Blurcat / Sherdog Rankings

[Scottie]

A thread to provide an update on your game world, by setting out the current Blurcat/Sherdog rankings - either P4P or for a particular weight class.

 

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POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS - June 2002

 

1. Joaquim Fontes (23-1, 2-1 ALPHA-1)

 

The dangerous and previously unbeatable Brazilian fighter dominated the European and UK MMA scene for nearly a decade, after bursting onto the scene in 1991. A middleweight champion in the now defunct BARBARIANS and WARRIORS promotions, Fontes was signed by ALPHA-1 in 2000 to much fanfare. While his debut fight was an uneventful decision loss to MMA legend Ichisake Miyagi, Fontes has since bounced back with victories over Templeton Crumb and Vikram Sithalayan to stay in the hunt to add ALPHA-1 Middleweight gold to his resume. He next faces Miyagi in July in a chance to prove his credentials as the world’s top fighter.

 

2. Nilton Fantoni (15-1, 10-1 GAMMA)

 

Nilton Fantoni made his GAMMA debut by winning the GAMMA 14 heavyweight tournament, which he then followed up in the GAMMA 15 heavyweight tournament. From there, he dominated all-comers to beat Curt Kitson to claim the GAMMA heavyweight title at GAMMA Brazil in 1999, and defended over the likes of Lawrence Herringbone, Linfield Ballard and Spencer Rubenstein. His maiden career defeat came in June 2002 in a stunning loss to Thai fighter Khru Duangjan, but he will be as hungry as ever to return to the cage.

 

3. Li-Kong Ho (17-1, 11-1 ALPHA-1)

 

Like Fantoni, the diminutive Ho suffered defeat for the first time in his most recent bout, as he dropped the ALPHA-1 lightweight title to Tomohiro Takaeuchi in a contentious decision. Before that, Ho had only been taken the distance once in his career (by Juan Pablo Rique, in the quarter-finals of the 1999 lightweight Grand Prix), with submission victories over the likes of Anthony LeToussier, Masahiro Maeno, Snorri Gunnarsson and Helio padding out his resume. His most famous wins were submission defeats over Sukarno, and rumour has it that the Indonesian legend is looking for a third instalment.

 

4. Claudio Palacios (23-4, 7-0 XCC)

 

Little known Peruvian welterweight Claudio Palacios has won 13 straight fights, including a string of five straight defences of the XCC welterweight crown. He hasn't tasted defeat since a June 1995 decision loss to Trevor Murray (in the now defunct UCFF promotion), and since then has only been taken the distance once. He most recently defeated Procopio Golias for the second time in just over three minutes.

 

5. Tadamasa Yamada (34-5)

 

After eight years at ALPHA-1 and a record of 20-3 in the Japanese promotion, Tadamasa Yamada left in disgrace following a sex tape scandal that shocked the nation. Since then, Yamada has competed just twice in big local shows, with victories over William Harrison and a small name local fighter. With his name still tarnished, no big promotion has been game to touch him, but there are rumours that the former ALPHA-1 middleweight champ and fighter of the year will join GAMMA in the United States.

 

6. Buddy Garner (18-0, 1-0 ALPHA-1)

 

The biggest story of 2002 has been the poaching of Buddy Garner, the GAMMA middleweight champion, by ALPHA-1. After an 8-0 run that saw him tame the likes of Ashley Ballard and JJ Reid, and his dramatic rivalry with Cooper Richardson, Garner took three rounds to submit Fukusaburu Hirano in his ALPHA-1 debut in April this year.

 

7. Ichisake Miyagi (23-3, 17-0 ALPHA-1)

Unbeaten in over six years, and unbeaten throughout his lengthy ALPHA-1 career, ALPHA-1 welterweight champion Ichisake Miyagi can feel aggrieved to be ranked this low. His only three career defeats (against Palmer Lette, Jin Katou and Ikuhisa Tamura) came in the Pankration promotion, where he sought to challenge himself at openweight level, but even then he showed his P4P credentials with a win over Ieyoshi Yamashita. The 30-year old doesn’t fight often these days, but next finds himself in a rematch against Joaquim Fontes in July in one of 2002’s biggest fights.

 

8. Fjodor Kanchelskis (16-6, 1-1 ALPHA-1)

 

Russia’s top fighter bounced back from a disappointing ALPHA-1 debut loss to Niko Soldo, with a dominant decision win over Ranieri Fernanda. Prior to his failure to capture the middleweight crown from Soldo, Kanchelskis had a storied career throughout Europe and the UK including a trilogy of wins over Drazen Grabelich and (conversely) a trilogy of defeats against rival Joaquim Fontes. A destructive fighter on any day, he fights with the Euro Team Thunder gym.

 

9. Darin Blood (19-1, 10-0 GAMMA)

 

Since suffering his maiden career defeat in November 1997, Darin Blood has done no wrong over the past five years notching up six defences of the GAMMA welterweight title. Included in those defences was a TKO win over Nathan Chambers, which avenged his only career loss, as well as wins over Yevgeni Sipatov (x2) and Evan Gardner (x3). With Chambers’ fortunes tumbling, it is difficult to see who is next for “Dangerous” Darin Blood with the obvious #1 contender Alan Kendall recently suffering a setback in a TKO loss to Troy Alvarez.

 

 

10. Rafael Van Der Moot (17-3, 3-0 ALPHA-1)

 

The Dutch kick boxing champion has taken Japanese MMA by storm, with a hat trick of victories securing him the ALPHA-1 middleweight crown. His victory in April over Niko Soldo with a stunning body kick was a shock to some, but it gave Van Der Moot his fifteenth career stoppage by strikes. It isn’t entirely clear who is next for Van Der Moot - both Kanchelskis and Soldo loom large, with the likes of Heiji Endo and LeToussier not far behind.

 

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This is my game which I simmed from 1989 to 1994 and then took control of GAMMA form the start. It's been a great ride, and is a very different looking game world to the vanilla database!