Featherweight 10-12-09

Rank

Fighter

Comments

1.

Mike Brown

 

2.

Urijah Faber

 

3.

Hatsu Hioki

He's Sengoku's king without a crown. A concussion suffered during his unanimous decision win over Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku's Featherweight Grand Prix prevented Hioki from competing in the finals — which allowed Kanehara to sneak back in and win the GP. But we all know whose bathroom that belt should be hanging up in. Hopefully he'll get a rematch with Kanehara soon to make it official.

4.

Jose Aldo

During his stint as the WEC’s Human Highlight Reel, Aldo has produced five consecutive stoppages by KO or TKO, all of them notably painful-looking. And he’s only 23 years old, which means his best days may still lie ahead. Next up: Mike Brown at WEC 44 on November 18, for all the marbles. Will Junior rise to the occasion?

5.

Marlon Sandro

Don't get me started on Sandro's outrageous decision loss to Michihiro Omigawa during the Sengoku FWGP. It was Sandro's first defeat, and will hopefully inspire him to never leave a fight in the hands of the judges ever again, particularly when fighting a Japanese opponent in Japan.

6.

Norifumi Yamamoto

Losing to a guy with a 1-0 record isn’t the most encouraging sign after a 17-month layoff. But we won’t say Kid’s career is finished just because of a little ring-rust. We’ll wait until his next fight to make that judgment...

7.

Bibiano Fernandes

After being thrown into the shark tank early in his MMA career — his second and third fights were against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, unfortunately — Fernandes is coming into his own in the ring, and used his fearsome grappling prowess to slice through DREAM's Featherweight Grand Prix, upsetting Masakazu Imanari in the quarterfinals, then taking out Joe Warren and Hiroyuki "Streetfight Bancho" Takaya in the same night. Keep your eye on him.

8.

Rafael Assuncao

 

9.

Wagnney Fabiano

Simply put, Wagnney Fabiano got fucked by the WEC. After dominating Akitoshi Tamura and Fredson Paixao in his first two WEC appearances, Fabiano was inexplicably given an undercard fight against a 3-0 rookie — and lost. Fabiano's long, uphill climb to get over with American fans just got longer and steeper.

10.

Masakazu Imanari