Originally Posted by DingoBrigade

Shaolin has battled injuries and I don't think he should be overly penalized for it. He has a great resume (19-2!) and has finished the majority of his opponents. Losing to GZ isn't anything to be ashamed of, considering that no one who has faced GZ in the past 4 years has beat him besides Aoki. I do think he still needs to work on his standup, but his work on the ground is nothing short of elite. He transitions as quickly and fluidly as anyone in the world.

I guess I am penalizing him the same way people have penalized some of the heavyweights who had been inactive. He has not fought since September and that was a tko loss. He has not won in over a year, and he has not beat a top ten fighter in four years.

I am not debating whether he is a good fighter or whether he is one of the top grapplers in mma. Bottom line he has been inactive and lacks any recent big name wins.

Originally Posted by JensenS

Its obviously a given that he's been the breakout star thus far in 2008. With his performances through out the course of the Grand Prix with his wins over Hellboy and Aoki, how high does this put him in the rankings?

Dude has definitely made me a fan.

Alvarez never fought Aoki yet. If he beats Aoki, he is in the top 10.

I misspoke, I meant Kawajiri.

Regardless, Aoki or no Aoki as can be seen he's considered Top 5 almost unanimously now by ranking services.