Analysis by Kid Nate
Ah the muddled middleweight division. #1 Anderson Silva has finally been given a credible and marketable opponent in #7 Vitor Belfort.
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 | Anderson Silva | 100 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Nate Marquardt | 93 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Dan Henderson | 93 | UFC | 2 |
| 4 | Yushin Okami | 85 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Jorge Santiago | 79 | WVR | 6 |
| 6 | Demian Maia | 78 | UFC | 5 |
| 7 | Vitor Belfort | 70 | UFC | 8 |
| 8 | Robbie Lawler | 65 | Strikeforce | 7 |
| 9 | Yoshihiro Akiyama | 56 | UFC | 10 |
| 10 | Chael Sonnen | 47 | UFC | 9 |
| 11 | Kazuo Misaki | 32 | WVR | 12 |
| 12 | Michael Bisping | 27 | UFC | 14 |
| 13 | Paulo Filho | 26 | DREAM | 11 |
| 14 | Ronaldo Souza | 21 | DREAM/Strikeforce | 17 |
| 15 | Hector Lombard | 20 | Bellator | 21 |
| 16 | Patrick Cote | 19 | UFC | 13 |
| 17 | Alessio Sakara | 19 | UFC | 15 |
| 18 | Thales Leites | 18 | MFC | 16 |
| 19 | Jake Shields | 18 | Strikeforce | 22 |
| 20 | Nate Quarry | 18 | UFC | 31 |
| 20 | Nick Diaz | 18 | Strikeforce | 18 |
| 22 | Ricardo Almeida | 17 | UFC | 19 |
| 23 | Jason Miller | 17 | DREAM/Strikeforce | 27 |
| 24 | Alan Belcher | 16 | UFC | 23 |
| 25 | Cung Le | 16 | Strikeforce | 20 |
Ah the muddled middleweight division. #1 Anderson Silva has finally been given a credible and marketable opponent in #7 Vitor Belfort.
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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