The Reign of every CONSENSUS #1 HW -- from Mark Kerr to Francis N'Gannou

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Historic look at every Consensus #1 Heavyweight in the world and their reign.

**As per the majority Ranking Orgs at the time**

The write-ups included are from the Rankings Orgs at the time (from that month) the fighter took over the Consensus #1 Ranking.

Mark Kerr -- 0 years, 11 months

HW - 1998 - Dec 5? - Domingo's NHB Rankings
1. Mark Kerr - Mark Kerr is possibly the most destructive force in NHB fighting today. He is/was an Olympic caliber wrestler (he tied with Coleman in '92), plus he has adapted well with various submissions, strikes, and positions from BJJ as well as Muay Thai. Kerr's wins of note came over: Paul Varelans, Maestre Hulk, Fabio Gurgel, Dan Bobish and Duane Cason. Kerr defeated Branko Cikatic via disqualification at Pride-2, "The" Pedro at Pride-3, and Hugo Duarte at Pride-4. Kerr is the most active top tier fighter in the biz right now, and his competition has been good for the most part. The current rumor mill has him facing Vovchanchin at Pride-5.

0 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Igor Vovchanchyn -- 0 years, 7 months*

HW - 1999 - OCT/NOV - Black Belt Magazine/Stephen Quadros (published Jan 2000)
1. Igor Vovchanchin (Ukrain) -- He out-gunned former top dog Mark Kerr to achieve a controversial "no contest." he earned a split decision over Carlos Barreto, beat up Akira Shoji and defeated Gary Goodridge with a technical knockout. He owns the best record in the over-200-pounds category and is the winner of five eight-man NHB tournaments. At 5 feet 6 inches and 235 pounds, he is a small guy with a big punch.

1 to 3 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span*

*Igor was intermittently #1 during Coleman's subsequent reign

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Mark Coleman -- 1 year, 5 months

HW - 2000 - MAY^ - Sav's NHB-Chris Savarese
1.Mark Coleman: The "Hammer" is back w/ a brand new attitude. The former UFC Champ wins the prestigeous Pride GP 2000 to get back in the top 5. Handled Morais,Shoji and the always tough Igor V. with ease. Has many good wins in his career. Also has beaten Frye and Severn.

1 Win vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Minotauro Nogueira -- 1 year, 6 months

HW - 2001 - OCT (13?) - MMA Media
1. Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira (137)
[no cool write-up, but here are the...] Voters in this month's poll: Aaron Crecy (USA) Full Contact Fighter, Tom Gerbasi (USA) www.Maxfighting.com, Ryan Graham (USA) Freelance MMA writer, Josh Gross (USA) Full Contact Fighter Magazine, Hidetake "Shimauo" Hirashima (JAPAN) Shooto World Network www.shooto.net/en.htm, Hideto Ida (JAPAN) www.Boutreview.com, Yoshinori Ihara (JAPAN) www.Boutreview.com, Anthony Lynch (USA) www.freestylefights.com, Garrett Poe (USA) www.sherdog.com, Marcel Remkhelawan (Holland) De Aktuel Magazine, Jake Rossen (USA) Freelance MMA Writer, Sean Shelby (USA) www.grapplersworld.com, Jeff Sherwood (USA) www.sherdog.com,Russell Taylor (CANADA) www.fightcenter.com, Jeff Thaler (USA) Freelance MMA writer

3 Win vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Fedor Emelianenko -- 7 years, 3 months

HW - 2003 - APR - Fighters & Broadcasters Poll
1. Emelianeko Fedor - 108 Points - (11 first place votes) ...
Voters include:
Fighters - Josh Barnett, Steve Berger, Chris Brennan,Yves Edwards, Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Duane Ludwig, Nathan Marquardt, Pat Miletich, Sean Sherk,Pete Spratt, Evan Tanner, Din Thomas;
Broadcasters - Jeff Osborne (Hook N Shoot and UFC); Ryan Bennett (UFC, IFC and WEC), Monte Cox (Extreme Challenge), J.T. McCarthy (UCC), Joe Ferraro (UCC), Joel Goulet, Jeff Marek - Mojo Radio.

9 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Brock Lesnar -- 0 years, 4 months

HW - 2010 - Jul 6 - L.A. Times MMA/Todd Martin
1. Brock Lesnar - It was a chaotic month for heavyweight MMA, highlighted by the surprising submission defeat of the great Fedor Emelianenko and a wild UFC title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. Lesnar now reigns as the heavyweight division's best. Velasquez and Dos Santos will be the next challengers for the UFC heavyweight title. Werdum skyrockets up the rankings but Fedor may have the chance to redeem himself and avenge that loss.

1 Win vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Cain Velasquez -- 1 year, 1 month (1st stint)

HW - 2010 - Oct 29 - Bloody Elbow-USAToday Consensus
1. Cain Velasquez - 98 (UFC)
Obviously the epic news this month is the rise of #1 Cain Velasquez after his demolition of #2 Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. He'll defend his title against #5 Junior dos Santos in early 2011.

1 Win vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Junior Cigano -- 1 year, 1 month

HW - 2011 - Nov 22 - Sherdog
1. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS (14-1) Despite suffering a serious knee injury only 11 days prior, dos Santos did on Nov. 12 what no heavyweight before him could: stop Cain Velasquez. Now perched atop the ranks as the MMA world's best big man, "Cigano" may undergo surgery before defending his UFC title against the winner of Dec. 30's Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem clash.

2 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Cain Velasquez -- 2 years, 6 months (2nd stint; 3 yrs, 7 mos)

HW - 2013 - Jan 15 - ESPN
1. Cain Velasquez - It was a hard paddle back to face JDS, and this time he wasn't going to squander anything. Velasquez looked as good as he ever has. The question now is: Can he be the dominant heavyweight champion that sustains?

3 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Fabricio Werdum -- 0 years, 11 months

HW - 2015 - Jun 16 - MMA Junkie/USAToday
1. Fabricio Werdum - Fabricio Werdum looked downright fantastic in his UFC 188 win over Cain Velasquez. As the man who also beat Fedor Emelianenko, is Werdum the greatest heavyweight of all time?

1 Win vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Stipe Miocic -- 2 years, 2 months (1st stint)

HW - 2016 - May 15 - Sherdog
1. Stipe Miocic (15-2) - It has been 52 years since the city of Cleveland had any kind of major sports championship, but in front of 45,000 Brazilian fans in Curitiba, Miocic snapped that streak by taking Fabricio Werdum’s UFC heavyweight championship with a beautiful right hook. The Strong Style Fight Team product is now staring down the barrel of challenges from the likes of Cain Velasquez, Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem in his first potential title defense.

4 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Daniel Cormier -- 1 year, 1 month

HW - 2018 - July 11 - Sherdog
1. Daniel Cormier (21-1) Cormier added to his legacy at UFC 226, becoming only the second simultaneous two-division titleholder in the promotion’s history with a first-round knockout of heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic in the main event. Cormier remains undefeated in the big man’s division, and based on a post-fight confrontation with current World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Brock Lesnar, he could remain at heavyweight for his next title defense.

2 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Stipe Miocic -- 1 year, 7 months (2nd stint; 3 years, 9 months total)

HW - 2019 - August 19 - Sherdog
1. Stipe Miocic (19-3) Down on the scorecards after three rounds, Miocic showed the ability to adjust at UFC 241, as he attacked Daniel Cormier’s body to set up a fourth-round technical knockout victory in their rematch in Anaheim, Calif. Not only was it a nice rebound from his KO loss to “DC” in their first meeting at UFC 226, but it refocused talks on Miocic as potentially the greatest heavyweight of all-time. The Ohio-based firefighter now owns five victories in UFC title bouts, the second most in the history of the heavyweight division.

2 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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Francis N'Gannou -- 1 year, 6 months...

HW - 2021 - March 29 - Sherdog
1. Francis Ngannou (16-3) [4] Ngannou brought the same ferocious knockout power into his rematch with Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, but improved takedown defense allowed him to use it much more effectively. The end result was a second-round knockout victory that made “The Predator” the 17th heavyweight champion in UFC history. The Cameroonian-born Frenchman has laid waste to some of the division’s best during his run to the top and if the promotion can make it happen, a victory over light heavyweight GOAT Jon Jones would only add to his overall legacy.

2 Wins vs Top 10 Ranked Opponents (HW+) in that span

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note: Before Mark Kerr there was no real "consensus" as to who was #1; based on the archived rankings I've gathered.

 

[Fuzzybread]

Nice

 

[katsikias]

Cool read

 

[imissWECPalmer]

Awaiting the Fedor haters...

 

[Oenomaus]

Good stuff. One of the first MMA fights I ever saw was a vid of Mark Kerr vs Fabio Gurgel and Kerr looked like a beast

 

[TheLoneWolf527]

Here's where things get weird. Cain > JDS. If say JDS beats Werdum, who's considered the best heavyweight? It becomes an MMAth situation. What about Arlovski and Stipe? Would they beat Cain or JDS if they fought (or fought again in Stipe's case)?

Consensus is hard when guys rarely go on long streaks at HW.

 

[Justinquesadila]

7 great years! I want to see him fight again because I miss it but I don't want to pitty him if he goes on a losing streak so I am OK either way.

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Good stuff. One of the first MMA fights I ever saw was a vid of Mark Kerr vs Fabio Gurgel and Kerr looked like a beast

My memory of the fights I watched are practically all distorted. I wouldn't know which fights happened in chronological order, because I watched so many fights months/years after they happened.

Thats why I like combing over the history of the sport. Reading the accounts by the media and fans that where taking place AT THE TIME... that's what makes up the history of our sports (if you will).

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Here's where things get weird. Cain > JDS. If say JDS beats Werdum, who's considered the best heavyweight? It becomes an MMAth situation. What about Arlovski and Stipe? Would they beat Cain or JDS if they fought (or fought again in Stipe's case)?

Consensus is hard when guys rarely go on long streaks at HW.

Surprisingly, Consensus #1 HW has been pretty decisive -- the Ranking Orgs have not had much dissension (if that makes sense).

There have been instances where one or two Ranking Orgs differ from the "Consensus" but not many. The last time might have been MMA Rising ranking Werdum #1 after he defeated Fedor (July 1, 2010)... and that was before Brock's win over Carwin, just days later.

The only time where there was ambiguity or a 'back-n-forth' on the Consensus was with Igor Vovchanchyn (as noted in the OP). Before Mark Kerr really solidified things, there were Ranking Orgs who had Bas Rutten, Pedro Rizzo, Rickson Gracie rated #1.

 

[Bones245n4847]

Looks like the UFC heavyweights should have feasted on Zulu, Hong man Choi and some 180 pound asian heavyweights instead of fighting each other. Their reigns would have lasted more than half a decade if they did.

 

[Maxi157]

Surprised Mir never got in there even for a few months guess it was cause of Fedor,

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Surprised Mir never got in there even for a few months guess it was cause of Fedor,

Frank Mir !??

Frank Mir has never been Ranked #1 by any Ranking Org, let alone CONSENSUS #1 (of the Ranking Orgs that I've researched).

Frank Mir -- that's like saying you're surprised Nick Diaz was never Consensus #1 WW.

 

[BreadnButter]

Looks like the UFC heavyweights should have feasted on Zulu, Hong man Choi and some 180 pound asian heavyweights instead of fighting each other. Their reigns would have lasted more than half a decade if they did.

What? Fedor fought and beat the 2 best fighters from his era Nog and CC. Then went on to beat the 2 most successful UFC HW champions Sylvia and Arlovski. Fedor beat them all from cans to elites and he didn't even face that many cans in his career.

 

[ryanrandy]

Nice job. Before Kerr I would say Tom Erickson. Dude was a monster and very feared in the mid 90s

 

[Hans Gruber]

Looks like the UFC heavyweights should have feasted on Zulu, Hong man Choi and some 180 pound asian heavyweights instead of fighting each other. Their reigns would have lasted more than half a decade if they did.

Fedor has more Top 10 wins than any other HW smart guy. Maybe if modern HWs like Cain can fight even more infrequently they could be ranked number 1 for over 7 years too. Maybe the could fight a whooping 5 fights in that timeframe?

The only reason that Cain was ranked number 1 for over a 2 year stretch is because he took 2 years between fights

 

[Hans Gruber]

Surprised Mir never got in there even for a few months guess it was cause of Fedor,

Mir is a good HW but why have so many people been rating a 18-9 HW with only 4 career Top 10 wins so high lately?

 

[Captain_Dammitt]

Fedor's run was almost as long as all the other's put together.

 

[HP_Nut]

Looks like the UFC heavyweights should have feasted on Zulu, Hong man Choi and some 180 pound asian heavyweights instead of fighting each other. Their reigns would have lasted more than half a decade if they did.

While Fedor was lording over Pride, UFC HW division was dominated by Arlovski & Sylvia during that period. They were the 2 guys who were UFC champs for most of Fedor's entire reign in Pride. Seriously, people who weren't even watching MMA back then shouldn't comment, you're just regurgitating what Dana says

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Nice job. Before Kerr I would say Tom Erickson. Dude was a monster and very feared in the mid 90s

This was the highest, most recent ranking I've found for Tom Erikson...


HW - 1998 - Dec 2 - Sav's NHB-Chris Savarese

1.Bas Rutten:Tremendous striker w/ hands and feet.Can wait to see him
w/ a closed fist.One of the most well rounded fighters in the game.
Also has become a good grappler.Only man that can beat him is himself.
Will dominate in the UFC. It would take a great leg specialist to beat
him. Could lose a decision to a bigger wrestler.

2.Tom Erickson:The best wrestler of them all.The only thing that stopped him from winning numerous olympic titles was Bruce Baumgarter.
Recently KO'd Randleman and Ed Dekrief(sp)which shows he can punch too.
One word: phenomenal! He is the only guy that could stop Kerr right now.

3.Mark Kerr:"The Speciman"-perfect nickname. He is a machine who
brings numerous skills into the octagon. I don't think many can hang
w/ his combination of size and speed. Not as good a wrestler as
Coleman or Erickson but has a better understanding of submission.I
honestly think the only guy who could beat him is Erickson.

 

[Spiro T Cheney]

Fedor has more Top 10 wins than any other HW smart guy. Maybe if modern HWs like Cain can fight even more infrequently they could be ranked number 1 for over 7 years too. Maybe the could fight a whooping 5 fights in that timeframe?

The only reason that Cain was ranked number 1 for over a 2 year stretch is because he took 2 years between fights

Absolute fact. And the nut-huggers go batty when this truth is pointed out. The heavyweight division still doesn't match the overall quality of the rest of the divisions in the UFC. Saying the UFC is better than other orgs, sure, that's true. But the heavyweight division is not a lineup of top class and in some cases freaky talents like the best fighters in the other divisions, like 'em or not.