Quinton Jackson | Source: MMAWeekly.com
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was the most buzzed about MMA fighter overall for the month of May, and therefore by definition was also the most buzzed about light heavyweight. Jackson’s UFC 114 main event blockbuster against Rashad Evans is rumored to have pulled in over 900,000 pay per view buys, with a significant amount of credit due to Rampage himself. While it takes two to tango and Evans was clearly a key part of the bad blood marketing angle for the fight, Jackson’s buzz-generating performance was undeniable. Last month’s top ranked light heavyweight, Tito Ortiz, dropped four spots to fifth overall. 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 Light Heavyweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- April 2010 (#1 Rank: Tito Ortiz)
- March 2010 (#1 Rank: Jon Jones)
- February 2010 (#1 Rank: Randy Couture)
| May Rank | Light Heavyweight Fighter | Change From Last Month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quinton “Rampage” Jackson | Up 3 |
| 2 | Lyoto Machida | Up 1 |
| 3 | Mauricio “Shogun” Rua | Up 3 |
| 4 | Rashad Evans | Up 3 |
| 5 | Tito Ortiz | Down 4 |
| 6 | Chuck Liddell | Down 4 |
| 7 | Forrest Griffin | Down 2 |
| 8 | Jason Brilz | Up 55 |
| 9 | Rich Franklin | No Change |
| 10 | Jon Jones | Up 1 |
| 11 | Thiago Silva | Up 3 |
| 12 | Mark Coleman | Up 1 |
| 13 | Keith Jardine | Down 1 |
| 14 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Up 1 |
| 15 | Vladimir Matyushenko | Up 10 |
| 16 | Renato “Babalu” Sobral | Up 4 |
| 17 | Brandon Vera | Down 1 |
| 18 | Ricardo Arona | Up 5 |
| 19 | Gegard Mousasi | Down 11 |
| 20 | Matt Hamill | Down 3 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
Stephan Bonnar (#21), Muhammed Lawal (#23), Ryan Bader (#25)
