MMA Fighter Rankings by FiveOuncesOfPain.com Managing Editor  Cory Brady and do not necessarily reflect the view of the site’s staffers. Updated March 17, 2009.

Pound-for-Pound
Pound for Pound Rankings as of  9/30/09

Heavyweight

The different factors taken into account when considering the placing of the various top ten lister’s included, among a variety of other variables:

A) Recent activity at the weight class. Basically the deciding factor was that if you have competed your last two fights or more at a given weight, that’s your division.

For example, Some are going to be upset to see that Hendo and Rich Franklin aren’t considered for 205 due to the fact that neither have competed at the weight class in two or more bouts. Although a case could be made for either man jumping right into the top ten as soon as they return to the weight.

A guy like Anderson Silva is going to be ranked in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions due to the fact that he consistently bounces back and forth between divisions.

B) Activity. I could make a very strong case for putting Tito Ortiz in the 205 top ten, but he hasn’t been fighting. Someone like Alistair Overeem that hasn’t fought in over ten months also takes a significant hit for not competing.

C) Level of competition faced in the past

D) Recent wins over top contenders

E) Experience

1. Fedor Emelianenko

2. Brock Lesnar

3. Frank Mir.

4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

5. Josh Barnett

6. Brett Rogers

7. Shane Carwin

8. Junior dos Santos

9. Andrei Arlovski

10. Fabricio Werdum

Honorable mentions in no particular order: Cain Velasquez, Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Heath Herring, Jeff Monson, & Antonio Silva

Light Heavyweight

1. Lyoto Machida

2. Rashad Evans

3. Quinton Jackson

4. Mauricio Rua

5. Anderson Silva

6. Forrest Griffin

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Thiago Silva

10. Luis Cane

Honorable Mentions: Keith Jardine, Tito Ortiz, Jon Jones, Matt Hamill, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Brandon Vera, Eric Schafer

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva:

2. Nate Marquardt

3. Dan Henderson

4. Vitor Belfort

5. Yushin Okami

6. Demian Maia

7. Nick Diaz

8. Jake Shields

9. Jorge Santiago

10. Michael Bisping

Honorable Mentions: Patrick Cote, Nate Quarry, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Ricardo Almeida, Kazuo Misaki, Chael Sonnen, and Dan Miller.

Welterweight

1. Georges St-Pierre.

2. Jon Fitch

3. Thiago Alves

4. Jake Shields

5. Josh Koscheck

6. Matt Hughes.

7. Mike Swick

8. Dan Hardy.

9. Carlos Condit

10. Dustin Hazelett

Honorable Mentions: Martin Kampmann, Anthony Johnson, Paulo Thiago, Paul Daley, Marcus Davis, Dan Hornbuckle

Lightweight

1. B.J. Penn

2. Kenny Florian

3. Gray Maynar

4. Frankie Edgar

5. Sean Sherk

6. Tyson Griffin

7. Diego Sanchez

8. Shinya Aoki

9. Eddie Alvarez

10. Joachim Hansen

Honorable Mentions: Gilbert Melendez, Joe Lauzon, Benson Henderson, Spencer Fisher, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Donald Cerrone, Roger Huerta, Jamie Varner (There is a one year cut-off for inactivity, Varner last fought in January of 2009)

Featherweight

1. Mike Brown

2. Urijah Faber

3. Jose Aldo

4. Hatsu Hioki

5. Bibiano Fernandes

6. Joe Soto

7. Leonard Garcia

8. Raphael Assuncao

9. Mackens Semerzier

10. Wagnney Fabiano

Honorable Mentions: Josh Grispi, Takeshi Inoue, Masanori Kanehara, Michihiro Omigawa, Marlon Sandro

Bantamweight

1. Brian Bowles

2. Miguel Torres.

3. Takeya Mizugaki

4. Dominick Cruz

5. Joseph Benavidez

6. Masakatsu Ueda

7. Damacio Page.

8. Rani Yahya

9. Akitoshi Tamura

10. Marcos Galvao

Honorable Mentions: Mike Easton, Eddie Wineland, Scott Jorgensen, Manny Tapia, Antonio Banuelos