Consensus Rankings:   Official  |  Member Designed  |  This Ranking Updated 1 week, 16 hrs ago  |  All By Hellowhosthat

1. 1

   

   Michel Pereira

   "Demolidor"

   31-11-0, 2 NC

   1993 - Brazil - UFC
   
   Middleweight Pereira is a scary ************. No longer with any gassing issues and now fighting on max power too. Seemed to have abandoned pointless flashy stuff until went for the random backflip against Ihor and now uses his explosive energy to just flatline people instead. Developing a great sub game where he just snaps hold of things and taps people instantly.
   

2. 2

   

   Caio Borralho

   "The Natural"

   16-1-0, 1 NC

   1993 - Brazil - UFC
   
   Poised fighter working way up UFC rankings. Nice karate style striking, manages distance well and hard to catch. Closes distance quickly with karate style punches, snaps heads back and can be powerful when he sits down on them. High level BJJ and gets to the back and locks on body triangles really well. Very cerebral, always engages guys where he has the biggest advantage.
   

3. 3

   

   Anatoly Tokov

   32-4-0

   1990 - Russia - ACA/Bellator
   
   Not sure if he's just on loan to ACA or whether PFL let him go when they took over. Either way Tokov's a very good all round guy who's good everywhere and his only loss in years is to Eblen. He seems to struggle to get fights and stay active for whatever reason, but when he can get in there, he's good.
   

4. 4

   

   Paul Craig

   "Bearjew"

   17-8-1

   1987 - Scotland - UFC
   
   One of the most dangerous guards in the game and probably the owner of the best triangle in MMA history, throws it up insanely quickly and instantly cuts the angle on it. Don't think his BJJ is so good once his guard is passed, throws some meme stuff and loses back. Striking is awkward but powerfulish so guys have to respect it, gets tagged a lot himself. Just threw kicks against Caio for some reason. Striking defence is ****e, head always on centre line. Takedowns pretty awful, has to rely on pulling guard a lot. Good on top with solid ground and pound if someone makes the mistake of shooting on him, but doesn't really end up there a lot.
   

5. 5

   

   Abus Magomedov

   26-6-1

   1990 - Germany - UFC
   
   Pushed too hard against excellent fighters in the UFC, but should settle in to being a fighter who's potentially in and around the lower end of the rankings I think. Struggles with the gas tank but he's a decently powerful striker and solid wrestler who'll get a lot of guys out of there. Very good wrestling and top control when he chooses to use it. Heavy hips, moves position to position well, threatens arm triangles when opponent tries to escape the back. Good front kicks on the feet.
   

6. 6

   

   Costello van Steenis

   "The Spaniard"

   15-3-0

   1992 - Netherlands - Bellator
   
   Loss to Lima was a little underwhelming but probably got to give him the benefit of the doubt considering he looked really impressive against Onisczuk. Pretty well rounded, trains with Mousasi so has good striking ability and has some pretty decent chokes in his arsenal too. Sometimes isn't aggressive enough to separate himself. Decent takedowns, very careful on top, doesn't do much until he's confident he's got a position but allows him to have solid control.
   

7. 7

   

   Sergei Martynov

   "Butcher"

   18-5-0

   1992 - Russia - RCC
   
   Looked good in fight against Kiamran. Takedown defence seems to be getting better, posted well on hands and worked back up well the few times he was taken down. Good limp legging when single picked up in middle of cage. Good patient striker with a very nice jab, good when he can pressure a bit. Counters wrestlers throwing wild slinging punches at him well. Got tooled on the feet by Shara Bullet, but that's Shara Bullet.
   

8. 8

   

   Kiamrian Abbasov

   "Brazen"

   24-7-0

   1993 - Kyrgyzstan - RCC
   
   Former ONE welterweight champ doesn't seem to think he can make that weight under normal weight cutting conditions. Very solid when he can get his wrestling going, likes to get people against the cage, drag them down and then establish top and get some ground and pound going. Not so good on the feet, has a pretty hard hook and absolutely bombs an overhand but doesn't set them up all that well and doesn't trouble good technical strikers with them. Doesn't seem to have a plan B if using striking to crash into the clinch and get takedowns isn't working. Might be worth seeing if he can make real welterweight.
   

9. 9

   

   Sharaf Davlatmurodov

   "Wolfhound"

   19-5-1

   1992 - Tajikistan - ACA
   
   Pretty solid all round fighter who keeps taking fights with a slightly better all round fighter in Anatoly Tokov and losing. Outside fighting Tokov he's generally winning, solid enough striking, decent wrestling and top control. Winning record in Bellator but didn't seem to get picked up by PFL for whatever reason.
   

10. 10

    

    Virgil Augen

    7-0-0

    1997ish - France - Ares Champion
    
    Very good wrestling style against most people, plows into the clinch, works for doubles and trips and holds position well for extended periods of time. Had to show a more well rounded game against another wrestler in Gutu and did so, outstaying the early charge comfortably and showing patience, much improved striking and very good fight IQ to gradually take charge of the fight and drown his man. Just very calm and professional in there, manages cardio well and very strong.
    

11+

11. 11

    

    Gregory Babene

    "Blade"  |  23-12-0, 1 NC

    1984 - France - Bellator
    
    Finally had long winning streak ended by Costello Van Steenis. Hadn't really faced too many top guys in the streak in truth with Shipman probably being his signature win. Likes to make weird hand movements to try and give guys something to look at. Takedown defence isn't too good but he has good guillotines and armbars so it's dangerous to be down there with him. However Costello showed that a careful good level grappler should be able to neutralise that.
    

12. 12

    

    Mike Shipman

    "Sea Bass"  |  16-4-0

    1990 - England - Bellator
    
    Showed a bit more aggression than usual in the Hill fight. Usually a bit of a grinder but unloaded a bit more with ground and pound and had some decent clinch knees. Usually tended to just try and hug his way to a decision since arriving in the bigger leagues but showed when an opponent is beneath him he can get him out of there still.
    

13. 13

    

    Alain Van De Merckt

    "Top Boy"  |  8-0-0

    1993 - Belgium - Levels Fight League Champion
    
    Good kickboxer with a good highkick, good grappler with a good double leg, goes for the back well and gets a lot of damage off on the ground. Swings over hard sometimes but uses it to fall into a double. Hasn't really faced tough competition yet but it's probably hard for a guy like this to get fights when he's just killing everyone.
    

14. 14

    

    Mikhail Dolgov

    "Misha"  |  12-6-0

    1996 - Russia - ACA
    
    Been matched up very tough and better than his record suggests. Good striking with accurate punches and starting to learn how to deal with the wrestlers. Feels like he's starting to come into his prime after holding off the cage wrestling of Honeycutt and landing enough damage to win.
    

15. 15

    

    Warlley Alves

    14-8-0

    1991 - Brazil - UFC
    
    Inconsistent as a Welter, seems a bit small to step up to Middle and got hammered in his first fight there but against a high quality dude. Gas tank doesn't look any better without the weight cut. Pretty tough, but never seems to get back into fights when he's behind. Throws heavy on the feet, guillotine not really a threat anymore, hasn't had one in years.
    

16. 16

    

    Yasubey Enomoto

    "The Swiss Samurai"  |  23-15-0

    1983 - Switzerland - RCC
    
    Veteran who flits between 170 and 185. Starting to decline a bit, still a good sharp striker but now starting to struggle to stop the takedowns which is an issue when you primarily fight in Russian promotions. I think he could easily have had a multi year run as a UFC fighter when he was younger, but he's at the tail end of his career now.
    

17. 17

    

    Ihor Potieria

    "Duelist"  |  21-6-0

    1996 - Ukraine - UFC
    
    Looks better at middleweight than he did at 205, solid chin and decent toughness and cardio. Unorthadox striking, does hit reasonably well, can be awkaward for meat and potatoes guys to deal with. Obviously didn't have anything for someone like Pereira.
    

18. 18

    

    Lucas Fernando

    10-3-0

    1997 - Brazil - LFA
    
    Talented but a bit of an idiot. Very good offensively, doesn't move head well enough defensively and got dropped by pretty low level dude. When he can get himself going forward and keep range he's very dangerous with good volume and hits hard. Falls into the clinch too much when he's pushing forward, good bodylock takedowns against some guys but it gets him into trouble he doesn't need to be in with wrestlers. Same deal with spamming jump knees at times. Talented but frustrating.
    

19. 19

    

    Alibek Suleimanov

    "One Such"  |  5-0-0

    1997 - Russia - UAE Warriors
    
    Had an excellent amateur record and undefeated as a pro so far. Does the usual stuff you'd expect from a Dagi, good single leg pick up and wrestling. Did look a little bit sloppy against Thani and put himself in a couple of bad positions and gave up the back but able to just wrestle out of it ultimately.
    

20. 20

    

    Mick Stanton

    "The Huyton Hammer"  |  13-8-0

    1987 - England - Oktagon
    
    Just an awkward dude to fight, doesn't really do anything in an orthadox way and has turned into an unorthadox grappler, wrestling isn't great or explosive but he's really persistent with it and seems to find a way on top. Good sweeps, likes to give his back and try and roll guys over him to take top side. Puts himself in **** positions at times but trusts his ability to grapple out. Striking is mainly just piling forward throwing as hard as he can.
    

21. 21

    

    Chris Honeycutt

    "The Cutt"  |  14-8-0, 1 NC

    1988 - USA - ACA
    
    Terribly boring wrestler who just wants to cage push people and slowly work towards double legs. Very stiff on the feet and tends to get tagged a lot coming in to try and wrestle, seems to have hit the juice heavily since his Bellator days but it's just made him slower.
    

22. 22

    

    Agilan Thani

    "The Alligator"  |  12-8-0

    1995 - Malaysia - UAE Warriors
    
    Long time ONE fighter trying to make a go of it outside the promotion. First fight outside didn't go great as he kept trying to engage in grappling with a Dagestani wrestler for some reason with predictable results. Did have a couple of opportunities to take the back but sloppy with it
    

23. 23

    

    Jordan Wright

    "The Beverly Hills Ninja"  |  13-5-0, 1 NC

    1991 - USA - Fury FC
    
    Tried to adapt from his usual kill or be killed or gas trying style in the UFC to become boring wrestling Jordan in Fury which seemed to actually make him worse although he did get the job done against a really low level dude, but I suppose he did show he can go to decision.
    

24. 24

    

    Khaled Laallam

    4-0-0

    Sweden - UAE Warriors
    
    Former IMMAF world champion. Very athletic guy who's steamrolling and playing with the only cans stupid enough to fight him at the moment. Both striking and grappling look really good. Beat Christian Leroy Duncan as an ammy and lost to Bellandi and Khamzat but hasn't been able to get competition like that as a pro yet.
    

25. 25

    

    Vlad Gutu

    2-1-0

    2001ish - France - Ares
    
    Very aggressive wrestler, kind of a bit of a poor man's Cutelaba. Always comes out hard, very strong, can rag guys around in the clinch and can crack too, likes a spinning back elbow in close. Not so good defensively and wasn't a very good nail against Virgil once he started losing. Looks like a handful for most people in the first but unless he matures a bit good quality fighters should be able to outlast him.
    

26. 26

    

    Steven Hill

    "The Hillbilly Hammer"  |  7-1-0

    1993 - England - Bellator
    
    Didn't look good in step up in competition against Shipman. Had the same cage push wrestling game that he always does and when things didn't start to go his way he found that he didn't like life on the bottom at all, started gassing and quit under adversity. He did get hit with an illegal knee at one point but probably could have continued.
    

27. 27

    

    João Paulo Silva

    "JP"  |  8-3-0

    1992 - Brazil - LFA
    
    Terrible takedown defence, especially when it comes to bodylock trips. Cracks fairly well on the feet, managed to drop Fernando with punches but started clinching after so fight IQ questionable.
    

28. 28

    

    Kamil Wojciechowski

    "Gleba"  |  8-2-0

    1989 - Poland - Oktagon
    
    Average wrestler with poor striking defence and a bad chin. Not good from the bottom and kept getting double legged by a non wrestler in Stanton.