1. Saul Alvarez: Well, there it was. After a tremendous twelve rounds, Canelo emerged the victor. No crazy Byrd-esque cards, just a very close fight that should have finally earned Alvarez the respect as a true “Mexican-style” warrior. Always coming, never backing off, and taking an absolute whalloping that would have destroyed most mortals. He’s not hype, he’s not a media creation. He’s a badass motherfucker who earned his stripes against one of the most dangerous fighters alive.
2. Alex Pereira: Denied Simon Marcus’s attempt to be a three-time Glory Middleweight champion, and defended the title against the man he won it from, sending him to the canvas in the process.
3. David Lemieux: Good golly, that was quick and violent. A left hook, a (early, to me) stoppage, and in under a round, Lemieux shut up Spike O’Sullivan and cemented himself perhaps the highest-gatekeeper in the middleweight division and maybe another title challenge.
4. Jose Carlos Ramirez: In a fantastic bout on Friday night on ESPN, which whet the whistle of sweet science fans, Ramirez defeded his WBC junior welterweight title over a very live, very game Antonio Orozco, dropping him twice, and putting on a hell of a banger.
5. Oleksiy Oliynyk: In front of over 22,000 in the UFC’s debut in Russia, Oliynyk took less than a round to slap a RNC on Mark Hunt in the main event on Fight Pass.
6. Roman Gonzalez: Chocolatito lives! Good bounceback fight for the former pound-for-pound kingpin, viciously knocking out Moises Fuentes after delivering a solid beating over five rounds.
7. Kristian Woodmansee/Joao Miyao/Ian Sanders/Gianni Grippo/Dante Leon/Marcos Vinicius/Romulo Azevado/Aaron Johnson/Gordon Ryan/Mayssa Bastos/Jessican Cristina dos Santos/Catherine Perret/Gabrielle Lima/Monique Carvalho/Maria Malyjasiak/Alison Tremblay: Your IBJJF Black Belt No-Gi Pan Champions. Extra credit to Ryan for winning the Absolute division, as well.
8. Jan Blachowicz: The Polish light heavyweight derailed Nikita Kyrlov’s return to the UFC in his native Russia with an arm-triangle choke in the co-main of the UFC’s Moscow card.
9. Benjamin Adegbuyi: The giant Romanian defeated Jahfarr Wilnis for the second time, this time by UD. He already is the reigning Glory Heavyweight Contender tournament winner, so a bout with the Verhoeven-Inocente bout is on deck.
10. Alexey Kunchenko: That makes 19-0 for the former longtime M-1 champion, and made his UFC debut over a stalwart in Thiago Alves.
11. Shamil Abdurakhimov: Improved to 4-2 in the UFC, and a win over a former champion in Andrei Arlovski looks very nice for a division desperate for new blood.
12. Eliot Marshall: Retained his Fight To Win Black Belt Super Heavyweight NoGi title with a split-decision over fellow grappling big man James Puopolo in the main event of Fight To Win 86.
13. Craig Jones: In the main event of GrappleFest 2 from across the pond, Jones took a decision win in a superfight with fellow grappling ace Matheus Diniz.
14. Sean Brady: To kick off a huge fight weekend, Brady took a UD win over Gilbert Urbina in the main event of LFA 49 on AXS, Friday night.
15. Steve Walker: “Put ‘Em to Sleep” took Kristaps Zile into an extension round in the main event of Lion Fight 46 before TKOing him and winning the Lion Fight Super Cruiserweight International strap.
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