MMA Fighter Rankings by 5 Oz of Pain staff. Updated April 21, 2008.

Our rankings are submitted to polls for the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts, Extreme Fighter Magazine, and HDNet’s “Inside MMA.”

Pound-for-Pound

1. Georges St. Pierre - St. Pierre avenged his loss to Serra in their rematch at UFC 83 but completely dominating him, just as he completely dominated Josh Koscheck in August and Matt Hughes in December. It wasn’t easy choosing him for this spot over Anderson Silva but physically, I don’t believe St. Pierre has a weakness while I still have questions about Silva’s wrestling.
2. Anderson Silva - Silva was in trouble vs. Travis Lutter at UFC 67. While he still won the fight, he hasn’t been as untouchable in the UFC as some would have you believe (although, he’s been pretty damn close). After a so-so performance vs. Lutter, all Silva did was come back with convincing wins over Nathan Marquardt, Rich Franklin, and Dan Henderson.
3. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson - It’s been a long time since Jackson last fought but I’m not going to penalize him for the UFC’s decision to put him on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Coming off wins over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson, I feel this spot is justified.
4. B.J. Penn - Penn hasn’t been the most active fighter in the world but he’s certainly been much more active than Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko, which is why I have moved him ahead of those two. His wins over Jens Pulver and Joe Stevenson were total domination and he’s slated to fight again in May. A strong win over Sean Sherk could move him ahead of Jackson.
5. Randy Couture - Inactivity is a growing concern and if Fedor had beaten a more credible opponent than Hong Man Choi, he would have supplanted Couture. “The Natural” hangs onto this spot for now, but if Emelianenko posts an impressive win over Tim Sylvia in July, it will be a non-brainer to move him ahead of Couture.
6. Fedor Emelianenko - Does a win over Hong Man Choi qualify as activity? Technically it does but I will need to see him beat a credible opponent before moving him up. He’s scheduled to fight Tim Sylvia in July and Sylvia easily qualifies as Fedor’s toughest competition in nearly three years. Win or lose, Fedor’s ranking will not stay the same following that bout.
7. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto - Known for his amateur wrestling background, Yamamoto is also a threat with his hands. Following an impressive win over Rani Yahya on New Year’s Eve, it was easy to rank him here. What’s not so easy is figuring out what weight class to rank him in. Is he a featherweight, a bantamweight, or what?
8. Urijah Faber - The knock against Faber is that outside of his most recent win over Jeff Curran, he hasn’t fought a lot of the top fighters in his weight class. Well, that might be true but Faber hasn’t tried to duck anyone. He’s fought whoever has been put in front of him and outside of Tyson Griffin, he’s beaten them. Now that the WEC is collecting featherweight talent, Faber is going to get the chance to beat the best of the best. I still feel strongly about this ranking because pure fighting ability should account for something, as well as his impressive win over Curran. And Faber will get another chance to beat a top featherweight when he fights Jens Pulver in June.
9. Gesias “JZ Calvan” Calvancante - I’m a big fan of Calvancante’s but I had to take a hard look at his performance against Shinya Aoki during the first round of DREAM’s lightweight Grand Prix. Calvancante didn’t lose the fight, but he also didn’t win so I had to take that into account. Fortunately, Calvancante will get a chance to redeem himself in a rematch with Aoki.
10. Miguel Torres - I had Matt Hughes in this spot before and I just didn’t feel right about it. The problem was, I didn’t know who else to rank ahead of him. And then I realize, Torres belongs in this spot. One of the most underrated fighters in the world, Torres has one of the most impressive records in MMA and is finally getting the notoriety he deserves in the WEC.