“The California Kid” Urijah Faber remained the most popular featherweight fighter in MMA in March, holding his edge over fellow high-profile 145-pounders including Jens Pulver and champion Jose Aldo. While Faber will step into his April 24th bout against Aldo as the challenger, the buzz rankings demonstrate that it is the former divisional kingpin who will be the biggest selling point of the WEC’s first-ever pay per view event. Few other changes took place at the top of the featherweight rankings, with Mike Brown and Manny Gamburyan holding steady in their spots in fourth and fifth. Full Top 20 rankings are 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 Featherweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- February 2010 (#1 Rank: Urijah Faber)
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Urijah Faber)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Urijah Faber)
| March Rank | Featherweight Fighter | Change From Last Month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urijah Faber | No Change |
| 2 | Jens Pulver | Up 1 |
| 3 | Jose Aldo | Down 1 |
| 4 | Mike Thomas Brown | No Change |
| 5 | Manny Gamburyan | No Change |
| 6 | Javier Vazquez | Up 4 |
| 7 | Bibiano Fernandes | Up 4 |
| 8 | Leonard Garcia | Down 1 |
| 9 | Joachim Hansen | No Change |
| 10 | Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto | Down 4 |
| 11 | George Roop | Down 3 |
| 12 | Cole Escovedo | Up 26 |
| 13 | L.C. Davis | No Change |
| 14 | Cub Swanson | Down 2 |
| 15 | Yoshiro Maeda | Up 16 |
| 16 | Joe Warren | Down 2 |
| 17 | Chase Beebe | No Change |
| 18 | Marlon Sandro | Up 27 |
| 19 | Michihiro Omigawa | Down 3 |
| 20 | Chad Mendes | Up 8 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
Masakazu Imanari (#22), Joe Soto (#23), Hideo Tokoro (#32), Wilson Reis (#36)
