Unfortunately, dos Santos’s win doesn’t push him passed “Guigao“, to whom he has a 2008 loss by TKO.

“Giant” Jan Nortje (2-6) remains Fighters.com’s Super Heavyweight Champion.  “Feels good to be number one,” Norje told Fighters.com.

“Dominator” Bobby Lashley (4-0) has signed with Strikeforce and will evidently compete at heavyweight.  Too bad!  Fighters.com would rather see Lashley anchor a Strikeforce play in the super heavyweight division.

Fighters.com’s January Super Heavyweight Rankings

 1. “Giant” Jan Nortje (2-6)

2. “Dominator” Bobby Lashley (4-0)

3. “Guigao” (3-0)

4. “Mondragon” Geronimo dos Santos (4-1)

5. “Titan” Jimmy Ambriz (14-8)

Let’s be brutally straight.  The 185-pound Japanese eccentric, “Minowaman” Ikuhisa Minowa (40-28-8), who regularly meets’n'beats super heavyweights, is as worthy of the top slot as Fighters.com’s first Super Heavyweight Champion “Giant” Jan Nortje (2-6), and I’m not sure a “Minowaman” rolling kneebar wouldn’t clear out the entire top five.

But, I attempted to rank the division according to the same guidelines used to rank the mainstream weight classes, taking into account only their records from the previous two years and only in fights versus other super heavyweight fighters.  That excludes “Minowaman” and most of the fights on these behemoths’ records.  Quite simply, the division is a joke because super heavyweights rarely fight other super heavyweights.  They’re often either matched-up versus a heavyweight or relegated to spectacles versus much smaller opponents.

Super heavyweights must start picking on fighters their own size to legitimize this division.

 Fighters.com realizes that’s easier said than done and not entirely these fighters’ faults.  Promoters often choose opponents for super heavyweights, and often times the spectacle of a 185-pound fighter versus a 330-pound fighter puts more asses in seats than what’s sure to be a sluggish contest between two 330-pound fighters.  But, if a promotion wanted to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, establishing a legitimate super heavyweight class and offering a belt to challenge for would create buzz among the core MMA audience.

If you’re like me, for most of our history watching this sport, part of the allure was that it was outside of the mainstream.  You had to work to be an MMA fan until circa 2005.  You had to scour the Internet for fight videos and often only found fellow fans in message boards.  Fighters became legends before you ever saw them fight.  You’d hear whispers on message boards of someone blowing out established fighters in Japan or Iowa and might only actually see them months later when video of the latest UFC event finally made it to your video store.  If you’re nostalgic for those times, the super heavyweight division is the last frontier of MMA.  This is the division for you.

Admittedly, the +265 talent pool is thin.  But,  offering a legitimate super heavyweight belt would attract some of the heavyweight division’s heavier fighters to compete for it, drawing talent up to the division.  The competition would improve everyone in the division, as the same legitimization process has improved the level of talent and athleticism throughout MMA.

 Fighters.com considers these rankings a work in progress and encourages you to post suggestions.  Remember the ranking rules: Only consider a fighter’s record for the previous two years and only versus fellow super heavyweights.

Fighters.com’s November Super Heavyweight Rankings

 1. “Giant” Jan Nortje (2-6)

2. “Dominator” Bobby Lashley (4-0)

3. “Guigao” (3-0)

4. “Mondragon” Geronimo dos Santos (3-1)

5. “Titan” Jimmy Ambriz (14-8)

The event headlined by “The Beast” Bob Sapp‘s North American MMA debut was beamed live in HD on HDNet.

BUM-BUM BUM-BUM BUM-BUM BUM

Sapp was TKO’d in 55 seconds by 2-5 South African Jan Nortje.

That’s about as anti-climactic as the fight, which began with Sapp entering the cage to the theme music of “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

But, don’t shed a tear for “The Beast”, who drops to 9-3-1, nor raise your hopes that the cartoon will end.

Sapp has lost before and reportedly has a fight waiting for him 15 March in Dream’s inaugural promotion in Japan.  He’s still a draw in the East.

“The Beast” will live on.

Fast-rising middleweight Cory Devela notched a big name on his belt when “Diesel” Joe Riggs was forced to submit at 1:22 of the first round after a judo throw caused an injury in Riggs’s back.

Devela raises his record to 8-1, while Riggs falls to 27-10.

There’s been no word on the nature or severity of Riggs’s back injury, but Riggs was forced off a WEC card last year due to a back injury.

“GameBred” lightweight Jorge Masvidal continued his seven-fight streak with a unanimous decision over 9-3-1 Ryan Healy.

Masvidal has posted wins versus Yves Edwards, Nuri Shakir, and Joe Lauzon and seems ready to step-up in competition.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion “Mo” Maurice Smith welcomed veteran kickboxing star “The Jet” Rick Roufus to MMA, submitting the K-1 fighter in an armlock at 1:53 of the first round.

On the undercard, Washington welterweight “Fast” Eddy Ellis pulled even at 14-14-1 with a unanimous decision versus “Red Nose” Steve Berger.

Hometown heavyweight Mychal Clark punched Josh Bennett‘s eye swollen shut to register a TKO at the end of two rounds.

“Fancy Pants” Lyle Beerbohm remained undefeated after submitting fellow welterweight “Relentless” Ray Perales in a guillotine choke 1:19 into round three.

Heavyweight Mike Hayes won his pro MMA debut over Matt Kovacs in a unanimous decision.

Zach Skinner ruined Scott Shaffer‘s MMA debut with a unanimous decision victory.

Finally, Nathan Coy improved to 3-0 after knocking out debuting Dave Courchaine in the first round.