Title Writing: Ranking the Fight Camps 7

Ranking the Fight Camps combines the USA Today/SB Nation consensus rankings with win/loss records over the past three months in order to provide a ranked list of the most successful MMA fight camps in the world.

I was going to change Ranking the fight camps to a monthly feature but I had some free time this afternoon and since it is Tuesday I thought I'd throw up another installment. I made one addition to the scoring system, which I've bolded down below.

Each camp is designated as tier I, II or III, based on how many fighters from the camp appear in the top 25 for all 7 weight classes. Tier I camps have more than five top 25 fighters. Tier II camps have at least two and no more than five top 25ers and Tier III camps are those with just a single fighter in the top 25. A number one ranked fighter is worth 25 points to his camp, a number two ranked fighter is worth 24 and so on. In the past I totaled the score for each camp but moving forward I've decided to average out the score so that the big camps don't all end up at the top.

Over the past three months, each stoppage victory is worth +2, each decision victory +1. Each stoppage loss is worth -2, each decision loss -1. There will also be bonus points awarded in the case of a ranked fighter defeating one with a higher rank. The bonus points will be equal to the difference in rank, up to a maximum of 5 points. For example, when #13 Nathan Diaz defeated #8 Donald Cerrone, he earned 6 points. 1 for the decision victory and 5 because Cowboy was ranked 5 spots higher than he was. This is a new addition to the scoring system.

I'm going to rank the top 5 for each tier, as well as an overall top 15. Only Tier I and II camps will be eligible for the top 15 due to the fact that I am averaging out the consensus scores.

The rankings can be found after the jump.

TIER I

TIER II

TIER III

OVERALL

With the addition of bonus points for upset victories, Xtreme Couture moves to the head of the pack, both in Tier I and in the overall rankings. This was due to Martin Kampmann and Michael Chandler both scoring upset victories in their last fights: Kampmann defeating Rick Story and Chandler taking the Bellator championship away from Eddie Alvarez.

On the strength of Nathan Diaz taking out Donald Cerrone, Cesar Gracie Fight Team takes over top spot in Tier II. Chad Mendes' loss drops Team Alpha Male a few spots down to 3rd in the Tier II category, while Bart Palaszewski and Team Curran move into second spot. Meanwhile, it was business as usual in the third tier with no changes to the top five.

The biggest drop of the week comes from Imperial Athletics, who saw both Melvin Guillard and Anthony Johnson lose by rear naked choke in the first round. They fall from seventh all the way out of the overall rankings. Meanwhile, thanks to wins from Charlie Brenneman and Jim Miller, AMA Fight Club makes their first appearance in the top 15.