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. ...

Fighters.com tenth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) beat Brazilian Silvao Santos (1-1) into the fetal position in the first round at M-1 Challenge in St. Petersburg Thursday. Emelianenko's teammates Amar Suloev (24-7) and Roman Zentsov (17-12) also scored wins for the home team, while Japanese fighters "Andre" Yuta Watanabe (8-1-3) and Ken Hamamura (14-4-4) picked-up victories on foreign soil. In the same kind of Finkelsteinian matchmaking that has kept "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) from meaningful MMA for over two-and-a-half years, li'l brother Aleks was paired with Santos whose only other professional MMA appearance ended in a split decision victory over that notorious gatekeeper to top ten contention, Edson Conterraneo (3-1). Note my sarcasm. The big Brazilian circled Russia's finest before a shot stuffed and swept by Aleks into a textbook uchi mata makikomi toss landing Emelianenko in Santos's half-guard. Strong Santos stood out of Emelianenko's half-mount, but into a near standing guillotine the Russian wrenched like a neck crank. Emelianenko muscled Santos into a corner, released the choke, and hopped into a flying knee that effectively ended the fight. Santos shot forward for a desperate single-leg lunge, but Emelianenko sprawled and pummeled the Brazilian with a series of rights as the referee dove to Santos's rescue. Emelianenko's middleweight Red Devil Sport Club stablemate, Suloev, bounced back from a second round TKO to Chael Sonnen (20-9-1) last July to TKO Jacek Buczko (11-4), who hadn't fought in two-and-a-half years, in the first round. Heavyweight Zentsov also rebounded from an '07 stoppage loss to deal undersized Daniel Tabera (9-1-2) of Spain his first "L" in a two-round decision. DEEP middleweight vet Watanabe dealt Ansar Chalangov (7-4) his fourth consecutive defeat in a first-round rear naked choke.  It was Watanabe's first fight out of country. Welterweight Hamamura also ventured out of the "Land of the Rising Sun" for the first time to TKO Russia's Islam Karimov (5-4-1) in the second round. The event also saw Akhmet Sultanov (2-0) submit multi-promotion veteran Katsuhisa Fuji (8-14-1) in a first-round armbar. Besiki Gerenava (5-0) won a decision over Pancrase vet Yuji Sakuragi (9-10-1). U-File Camp's Daisuke Nakamura (13-9) decisioned Juri Ivlev (4-3). Victor Nemkov (1-0) debuted with a triangle choke submission of fellow rookie Christian Bombay (0-1). Team Scandinavia's Jarno Nurminen (2-1) forced Ji Hoon Kim's (1-6) corner to throw in the towel in the first round. Heavyweight Fin Toni Valtonen (15-7) submitted South Korean Seung Hyun Choi (0-2) in a rear naked choke in the first round. Hyun Gyu Lim (2-1-1) knocked out Brazil's Lucio Linhares (7-3) in the first round. Lightweight Janne Tulirinta (7-2) TKO'd Doo Won Seo (1-2) in round two. Finally, lightweight Niko Puhakka (11-6) of Finland submitted Jong Man Kim (3-5-2) in a triangle choke in round one. ...