Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

This division has gone from being a chaotic mess less than two years ago to being a division enduring a reign of terror by undisputed #1 Anderson Silva and his manager Ed Soares. Anderson has taken to toying with the UFC's booking plans the way he toy with opponents. He is expected to defend his UFC title against #6 Vitor Belfort but he has been such a headache that it's not clear when, or if, that fight will happen.

UFC 108 has been a heavily rumored possibility, but now that Brock Lesnar will be defending his heavyweight belt on that card, it seems likely that the UFC will move Silva's next defense to another card.

Meanwhile, #2 Nate Marquardt waits in limbo. At one point it seemed he had earned a title shot by KTFO'ing #5 Demian Maia at UFC 102. Then it looked like he would have to go through #3 Dan Henderson in a #1 contender match. But with Henderson's ongoing contract drama with the UFC showing no sign of resolution, Nate the Great waits.

#8 Yushin Okami plummeted in the rankings after being thoroughly dominated by #7 Chael Sonnen at UFC 104. No word on what's next for the UFC's least favorite red-headed step-child. Sonnen seems set to reap the rewards of beating a fighter that the UFC wanted no where near a title shot.

#4 Jorge Santiago will fight the unranked Mamed Khalidov in a non-title bout at Sengoku XI on November 7. World Victory Road is going to have their work cut out for them to keep Santiago under contract when Strikeforce could certainly use a top middleweight.

#9 Robbie Lawler is rumored to be in line for a rematch with #19 Nick Diaz in December. No idea if that fight will be at middleweight or a catchweight.

#10 Yoshihiro Akiyama will be headlining the UFC's Australian debut at UFC against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110. The winner of that fight will be fast-tracked into contention for the UFC title as they are both sorely needed draws in a division with no surplus of fan favorites.

Based on the premise that all MMA rankings are subjective but that it’s still useful and informative to know who the online MMA community as a whole ranks as the best fighters in MMA, we collect and average the rankings of the top MMA websites to produce our consensus rankings. Show more "

We compile the top MMA rankings from each of our sources and award 25 points for a first place ranking, 16 for a 10th place ranking, 1 for a 25th place ranking. A formula is used to "normalize" the data so all fighters are awarded points from those lists that do not include a full 25 fighters. This formula ensures that each ranking site awards the same number of total points regardless of how many fighters they choose to rank. Each fighter’s total is divided by the number of possible points to determine their standing in the Consensus Rankings.