» Fighter: Heath Herring

Elusive Russian Sergei Kharitonov (15-3) breached Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Top Ten in September without having fought for a year.

Kharitonov TKO’d “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (28-11) in Yokohama in September 2007; but, has been more active on the rumor mill than in the ring since.

He was floated as “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic’s (23-6-2) opponent at DREAM.4 in June and lately was mentioned as a challenger for the EliteXC Heavyweight Championship versus “Bigfoot” Antonio Silva (11-1).

Kharitonov found his way into neither fight and may have a short stint as a top ten big boy as fighters beneath him line-up legit matches.

A spot opened for Kharitonov when “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-14) was mauled by physical phenom Brock Lesnar (2-1) in Minneapolis 9 August, shoveling Herring out of the eighth rank.

Read More About Fighters.com’s September Heavyweight Rankings…

Fighters.com’s Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (17-2) defended his title in a five-round unanimous decision over top contender Jon Fitch (17-3) Saturday night in Minneapolis by scores of 50-44 twice and 50-43.

The win facilitates an apparent New Year’s Eve champion-versus-champion rematch between St. Pierre and Fighters.com’s Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn (13-4-1), who was invited into the Octagon after the main event to challenge St. Pierre, saying, “I want to put this fight together.”

St. Pierre accepted Penn’s challenge, proclaiming, “I’m a proud champion.”

In the co-main event, Brock Lesnar (2-1) dominated a three-round unanimous decision over Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked heavyweight “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-14) by scores of 30-26 three times.

“I fell off the horse,” Lesnar told the 15,082 spectator hometown crowd referring to his Octagon debut loss to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (11-3), “but, tonight I got on that stallion and rode it out of town, baby! Wooo!”

Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked lightweight “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (10-3) won a blow-out unanimous decision over “El Matador” Roger Huerta (20-2-1) by 30-27 on all three judges’ score cards in a UFC top contender bout.

Read More About St. Pierre and Florian Dominate, Both Want Penn Next…

Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked heavyweight “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) gave an interview to a local Minnesota morning show Wednesday; however, it wasn’t the “Crazy Horse” that showed up, but a calm, polite gentleman.

“I’m gettin’ ready, just kinda coastin’ in,” Herring said.  “At this point, I’ve been doin’ it for so long, it’s not even personal at this point.  It’s kind of a game for me.  I really enjoy it goin’ in there and trying to land the big shot.”

When told about a previous interview in which Brock Lesnar (1-1) promised a win, Herring said, “I hope he plans on winning.  I hope he’s putting his game face on.  Let’s put on a good show for the crowd.”

Herring downplayed his entrance into mixed martial arts, saying “I’ve been fighting for about 13 years.  When I was doing it, it was more of something to do on the weekends while playing football at the local college there.

“Hooters was one of the big sponsors so all my buddies said, ‘Hey, why don’t fight so we can drink for free after the fight?’”

If Herring is rattled by being the underdog versus Lesnar, he didn’t show it.  “I took the [fight with Lesnar] right away.  I remember they called me last minute…and I said I’d love to take this fight.”

Matt Hughes (42-7), “Hammer” Mark Coleman (15-8), Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8), and, someday, Brock Lesnar (1-1) will be able to add his name to the list of wrestlers who’ve become mixed martial arts champions.

But, he will never be a mixed martial artist.

Lesnar started wrestling at the age of five in South Dakota.  Raised on a farm and having two older brothers, Lesnar was no stranger to toil or combat.  Wrestling soon became his passion, one that he carried all the way to junior college at Bismark State College.

According to Lesnar in a recent interview with Ultimate Grappling, “I think my record for four years of college was 136-9.  My freshman year I placed fifth in the national tournament.  My sophomore year, I was junior college national champion.  Then I went to the University of Minnesota where I was Big 10 champion.”

Lesnar went on to place second in the Division I National Tournament, then, the following year, avenged his loss and became the Division I National Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

From there, Lesnar made the decision to pursue a life in the WWE, becoming the youngest Heavyweight Champion in WWE history.

For 25 years, Brock Lesnar has lived wrestling.  He has found levels of success that few will ever be able to attain.  He has tasted both victory and defeat, though the former seems to suit Lesnar far better.

Read More About Lesnar On the Verge…

From Russia with gloves, “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko(28-1) stamped his heavyweight dominance on “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia’s (24-5) head in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July.

His dismantling of “Big” Tim in 36 seconds earned him the Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, jumping from sixth and dumping Sylvia from third to seventh.

The “W” strips naked UFC President Dana White’s proclamation that all other promotions are the minor leagues, at least at north of 205-pounds.

In fact, Emelianenko’s victory makes clear that the Octagon hasn’t been the proving grounds for the world’s top heavyweights for quite some time.

The UFC Champ, second-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), took a thrashing from Sylvia in February before tapping the two-time UFC titlist in a guillotine.

Nogueira loses his Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, falling into the top contender spot, but a top contender whose register already records two UD losses to the new champ four years ago.

Nog’ is set to clash with un-ranked former UFC Champ Frank Mir (11-3) after Mir tapped rook’ Brock Lesnar (1-1), which tells you all you need to know about the UFC heavyweight class.

But, Emelianenko’s new promoter, Affliction, is playing the name game too.

Read More About Fighters.com’s August Heavyweight Rankings…

The heavyweight division paces like a heavyweight slog.  I’m tempted to switch to a semi-annual evaluation…but not until after this weekend.

There were a couple of shakers this month, but no movers.

In London 7 June, seventh-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1) played a samba on “The Truth” Brandon Vera’s (8-2) noggin for a first round TKO.

Werdum remains the top contender to “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s (31-4-1) UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Of course, Big Nog’ is pitted versus struggling, but dangerous former UFC Champion Frank Mir (11-3) in a made-for-TUF match-up in October.

Werdum will probably draw the winner of 9 August’s eighth-ranked “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) versus Brock Lesnar (1-1) fight, maybe on the same October UFC card to build the follow-up versus the winners.

Also in action this rankings period, tenth-ranked “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) blew through confidence-booster Justin McCully (8-4-2) in Las Vegas 5 July to break a two-fight losing streak for the man who sentenced “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) down a spiral the Croatian has yet to ascend from.

Read More About Fighters.com’s July Heavyweight Rankings…

In boxing rankings, champions have mandatory defenses versus the number one challenger and voluntary defenses versus a top-fifteen challenger.

Through no fault of his own of course, Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) won’t meet either threshold when he defends his UFC title versus Frank Mir (11-3).

So, what’s Fighters.com to do?  Second-ranked “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8) admitted this week to Canada’s Globe and Mail, “I’m also OK with the idea that [I may not fight again].  I may get a bad [court] ruling and I can’t really see myself at this point going back and fighting two more times for the UFC if that’s what the state says I have to do.”

Should 19 July’s more competitive match-up between third-ranked “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) and sixth-ranked “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) be for Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Championship?

Both Sylvia and fourth-ranked “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (12-5) climbed two spots on fifth-ranked “The Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett’s (22-5) inability to put away “The Snowman” Jeff Monson in Tokyo last month coupled with Barnett’s submission of ninth-ranked Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) falling off his two-year record.

Of course, Arlovski officially announced today that he’ll fight top heavyweight prospect Ben Rothwell (29-5) 19 July.  Rothwell steps-in well-hyped from the IFL and Arlovski looks to shake out of his funk.

Barnett returns on the same undercard to seek revenge from a 2001 KO loss versus now largely irrelevant “The Rock” Pedro Rizzo (16-7) and Aleksander Emelianenko fights “The Headhunter” Paul Buentello (25-10) in my pick for fight of the night in Anaheim, outside of Los Angeles.

This weekend in London, seventh-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1) and returning prospect “The Truth” Brandon Vera (8-1) will battle for the UFC’s top contender spot.

Eighth-ranked “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) will fill-in for injured “Hammer” Mark Coleman (15-9) versus the UFC’s version of market-friendly “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (3-0), former pro-wrestler Brock Lesnar (1-1), in a fight that shouldn’t even be sanctioned, but only a big lug like Herring could find a way to lose.

In July, tenth-ranked “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) has a lot to prove versus Justin McCully (8-3-2); and, McCully might be thinking the same thing.

Read More About Fighters.com June Heavyweight Rankings…

Is there any real wonder why the UFC is divesting in the heavyweight division?  It’s dead!

The only April action was a first round TKO of Silvao Santos (1-1) by tenth-ranked Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3).  It might as well have been a Monday morning sparring session.

So, why did “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) and “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) sink a spot respectively?  Sylvia’s stoppage of “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (12-5) in 2006 fell off their two-year records, which is the time span Fighters.com considers when ranking fighters.

The division’s future is just as bleak as the recent past.

Adrenaline MMA still insists Emelianenko’s claim of an official fight with Sylvia in June is false.  To boot, the promotion that promotes Sylvia and rising heavyweight Ben Rothwell (29-5) claims Emelianenko’s delinquent repayment of a $500,000 signing bonus left over from the M-1 Global era is also holding up a fight for Rothwell on the same card.  Though Rothwell insists it ain’t happenin’, he’s been rumored to have been matched versus Arlovski.

All four fighters and the entire division need those two fights.

Unfortunately, third-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett’s (21-5) rise will be short-lived because his submission of tenth-ranked Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) will fall off his two-year record next month.  He’s scheduled to grapple with always competitive “The Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-7) at Sengoku this month; but, even the expected “W” can’t replace the submission of Emelianenko.

The UFC has scheduled a contender match-up between seventh-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1) and “The Truth” Brandon Vera (8-1) for London in June.  A win for Vera will launch him into the division’s top ten; a win for “Vai Cavalo” will prove that he belongs.

First-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) is rumored to be mauling a UFC title defense against Frank Mir (11-3).  For the love of God!  Mir is a gentleman, a technician on the mat, and a fine fighter.  He is not the top heavyweight contender in the UFC.

So goes a division where “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (2-0) and Brock Lesnar (1-1) make bank at the box office.

May Heavyweight Rankings

1. “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1)

It ain’t pretty! Nogueira has turned “blocking punches with your face” into a winning strategy versus top teners Sylvia, Herring, Barnett, and Werdum in the last two years, earning him Fighters.com’s first ranking at heavyweight.

2. “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8)

The best strategist in a weight class of brutes returned to solve the 6′8″ riddle of Sylvia over five grueling rounds to reclaim UFC’s title, then forced Cro Cop-slayer Gonzaga to wish MMA had timeouts in a bloody three-round TKO.

3. “The Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (21-5)

“The Babyface Assassin” returned to tap Hidehiko Yoshida and is the last man to beat Noguiera. Even with an involuntary 14-month layoff, he holds submissions over tenth-ranked Aleksander Emelianenko and hard-headed Mark Hunt in the last two years.

4. “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4)

The oft maligned “Maine-iac” has meshed his stature with world-class striking, championship cardio, and a Jeff Monson-tested ground game. His losses are to legends Nogueira and Couture, but he’s failed to lay out ripe KO candidates Arlovski and Monson.

5. “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (12-5)

“Pitbull” has fought like a poodle since getting neutered by Sylvia in an ‘06 KO loss, but was able to steal a decision from Werdum in the most disappointing fight of ’07.  Perhaps free agency will reignite the once explosive fighter’s fire.

6. “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1)

Rankings reflect what has happened in fights with a predilection towards the most recent and Emelianenko hasn’t fought another top ten heavyweight in 32 months.   He’ll take sixth and like it, or take first in a real fight.  It’s his decision.

7. “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1)

“Vai Cavalo” spanked Gonzaga like a bad monkey in January, his fourth consecutive top ten matchup, going 2-2 with two stoppage wins.  He’s likely Nogueira’s first UFC title challenge in a rematch that ended in a close decision for Nogueira in PRIDE.

8. “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13)

Herring’s bungle versus Nogueira was beefed-up with a strong decision over Cheick Kongo in March.   Three losses to Nogueira stop-gaps a potential UFC title challenge, but the “Texas Crazy Horse” will valiantly defend the gate to the UFC’s gold.

9. “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3)

After mauling Mirko Filipovic in Manchester, “Napao” risks becoming a footnote in MMA history with consecutive stoppage losses to Couture and Werdum.  The big man has the tools to remain top ten for years to come, but does he have the heart?

10. Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3)

Fedor’s li’l bro’ isn’t lost in the shadow of “The Last Emporer”. In the last two years, the man with the coldest stare down in MMA has outclassed his brother in competition, losing only to top ten heavies while TKOing fellow Russian Sergei Kharitonov.

Sure to appall, enrage, offend, and shake-up the MMA world, Fighters.com has released it’s April heavyweight rankings.

1. “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1)

It ain’t pretty! Nogueira has turned “blocking punches with your face” into a winning strategy versus top teners Sylvia, Herring, Barnett, and Werdum in the last two years, earning him Fighters.com’s first ranking at heavyweight.

2. “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8)

The best strategist in a weight class of brutes returned to solve the 6′8″ riddle of Sylvia over five grueling rounds to reclaim UFC’s title, then forced Cro Cop-slayer Gonzaga to wish MMA had timeouts in a bloody three-round TKO.

3. “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4)

The oft maligned “Maine-iac” has meshed his stature with world-class striking, championship cardio, and a Jeff Monson-tested ground game. His losses are to legends Nogueira and Couture, but he’s failed to lay out ripe KO candidates Arlovski and Monson.

4. “The Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (21-5)

“The Babyface Assassin” returned to tap Hidehiko Yoshida and is the last man to beat Noguiera. Even with an involuntary 14-month layoff, he holds submissions over tenth-ranked Aleksander Emelianenko and hard-headed Mark Hunt in the last two years.

5. “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1)

Rankings reflect what has happened in fights with a predilection towards the most recent and Emelianenko hasn’t fought another top ten heavyweight in 32 months. He’ll take fifth and like it, or take first in a real fight. It’s his decision.

6. “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (12-5)

“Pitbull” has fought like a poodle since getting neutered by Sylvia in an ‘06 KO loss, but was able to steal a decision from Werdum in the most disappointing fight of ’07. Perhaps free agency will reignite the once explosive fighter’s fire.

7. “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1)

“Vai Cavalo” spanked Gonzaga like a bad monkey in January, his fourth consecutive top ten matchup, going 2-2 with two stoppage wins. He’s likely Nogueira’s first UFC title challenge in a rematch that ended in a close decision for Nogueira in PRIDE.

8. “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13)

Herring’s bungle versus Nogueira was beefed-up with a strong decision over Cheick Kongo in March. Three losses to Nogueira stop-gaps a potential UFC title challenge, but the “Texas Crazy Horse” will valiantly defend the gate to the UFC’s gold.

9. “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3)

After mauling Mirko Filipovic in Manchester, “Napao” risks becoming a footnote in MMA history with consecutive stoppage losses to Couture and Werdum. The big man has the tools to remain top ten for years to come, but does he have the heart?

10. Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3)

Fedor’s li’l bro’ isn’t lost in the shadow of “The Last Emporer”. In the last two years, the man with the coldest stare down in MMA has outclassed his brother in competition, losing only to top ten heavies while TKOing fellow Russian Sergei Kharitonov.

Former PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix champion “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (22-6-2) has announced via his blog at www.mma-id.com/CROCOP that his 15 March DREAM opponent will be “Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (6-1).

“Kiss” earned his tongue-in-cheek moniker after planting a wet one on “The Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring during the stare down before a 2005 K-1 contest.

Herring promptly decked him, leaving Nakao stiff and unconscious on the mat.  “I’m not gay,” Herring called out.