MMA Rankings: Stunning victories, failed tests cause divisional chaos
It's been a while since SI.com's last set of rankings, and the volatility of mixed martial arts has taken its toll on each division's top 10. A chemically enhanced Josh Barnett caused movement among heavyweights, while Anderson Silva and Gegard Mousasi forced light heavyweights to shuffle. At middleweight, DanHenderson has re-emerged as a force, and the welterweights find new order in their bottom five.
The lighter classes have enjoyed the most stability, but that's not saying much as Brian Bowles stunned former bantamweight champ Miguel Torres at WEC 42.
There's plenty to digest in the latest rankings, so get ready.
Heavyweight
1. Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 NC) 2. Brock Lesnar (4-1) 3. Josh Barnett (24-5) 4. Frank Mir (12-4) 5. AntonioRodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1, 1 NC) 6. Randy Couture (16-9) 7. Alistair Overeem (29-11, 1 NC) 8. Shane Carwin (11-0) 9. Brett Rogers (10-0)10. Andrei Arlovski (15-7)
Others receiving consideration: Jeff Monson, Mirko Filipovic, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum
Light Heavyweight
1. Lyoto Machida (15-0) 2. Quinton Jackson (30-7)3. Rashad Evans (13-1-1) 4. Dan Henderson (25-7) 5. Mauricio Rua (18-3) 6. Anderson Silva (25-4) 7. Keith Jardine (14-5-1) 8. Forrest Griffin (16-6) 9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (17-3) 10. Gegard Mousasi (29-2-1)
Others receiving consideration: Luiz Cane, Rich Franklin, Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, Tito Ortiz
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva (25-4) 2. Yushin Okami (23-4) 3. Dan Henderson (25-7) 4. Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) 5. Jorge Santiago (21-7) 6. Vitor Belfort (18-8) 7. Demian Maia (10-0) 8. Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 NC) 9. Chael Sonnen (23-10-1) 10. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1, 2 NC)
Others receiving consideration: Jake Shields, Kazuo Misaki, Paulo Filho, Ronaldo Souza, Hector Lombard
Welterweight
1. Georges St. Pierre (19-2) 2. Jon Fitch (19-3, 1 NC) 3. Thiago Alves (16-4) 4. Jake Shields (23-4-1) 5. Matt Hughes (43-7) 6. Martin Kampmann (15-2) 7. Paulo Thiago (11-1) 8. Josh Koscheck (12-4) 9. Carlos Condit (22-5)10. Marius Zarmoskis (12-3)
Others receiving consideration: Mike Swick, Jay Hieron, Brock Larson, Dan Hardy, Marcus Davis
Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn (14-5-1) 2. Shinya Aoki (21-4, 1 NC) 3. Eddie Alvarez (18-2) 4. Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) 5. Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) 6. Kenny Florian (11-4) 7. Gray Maynard (7-0, 1 NC) 8. Frank Edgar (10-1) 9. Sean Sherk (33-4-1) 10. Josh Thomson (16-2, 1 NC)
Others receiving consideration: Diego Sanchez, Gesias Calvancante, Gilbert Melendez, Mizuto Hirota, Tyson Griffin
Featherweight
1. Mike Thomas Brown (22-4) 2. Urijah Faber (22-3) 3. Hatsu Hioki (20-3-2) 4. Wagnney Fabiano (12-1) 5. Jose Aldo (15-1) 6. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (19-6-2) 7. Takeshi Inoue (16-3) 8. Leonard Garcia (13-4) 9. Raphael Assuncao (13-1) 10. Joe Warren (2-0)
Others receiving consideration: Josh Grispi, Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Soto, Masanori Kanehara, Marlon Sandro
Bantamweight
1. Brian Bowles (8-0) 2. Miguel Torres (37-2) 3. Masakatsu Ueda (10-0-2) 4. Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2) 5. Dominick Cruz (14-1) 6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2) 7. Will Ribeiro (10-2)8. Damacio Page (11-4) 9. Rani Yahya (15-4) 10. Joseph Benavidez (10-1)
Others receiving consideration: Yoshiro Manny Tapia, Eduardo Dantas, Koetsu Okazaki, Marcos Galvao, Antonio Banuelos
Pound-for-pound
1. Anderson Silva (Brazil) 2. Georges St. Pierre (Canada) 3. Fedor Emelianenko (Russia) 4. Lyoto Machida (Brazil) 5. B.J. Penn (U.S.) 6. Mike Thomas Brown (U.S.) 7. Dan Henderson (U.S.) 8. Quinton Jackson (U.S.) 9. Brian Bowles (U.S.) 10. Miguel Torres (U.S.)
