up 12 |
| 14 | Tim Sylvia | Up 3 |
| 15 | Fabricio Werdum | Down 2 |
| 16 | Anthony Perosh | Up 106 |
| 17 | Junior Dos Santos | Down 7 |
| 18 | Roy Nelson | Down 4 |
| 19 | Ben Rothwell | Up 7 |
| 20 | Matt Mitrione | Up 7 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
Brett Rogers (#22), Wes Sims (#24), Houston Alexander (#25), Gilbert Yvel (#35)
