Analysis by Kid Nate
At UFC 104, we'll get to see if #1 Lyoto Machida is really going to have an "era" all of his own when he faces off with #4 Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
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 | Lyoto Machida | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Quinton Jackson | 95 | UFC | 2 |
| 3 | Rashad Evans | 93 | UFC | 3 |
| 4 | Mauricio Rua | 81 | UFC | 5 |
| 5 | Forrest Griffin | 79 | UFC | 4 |
| 6 | Keith Jardine | 65 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | 64 | UFC | 7 |
| 8 | Rich Franklin | 57 | UFC | 9 |
| 9 | Luiz Cane | 54 | UFC | 8 |
| 10 | Anderson Silva | 42 | UFC | NR |
| 11 | Gegard Mousasi | 42 | Strikeforce/DREAM | 27 |
| 12 | Renato Sobral | 38 | Strikeforce | 10 |
| 13 | Thiago Silva | 34 | UFC | 11 |
| 14 | Wanderlei Silva | 32 | UFC | 14 |
| 15 | Chuck Liddell | 30 | UFC | 12 |
| 16 | Dan Henderson | 30 | UFC | 13 |
| 17 | Jon Jones | 25 | UFC | 15 |
| 18 | Matt Hamill | 21 | UFC | 16 |
| 19 | Vladimir Matyushenko | 20 | UFC | 17 |
| 20 | Brandon Vera | 20 | UFC | 18 |
| 21 | Tito Ortiz | 20 | UFC | 18 |
| 22 | Sokoudjou | 18 | DREAM | 20 |
| 23 | Mark Coleman | 17 | UFC | 21 |
| 24 | Krzysztof Soszynski | 17 | UFC | 22 |
| 25 | Steve Cantwell | 16 | UFC | 23 |
At UFC 104, we'll get to see if #1 Lyoto Machida is really going to have an "era" all of his own when he faces off with #4 Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
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 »