Analysis by Kid Nate
Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men... A month ago I confidently asserted that "the next 70 days will see some of the biggest heavyweight fights in MMA history. If everything goes according to plan..." Famous last words.
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 | M-1 Global | 1 |
| 2 | Brock Lesnar | 94 | UFC | 5 |
| 3 | Josh Barnett | 92 | ??? | 2 |
| 4 | Frank Mir | 86 | UFC | 3 |
| 5 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | 83 | UFC | 4 |
| 6 | Randy Couture | 79 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Shane Carwin | 64 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Brett Rogers | 63 | Strikeforce | 8 |
| 9 | Andrei Arlovski | 58 | Strikeforce | 9 |
| 10 | Alistair Overeem | 56 | Strikeforce | 10 |
| 11 | Cain Velasquez | 43 | UFC | 11 |
| 12 | Jeff Monson | 37 | Free Agent | 12 |
| 13 | Junior dos Santos | 32 | UFC | 17 |
| 14 | Fabricio Werdum | 31 | Strikeforce | 14 |
| 15 | Mirko Filipovic | 28 | UFC | 13 |
| 16 | Tim Sylvia | 26 | Adrenaline | 15 |
| 17 | Cheick Kongo | 22 | UFC | 16 |
| 18 | Ben Rothwell | 21 | UFC | 19 |
| 19 | Roy Nelson | 20 | UFC | 24 |
| 20 | Gegard Mousasi | 19 | Strikeforce | 22 |
| 21 | Gabriel Gonzaga | 18 | UFC | 21 |
| 22 | Antonio Silva | 18 | WVR | 18 |
| 22 | Aleksander Emelianenko | 18 | ProFC | 19 |
| 24 | Paul Buentello | 17 | ??? | 24 |
| 24 | Heath Herring | 17 | UFC | 28 |
Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men... A month ago I confidently asserted that "the next 70 days will see some of the biggest heavyweight fights in MMA history. If everything goes according to plan..." Famous last words.
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 »