Georges “Rush” St-Pierre became the highest buzz-generating welterweight MMA fighter in December despite inactivity as he gets ready for his next title defense. All it apparently took for “GSP” to generate a shot of fan enthusiasm was the announcement of his next title defense, against “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy. Hardy had been atop the divisional buzz rankings in November following his impressive victory over Mike Swick at UFC 105, but fell to fourth in November. Jon Fitch and Matt Hughes rose into second and third, respectively. Showing a consistent presence on the list of buzz-generating welterweights is Lithuanian product Marius Zaromskis. After an excellent run in the Dream promotion in Japan, Zaromskis is set to face off against Nick Diaz in his Strikeforce and US debut. Full Top 20 rankings are below.
Tapology’s Buzz Rankings measure fan interest in individual MMA fighters based on online searches and pageviews for information about each athlete. The rankings are not a measure of a fighter’s skill or competitive standing within their division, but rather how much activity or “buzz” surrounds them (positive or negative).
Top 20 Welterweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Dan Hardy)
- October 2009 (#1 Rank: Anthony Johnson)
- September 2009 (#1 Rank: Matt Hughes)
December 2009 Welterweight (170 lbs) Rankings
| December Rank |
Welterweight Fighter | November to December Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georges St Pierre | Up 4 |
| 2 | Jon Fitch | Up 8 |
| 3 | Matt Hughes | No Change |
| 4 | Dan Hardy | Down 3 |
| 5 | Josh Koscheck | Down 3 |
| 6 | Nick Diaz | Up 8 |
| 7 | Thiago Alves | Up 5 |
| 8 | Matt Serra | Up 18 |
| 9 | Mike Pierce | Up 12 |
| 10 | Johny Hendricks | Up 43 |
| 11 | Marius Zaromskis | Up 9 |
| 12 | Paul Daley | Up 21 |
| 13 | Paulo Thiago | Down 5 |
| 14 | Edgar Garcia | Up 21 |
| 15 | Amir Sadollah | Down 8 |
| 16 | Karo Parisyan | Down 1 |
| 17 | DaMarques Johnson | Up 13 |
| 18 | T.J. Grant | Up 71 |
| 19 | Frank Trigg | Up 12 |
| 20 | Dustin Hazelett | Up 5 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
Mike Swick (#22), Phil Baroni (#26), Anthony Johnson (#28), Marcus Davis (#29), Ben Saunders (#34), Matt Brown (#37), James Wilks (#38), Jacob Volkmann (#39), Brock Larson (#62)
[...] 20 Welterweight Buzz Rankings for recent months: – December 2009 (#1 Rank: Georges St. Pierre) – November 2009 (#1 Rank: Dan Hardy) – October 2009 (#1 Rank: Anthony Johnson) – September 2009 (#1 [...]
[...] Saturday, May 2, 2009, at … British boxer Ricky Hatton after he was knocked down by Manny …December MMA Buzz Rankings: Welterweight DivisionGeorges St Pierre became the highest buzz-generating welterweight MMA fighter in December. With the [...]