In an announcement that came out of nowhere, UFC president Dana White today said that the UFC will team up with Fight Metric to create an official fighter rankings system. As well, the UFC will consult with 90 media members to help create the rankings. The media members will be able to go to UFC.com after each event and vote on the top 10 of each weight class, as well as a special “pound-for-pound” division. Fighters may only appear in the top 10 of one division, and champions and interim champions are automatically No. 1 and No. 2 in the weight class. In the meantime, feel free to check out MMA Oddsbreaker’s MMA Fighter Rankings. Oveeem to Receive Title Shot with Win Over “Bigfoot” White also confirmed today that heavyweight Alistair Overeem will get a title shot against UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez if he defeats Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156 this weekend. Overeem, who was suspended for the last nine months due to failing a random drug test, last fought at UFC 141, dispatching of Brock Lesnar in what was at the time a No. 1 contender’s bout. However, the suspension took him out of a planned fight against former champ Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 and so he must get past the powerful “Bigfoot” in order to earn his title shot again. Evans vs. Silva interests UFC, White says White today told the media that if Rashad Evans gets through Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at this weekend’s UFC 156 event, the UFC would consider asking him to drop to 185 pounds to fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. All of Evans’ UFC fights have taken place at 205 pounds and above, so it’s not certain if he can make the weight. However, if he can make 185 pounds there’s no doubt that a potential Evans vs. Silva title matchup would draw huge numbers at the box office. More Fights Added to UFC 159, UFC on FUEL TV 9 The UFC today announced that Russian prospect Rustam Khabilov, who is fresh off an incredible suplex KO of Vinc Pichel at the TUF 16 Finale, will take on former Strikeforce fighter Yancy Medeiros in a featured lightweight bout at UFC 159, which occurs this April in New Jersey. As well, lightweights Al Iaquinta and Joe Proctor will square off at the event. Additionally, a welterweight bout between Papy Abedi and Besam Yousef has been added to UFC on FUEL TV 9, which takes place in Sweden this April.
