Kimbo Slice rode the wave of publicity surrounding his Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale bout against Houston Alexander back to the top of the MMA fan buzz rankings in December. Despite losing the reality show and having other contestants receive higher billing, it was without a doubt Kimbo Slice who drove the ratings and interest in the December 5th Spike TV event. With his victory over Alexander, Kimbo will continue to draw overwhelming casual fan curiosity that will help the UFC promote any event he is a part of. Last month’s top ranked fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, fell five spots to sixth place in the month following his knockout of Brett Rogers. BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez shot to second and third place as a result of their UFC 107 main event title fight, while the inactive Brock Lesnar remains a focal point of fan interest in fourth place in December.
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 50 Overall Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Fedor Emelianenko)
- October 2009 (#1 Rank: Lyoto Machida)
- September 2009 (#1 Rank: Kimbo Slice)
December 2009 Rankings
| December Rank |
Fighter | November to December Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson | Up 7 |
| 2 | BJ Penn | Up 50 |
| 3 | Diego Sanchez | Up 36 |
| 4 | Brock Lesnar | Down 2 |
| 5 | Frank Mir | Up 43 |
| 6 | Fedor Emelianenko | Down 5 |
| 7 | Houston Alexander | Up 31 |
| 8 | Roy Nelson | Up 41 |
| 9 | Brendan Schaub | Up 80 |
| 10 | Marcus Jones | Up 9 |
| 11 | Cung Le | Up 13 |
| 12 | Quinton “Rampage” Jackson | Up 2 |
| 13 | Georges St. Pierre | Up 19 |
| 14 | Rashad Evans | Down 1 |
| 15 | Anderson Silva | Down 9 |
| 16 | Lyoto Machida | Down 7 |
| 17 | Jon Jones | Up 84 |
| 18 | Chuck Liddell | Down 8 |
| 19 | Bobby Lashley | Down 7 |
| 20 | Tito Ortiz | Down 17 |
| 21 | Thiago Silva | Up 13 |
| 22 | Scott Smith | Up 75 |
| 23 | Jon Fitch | Up 42 |
| 24 | Cheick Kongo | Up 57 |
| 25 | Dan Henderson | Up 12 |
| 26 | Clay Guida | Up 57 |
| 27 | Randy Couture | Down 23 |
| 28 | Matt Hughes | Down 3 |
| 29 | Alistair Overeem | Down 3 |
| 30 | Dan Hardy | Down 13 |
| 31 | Forrest Griffin | Down 26 |
| 32 | Matt Mitrione | Up 113 |
| 33 | Kenny Florian | Up 39 |
| 34 | Shane Carwin | Down 16 |
| 35 | Gilbert Yvel | Up 274 |
| 36 | Josh Koscheck | Down 16 |
| 37 | Gegard Mousasi | Down 16 |
| 38 | Mauricio “Shogun” Rua | Down 2 |
| 39 | Andrei Arlovski | Down 4 |
| 40 | Wanderlei Silva | Down 7 |
| 41 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Down 11 |
| 42 | Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal | Up 138 |
| 43 | Renzo Gracie | Up 18 |
| 44 | Gina Carano | Down 3 |
| 45 | Vitor Belfort | Down 14 |
| 46 | Stefan Struve | Up 125 |
| 47 | Keith Jardine | Up 23 |
| 48 | Jason “Mayhem” Miller | Down 37 |
| 49 | Nick Diaz | Up 27 |
| 50 | Matt Hamill | Up 23 |
Dropped out of Top 50:
Ken Shamrock (#51), Royce Gracie (#61), Cain Velasquez (#63), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (#65), Brandon Vera (#70), Fabricio Werdum (#81), Tim Sylvia (#82), Jose Aldo (#84), Brett Rogers (#87), Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (#104), Jake Shields (#111), Michael Bisping (#113), Phil Baroni (#152), Anthony Johnson (#163), Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (#167), Denis Kang (#224)
[...] 50 Overall Buzz Rankings for recent months: – January 2010 (#1 Rank: Brock Lesnar) – December 2009 (#1 Rank: Kimbo Slice) – November 2009 (#1 Rank: Fedor [...]