Analysis by Richard Wade
Jose Aldo continues to look unbeatable following his dominant victory over Chad Mendes.
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.
| Rank | Fighter | Points | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 400 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 366 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 362 | UFC | 2 |
| 4 | Pat Curran | 320 | Bellator | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 275 | Bellator | 5 |
| 6 | Diego Nunes | 271 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Dustin Poirier | 247 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Erik Koch | 227 | UFC | 9 |
| 9 | Chan Sung Jung | 200 | UFC | 12 |
| 10 | Kenny Florian | 199 | UFC | 8 |
| 11 | Mark Hominick | 193 | UFC | 11 |
| 12 | Bart Palaszewski | 191 | UFC | 10 |
| 13 | Manny Gamburyan | 144 | UFC | 13 |
| 14 | Tatsuya Kawajiri | 142 | DREAM | 16 |
| 15 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 137 | DREAM | 14 |
| 16 | Patricio Freire | 124 | Bellator | 15 |
| 17 | Tyson Griffin | 116 | UFC | 17 |
| 18 | Robert Peralta | 96 | UFC | 22 |
| 19 | Yuri Alcantara | 93 | UFC | 28 |
| 20 | Rani Yahya | 78 | UFC | 23 |
| 21 | Darren Elkins | 78 | UFC | 19 |
| 22 | Ricardo Lamas | 77 | UFC | 24 |
| 23 | George Roop | 72 | UFC | 30 |
| 24 | Michihiro Omigawa | 72 | UFC | 20 |
| 25 | Ross Pearson | 71 | UFC | NR |
Jose Aldo continues to look unbeatable following his dominant victory over Chad Mendes.
| Rank | Fighter | Points | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 425 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Chad Mendes | 394 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Hatsu Hioki | 385 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Pat Curran | 339 | Bellator | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 287 | Bellator | 5 |
| 6 | Diego Nunes | 254 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Dustin Poirier | 249 | UFC | 9 |
| 8 | Kenny Florian | 241 | UFC | 7 |
| 9 | Erik Koch | 225 | UFC | 10 |
| 10 | Bart Palaszewski | 203 | UFC | 11 |
| 11 | Mark Hominick | 199 | UFC | 8 |
| 12 | Chan Sung Jung | 191 | UFC | 38 |
| 13 | Manny Gamburyan | 157 | UFC | 12 |
| 14 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 149 | DREAM | 14 |
| 15 | Patricio Freire | 142 | Bellator | 15 |
| 16 | Tatsuya Kawajiri | 136 | DREAM | 16 |
| 17 | Tyson Griffin | 130 | UFC | 13 |
| 18 | Joe Warren | 124 | Bellator | 17 |
| 19 | Darren Elkins | 102 | UFC | 18 |
| 20 | Michihiro Omigawa | 101 | UFC | 19 |
| 21 | Bibiano Fernandes | 98 | DREAM | 21 |
| 22 | Robert Peralta | 98 | UFC | 20 |
| 23 | Rani Yahya | 90 | UFC | 22 |
| 24 | Ricardo Lamas | 75 | UFC | 23 |
| 25 | Masanori Kanehara | 73 | XPlode Fight Series | 24 |
#1 Jose Aldo will return to action in two weeks to take on #2 Chad Mendes as he defends his UFC Featherweight title.
| Rank | Fighter | Points | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 400 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Chad Mendes | 369 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Hatsu Hioki | 362 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Pat Curran | 315 | Bellator | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 281 | Bellator | 6 |
| 6 | Diego Nunes | 248 | UFC | 8 |
| 7 | Kenny Florian | 234 | UFC | 5 |
| 8 | Mark Hominick | 231 | UFC | 7 |
| 9 | Dustin Poirier | 223 | UFC | 12 |
| 10 | Erik Koch | 205 | UFC | 10 |
| 11 | Bart Palaszewski | 167 | UFC | NR |
| 12 | Manny Gamburyan | 146 | UFC | 11 |
| 13 | Tyson Griffin | 135 | UFC | 9 |
| 14 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 134 | DREAM | 14 |
| 15 | Patricio Freire | 133 | Bellator | 16 |
| 16 | Tatsuya Kawajiri | 132 | DREAM | 15 |
| 17 | Joe Warren | 121 | Bellator | 13 |
| 18 | Darren Elkins | 101 | UFC | 20 |
| 19 | Michihiro Omigawa | 99 | UFC | 17 |
| 20 | Robert Peralta | 97 | UFC | 21 |
| 21 | Bibiano Fernandes | 96 | DREAM | 18 |
| 22 | Rani Yahya | 89 | UFC | 18 |
| 23 | Ricardo Lamas | 69 | UFC | 36 |
| 24 | Masanori Kanehara | 69 | XPlode Fight Series | 24 |
| 25 | Mike Brown | 66 | UFC | 22 |
| 25 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 66 | DREAM | 23 |
DREAM's New Year's Eve event will feature two high level featherweight clashes between #16 Tatsuya Kawajiri and #25 Kazuyuki Miyata as well as between #28 Takeshi Inoue and #14 Hiroyuki Takaya.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Chad Mendes | 92 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Hatsu Hioki | 91 | UFC | 2 |
| 4 | Pat Curran | 73 | Bellator | 5 |
| 5 | Kenny Florian | 71 | UFC | 4 |
| 6 | Marlon Sandro | 64 | Bellator | 6 |
| 7 | Mark Hominick | 63 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Diego Nunes | 60 | UFC | 8 |
| 9 | Tyson Griffin | 59 | UFC | 9 |
| 10 | Erik Koch | 50 | UFC | 11 |
| 11 | Manny Gamburyan | 46 | UFC | 10 |
| 12 | Dustin Poirier | 41 | UFC | 12 |
| 13 | Joe Warren | 34 | Bellator | 13 |
| 14 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 33 | 14 | |
| 15 | Tatsuya Kawajiri | 29 | 19 | |
| 16 | Patricio Freire | 29 | Bellator | 17 |
| 17 | Michihiro Omigawa | 26 | UFC | 15 |
| 18 | Rani Yahya | 26 | 18 | |
| 18 | Bibiano Fernandes | 25 | 16 | |
| 20 | Darren Elkins | 23 | UFC | 20 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 19 | UFC | 21 |
| 22 | Mike Brown | 16 | UFC | 23 |
| 23 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 16 | 25 | |
| 24 | Masanori Kanehara | 16 | 24 | |
| 25 | Takeshi Inoue | 14 | 22 |
This weekend's UFC 137 has two fantastic featherweight bouts scheduled. #9 Tyson Griffin will take on unranked Bart Palaszewski on SpikeTV and the main card will feature #3 Hatsu Hioki vs. unranked George Roop.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 91 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 91 | UFC | 2 |
| 4 | Kenny Florian | 80 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Pat Curran | 64 | Bellator | 12 |
| 6 | Marlon Sandro | 63 | Bellator | 6 |
| 7 | Mark Hominick | 62 | UFC | 5 |
| 8 | Diego Nunes | 59 | UFC | 7 |
| 9 | Tyson Griffin | 53 | UFC | 8 |
| 10 | Manny Gamburyan | 49 | UFC | 9 |
| 11 | Erik Koch | 44 | UFC | 13 |
| 12 | Dustin Poirier | 43 | UFC | 10 |
| 13 | Joe Warren | 40 | Bellator | 11 |
| 14 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 35 | DREAM | 14 |
| 15 | Michihiro Omigawa | 30 | UFC | 17 |
| 16 | Bibiano Fernandes | 28 | DREAM | 15 |
| 17 | Patricio Freire | 27 | Bellator | 16 |
| 18 | Rani Yahya | 26 | UFC | 19 |
| 19 | Tatsuya Kawajiri | 25 | DREAM | 27 |
| 20 | Darren Elkins | 22 | UFC | 18 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 19 | UFC | 21 |
| 22 | Takeshi Inoue | 18 | DREAM | 24 |
| 23 | Mike Brown | 17 | UFC | 20 |
| 24 | Masanori Kanehara | 16 | Battle of Moscow | 22 |
| 25 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 15 | DREAM | 23 |
UFC 136 will be co-headlined by #1 Jose Aldo as he defends his title against former top lightweight contender #4 Kenny Florian.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Chad Mendes | 92 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Hatsu Hioki | 92 | UFC | 2 |
| 4 | Kenny Florian | 81 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Mark Hominick | 66 | UFC | 6 |
| 6 | Marlon Sandro | 65 | Bellator | 5 |
| 7 | Diego Nunes | 58 | UFC | 8 |
| 8 | Tyson Griffin | 55 | UFC | 9 |
| 9 | Manny Gamburyan | 54 | UFC | 7 |
| 10 | Dustin Poirier | 50 | UFC | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Warren | 49 | Bellator | 11 |
| 12 | Pat Curran | 44 | Bellator | 19 |
| 13 | Erik Koch | 35 | UFC | 15 |
| 14 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 35 | UFC | 13 |
| 15 | Bibiano Fernandes | 31 | K-1 | 12 |
| 16 | Patricio Freire | 29 | Bellator | 16 |
| 17 | Michihiro Omigawa | 29 | UFC | 14 |
| 18 | Darren Elkins | 23 | UFC | 18 |
| 19 | Rani Yahya | 23 | UFC | 17 |
| 20 | Mike Brown | 18 | UFC | 24 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 17 | Strikeforce | 21 |
| 22 | Masanori Kanehara | 16 | Battle of Moscow | 22 |
| 23 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 16 | DREAM | 20 |
| 24 | Takeshi Inoue | 14 | DREAM | 23 |
| 25 | Joachim Hansen | 13 | DREAM | 26 |
Pat Curran separating Marlon Sandro from consciousness sent him rocketing up the rankings, but it looks like his victory hasn't completely sunk in with our panelists.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 92 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 91 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Kenny Florian | 77 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 75 | Bellator | 6 |
| 6 | Mark Hominick | 63 | UFC | 7 |
| 7 | Manny Gamburyan | 62 | UFC | 5 |
| 8 | Diego Nunes | 59 | UFC | 8 |
| 9 | Tyson Griffin | 52 | UFC | 16 |
| 10 | Dustin Poirier | 50 | UFC | 9 |
| 11 | Joe Warren | 49 | Bellator | 10 |
| 12 | Bibiano Fernandes | 36 | K-1 | 11 |
| 13 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 34 | DREAM | 15 |
| 14 | Michihiro Omigawa | 33 | UFC | 12 |
| 15 | Erik Koch | 30 | UFC | 13 |
| 16 | Patricio Freire | 29 | Bellator | 14 |
| 17 | Rani Yahya | 24 | UFC | 17 |
| 18 | Darren Elkins | 22 | UFC | 19 |
| 19 | Pat Curran | 20 | Bellator | 25 |
| 20 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 17 | DREAM | 20 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 17 | Strikeforce | 21 |
| 22 | Masanori Kanehara | 17 | Battle of Moscow | 18 |
| 23 | Takeshi Inoue | 16 | DREAM | 30 |
| 24 | Mike Brown | 16 | UFC | 22 |
| 25 | Raphael Assuncao | 14 | UFC | 27 |
The UFC 136 co-main event will see #1 Jose Aldo defend his UFC belt for the second time as he faces arguably the toughest test of his career in #4 Kenny Florian.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 92 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 90 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Kenny Florian | 77 | UFC | 24 |
| 5 | Manny Gamburyan | 76 | UFC | 4 |
| 6 | Marlon Sandro | 71 | Bellator | 5 |
| 7 | Mark Hominick | 65 | UFC | 8 |
| 8 | Diego Nunes | 60 | UFC | 6 |
| 9 | Dustin Poirier | 56 | UFC | 9 |
| 10 | Joe Warren | 43 | Bellator | 11 |
| 11 | Bibiano Fernandes | 39 | K-1 | 10 |
| 12 | Michihiro Omigawa | 39 | UFC | 7 |
| 13 | Erik Koch | 35 | UFC | 13 |
| 14 | Patricio Freire | 33 | Bellator | 19 |
| 15 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 31 | Strikeforce | 12 |
| 16 | Tyson Griffin | 30 | UFC | NR |
| 17 | Rani Yahya | 28 | UFC | 15 |
| 18 | Masanori Kanehara | 22 | Pancrase | 17 |
| 19 | Darren Elkins | 21 | UFC | NR |
| 20 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 20 | K-1 | 16 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 17 | Strikeforce | 22 |
| 22 | Mike Brown | 17 | UFC | 18 |
| 23 | George Roop | 16 | UFC | 35 |
| 24 | Yoshiro Maeda | 16 | DREAM | 20 |
| 25 | Josh Grispi | 15 | UFC | 14 |
| 25 | Pat Curran | 15 | Bellator | NR |
At UFC 131, #4 Kenny Florian made a statement in his featherweight debut defeating #8 Diego Nunes.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 92 | WVR | 2 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 91 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Manny Gamburyan | 82 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 76 | Bellator | 5 |
| 6 | Diego Nunes | 69 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Mark Hominick | 67 | UFC | 8 |
| 8 | Michihiro Omigawa | 66 | UFC | 7 |
| 9 | Dustin Poirier | 52 | UFC | 9 |
| 10 | Bibiano Fernandes | 48 | K-1 | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Warren | 45 | Bellator | 11 |
| 12 | Erik Koch | 41 | UFC | 13 |
| 13 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 41 | Strikeforce | 12 |
| 14 | Josh Grispi | 36 | UFC | 14 |
| 15 | Rani Yahya | 31 | UFC | 15 |
| 16 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 26 | K-1 | 16 |
| 17 | Masanori Kanehara | 25 | WVR | 17 |
| 18 | Patricio Freire | 24 | Bellator | 18 |
| 19 | Yoshiro Maeda | 22 | WVR | 20 |
| 20 | Mike Brown | 20 | UFC | 18 |
| 21 | Robert Peralta | 19 | Strikeforce | 22 |
| 22 | Raphael Assuncao | 16 | UFC | 21 |
| 23 | Yuji Hoshino | 14 | WVR | 29 |
| 24 | Takeshi Inoue | 14 | Shooto | 25 |
| 25 | Koichiro Matsumoto | 13 | DEEP | 31 |
| 25 | Luis Palomino | 13 | Champions Fighting Alliance | NR |
#1 Jose Aldo actually made the division more interesting with his poor finish to an otherwise dominant performance against #7 Mark Hominick at UFC 129.
| Rank | Fighter | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Aldo | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Hatsu Hioki | 92 | Shooto | 2 |
| 3 | Chad Mendes | 90 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Manny Gamburyan | 83 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Marlon Sandro | 76 | Bellator | 5 |
| 6 | Diego Nunes | 70 | UFC | 7 |
| 7 | Michihiro Omigawa | 70 | UFC | 6 |
| 8 | Mark Hominick | 59 | UFC | 8 |
| 9 | Dustin Poirier | 50 | UFC | 12 |
| 10 | Bibiano Fernandes | 46 | K-1 | 11 |
| 11 | Joe Warren | 43 | Bellator | 10 |
| 12 | Hiroyuki Takaya | 39 | Strikeforce | 9 |
| 13 | Erik Koch | 37 | UFC | 13 |
| 14 | Josh Grispi | 35 | UFC | 14 |
| 15 | Rani Yahya | 27 | UFC | 15 |
| 16 | Kazuyuki Miyata | 22 | K-1 | 16 |
| 17 | Masanori Kanehara | 21 | WVR | 17 |
| 18 | Mike Brown | 20 | UFC | 19 |
| 18 | Patricio Freire | 20 | Bellator | 21 |
| 20 | Yoshiro Maeda | 19 | WVR | 18 |
| 21 | Raphael Assuncao | 19 | UFC | 20 |
| 22 | Robert Peralta | 18 | Strikeforce | NR |
| 23 | Joachim Hansen | 17 | Superior Challenge | 26 |
| 24 | Kenny Florian | 16 | UFC | 28 |
| 25 | Takeshi Inoue | 15 | DREAM | 34 |
| 25 | L.C. Davis | 15 | UFC | 25 |
#1 Jose Aldo is set to make his UFC debut this Saturday against #8 Mark Hominick at UFC 129. Whoever leaves with the belt will probably have to defend it against the winner of UFC 131's #24 Kenny Florian vs. #6 Diego Nunes.
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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 »
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