After yesterday's craziness, I'm almost fearful of posting these, but here we go...

Like the Heavyweight division, it's been a quiet summer in the MW rankings, although there was a bit of movement in the top 10 as a pair of upset loses drop Artur Kyshenko down to #6, while Hinata makes his way up to #9. 

Many of the top names will be taking part in the 2nd portion of the MAX Final 16 on October 3.  That card will include #1 Giorgio Petrosyan, #6 Kyshenko, #12 Gago Drago, #20 Mike Zambidis, #22 Chahid Oulad El Hadj, #24 Su Hwan Lee, and #25 Mootje Khamal.  Winners on October 3 will move on to the MAX Finals on November 8, where they will be joined by #4 Albert Kraus, #8 Yoshihiro Sato, and #10 Yuichiro Nagashima, who have already qualified.  That's a decent line-up for sure, but it's not the clear top fighters that we're seeing in the Heavyweight Grand Prix, as 5 of the top 10 are not in the MAX GP this year.  Among those left out: #3 Buakaw Por. Pramuk, who is currently M.I.A. and has had a pretty inactive year.  As a whole, it's hard to not feel some disappointment in this year's MAX GP.

Two of those top 10 fighters left out of the GP will meet each other on September 18 as #2 Andy Souwer faces #9 Hinata for Shootboxing.  That's a great fight, but the fact that it has cost both men a spot in the GP leaves something of a bitter taste.

Also from the top 10, #5 Nieky Holzken will face L'houcine Aussi Ouzgni for It's Showtime on September 12.  Aussi typically fights at 77kg, and Holzken is very big for the 72kg weight class, so I imagine this will be above the 72kg limit.  This could be a really fantastic fight that is getting a bit lost in the shuffle, but is one of this fall's fights I am most looking forward to.  Holzken will also be in action for United Glory on October 16 against Sahin Yakut.

That Sept 12 card will also include #14 Khem Sitsongpeenong v. Rachid Belaini, #12 Gago Drago v. Mohammed Medhar, and #17 Leroy Kaestner v. Youness el Mhassani.  It's Showtime also has a card on December 18 including #25 Mootje Khamal v. Mosab Amrani.

Finally, in a much anticipated rematch, on October 17 #19 John Wayne Parr will face Yodsaenklai Fairtex.  Yod is on a bit of a downward slide this year - this will be a great test of where he stands.

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After an interminably slow summer in the world of kickboxing, things have finally started heating up for the fall.  Almost none of the top 25 has been in action in the past few months, but between now and the end of the year, we could see a lot of changes.

Of course, the biggest date coming up is October 2 when we get the K-1 Final 16.  Tons of top fighters announced there including #1 Semmy Schilt, #3 Alistair Overeem, #4 Errol Zimmerman, #5 Badr Hari, #6 Ewerton Teixeira, #7 Kyotaro, #11 Jerome Le Banner, #12 Ruslan Karaev, #18 Freddy Kemayo, and #25 Ben Edwards.  According to the latest rumors, we may also see #8 Peter Aerts, #9 Gokhan Saki, and #10 Hesdy Gerges.  That's every fighter in the top 12, with the exception of #2 Remy Bonjasky, who is currently on the sidelines recovering from eye surgery. I also would expect #16 Daniel Ghita, and perhaps #14 Tyrone Spong to be on this card as well, either in the Final 16 or in a reserve fight.

Amazingly, this is not the only card in the next month to feature a wealth of top 25 action.  On October 16, United Glory hosts the first round of their world series event.  Current names announced include Zimmerman, Saki, and #19 Brice Guidon.  Since this is only two weeks after the Final 16, it's entirely possible Saki and/or Zimmerman could be forced to drop out.

It's Showtime also has a busy few months.  On September 12 they will host #10 Gerges v. Rustemi Kreshnik, and on December 18 it will be Gerges up again facing Rico Verhoeven, along with #15 Ashwin Balrak v. Anderson "Braddock" Silva.

One final exciting fight to note.  On September 19 in Muay Thai action, in will be #13 Nathan "Carnage" Corbett v. #23 Pavel Zhuravlev.  A lot of people are critical of Corbett, claiming he seldom faces top competition, so it will be good to see him in there against a top 25 opponent.

Overall, that only leaves five top 25 fighters currently unaccounted for - Samedov, Manhoef, Ignashov, Catinas, and Sefo.  Should be a fantastic fall.

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A little late getting these up this month, but I wanted to wait for the K-1 Oceania GP to take place.  That event saw #6 Ewerton Teixeira score a KO win, along with Ben Edwards earning himself a Final 16 slot with a record setting performance.  Edwards slides into the rankings at #25 with his big win.

Still to come in July are two top 25 fighters in action.  On July 25th, #11 Jerome Le Banner and #20 Brice Guidon both compete in Muay Thai action on the same card.

Speaking of Muay Thai, the only fight currently scheduled between top 25 opponents is a Muay Thai showdown on Sept. 19, pitting #13 Nathan Corbett against #23 Pavel Zhuravlev.  Corbett has many detractors that claim his ranking is more due to the low level of his competition than Corbett's own skills; a win over Zhuravlev should help give a bit more merit to Corbett's spot.

The other upcoming fight to watch for is #15 Ashwin Balrak v. Rico Verhoeven on Sept. 12.  Balrak is at a career high point at the moment, coming off his win over #16 Daniel Ghita.  Verhoeven is just outside the top 25, and a solid competitor who always seems to be on the verge of breaking into the upper ranks. 

Outside of those fights, it's back to the waiting game - waiting for K-1's Final 16 GP, currently scheduled for September.  Expect more names to fight for K-1 before then, but that may be the next time we see competitive fights from anyone in the top 10.

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With K-1 crowning a new king in this division, it seemed like now was the time to add some rankings.  The tricky thing is, this division is definitely a work in progress.  Prior to this Grand Prix, most organizations had weight classes of either 60 or 62, with the next highest class coming at 65.  K-1, for reasons not entirely clear, opted to buck the standard and go with a 63kg division.  I'm following their lead and using that as the benchmark.

The downside of this is that some very talented fighters are left out in the cold.  Best example - Orono Wor Petchpun, a tough Thai fighter that deserves to be ranked, but these days fights regularly up at 65kg. 

As a result, for now, we're limiting this division to a top 10.  Hopefully in the coming months, as K-1 continues to establish this division, we'll see more fighters settling at this 63kg weight, and have a better sense who should be ranked here.

Finally, as this division is still developing, we won't be updating these rankings every month, and instead will put up new LW rankings every other month.

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As we said last month, June was not heavy in big fights for  the Middleweight division.  A number of ranked fighters were in action, including Buakaw, Khem, and the participants in the 3 Final 16 bouts at the K-1 Grand Prix event.  All fights went pretty much exactly as anticipated, with no real impact on the rankings. 

A few fighters did have busy months, as Buakaw won a handful of fights in China, Khem took a tournament victory in Europe, and Albert Kraus won two separate fights, one in K-1 and one for Beast of the East.

The next big Middleweight fight is July 31, as #4 Artur Kyshenko faces #11 Hinata for RISE. That should be a great fight, and provides a huge opportunity for Hinata if he can pull off the big upset.

After that, It's Showtime has a show on September 12 that will feature #6 Nieky Holzken, #16 Gago Drago, and #25 Mootje Khamal.

The big upcoming action here is of course the remaining fights in the MAX Final 16, which should include most of the remaining top 10 fighters (aside from Direkci and, in all likelihood, Buakaw).  No set date for that yet, but it looks to take place in September in Europe.

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These are June 2010 Shooto rankings as selected by ranking committee of the ISC (International Shooto Commission).

Flyweight ［-52.0kg/-115lbs］

(C) Rambaa "M-16" Somdet (7-2) - M-16 Gym
(1) Noboru "Shinpei" Tahara (8-4-1) - STF
(2) Junji Ito (6-2) - Shooting Gym Yokohama
(3) Hiroyuki Abe (7-14-3) - Abe Ani Combat Club
(4) Atsushi Takeuchi (7-5-2) - Shooto Gym K'z Factory
(5) Katsuya Murofushi (5-4) - Roots

Bantamweight [-56.0kg/-123lbs]

(C) Yasuhiro Urushitani (17-4-6) - Wajutsu Keishukai RJW
(1) Mamoru Yamaguchi (23-5-3) - Shooting Gym Yokohama
(2) Jussier da Silva (6-0) - Nova Uniao Kimura
(3) Fumihiro Kitahara (8-1-1) - Paraestra Sapporo
(4) Ryuichi Miki (10-4-3) - Gutsman Shooto Dojo
(5) Yuki Shojo (10-5-2) - X-One Gym Shonan

Featherweight [-60.0kg/-132lbs]

(C) Shuichiro Katsumura (11-7-3) - Reversal Gym Yokohama Ground Slam
(1) Eduardo Dantas (9-2) - Nova Uniao
(2) Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2) - Paraestra Tokyo
(3) Koetsu Okazaki (6-1-1) - Cobra Kai MMA Dojo
(4) Hiromasa Ogikubo (6-2-2) - Paraestra Matsudo
(5) Tetsu Suzuki (10-7-3) - Wajutsu Keishukai Naked Man

Lightweight [-65.0kg/-143lbs]

(C) Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2) - ALIVE
(1) Renan Barão (22-1) - Nova Uniao Kimura
(2) Taiki Tsuchiya (6-2) - Roots
(3) Hideki Kadowaki (13-11-2) - Wajutsu Keishukai Tokyo
(4) Lion Takeshi (18-4) - Shooting Gym Yokohama
(5) Issei Tamura (5-0) - Krazy Bee

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A few interesting changes this month, mostly thanks to It's Showtime.  Former top 5 fighter Yoshihiro Sato lost to Pajonsuk, dropping Sato down to #8, and Pajonsuk up to #10, while Nieky Holzken scored a huge win, moving up in weight to defeat the #2 ranked fighter at 76kg, Cosmo Alexandre.  Holzken moves up to #6 with the win, and should earn a chance to redeem his uninspiring performance in K-1 MAX last year.

Also moving up a bit - Chahid Oulad El Hadj, who now finds himself at #22 after scoring back to back wins over ranked fighters (Stevelmans and Khamal).  Hopefully the Pitbull can keep this streak going.

Not a ton of action set for June, just #5 Albert Kraus taking on Muhammed Gur for Beast of the East on June 12. 

The big action will have to wait until July 5 and the opening round of the 2010 MAX GP.  Scheduled for that show: #8 Sato, #5 Kraus, and #9 Yuichiro Nagashima.

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Between It's Showtime and K-1 Bucharest, this was a very busy month, and a lot of it was difficult to rank.  Ignashov beats Kemayo, but Kemayo wins the tournament.  Ghita loses to the far lower ranked Balrak.  But by far, the biggest news in the Heavyweight ranks is, of course, Badr Hari v. Hesdy Gerges.

I am sure many of Badr's die hard fans will take offense at him dropping from #3 to #5 in this month's rankings.  Here's the way I see it - Hari definitively lost that fight.  You can argue that it was a DQ loss, but Hari has now shown a pattern of losing his cool in high stakes fights.  This was not a fluke occurrence (something like Pajonsuk v. Jung) but an incident that shows a real hole in Hari's game - one that gets in his way of being at the very top, and, as such, impacts his ranking.

As for Gerges, I thought he looked strong in round 2, but I can't say he exactly won the fight.  His performance, and the DQ win (combined with his last win over Ashwin Balrak, which looks stronger in retrospect) earn him a spot at #10.

Down at the bottom end of the top 25, Sefo, Ignashov, and Kemayo all make their way into the rankings, with Ciobanu just missing the cut. 

Not a lot of action in June, as so many big fighters just competed.  #1 Semmy Schilt, #9 Gokhan Saki, and # 7 Kyotaro are all rumored to be fighting at a K-1 Germany event this coming Saturday, but with absolutely no news of that show, I am skeptical it will take place.  Similarly, both #11 Jerome Le Banner and #20 Brice Guidon were at one time scheduled for this Saturday in France, but again, there's not much confirmation of that card.

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