Analysis by Richard Wade
Johny Hendricks set the welterweight division on its head with his first round KO of long time #2 Jon Fitch.
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 | Georges St. Pierre | 400 | UFC | 1 |
| 2 | Nick Diaz | 368 | UFC | 3 |
| 3 | Jake Ellenberger | 344 | UFC | 5 |
| 4 | Carlos Condit | 342 | UFC | 4 |
| 5 | Johny Hendricks | 325 | UFC | 18 |
| 6 | Josh Koscheck | 324 | UFC | 6 |
| 7 | Jon Fitch | 301 | UFC | 2 |
| 7 | Jake Shields | 301 | UFC | 7 |
| 9 | B.J. Penn | 238 | UFC | 9 |
| 10 | Martin Kampmann | 202 | UFC | 8 |
| 11 | Thiago Alves | 171 | UFC | 12 |
| 12 | Diego Sanchez | 171 | UFC | 11 |
| 13 | Rory MacDonald | 154 | UFC | 14 |
| 14 | Rick Story | 131 | UFC | 15 |
| 15 | Ben Askren | 129 | Bellator | 13 |
| 16 | Tyron Woodley | 124 | Strikeforce | 17 |
| 17 | Charlie Brenneman | 121 | UFC | 16 |
| 18 | Jay Hieron | 93 | Bellator | 20 |
| 19 | Paulo Thiago | 92 | UFC | 19 |
| 20 | Brian Ebersole | 84 | UFC | 21 |
| 21 | Anthony Johnson | 80 | UFC | 10 |
| 22 | Paul Daley | 77 | Strikeforce | 22 |
| 23 | Mike Pyle | 71 | UFC | 27 |
| 24 | John Hathaway | 68 | UFC | 23 |
| 24 | Douglas Lima | 68 | Bellator | 25 |
Johny Hendricks set the welterweight division on its head with his first round KO of long time #2 Jon Fitch.
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 »