Heavyweight 2-4-08

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Rank

Fighter

Comments

1.

Fedor Emelianenko

Say what you want about his avoidance of credible opponents - we still don’t think there’s a heavyweight in the world who could beat him. And we’re willing to keep him at the top of the list until he loses or retires.

2.

Randy Couture

He’s runner-up for talent and accomplishments, but if an active UFC heavyweight can establish dominance, we’ll eventually drop Randy a spot or two for inactivity. By all accounts, Couture will retire after fighting Fedor, which means he’ll be leaving the rankings altogether before long.

3.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria

We've seen Nogueira rocked before, and we've seen him dominated. But we've still never seen him finished, and that's nearly as impressive an achievement as an undefeated record. As Tim Sylvia learned at UFC 81, beating the crap out of Big Nog means nothing (because he can't be knocked out), and once the fight goes to the ground, you'll soon be tapping the mat. Nogueira is the only fighter to ever take Fedor Emelianenko to a decision twice, which should tell you something about his toughness and his ability to keep his head in a shitstorm. As long as Couture stays out of the picture, Minotauro could have a long reign atop the UFC's heavyweight division.

4.

Andrei Arlovski

5.

Tim Sylvia

6.

Fabricio Werdum

7.

Ben Rothwell

He’s the deserving holder of the IFL’s heavyweight belt, but he left the organization before 2007’s Grand Prix to become a better-paid star elsewhere. We hope that happens soon, because the pleasantly chubby Miletich fighter tore through the IFL’s heavyweights like a buzzsaw, and is riding a 13-fight win-streak.

8.

Mirko Filipovic

9.

Josh Barnett

Any more inactivity or a loss in his next fight (maybe to Aleksander Emelianenko?) will drop him from the top ten. But Barnett has the tools to give anybody on this list a bad night and we’d love to see him kicking ass again.

10.

Cheick Kongo

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