FightLines: Light Heavyweights – Vol. III

Liddell > W Silva > Jardine > Liddell
Ortiz > Griffin > Jackson > Liddell > Ortiz
Griffin > Bonnar > Irvin > Alexander > Jardine > Griffin

Light Heavyweights – Vol. II
Light Heavyweights – Vol. I
FightLines FAQ

And the FightLines Extrapolated Power Rankings:

Explanation of the most retarded top 10 list after the break…

So, you didn’t know that James Irvin is the number 7 fighter at 205, did you?

There’s a valid explanation for all these shenanigans of course.  For those unfamiliar with FightLines, you have to remember that we remove results that end up in a loop.  Think of it as a game of rock-scissors-paper (or roshambo for you freaks).  Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock.  So, can you really say any of the 3 options is superior to the others?

Well, in this run of FightLines, we have loops involving three, four, and five fighters.  Combined with an unusually small kernel of fighters (more on that too), that eliminates a lot of data from the graph.  Which is why you end up with guys who have good records against not-so-good competition littering the top 10.  Once the top stars fight each other on a more consistent basis (with UFC 92 being a good start), you’ll start seeing the top 10 make a little more sense.

A few things have caused our shortage of data.  First, Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson were put on the shelf for 9+ months as a result of the Ultimate Fighter.  On a normal schedule, both fighters would have fought at least twice in the interim.  Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will have gone over a year and a half between fights when he meets Mark Coleman.  Between fighting heavyweights in Pride and long layoffs in between his UFC bouts, Wanderlei Silva only has four fights of record at 205. 

So let’s break down what we do know.  First off, Rashad Evans really helped himself with his knockout of perennial posterboy Chuck Liddell.  While Liddell was his first big test, it’s hard to argue anyone outside of Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson have really accomplished more in the past 18 months.

One man who could make the argument is Lyoto Machida.  His win over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, however, looks less impressive when you consider his losses to Glover Teixeira and Luis Arthur Cane and the inactivity of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona.  The fight with Thiago Silva should give him a title shot in the event of a victory, but I have a sneaking suspicion the winner of Silva/Jackson III will get that honor.

Speaking of that fight, it will be the only one of their soon-to-be trilogy recognized in the system.

Expect an update shortly after the new year, which will hopefully bring some clarity to 205.

Power Rankings Explanation

RatingPLUS = (((Bwins -Bloss) / (Bwins + Bloss + Aloss) + 1) / 2) + ((Bwins/Fighters) – (Bloss/Fighters * 2))

Key

Bwins – Beatwins, the number of fighters an individual has paths to below them on the FightLines graph

Bloss – Beatlosses, the number of fighters an individual has paths to above them on the FightLines graph

Aloss – Ambiguous Losses, losses that have been looped out that leave the two fighters involved without a path to each other

Fighters – Total Fighters, the number of fighters on the graph minus the fighter in question