Analysis by Kid Nate
The biggest development in this month's chart is the rapid rise of #11 Shane Carwin from #24 following his KO victory over #12 Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96.
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 | % | Promotion | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Emelianenko | 100 | Affliction | 1 |
| 2 | Josh Barnett | 92 | Affliction | 2 |
| 3 | Andrei Arlovski | 90 | Affliction | 3 |
| 4 | Frank Mir | 89 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | 83 | UFC | 5 |
| 6 | Brock Lesnar | 78 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Randy Couture | 75 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Tim Sylvia | 62 | Affliction | 8 |
| 9 | Alistair Overeem | 58 | DREAM |
10 |
| 10 | Fabricio Werdum | 39 | Unsigned | 11 |
| 11 | Shane Carwin | 38 | UFC | 24 |
| 12 | Gabriel Gonzaga | 32 | UFC | 9 |
| 13 | Mirko Filipovic | 30 | DREAM | 13 |
| 14 | Junior dos Santos | 29 | UFC | 14 |
| 15 | Cheick Kongo | 29 | UFC | 18 |
| 16 | Ben Rothwell | 27 | Adrenaline | 12 |
| 17 | Sergei Kharitonov | 25 | DREAM | 17 |
| 18 | Aleksander Emelianenko | 25 | M-1 Mix-FC | 16 |
| 19 | Antonio Silva | 25 | WVR | 15 |
| 20 | Roy Nelson | 21 | Square Ring Promotions | 19 |
| 21 | Cain Velasquez | 21 | UFC | 21 |
| 22 | Jeff Monson | 19 | Square Ring Promotions | 20 |
| 23 | Paul Buentello | 17 | Affliction | 22 |
| 24 | Heath Herring | 17 | UFC | 23 |
| 25 | Semmy Schilt | 15 | DREAM | 34 |
The biggest development in this month's chart is the rapid rise of #11 Shane Carwin from #24 following his KO victory over #12 Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96.
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 »