Heavyweight
- Cain Velasquez (UFC) – We await his return from injury eagerly while the number one contender and former champion coach TUF and fight for a title shot.
- Junior Dos Santos (UFC) – Another fight, another win. JDS is ready for the only test that remains in his way.
- Antonio Silva (Strikeforce) – His win was the most impressive of the Strikeforce GP first round. Thtas enough to bump him up.
- Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce) – Unimpressive in his win but a win over a legit top 10 HW all the same. His fight against Silva will be a true test.
- Brock Lesnar (UFC) – Illness thwarts another fight for Lesnar. All eyes are on Brock to see if he can return.
- Fabricio Werdum (Strikeforce) – Coming off a tough loss but he has been very impressive as of late. Not a lot of people in the division are streaking so he doesn’t fall far
- Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce) – The fall of Fedor continues. As much as I thoroughly enjoy seeing Fedor fight, I thoroughly hate seeing him lose. Maybe it is time to hang it up.
- Shane Carwin (UFC) – A valiant effort is not enough to hold ones spot in this division. Carwin needs to come back with a big win.
- Frank Mir (UFC) – Another win and another ho-hum from the fans. This time he failed to finish a clearly out of shape fighter with his hands at his waste.
- Josh Barnett (Strikeforce) – On skill and on record I consider him top 5 or very close. His lack of competition and his failed drug test keep him at 10 for me.
Light- Heavyweight
- Jon Jones (UFC) – There is no doubt that he is the number one LHW in the world but now the true test of a champion begins.
- Rashad Evans (UFC) – Has KO power and knows the strengths and weaknesses of Jones, but everyone is counting him out.
- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (UFC) – Despite all the flack, Rampaged looked great in his last two outings and earned himself a title shot.
- Lyoto Machida (UFC) – Machida knocked Randy Couture into retirement with ease. What’s next for the Karate Kid?
- Shogun Rua (UFC) – In such a tight title division, he gets jumped by two guys with recent high profile wins.
- Dan Henderson (Strikeforce) – Won the SF title and returns himself to the LHW ranks. He meets Fedor at the end of the month.
- Forrest Griffen (UFC) – Big win over Franklin propels him up the list. He is probably even a little better than a few guys above him, but needs wins in 2011.
- Muhammed Lawal (Strikeforce) – Very good athlete but very green. King Mo should continue to improve.
- Phil Davis (UFC) – Opportunity strikes again as Davis replaces yet another main event fighter and gets a shot at Rashad Evans. A win puts him really close to a title shot.
- Tito Ortiz (UFC) – This guy has never fought a can in his life and has had lots of close loses to top guys. His win was huge and he will make my top 10 based on skill.
Middleweight
- Anderson Silva (UFC) – Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the world and he will look to prove it at home when he meets Okami in Brazil.
- Yushin Okami (UFC) – Okami has earned his shot but will likely again be passed over. He still gets the number two nod from me though.
- Ronaldo Souza (Strikeforce) – There is a really good chance that a lot of guys below him could beat him but its hard to argue with his recent success.
- Chael Sonnen (UFC) – Between the drug test fiasco and the money laundering, I can’t put him any higher than this.
- Hector Lombard (Bellator) – One of Bellator’s greatest attractions, keep an eye on Lombard in 2011.
- Vitor Belfort (UFC)– Vitor came to fight and it’s a real shame there wasn’t more time to see what he had. Back to the drawing board.
- Mark Munoz (UFC) – Huge win over Maia, who was also quite impressive.
- Brian Stann (UFC) – Stann is the man for now. We will see how he stacks up against the next level of competition.
- Chris Leban (UFC) – As much as it pains me to see Wandi lose, Leban gets another big win and jumps into the top 10.
- Demian Maia (UFC) – Jumped by Leban and his huge win. Maia needs to bounce back from his speed bump lose to Munoz.
Welterweights
- Georges St. Pierre (UFC) – Another fight and another win. Some still call for the Silva fight but that seems to be on hold for the moment.
- Jon Fitch (UFC) – It appears that Fitch would be a dominant champion if it wasn’t for GSP. A win over Penn could put him in line for a title shot soon.
- Carlos Condit (UFC) – I would rather see Condit and Diaz fight GSP but not even his most recent win will jump him over Fitch who stubbornly wont lose.
- Nick Diaz (Strikeforce) – Gets a title shot against GSP. If nothing else this will be worth tuning into for the trashtalk.
- Jake Shields (UFC) – He fought hard but there was never a sense of urgency in this fight. He seemed content with not getting finished.
- Josh Koscheck (UFC) – Few can match his athleticism. It may be back to the drawing board for Kos but it wont be long till he regains momentum.
- Diego Sanchez (UFC) – Diego Sanchez creeps back into the ranks with his recent win but its hard for me to take him seriously till he picks a weight.
- Martin Kampmann (UFC) – A tough let down against Sanchez in a fight that could have easily been decided the other way.
- Charlie Brenneman (UFC) – You can’t overstate how big his win over Story was. This guy might not stay here long but he took advantage of his opportunity.
- Rick Story (UFC) – Had a chance to jump to the elite tier in the division and blew it. He doesn’t fall out of the top 10 but he has some rebounding to do.
Lightweight
- Gray Maynard (UFC) – The only non-UFC Champ at the top. Maynard has a win and a draw over the champ and is unbeaten as a pro.
- Frankie Edgar (UFC) – Will get another shot to beat Maynard and silence the critics that are still not sold he is the best LW in the world.
- Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce) – Probably as good as anyone in the world at 155. We would all be better MMA fans if we got to see him fight the best.
- Eddie Alvarez (Bellator) – Another reason big reason to keep an eye on MMA outside the UFC, Alvarez could meet Melendez this year… if we are lucky.
- Jim Miller (UFC) – On talent I think he is four but achievement counts for something so his patience must hold for now.
- Melvin Guillard (UFC) – He is the real deal and now that he is fighting a lot smarter he has looked unstoppable. Whats next?
- Shinya Aoki (Dream) – I tend to think he is a bit overrated, especially after taking a beating from Melendez but his record speaks for itself.
- Dennis Siver (UFC) – Another main card win but this one with controversy. Jumps Guilda but gets jumped by Guillard.
- Clay Guida (UFC) Gets jumped by a few guys with big wins but maintains his spot on the list.
- Anthony Pettis (UFC) – A bump in the road to the top is just that… a bump. I think we havne’t heard the last from Pettis.
Featherweight
- Jose Aldo (UFC) – Good News: He is 2010 fighter of the year and pound for pound rated. Bad News: Top UFC lightweights are moving down to Featherweight.
- Kenny Florian (UFC) – He made the weight, he got a big win, and now it looks like he has a title shot lined up.
- Mark Hominick – No one forgot his epic demonstration of will against Aldo. This guy deserves to stay in the mix.
- Hatsu Hioki (UFC) – Quite brilliant over the last few years with only one blemish on his record in that time. Hioki just got picked up by the UFC.
- Chad Mendes (UFC) – Unbeaten and rising quickly, Mendes will likely have to fend off a former UFC lightweight before he can get his crack at the belt.
- Tyson Griffin (UFC) – He is primed and ready to make a run in his new division.
- Diego Nunes (UFC) No harm in losing to Florian at this point in his career. He will have another chance.
- Joe Warren (Bellator) – Big questions about quality of competition loom but Warren has beaten his share of game opponents.
- Dustin Poirier (UFC) – Loads of potential and very entertaining, Poirier is going to have to tighten up his game if he wants to break into the top 5.
- Patricio Freire (Bellator) – Just one lose on his record and it came to Joe Warren. He is exciting and has a bright future.
Bantamweight
- Dominick Cruz (UFC) – Simply put, he has been more impressive than anyone at this weight over the last year. He awaits his challengers for his new belt.
- Joseph Benavidez (UFC) – Benavidez doesn’t lose to people not named Dominick Cruz. Unfortunately that is the one guy he needs to beat to move up.
- Brian Bowles (UFC) – If he can’t shake the injury bug he may move down further. Bowles has top tier skills at 135 pounds.
- Urijah Faber (UFC) – His razor close lose to Cruz doesn’t drop him far but when Bowles wins and he loses, despite competition, I find the move needed.
- Scott Jorgensen (UFC) – Back on the winning track, Jorgensen will look to keep his spot among the elite at 135 lbs.
- Demetrious Johnson (UFC) – Biggest win of his career over Miguel Torres and now he eyes a title shot in the not too distant future.
- Masakatso Ueda (Shooto) – He may only be on a two fight win streak but he is 12-1-2. Ueda seems to be improving with each fight.
- Miguel Torres (UFC) – Another set back has a lot of people wondering if Torres was ever as good as his billing.
- Eddie Wineland (UFC) – As impressive as you can be in defeat against a top-notch guy. Wineland made his mark at UFC 128.
- Brad Pickett (UFC) – Just one lose in his last 11 fights, Pickett will need to continue his exciting ways if he wants to move up from here.
Updated: July 4th, 2011
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