Fighters.com's May Welterweight Rankings

Hail the new Fighters.com welterweight king UFC Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (16-2).

Many had no doubt that St. Pierre was the best at 170-pounds, but it was important for St. Pierre to win the top spot with revenge on “The Terror” Matt Serra (9-5) at UFC 83.

The truth is that Serra looked no worse in defeat to “Rush” than future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes (42-6) did in December.  Serra drops to the fourth spot.

Hughes and Serra have a date to dance before the end of ’08, but Hughes has been drafted into the UFC 85 main event to replace an injured “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) on the 02 Arena marquee.

In London, Hughes faces sixth-ranked pup “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (14-3), who’s on a St. Pierre-ish steamroll through the division with stoppages of “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5), “Lights Out” Chris Lytle (25-15-5), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5), and Tony DeSouza (10-4).

“Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2), who moves up a spot on Serra’s stoppage loss, will get a swing at Lytle in July, a true test of the third-ranked wrestlers grit and chin.

Jake Shields (20-4-1) has had his EliteXC title fight with Drew Fickett (33-5) rescheduled again, this time to July.  Shields loses ground in the rankings as his 2006 unanimous decision over WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit (22-4) falls from his two-year record.

In June, “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1) returns to Sengoku versus an as-yet unnamed opponent, but told Fighters.com, “For the right amount of pay, I’ll fight Fedor or Jesus himself.”

At the end of May in Vegas, Japan’s “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2) will debut in the UFC versus “War Machine Jon Koppenhaver (5-1) after an impressive run in his homeland.

“Zenko” debuts on Fighters.com’s top ten after “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5) drops off because his two-year record lost a 2006 stoppage of Thompson.

May Welterweight Rankings

1. “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (16-2)

Since “Terror” struck at UFC 69, “Rush” has had to scrape pieces of Koscheck, Hughes, and Serra off the bottom of his feet on his steamroll back to the UFC belt many believe the 27-year old will wear for a generation.

2. Jon Fitch (17-2)

While louder fighters have claimed title contendership, Fitch has quietly earned it with a stoppage of Alves and decision over Sanchez, plus UDs over tough Chris Wilson and Kuniyoshi Hironaka.  The wrestler is probably next in line for a UFC title shot.

3. “Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2)

After revenge over Sanchez, Koscheck was overwhelmed with a St. Pierre bouncing back from a loss. Like St. Pierre, “Kos” has all the physical tools to be a champion and absorbs new skills like a sponge. Time and continued top competition will tell.

4. “The Terror” Matt Serra (9-5)

After knocking out the 170-pound division’s heir apparent, St. Pierre, Serra was outclassed in their April ’08 rematch.  However, Serra looked no worse in defeat than St. Pierre’s two previous victims, Koscheck and Hughes.

5. Matt Hughes (42-6)

Since getting KO’d by St. Pierre for the first time since ’01, Hughes hasn’t fought the same in a throw-away decision over Christ Lytle and another stoppage by St. Pierre. One wonders if he’s getting the same quality of training since leaving MFS.

6. “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (14-3)

Alves has dealt 3 big stoppages to Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle, and Kuniyoshi  Hironaka to plant himself firmly in the welterweight top ten, and only an ’06 TKO to Fitch keeps him from Fighters.com’s top five. This juggernaut will run into Hughes in June.

7. “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (18-2)

All the hype can’t replace a loss in the Octagon, and, in Sanchez’s case, two losses to Fitch and Koschek.  An ’06 decision over Karo Parisyan in one of the fights of that year proves he has the talent, but does he have the focus?

8. Jake Shields (20-4-1)

Shields may be the world’s top welterweight, but a lack of competition outside the UFC keeps him from breaking through.  Still, he’s stopped all opponents in the last two years except in a unanimous decision over WEC champ Carlos Condit.

9. “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1)

“The Goat” has bucked eleven straight challengers, ten by stoppage, since leaving the UFC after a TKO by Parisyan; and, though no top tenners, it’s a list including Chris Wilson, Ansar Chalangov, Eddie Alvarez, and Fabricio Monteiro, all tough welterweights.

10. “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2)

“Zenko” debuts in the UFC versus Jon Koppenhaver in May without an “L” in two years, all wins by stoppage. With overseas wins over Katsuya Inoue and Akira Kikuchi, Yoshida hopes to fare better than fellow Nipponese Kuniyoshi Hironaka.