I decided to take someone’s advice recently and post “preliminary” rankings, and let you guys pick them apart, then I’ll release official rankings next week. We always seem to miss a guy or two, or forget about a big win one guy had or something like that. So please take a look at the guys listed below and let me know what you guys think.
As always, the rankings take into account what guys have done, not what we think they can do…so if there is a guy who is 2-0 that hasn’t beaten anyone tough yet, but we know he’s a killer and could likely beat a ranked fighter, he stays off the rankings until he does. We also give much more credit for a win than we punish guys for losses. The example I’ll use is Dennis Olson. He had been on a tear lately up until losing at Bellator. However, the fight was at 185 and on short notice, so I have a hard time dropping him down the list. Had he lost to another fighter ranked below him, sure…that fighter would have jumped over Dennis, but that wasn’t the case.
Please ask any and ll questions, and please throw out names I may have accidentally left out and we’ll take into account your opinions before releasing final rankings.
| Under 135 |
| T1-Paul Gorman |
| T1-Anthony Leone |
| 3. Dan Ferrer |
| 5. Tateki Matsuda |
| 5. Jason Bennett |
| 6. Matt Martin |
| 7. Tom Giove |
| 8. Matt Smith |
| 9. Pedro Gonzales |
| 10. Barrington Douse |
| 145 |
| 1. Jason McLean |
| 2. Ken Stone |
| T3. Saul Almeida |
| T3. Kenny Foster |
| T5. Josh LaBerge |
| T5. Justin Homsey |
| 7. Rodrigo Almeida |
| 8. Dan Bonnell |
| 9. Mike Gresh |
| 10. Chris Grandmaison |
| 155 |
| 1. Rene Nazare |
| T2. Marc Stevens |
| T2. Mike Campbell |
| 4. Don-Carlo-Clauss |
| 5. Hitalo Machado |
| 6. Glenn Brown |
| 7. Calvin Kattar |
| 8. John Benoit |
| 9. Tony Leate |
| T10. Aniss Alhajjajy |
| T10. Damien Trites |
| 170 |
| 1. Dennis Olson |
| 2. Justin Torrey |
| 3. Rick Hawn |
| 4. Tom Moreau |
| 5. Chandler Holderness |
| 6. John Manley |
| 7. Nate LaMotte |
| 8. Tim Pinney |
| 9. Ralph Johnson |
| T10. Ryan Schieding |
| T10. Chuck O’Neill |
| 185 |
| 1. Nate Kittredge |
| 2. Dan Keefe |
| 3. Greg Rebello |
| 4. Woody Weatherby |
| 5. John Clarke |
| 6. Fred Belleton |
| 7. Scott Nichols |
| 8. Dan Pasquarella |
| 9. Elias Rivera |
| 10. Jesse Peterson |
| 205 |
| 1. Travis Bartlett |
| 2. Alexandre Moreno |
| 3. Pat Schultz |
| 4. Josh Watson |
| 5. Ryan Contaldi |
| HWT |
| 1. Christian Morecraft |
| 2. Josh Diekmann |
| 3. Lee Beane |
| 4. Paul Barry |
| 5. Shawn Galano |
What do you think about a guy like Jamie Campbell? He’s like 5-0 or 6-0 and has wins over Steve Stengel, Chuck O’Neill as well as other tough guys, but fights once a year and hasn’t fought a killer in a while. Do you think he should be ranked instead of a guy like Schieding?
Last Ranking for 145lbers was
1. Jason McLean
2. Ken Stone
3. Anthony Leone
4. Chris Grandmaison
5. Josh LaBerge
6. Justin Homsey
7. Mike Gresh
8. Dan Bonnell
9. Tateki Matsuda
10. Saul Almeida
Josh Laberge has won a title since then and is fighting again on the big stage at Bellator on May 6. I don’t know how 2 people surpassed him and one has tied him.
Hey Keith, who is Josh fighting at Bellator?
and why the hell are we not hyping our “local” NE fighters on here anymore??? Olsen just fought at Bellator, heard nothing about that….c’mon managers!!! Keep us updated about your fighters fighting in “bigger shows”, or shows outside of our area!!
Brent Kinberger 155, and Tom Galliccio 170 are missing from the list
Olson took the show on like 2 days notice thats why you probably didnt hear about it Reep but, MMA Junkie did announce the fight and they are linked to this page.
Also on the 45 Kenny moved to Florida and is training down in Coconut Creek so I don’t know if he qualifies.
Just my 2 cents:
135
I think I think Bennett is a clear 4th and Tateki 5th, I think Giove should be 6th and Martin 7th and everyone else moved down under them
145
Remove Ken and move everyone below him up one, add Jeff moore or Brian Marino at 10th
155
Good, but I think Damien is a definative 10th and Mike a definative 2nd, also Joe Proctor should be just on the cusp of this list
170
Chuck a definative 10th
185
Looks spot on but I can’t help but feel like Rebello should be 2, but its a debatable point so its good
205
Looks good, Steve Skrzat should be on the cusp of this list
HVY
Rankings a record wise it is spot on, although I don’t see anyone beating Barry on a local level
I would also love to see a Pound for Pound Ranking included in this!!
Nice job Rick! I gotta tell you, we’ve come pretty far here in NE. I can remember just a few years ago when it was tough to fill ten slots in many of the weight classes with real fighters. Now, every name on that list is legit. So glad to see some much local talent being able to fight on the bigger stages… and locally!! Onward and upward!!!
Hey Reep, Your right the Bellator card has some of the best local fights I’ve seen and not much has been said about it? Here are the local match-ups:
Josh LaBerge vs. Dan Bonnell
Chuck O’Neil vs Nate LaMotte
Lance Everson vs. Justin Torrey
Greg Rebello vs. TBA
Pat Bennett vs. Cole Konrad
Plus, Roger Huerta vs. Pat Curran, Josh Neer vs. Eddie Alvarez and Toby Imada vs. Cory Vanier.
I agree with Keith, LaBerge should be ranked higher. He has fought tougher competition than just about anyone at 145. No easy fights for this kid and he only wants to fight top ten guys!
Would someone please step-up and fight Jason McLean?
Reep, check out the MMA blog at the Bostonherald.com.
Foster is that high because he’s 7-1 and has some big wins. He was off the last rankings because he didn’t have enough in the area. Now that he’s been up here a couple times, I wanted to add him.
What about Lee Metcalf? 3 wins in the last 8 months against 3 known fighters with winning records, finishing them all in the first round.
Lee Metcalf has looked unstoppable lately with first round finishes in his last three fights
No Women’s Division???
BMUR, thanks for hooking me (us) up with the match ups…some good fights on that card!!!
I went to the Bellator at Mohegan Sun in Ct, and saw the Olsen fight. I guess his lackluster performance can be blamed on the short notice, and fighting up at 185. He just didn’t seem interested in taking any chance to try to win the fight. Hope he comes back strong in his next one at 170.
MMA.TEAM, if you are serious, what would your womens div look like????????????????????????
The talent on these rankings is sik!!! I hope the local matchmakers set up ranked guys…..and i hope the ranked guys aren’t to expensive, or scared to fight other ranked guys!!
dilorenzo how do you know what ken stone is doing or where he is training…maybe he doesnt want to fight for you…stone will never fight at 45 again just 35…if laberge is looking for a real test have him fight mclean
@ om, I didn’t pull it out of my ass. Ken told me he was living in FL and was training at ATT, it wasn’t something I heard 3rd party, it was something HE told me. I’m sure he will fight again and I know it will be at 35 and not 45. Pretty sure in my one lined comment above I never said anything about weights or if he’d fight again. And as far as Josh, I’m pretty sure he and Jay are both with BMUR, Bill correct me if I’m wrong.
Pete’s correct, As much as I’d love to see LaBerge vs. McLean it’s not gonna happen. I do manage both but their also friends and when Jay heads up this way they train together. @ om, LaBerge is always looking to be tested thats why he’s fought, Simmons, Latina, Bonnell, Gresh, Brandao, Caron, ect..
did HE tell you to tell everyone HIS bussiness on northeastmma.net…trust me i know ken and he is a very private person who doesnot need you telling anyone about his bussiness or where he trains…ken can speak for himself dilorenzo
How does Schultz get 3rd after not fighting for 3 years and only just beating someone who is 1-12???
I think Jeff Wahtola belongs up on that list considering the fact his only loss was against Tom Giove and I had him beating Tom in every round. Just happen to get caught in a sub in the 5th. Lucky, but great fight.
If a guy drops off the rankings due to inactivity, as soon as he starts fighting again, we look at his whole body of work. Guys don’t have to start over.
Dan Ferrer was a good example. He was best guy in the area at one point, then took a long time off so he fell off the rankings. He then came back and got a win over Ethan Keane and was immediately ranked again…not for his win over Ethan, but because he had some big wins in the past.
Pat Audinwood came off the rankings because he is very active fighting, just not in this area. I think he has 1 fight in 3 years in this area…however, if he takes another fight in MA over the summer, he’ll likely be back near the top of the rankings.
The issue is, there is no clear way to do things. Guys like Glenn Brown haven’t fought locally in a while, but has a recent win in Ohio, but because he has more fights previously out here, he kept his ranking. It’s very hard to decide who stays and who goes in cases like that.
om….are you Kenny’s Northeast sector publicist or something??? Why is where he’s living or training such a big secret??? Chill out, no one cares that much anyway….
@om
WOW way to get all uptight over nothing….It not like Dilorenzo told us his address and phone number where to find him… get over it, im sure letting the MMA community in MA know that he is now training at ATT wouldn’t bother him.
I’m sure it would’ve come out sooner then later when in a few months someone asks “Hey, where did Ken Stone go off to? he hasn’t fought in awhile.”
What about the ortolani kid, has a few more fights under his belt. at 170 rumor has it Moreau keeps avoiding the rematch after winning a NC. that would be an interesting fight
i think these rankings are bullshit. how do i not advance after beating a guy like MIKE GRESH for a title???? but s. almeida beats grandmason for one and he advances from 10 to 3. what am i the redheaded step child or something??? how does gandmason after loosing only one fight to a top dude for a belt go from like 4 to 10? how does kenny foster who wasnt evan in the last ranking comes right in at 3? cuz his records??? no offense to him or sual, i think there very good fighter and all with impressive records but who have either one of them fought? there records are padded, not saying they pick there fights but who ever handles them does. look at who they fought and there records…def mismatches i mean rick who has foster fought? who has sual fought besides grandmason?…. tuna cans. 7-1 foster shouldnt be getting credit for fighting 0-9 doug sonar, seriously look at the guys they fought.. few dudes with no wins and almost all with loosing records. suals guys are the same they dont have very impressive records and not alot of fight under any of them for both guys but they advance over me who has fought top guys since fight one??? ive won my last 4 including 2 in 6 days, all top 10, simmons for bellator and a title so how the hell do i not only not advance but am at risk of loosing the 5 spot to homsey. i know there record are a liiiil better but ive fought way tougher dudes then all of them put together. actually ive fought tougher dudes then everybody at my weight and thats a fact. out of my 10 fights 9 were beast and 6 were top 10 guys and still would be but arnt due to them being inactive. ive fought from day one caron at 55 first fight he was 4-0, adailton ries from team link 7-2,douse (not best record but a touugh dude who is 10 on your 135 ranking),N.C’s # 1 fighter jon owens 6-0 (all rnd 1 ko’s look him up) agulino, latina,simmons,bonnel,gresh….. dude come on not one easy fight.. not one… sept joe rizzo but only fought him cuz giove back out due to injury few days before. who els can say that….nobody in that top 10. im not bragin or think im better than anybody, im as humble as they come but give credit were its due i deserve to be advance more then anybody in that top 10.. period. cant argue against that. its clear i dont pick my fights and only fight top or tough ass dudes and im not lying. thats what i choos for myself becuz im not in this do be the next bj penn im in it for the respect and the sport. again not taking anything away from foster or sual again there GREAT fighter but i should have advance before both. but i might loos the 5 spot to homsey who only foght francci and Rodrigo Almeida? idk dude dont seem right. i should at least get 4 i mean come on.. give me that. not saying im a better fighter then any of these guys or saying you dont know what your talkign about just sayin….. i fight for the sport and the respect… so give it to me and advance me. dont take this as me being a dick or comin at you in a disrespectful way im just tellin you what i think.
also i would have already ask for mclean but hes my boy. i wanted to fight stone and thought it was gonna happen but he drop to 35. plus he hasnt fought in 11 months and move to florida so what he still doing up there?
wow this was waaaaaaaay to long lol….my bad
Josh ,
You make a ton of sense here, Sort of. Your grammer and spelling is fun to work around while reading too lol. but i def agree with the point he is trying to get across. Josh has fought tougher comp than all of us up there lately and deserves a top 4.
Josh,
Is there any soup left?
Josh, thanks for breaking up those paragraphs. I like how you sneaked those last two in there. Give this kid his soup!
I don’t disagree with you Josh, but don’t stop there. Go ahead and rank the top 10 at 145 for people to discuss.
Well, that is why these were “preliminary” rankings. Based on a little research, Josh is right. I should have ranked him higher. I also exchanged a few texts with Ken Stone today (hopefully this doesn’t offend om) and it doesn’t look like he’ll be competing in MA any time soon, so I’ll likely take him off the rankings and adjust accordingly.
Josh is right, though…he was 5, then beat Gresh. Other guys were behind him, had 1 win that was of similar quality and jumped him in the rankings, and that’s not how it’s supposed to work.
Ortolani is like 2-1 with 1 no contest. He falls into the category of “guy we know is a killer, but hasn’t had enough wins yet.”
Rick…you are on OM’s shit list now.
im not very smart but i can lift heavy things
Dont really like posting stuff here but here it goes…
Josh, I agree you should be 4th but dont say that people I fought weren’t tough competition, if you look at some people I fought they might not have big top 10 names but they were well matched fights, at least 5 of them were, Joe manzello was a really tough fight and no disrespect to you but I doubt you could beat him. Kevin corrigan was 2-0 with 2tko, Grandmaison I dont even have to say how good he is, you know, so whatever.
I dont pick my fights I let my manager do that and whoever he says is next then thats who it is, I dont care if its you, Mclean, Foster or Homsey. If it was up to me i’d fight each of you, one at a time. Anyone that wants to make those fights contact Mario and he’ll take care of it.
K.Foster, I never declined you. It takes more than just you wanna fight me and I wanna fight you, but im sure it will happen sometime.
I also dont agree with grandmaison dropping to 10th. so I will give my top 10 cuz rick asked to give opinions and suggestions so here it is.
1.Mclean
2.Almeida
3.Laberge
4.Foster
5.Homsey
6.Grandmaison
7.R.Almeida
8.Bonnell
9.Gresh
10.idk
Correction…
1.Mclean
2.Almeida
3.Laberge
4.Homsey
5.Grandmaison
6.Foster
7.Bonnell
8.R.Almeida
9.Gresh
10.idk
Saul, you have good points and everyone is entitled to their opinion so here is mine….The rankings are here for a reason so if you continually fight and beat people in the Top 10 (something you by self admittal have not done) then you cannot possibily be ranked above someone who has..aka Mr. Laberge. In the end…this is all irrelevant. I want all of you bastards to fight royal rumble style but let’s give credit where credit is do.
thank you rick….
bonnell….goin back and reading that fiasco my spelling was lil off indeed lol but im not trying to win spelling b here just make a point. so pin a rose on your nose for haveing better grammer than me lol ……but thanks for takeing the fight, for a while it diddnt look like i was going to get one then you came out the cut and steped up… unlike some others. you deserve a rematch so lets bang.
and theres some soup left alright…BUT NONE FOR U!!!! … MY SOUP…and i dont like to share!!!! but ill tell ya what if u beat me, ill hand it over haha
I mean chris was ranked higher than josh so its only fair that I get a spot above him. When mclean beat ken he went from nowhere to 1. So yea give credit where is due, 8-0 with 2 titles in diff weight classes. And like I said, josh should be 2 spots higher )3rd). This is just my opinion.
Good for you. You should be your owe best promoter. So I don’t fault you at all but if Butterbean knocked out Fedor, he wouldn’t be number one. You still need that resume and history. Really though, you guys are all top 5 so we’ll see how this all plays out.
To LaBerge and Bonnell it’s GRAMMAR with an A not an E!! haha.
By the way just to give you my point of reference, Frankie Edgar being the number lightweight in the world is garbage.
saul…sorry if you took it the wrong way. diddnt mean to disrespect you or what you have done in anyway. same goes for foster. i forgot to mention homsey fought auglino to so he has also fought some good dudes. i was actually hesitant to write all that cuz i diddnt wanna put anyone out there. i also never come on here and talk shit but like kieth says i dont think you should be ranked above me just yet becuz u havnt fought the guys i have. maybe i should have said it like that so my bad..it was just my opinion. and i diddnt say YOU pick your fights, i said your manger does,if you go back and read it again or at least try too lol
I agree with Josh, he should have moved up in ranking after winning the belt. I hit him with a few elbows, punches & thai kicks that woulda stopped some of the guys in the top 10. Between the two of us, we walked outta there on our lat fight with somethin like 18 stitches. The kid’s all heart & tough as nails. Tons of Respect. It’s an honor to be ranked in the top 10 at 47yrs of age. Loco Lobo will be back this summer and I’m movin up those ranks.
Well it is what it is. If maia had submited silva, guess who would be the #1 middleweight. Frankie beat the best so give credit to him on his win and #1 position even tho I thought bj won. Butterbean would never beat fedor so thats not such a good example.
(I’d like to think I have a good resume and history)
I feel you man(laberge), your just expressing your opinions which is why its a preliminary rankings open to sugestions. I deff have you above foster at 3rd but thats all ill say. Ill let whoever does this thing figure out how it should be. They take what we say under consideration and do what they have been doing for like ever lol.
you gotta love the featherweights tho right =D
Group hug bitches
Although Olson is a great fighter, I think Torrey should be number one, he has a big win in bellator over a very tough makowski and a very dominant first round win over an extremely tough Vaca Moreno (the #2 lhw).
keiiithhh my snuggle bunny we can hug this weekend at playoffs lol but dont squeez to tight wit all the cranberry juice ill be drinking i might pee on u lol cant wait till this fight is over so i wont look like such a pussy at the bar lol
I like Dennis where he is obviously. But, I was always fine with him below Torrey, that’s good company. I don’t think you can go wrong with either at 170, I am a big Torrey fan. Like nobody can question Torrey’s ability, Dennis gets credit for fighting all the time. He has already had 3 fights this year and is still undefeated at 170 (8-0). He has taken one loss in each of the last Springs to very good 185lb fighters: Woody Weatherby (8-3) and then won 4 in a row at 170, David Branch (6-0) and then won 4 in a row at 170, loss to UFC vet Dan Cramer (5-1) on 3 days notice. Just watch was he does next!
2 things, for the record…
Labiz, i never “backed out” of a fight with joe rizzo, i’ve never even heard of the dude before you mentioned him.
kklien83, again I have to drop some knowledge on you, when tom sets out to guilloteen his opponent, and succeeds, causing a TAPOUT, that is not luck. And for the record it was a 3 round fight, each of them won a round and the 3rd was close…………UNTILL JEFF TAPPED!!!!!!!
Sorry M. Giove, you are right. I was heavily drinking that night but have all 3 rounds on tape. I havent watched them since that night so maybe I should go back and watch. Not to mention, I am being biased so my opinion doesnt count, just like yours
Dont think I am trying to take anything away from that sub. Saying it was lucky is my way of accepting that Jeff lost. Dont pay attention to me.
Lets not all forget that a number next to your name doesnt make you any worse than the people above you. If anything, use it as a way the public sees you and prove the list wrong. It might take 5 years to do it with all these fancy new rules courtesy of the great state of Massachusetts but if it really bothers you, fight. But I can understand wanting recognition…
@ kkline_83, all one needs to do is look at Tom’s record, look at how many of his wins are by guillotine or one of it’s variants, and then try to say it was a “lucky sub”…
One thing to remember, guys…in the eyes of the rankings, belts don’t mean anything. Ever hear the expression that you can slap a bow tie on a pig, and it’s still a pig? Well, you can strap a belt on an average fighter and he’s still an average fighter.
If two guys who are unranked fight each other for a belt, they don’t get extra credit for it being for a belt. Pedro Gonzales isn’t ranked because he just won a title…he’s ranked because he had some good wins and his losses were to good fighters.
I’m with Kevin on this. This is great! Look at the talent here in the Northeast! Every weight division is well represented and stacked with really talented and tough fighters. And NE fighters are starting to branch out and fight in other regions of the country, and this only spreads the word even more. Great job to the NE fighters, trainers, managers, and promoters for this. Oh by the way, New Hampshire currently has 12 MMA shows on the books from May going forward. Simply amazing.
I’d like to think im a bit better than average…but thats just in my opinion.
Sityodtong Muay Thai will be hosting BELLATOR open tryouts Tuesday May 4, at 1pm. DONT MISS IT!
Torrey is definitely not the most active fighter but he can fight at both 170 and 185 and be dominant. That’s why he should be #1. Oh and John, I hope me thinking Justin is #1 doesn’t keep me from getting the video of my last fight haha
m. giove….. i diddnt say you back out from him…me and you were supose to fight a while ago for i.c.e, right after you fought bonnell. i was sayin rizzo was a replacment cuz you had to back out of our fight cuz of a injury….least that was what i was told from manny nieves. thats all i was sayin. i know that comment was kinda hard to read but i posted it from my phone on the way home from work half asleep. i was too lazy and diddnt care to go back and correct everything
so give me a break bonnell cuz you spelled grammar wrong lol!!! and i only did cuz you did!
sual i agree…diddnt mean any disrespect or to knock what you’ve done. just pissed i diddnt move up in the ranking but u surpassed me cuz or your title fight when i also won a title. also wasnt aware you have two titles.anyway it is what it is like you said and evan when the rankings do come out we all have our own opinons anyway so fuck it.
rick i like the exspession wit the pig lol never heard that one..thats funny. sual were still just a couple of pigs!!!
Saul, do you have an opponent lined up in the near future? We know who Laberge and Bonnell are fighting next…..Rodrigo is fighting at GFL….so things may change before the next rankings anyway???
Newell, I agree, Justin is a beast!!! He’d be in the big leagues if he was more active though…believe me, I know it’s sometimes easier said than done. (being active that is…) Hopfully when he beats Everson he sets up a fight with Kitteredge, then both Justin and Nate should go to the big show!
Beane over Diekmann. – Torrey over Olson…I agree with Almeida’s top rankings in the 145 class…and I think the (Tied for) thing is just an excuse not to make the definitive position spot. Make it!!!…mostly everything else is decent
Working on it, hope it goes through.
When it comes out there wont be ties, thats just for preliminary rankings.
Where is Art Vandalay I heard he just moved to the area, and was a local beast where he came from fighting at the local bars….go Kattarmania
I’ll think about it Nick. I should have the rest of the videos edited over the weekend.
I’m proud of Dennis being ranked there and there is a good argument for either guy. Torrey has not lost. But he has only had one fight at 170 last June and is fighting next week at 185.
If he fought more than one fight at 170, I agree he would be the clear favorite.
Either way, it is good company at the top of those rankings!
For those that don’t know, Brian Gillespie and myself manage a few of the athletes ranked here (Justin Torrey, Greg Rebello, Woody Weatherby, Scotty Nichols) as well as a few others who are fighting to get ranked (Nick Newell, Abi Mestre, Luiz Rodriguez, Chris Cape, and Andreus Jeudi) and we simply wanted to say THANK YOU to Rick Caldwell and the team at NortheastMMA.net!
Having consistent rankings is EVERYTHING to the sport locally and keeps people talking/debating about the Top 10. Knowing Dennis Olsen and John Fain very well I cannot argue one bit with him being ranked #1. Dennis is a tremendous talent who NEVER turns down an opportunity and I respect the hell out of that! The Gracie Barra-NH squad is growing daily and the names coming out of that school are going to big, BIG things in the sport.
Keep the ranking up guys, debate is a critical part of growing the interest level in this sport! Congratulations to all of the athletes listed in the various Top 10′s!!!
Of course I forgot to mention Tateki Matsuda as well! Sorry about that Tateki, we’re very proud of you coming in at #5 at 135!!!
Dennis Olsen has been the busiest and most successfull 170 in the area, he has fought the most ranked 170s out of everyone and deserves the top spot. Congratulations Dennis.
In response to “Willys” Moreau’s Training Center has nothing but the utmost respect for John Ortolani but you are mistaken to think that Tom has ducked a rematch with John. Between John playing lacrosse last year and then working his way down to 155 the rematch didn’t happen. John did offer to fill in as a replacement when Tom’s last fight was cancelled however David George was able to get us matched up with the number 1 contender for the VFL. Last time I talked to John he told me that he had a fight at 155 coming up with Junie Browning, we wish John the best of luck.
hmmmmm…..i love rankings!
145 is a fun weight class ill be there in about 2 years when my kidneys stop failing!
kidneys are overrated, dude …155 means harder hits
… i love how stacked each weight class is now!!! … it makes the rankings that much more legit
Also, Parker Porter top ranked very soon.
When are these things coming out?
Here’s an idea. My name is Kevin O’Brien Jr. and I am going to promote a tournament series for each weight class. Offering the highest ranking local fighters the opportunity to participate and stake their claim to the overall number 1 ranking in their respective divisions. I have done the research and will be paying more than most, if not all, of the other local shows. Each division will be represented by the top 8 ranked or willing participants and 4 alternates. Each division will be played out over 3 events with the tournament champion being determined upon the conclusion of the 3rd event. I have secured a venue, hired a consultant familiar with the local fight scene and filed the appropriate paperwork. My website will be completed on or before June 9th, until then fighters and managers can email me at: Kevin@absolutechampionshipfighting.com. Please send me names and contact information so that we can get the toughest and best fighters who deserve to be in the tournament.
This will never work. Everyone would love to see that, but, fighters wont do it for so many reasons. Lets take the 145lb division for instance. I can make a good example for this being an outsider and being one of the fighters ranked in it. I have 3 other teammates in the top ten at 145, Grandmaison, Homsey, Gresh. we arent going to fight each other. thats reason #1. LaBerge and Jason McLean train together as well and they wont do it either. Saul Almeida is training for the next Bellator Tournament in October and i doubt he”ll be risking a great opportunity with them (a proven organization) than with one that has not run a show yet.
Never mind getting into purses, advancement pay, etc. that’s a whole other issue.
I wish you luck, but you will never get #1 thru #8 in any weight class to agree to that.
Its hard enough getting one of the top 8 to fight each other never mind all of then in one tournament.
anyone else agree?
Yea Dan I agree with you 100%. I think its so funny when groups come on saying stuff like that but yet have done research. Almost two years ago I wanted to do something sorta like this in the 145 division and it can’t be done of all the reasons u said above, it was actually a really bad idea on my part. And to come on saying we’re giving more than anyone else is just so foolish. IF you did the research you said you did then you’d know that already from looking at past promotions.
We all think fighters deserve a lot of money for what they do but the bottom line is over paying what the show can afford is nuts, you’ll be out of business REAL fast.
Agree with dan too, theres many teamates within that class. Its something thats not even worth talking about because it will never happen, but what you can do is try to have a reg event with well matched fights and see how that works out first.
btw: whoever thinks xcfl went out of business and are not having any more shows is wrong. The next one should be mid july.