The DVDVR Infallible Opinion Poll is a highly regarded, extensively studied, and extraordinarily accurate look at the best and brightest in mixed martial arts today.
(OK, fine, it's me and four other guys who watch an absurb number of fights and have fierce opinions on the sport. Close enough.)
Opinion Poll procedures are thus - we, the voters, rank five fighters in each weight class 1 through 5. The number 1 selection earns nine points, number 2 earns 7, 3 gets 6, 4 gets 5, and 5 gets 4 points. In addition, five Honorable Mention candidates are selected, and awarded one point apiece. Points are totalled, resulting in the following rankings.
DVDVR Infallible Opinion Poll (11-20-04)
The numbers in parentheses are total points and their last placement if applicable.
HEAVYWEIGHT (205 +)
1. Fedor Emelianenko (36, 1)
2. Nogueira (28, 2)
3 Mirko CroCop (25, 6)
4 Frank Mir (20, n/a)
5 Josh Barnett (7, 4)
5 Tim Sylvia (7, 3)
5 Heath Herring (7, 7)
8 Andrei Arlovski (6, 5)
9 Sergei Kharitonov (4)
10 Tsuyoshi Koshaka (2)
Also getting votes: Waterman, Wiuff, Schilt and Aleksander E.
Governor's thoughts: Consensus was notable this time around and nowhere moreso than here, where the drop from #4 to #5 is notable and the drop from 3 to 4 not insignificant. All eyes on the heavyweight division are looking towards 12/31 when the unanimous #1 and #2 will see if they switch places. Cro Cop rises back to the top three, while Josh Barnett keeps a strong position despite an odd recent match-up.
1-4 remains the same, although the slight dispute over who was #1 and #2 has been removed when #3 was left hanging in the ropes gushing blood. Dan Henderson jumps up because the voters like the Hulk Hands. Once again, votes were distributed unevenly towards top, which is the way it should be.
Talk about a shake-up. The division with the most people voted for also shows the greatest turnover. With one right hand, Terrell debuts and sends perennial unanimous #1 Matt Lindland down three spots. Ryo Chonan debuts and the retired Almeida is gone but not forgotten.
WELTERWEIGHT (156-170)
1. BJ Penn (36, 1)
2. Matt Hughes (28, 2)
3. Frank Trigg (23)
4. Jake Shields (19, 4)
5. Sean Sherk (18, 3)
6. Kikuchi (4, 6)
7. Georges St. Pierre (3, 9)
7. Karo Parisyan (3)
7. Chris Lytle (3)
10. Renato Verissimo (2, 7)
10. Nick Diaz (2, 9)
Also getting votes: Ikemoto, Nakao, Sakurai
This one had a bit of a shake-up as well, but the top two spots remained completely unphased. Trigg's dispatching of Renato Verissimo sees a big jump for Twinkle-toes and a slight drop for Charuto. Sean Sherk slips slightly to Shields, allowing for a nice tounge-twister. St. Pierre, Karo Parisyan, Nick Diaz all show a ton of talent but can barely crack the list. Talk about a stacked division.
The DVDVR Infallible Opinion Poll is a highly regarded, extensively studied, and extraordinarily accurate look at the best and brightest in mixed martial arts today.