USAT/SBN September MMA Consensus Rankings: Featherweight

Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

American Top Team's "simple man" is still sitting pretty as #1 Mike Thomas Brown remains the top-ranked fighter in MMA's featherweight division. Whether he'll be able to hold onto the belt when he faces #5 Jose Aldo at WEC 44 is another matter. Some suggest a defeat for Aldo could send him packing to bantamweight where is likely to also be ultra competitive, but for now, the Novia Uniao product is trying his hand at championship gold at 145lbs.

No word yet on when WEC poster boy #2 Urijah Faber will return to action. After breaking one hand and dislocating the thumb in the other against Mike Brown, the California Kid will likely require significant healing time, which could impact his standing in the rankings if his inactivity becomes prolonged.

WEC newcomer Mackens Semerzier will have his hands full when he takes on Nova Unaio dynamo #3 Wagnney Fabiano at WEC 43. Interestingly, if Aldo defeats Brown, then Fabiano will drop to bantamweight, but for now the teammates are happy to compete as featherweights.

"The Iron Broomstick" in #4 Hatsu Hioki notched a win over #15 Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku - Ninth Battle, but was unable to continue on to the tournament finals where Kanehara was luckily able to defeat #17 Michihiro Omigawa to win the Featherweight Grand Prix. Hioki and Omigawa will square off at Sengoku's next show, with the winner likely challenging Kanehara for the title on New Year's Eve.

Team Greg Jackson's #6 Leonard Garcia stands pat after a successful if boring win over #20 Jameel Massouh at WEC 42.

Haitian immigrant turned Canadian kickboxer Yves Jabouin will lock horns with the always reliable #7 Rafael Assuncao at WEC 43.

#8 Takeshi Inoue remains in the top 10 after dispatching the Moon Wolf in Rumina Sato in Shooto back in May.

#9 Josh Grispi benefits from #16 Dokonjonosuke Mishima finally dropping out of the top ten.

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.