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Around SBN: Chan Sung Jung Wins Thriller Over Dustin Poirier

Compiling the rankings of twenty top mixed martial arts web sites, the USA TODAY / MMA Nation Consensus MMA Rankings present the top 25 fighters in MMA for the seven major weight classes. These world MMA rankings are the most accurate reflection of how the top fighters in MMA across all promotions like UFC, Strikeforce and ProElite are viewed by the experts who cover the sport.

Heavyweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 27, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Junior dos Santos 350 UFC 1
2 Alistair Overeem 330 UFC 2
3 Cain Velasquez 327 UFC 3
4 Frank Mir 290 UFC 5
5 Fabricio Werdum 287 UFC 4
6 Shane Carwin 256 UFC 7
7 Josh Barnett 252 Strikeforce 6
8 Daniel Cormier 250 Strikeforce 8
9 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 241 UFC 9
10 Antonio Silva 218 UFC 10
11 Fedor Emelianenko 145 M-1 11
12 Mark Hunt 138 UFC 13
13 Travis Browne 128 UFC 15
14 Mike Russow 108 UFC 18
15 Roy Nelson 107 UFC 14
16 Cheick Kongo 105 UFC 17
17 Cole Konrad 98 Bellator 19
17 Ben Rothwell 98 UFC 30
19 Brendan Schaub 90 UFC 12
20 Brock Lesnar 87 Retired 16
21 Stefan Struve 84 UFC 21
22 Sergei Kharitonov 79 Strikeforce 20
23 Matt Mitrione 69 UFC 22
24 Dan Henderson 67 UFC 24
25 Gabriel Gonzaga 65 UFC 23
41

Analysis by Richard Wade

With #2 Alistair Overeem unavailable, #1 Junior dos Santos will defend his title against #4 Frank Mir.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Light Heavyweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 27, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Jon Jones 350 UFC 1
2 Dan Henderson 331 UFC 2
3 Rashad Evans 323 UFC 3
4 Mauricio Rua 310 UFC 4
5 Lyoto Machida 293 UFC 5
6 Phil Davis 259 UFC 6
7 Alexander Gustafsson 239 UFC 9
8 Ryan Bader 233 UFC 7
9 Quinton Jackson 229 UFC 8
10 Forrest Griffin 194 UFC 10
11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 178 UFC 12
12 Gegard Mousasi 163 Strikeforce 11
13 Muhammed Lawal 120 Strikeforce 13
13 Rafael Cavalcante 120 Strikeforce 14
15 Rich Franklin 99 UFC 16
16 Tito Ortiz 98 UFC 17
17 Thiago Silva 94 UFC 15
18 Vladimir Matyushenko 80 UFC 18
19 Ryan Jimmo 70 UFC 20
20 Stanislav Nedkov 68 UFC 19
21 Stephan Bonnar 67 UFC 21
22 Mike Kyle 61 Strikeforce 22
23 Renato Sobral 58 Instinct MMA 22
24 Brandon Vera 57 UFC 24
24 Randy Couture 57 Retired 25
54

Analysis by Richard Wade

After an impressive showing against #3 Rashad Evans, #1 Jon Jones will set his sights on #2 Dan Henderson.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Middleweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 27, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Anderson Silva 350 UFC 1
2 Chael Sonnen 336 UFC 2
3 Mark Munoz 308 UFC 3
4 Vitor Belfort 297 UFC 4
5 Michael Bisping 273 UFC 5
6 Luke Rockhold 244 Strikeforce 7
7 Tim Boetsch 236 UFC 6
8 Yushin Okami 235 UFC 8
9 Chris Weidman 232 UFC 9
10 Brian Stann 216 UFC 10
11 Hector Lombard 173 UFC 11
12 Ronaldo Souza 167 Strikeforce 13
13 Nate Marquardt 156 Strikeforce 12
14 Tim Kennedy 140 Strikeforce 14
15 Demian Maia 133 UFC 16
16 Rousimar Palhares 129 UFC 15
17 Alan Belcher 108 UFC 18
18 Chris Leben 107 UFC 17
19 Mamed Khalidov 100 KSW 20
20 Wanderlei Silva 99 UFC 19
21 Jorge Santiago 87 Titan Fighting 21
22 Robbie Lawler 83 Strikeforce 22
23 Alexander Shlemenko 78 Bellator 23
24 Ed Herman 70 UFC 25
25 Ronny Markes 64 UFC 29
25 Constantinos Philippou 64 UFC 30
11

Analysis by Richard Wade

#1 Anderson Silva's next title defense will be a rematch against #2 Chael Sonnen.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Welterweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 27, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Georges St. Pierre 350 UFC 1
2 Carlos Condit 336 UFC 2
3 Jake Ellenberger 311 UFC 3
4 Nick Diaz 291 UFC 4
5 Johny Hendricks 278 UFC 6
6 Josh Koscheck 269 UFC 5
7 Jon Fitch 255 UFC 7
8 Jake Shields 250 UFC 8
9 Martin Kampmann 231 UFC 9
10 B.J. Penn 185 UFC 10
11 Rory MacDonald 154 UFC 12
12 Diego Sanchez 140 UFC 11
13 Ben Askren 123 Bellator 17
14 Thiago Alves 121 UFC 14
15 Tyron Woodley 109 Strikeforce 15
16 Rick Story 105 UFC 13
17 Charlie Brenneman 101 UFC 16
18 Siyar Bahadurzada 92 UFC 27
19 Jay Hieron 89 Bellator 18
20 Brian Ebersole 77 UFC 20
21 Mike Pyle 65 UFC 25
22 Mike Pierce 64 UFC 22
23 Anthony Johnson 63 Titan Fighting 21
24 Paulo Thiago 60 UFC 19
25 John Hathaway 59 UFC 28
23

Analysis by Richard Wade

With #1 Georges St. Pierre sidelined, the next big fight in the division is between #5 Johny Hendricks and #6 Josh Koscheck.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Lightweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 27, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Ben Henderson 350 UFC 1
2 Frankie Edgar 335 UFC 2
3 Gilbert Melendez 319 Strikeforce 3
4 Gray Maynard 312 UFC 4
5 Jim Miller 286 UFC 6
6 Clay Guida 260 UFC 7
7 Nate Diaz 251 UFC 8
8 Anthony Pettis 242 UFC 9
9 Michael Chandler 228 Bellator 10
10 Shinya Aoki 190 Bellator 5
11 Eddie Alvarez 181 Bellator 11
12 Donald Cerrone 134 UFC 12
13 Joe Lauzon 118 UFC 13
14 Gleison Tibau 116 UFC 14
15 Melvin Guillard 98 UFC 15
16 Evan Dunham 87 UFC 16
17 Josh Thomson 78 Strikeforce 21
18 Mark Bocek 75 UFC 30
19 Pat Healy 70 Strikeforce 20
20 Jacob Volkmann 68 UFC 23
21 Rafael dos Anjos 66 UFC 19
22 Matt Wiman 65 UFC 18
23 Rick Hawn 63 Bellator NR
24 George Sotiropoulos 58 UFC 24
24 Jadamba Narantungalag 58 Legend Fighting Championship 25
28

Analysis by Richard Wade

#3 Gilbert Melendez will make his next title defense against #17 Josh Thomson.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Featherweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 26, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Jose Aldo 350 UFC 1
2 Hatsu Hioki 328 UFC 2
3 Chad Mendes 304 UFC 3
4 Pat Curran 291 Bellator 4
5 Marlon Sandro 263 Bellator 5
6 Dustin Poirier 239 UFC 7
7 Kenny Florian 231 UFC 8
8 Dennis Siver 211 UFC NR
9 Erik Koch 191 UFC 9
10 Diego Nunes 172 UFC 6
11 Chan Sung Jung 161 UFC 10
12 Tatsuya Kawajiri 149 One Fighting Championship 12
13 Bart Palaszewski 121 UFC 11
14 Hiroyuki Takaya 117 DREAM 14
15 Manny Gamburyan 112 UFC 15
16 Yuri Alcantara 106 UFC 17
17 Tyson Griffin 97 UFC 19
18 Robert Peralta 96 UFC 18
19 Patricio Freire 87 Bellator 16
20 Takeshi Inoue 64 DREAM 24
21 Ricardo Lamas 64 UFC 20
22 Darren Elkins 61 UFC 21
23 Michihiro Omigawa 61 UFC 22
24 Ross Pearson 57 UFC 25
25 Mark Hominick 56 UFC 13
6

Analysis by Richard Wade

With everyone else busy, #9 Erik Koch will be the next to challenge #1 Jose Aldo.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

Bantamweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted April 26, 2012

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank
1 Dominick Cruz 350 UFC 1
2 Urijah Faber 335 UFC 2
3 Renan Barao 315 UFC 3
4 Brian Bowles 302 UFC 4
5 Michael McDonald 279 UFC 8
6 Scott Jorgensen 271 UFC 5
7 Brad Pickett 233 UFC 9
8 Miguel Torres 227 UFC 6
9 Bibiano Fernandes 215 DREAM 7
10 Eduardo Dantas 200 Bellator 11
11 Antonio Banuelos 114 DREAM 14
12 Zach Makovsky 111 Bellator 12
13 Chris Cariaso 109 UFC 17
14 Joseph Benavidez 91 UFC 15
15 Takeya Mizugaki 90 UFC 16
16 Luis Alberto Nogueira 86 Bellator NR
17 Eddie Wineland 85 UFC 19
18 Travis Marx 82 Bellator NR
19 Demetrious Johnson 81 UFC 18
20 Ivan Menjivar 77 UFC 24
21 Masakatsu Ueda 76 Bellator 10
22 Alexis Vila 75 Bellator 13
23 Yves Jabouin 69 UFC 21
24 Marcos Galvao 66 Bellator 22
25 Mike Easton 63 UFC 27
2

Analysis by Richard Wade

The division remains on hold thanks to #1 Dominick Cruz and #2 Urijah Faber coaching The Ultimate Fighter Live.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

About the Rankings

compiled by Kid Nate and Richard Wade of Bloody Elbow

Bloody ElbowBased 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 »

Sources

Jeremy Botter, Heavy MMA
Fight Matrix
Jordan Breen, Sherdog
Jim Genia, Full Contact Fighter
Jesse Holland, MMA Mania
Kevin Iole, Yahoo!
Eric Kamander, MMA Ratings
MMA Playground
MMA Weekly
Leland Roling, Bloody Elbow
Matthew Roth, Head Kick Legend
Wojslaw Rysiewski, MMA Rocks
Michael David Smith, MMA Fighting
Derek Suboticki, Fightlinker
Luke Thomas, SB Nation