April - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
18
No. 7: Demian Maia
No. 6: Dan Henderson
No. 5: Yushin Okami
No. 4: Chael Sonnen
Demian Maia is always an odd sort to rank. He
has had some spectacular wins, and some lack-
luster losses. He also wasn’t the only person on
this list to try his luck at different weight class,
however he may have found the most success
there. While he’s coming off a serious injury and
not too long ago dropped two straight to top-
level competition, Maia remains one of the most
dangerous fighters at 170-lbs and due to his
past success and name recognition can count
himself among the few who are only a couple
wins away from a title shot. His recent domi-
nant performance last week against the (then)
undefeated up and comer No. 15-ranked Ryan
LaFlare shows he is nothing but elite. He left
185-lbs with a respectable 3-2 record, and has
so far gone 5-2 at 170-lbs, which included three
straight victories against Dong-Hyun Kim, Rick
Story and Jon Fitch.
A man who never seems to quit yet has achieved
more than almost anyone, Dan Henderon has
won titles in every significant organization he
has fought for, save for one. The only thing that
has kept him out of the top five is a string of
recent losses, but when we look at his career
as a whole he sits comfortably at No. 7. Unfor-
tunately one more fight might not move him
up the list. After losing to Silva, Hendo had a
combined UFC/Strikeforce record of 7-1 in 2011
before going 1-5 in his next six. That put his
combined post-Silva record at 8-6, with a career
record of 30-13.
Someone would still be considered a top-1o
fighter had the UFC not cut him, and at 33
years of age still has plenty of fight left in him,
Yushim Okami remains a viable middleweight
fighter. Despite losing his last fight against Da-
vid Branch for the WSOF title, Okami is likely
only one or two wins away from a rematch for
that title. It’s likely Okami’s departure had more
to do with cost/benefit analysis than his actual
fighting ability. Of course time tells all tales, and
we may never see Thunder return to form, and
thus end up further down this list.
While Chael Sonnen’s departure from active
competition was marred midst controversy and
turmoil, his career was one to be used as an
example for fighters who wished to see their
named on the marquee. Like Franklin, Sonnen
lost twice to Silva, and like Franklin he had mixed
success at 205-lbs. However unlike Franklin he
had an undeserved title shot against Jon Jones,
and then went out as one of the sports biggest
draws. While others might have had better re-
cords, he left still ranked and viable.
