If you had your own MMA league who would you stack your division with if you could get ANYONE to sign?

First I'd have three divisions- A, B, C for simplicity
A class: the obvious greats, the kobe bryants of mma
B class: Those that need to prove themselves to break into the A class... sort of like the WEC
C Class: Amateur league, KOTC/IFL type skill level

Not exactly sure what the criteria would be to move from class to class

But I'm thinking every year there would a Grand Prix (basically like a championship) that determines top 3 in their division and presents them with the opportunity to get to the A division.

It would be cool if there was a way that a fighter could formally challenge a fighter in another division for their spot on the roster other than assign fights between ranked fighters in each division.

Anyway this is off the top of my head

Heavyweight
A: Fedor (duh), Barnett, Couture, Nog, Gonzaga, Werdum,
B: Tim Sylvia, Jeff Monson, Cro Cop, Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Herring, Kongo, Vera, Cain Velasquez,
C: Kimbo, Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Dan Severn (ON THE UFC ROSTER WTF?? LOL)

Light Heavyweight
A: Machida, Rampage, Cro Cop?, Wanderlei, Forrest Griffin, Liddell,
B: Tito, Shogun, Thiago Silva, Jardine, Rashad Evans, Goran Relijic,
C: James Irvin, Houston Alexander, Stephan Bonner

Middleweight
A: Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Robby Lawler
B: Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, Rick Franklin, Yushin Okami,
C: Everyone else

Welterweight
A: GSP, Anthony Johnson, Nick Diaz, Gomi, Thiago, Diego Sanchez, Karo, Danzig,
B: Koscheck, Hughes, Ryo Chonan (IS ON THE UFC ROSTER BUT HASN"T FOUGHT YET! WTF?!), Luke Cummo,
C: ??

Lightweight
A: BJ Penn, Kenny Florian, Kid Yamamoto??, Genki Sudo??, Joachim Hansen, JZ Calav???, Aoki, Jamie Varner,
B: Joe Lauzon, Joe Stevenson, Melvin Guillard, Razor Rob, Faber, Pulver
C: ??
F: me (lol)

145
A: Faber, Pulver, Kid Yamamoto
B: ??
C: ??

I always thought that the gaps between lw and ww and mw were too big. I think they should have 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185 then 205 and HW. And no weight limit at HW.

I like the GP idea. For new talent they might have regional GPs. Like a Brazil GP or Asia GP. Winners get to fight in the majors.

Actually Pride did have something like a regional qualifying tournament series in Brazil.

Xen Nova wrote:
Welterweight
A: GSP, Anthony Johnson

Sneaking your boy in like that, huh? ;-)

Dude has great potential, no doubt, but not A just yet. He lost to the best guy he's faced, and beat TUF'er/WEC guy

Still has something to prove, i.e., "B" list.

But, hey, we're all allowed to be biased when it comes to friends.

/Just keeping ya honest./

Oh, and Danzig is a LW, not a WW. Tough call whether he should be "A" or "B." I think he's very good, but he has yet to beat top guys.

Interesting that you'd put Franklin in the "B" list. Only Silva has beaten him in how long. I'd say he's definitely in the "A" list.

Can ya have Diego Sanchez in the "A" list but have Koscheck in the "B" list?

MMA math really makes it hard deciding who is an "A" or "B."

You'd really relegate Shogun to "B" list? What is left to prove? He dropped a fight. Don't be so fickle, my man.

Same thing with Hughes. I mean, guy was an "A." But now a "B"? He really has nothing left to prove. He's proven it. But he's not a top guy.

So some don't really fit "A" or "B."

Complicated stuff.

BJ Penn won't want to fight in your lightweight because he wants to be the best at every weight.

CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Xen Nova wrote:
Welterweight
A: GSP, Anthony Johnson

Sneaking your boy in like that, huh? ;-)

Dude has great potential, no doubt, but not A just yet. He lost to the best guy he's faced, and beat TUF'er/WEC guy

Still has something to prove, i.e., "B" list.

But, hey, we're all allowed to be biased when it comes to friends.

/Just keeping ya honest./

Oh, and Danzig is a LW, not a WW. Tough call whether he should be "A" or "B." I think he's very good, but he has yet to beat top guys.

Interesting that you'd put Franklin in the "B" list. Only Silva has beaten him in how long. I'd say he's definitely in the "A" list.

Can ya have Diego Sanchez in the "A" list but have Koscheck in the "B" list?

MMA math really makes it hard deciding who is an "A" or "B."

You'd really relegate Shogun to "B" list? What is left to prove? He dropped a fight. Don't be so fickle, my man.

Same thing with Hughes. I mean, guy was an "A." But now a "B"? He really has nothing left to prove. He's proven it. But he's not a top guy.

So some don't really fit "A" or "B."

Complicated stuff.

Yea at second look my list is inconsistent as fuck lol

That female Gracie chick and Gina Carano. No gi. No clothes. Buck Naked. A pit of jello, oil, or mud depending on how I feel. No punches, no kicking, submissions, eye gouging, etc.

What's allowed:
*Kissing
*Extreme rubbing and petting
*Licking

Way to win:
*Pin your opponent for as long as it takes the Ref to call.

Ref= WolBarret

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!

as long as Dina Al Sabah can compete too i want your league to exist ... so bad my fren... so bad.

Xen Nova wrote:

Yea at second look my list is inconsistent as fuck lol


That alone should qualify you to arrange UFC cards! :)

One correction from your original list, Ryo has fought in the UFC, he lost to Karo a few months back.

Since I have no qualifications myself, I'd go out and hire the best I could to set up my system, but I can say it would be more Pride style than UFC style.

Are we just going on a fighter's skill, or are we factoring in other intangibles?

If those intangibles, like interviews and buzz are a part of the process, you'd have to have guys like Tito, Kimbo and Brock fighting on your biggest cards.

They may not be the best fighters, but they bring people to the arenas and to buy the PPV's, and that is critically important to the long-term health of any company.

I like the idea and the list, but how can you have Gonzaga in the A's and CroCop in the B's? I know Gonzaga delivered the KO to end all KO's on him, but come on. He looked sloppy and uncoordinated against R.C. and, if he and CroCop fight 100 times, he only wins the once.

I truly believe that was a monumental fluke of a shot, although it seemed to take the fight out of CroCop in his next fight. So, anyway, what gives?

The classes are an original idea. I especially like the ability to call out other fighters for their higher class spot.

My league would be year long grand prixs. I've been really into no weight classes lately...

Kensei wrote:
The classes are an original idea. I especially like the ability to call out other fighters for their higher class spot.

My league would be year long grand prixs. I've been really into no weight classes lately...

not that original i stole it from shooto

Xen Nova wrote:
not that original i stole it from shooto
Yeah but in Shooto you have no fear of going down a class (unless I misunderstood your original idea, which I easily could have. It's 7 am and I've been at work for 13 hours...)

No you're right, i didn't even think about that...

my idea is a little more based on ranking...