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

Like always, we invite you to post your own personal rankings, and agree or disagree with us in a loosely respectful manner in the comment section below.

1. Fedor Emelianenko: While there is some question as to who may come out on top if Fedor was to square off with the second ranked heavyweight, there is little question as to who has rightfully earned the number one spot in this weight class. Longevity is the key to Emelianenko’s number one placement on this list. Until Fedor loses, or Brock Lesnar defends his title a minimum of three more times in more impressive fashion than Emelianenko, “The Last Emperor” isn’t going to budge on this list.

2. Brock Lesnar: Lesnar went from constantly being referenced as “the former WWE superstar” to one of the most feared men on the face of the earth, and he did it by fighting the toughest guys humanly possible in the blink of an eye. While much can be made about how early Brock got his shot at the championship, impressive victories over Randy Couture and Frank Mir to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion leave little doubt that Brock will be among the best in the heavyweight division for as long as he feels like it.

3. Frank Mir: It was hard for me to put Mir up this high. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. Not taking away from Mir but I think his high ranking is a testament to the still developing stage of the rapidly growing heavyweight division. This list could look very different in just a few months time. I will freely point to the fact that Mir is a former UFC champion, holds the only win over the current champ, and recently completely pwned my number four guy as the reasoning behind his third place ranking.

4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: After an uncharacteristic showing in his TKO defeat suffered at the hands of Frank Mir, Big Nog totally redeemed himself in his back and forth war with Randy Couture at UFC 102. It seems as if the Nogueira of old has returned, and if that’s the case it’s a scary proposition for the other heavyweights with championship aspirations in the UFC for the next few years. Some of the notable names on Antonio’s extensive resume include Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Heath Herring, Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett.

5. Josh Barnett: Whether you like the guy or not, a split decision victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and recent victories over the likes of Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel make it hard to justify putting Barnett any lower than the fifth spot on this list.

6. Brett Rogers: Now after the number five spot at heavyweight it starts to get a little bit tricky. Brett being undefeated and basically walking through all of his past opposition played a big part in this pick. There would be some that would argue that Carwin should be above Rogers but a win over a former UFC champion in Andrei Arlovski trumps a victory over Gabriel Gonzaga. Outside of the pair’s key wins, they have faced a similar level of competition throughout their careers with similar devastating results.

7. Shane Carwin: See above…. With that being said, both men are in extremely unique positions to make drastic jumps in the rankings if either fighter comes out on top in their next bouts.

8. Junior dos Santos: Recent impressive victories over Fabricio Werdum and Cro Cop make dos Santos a shoe in for the top ten at heavyweight. He’s another guy that could jump up drastically over the next year depending on the match-ups he ends up taking.

9. Andrei Arlovski: It’s no mystery that Andrei has seen his fair share of bad luck lately, but I don’t feel like losses to guys like Fedor and Brett Rogers should immediately eliminate all of what “The Pitbull” has accomplished at the division. Really, this choice boils down to not being able to justify placing anyone else above him based on Arlovski’s achievements at the weight class.

10. Fabricio Werdum: Although the fact that he submitted Mike Kyle recently doesn’t automatically mean that Fabricio is back to his old top ten form by any stretch of the imagination, the fact that he weighed in around the 230 pound mark for the fight, and his previous victories over numerous highly regarded heavyweights definitely did.

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: It’s hard to argue against the least hit fighter in the history of the UFC’s current occupation of the top spot at 205 pounds after his complete destruction of Rashad Evans during UFC 98. Previous lopsided victories over highly regarded fighters such as Thiago Slva, Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin, Stephan Bonnar and a ballooned up B.J. Penn make it close to impossible to consider Machida for any other position at light heavyweight other than #1 until the elusive Brazilian suffers his first career defeat.

2. Rashad Evans: While both are former champions and an argument could be made for either Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans in the second spot, a recent and decisive TKO stoppage over Forrest Griffin wound up being the deciding factor in this one.

3. Quinton Jackson: Even though the last time Rampage suffered a defeat in convincing fashion was at the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Jackson has gone on to accomplish much more in the weight class since their meeting in April of 2005, including already having obtained the UFC light heavyweight crown.

4. Mauricio Rua: I’m certain that there may be many that feel like Forrest Griffin’s victory over Rua should automatically secure his spot above the dangerous Brazilian, I will point to back to back losses for Forrest, and back to back wins for Shogun as the reasoning behind this choice.

5. Anderson Silva: Silva may not have competed in the division more than twice during his time spent with the UFC, but his recent, and thorough annihilation of former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin makes it hard to place “The Spider” much lower than fifth.

6. Forrest Griffin: Two consecutive losses to fighters like Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva don’t cancel out victories over Mauricio Rua and Rampage Jackson in my eyes. Forrest is a former 205 pound champion at the highest level and the guys that fall beneath him on this list have a little more proving to do against top flight competition before they take his place.

7. Gegard Mousasi: My gut tells me to place Mousasi higher than seventh based on the level of talent he has displayed in the past alone. However, one win over a top 15 light heavyweight in Renato “Babalu” Sobral leaves me little room to justify Mousasi climbing any higher than this spot until he is tested another time or two at the weight class.

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Although Lil Nog hasn’t faced the highest rated guys in the world since his upset defeat at the hands of Sokoudjou in February of 2007, four impressive victories, including a win over the highly regarded Vladimir Matyushenko, and previous wins over Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem make a case for Nogueira belonging in the top ten an easy one to make.

9. Thiago Silva: Having the only loss of Thiago’s professional fighting career coming to the #1 rated light heavyweight is nothing for the dangerously well rounded ATT fighter to hang his head about. A recent devastating knockout victory over Keith Jardine put Silva in a position where one more win over top opposition could jump him up a few spots on this list in the blink of an eye.

10. Luis Cane: An impressive win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 106 in November and Cane shoots up these rankings. While being impressive and undefeated count for a lot, a win over a top rated 205?er is the only thing holding this heavy handed knockout artist down on the 5 Oz. rankings right now.

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

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva: Not much to explain on this one.

2. Nate Marquardt: Marquardt has really found his groove lately. Outside of a defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva and a “loss” to Thales Leites, Nate hasn’t seen his opponents hand raised in victory since 2003, compiling wins over guys like Kazuo Misaki, Dean Lister, Demian Maia, Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia along the way.

3. Dan Henderson: Henderson is as established a bad a** as they come. Outside of the top level competition he has consistently faced and done well against throughout the course of his career, Hendo’s recent win over a top contender in Michael Bisping, and a previous victory over the always dangerous Rousimar Palhares make his spot on this list an easy choice to make.

4. Vitor Belfort: A pair of vicious knockouts over the likes of Matt Lindland and Rich Franklin (195 or not, you can’t discredit the way Belfort dismantled the former UFC middleweight champion) make it hard for me to justify placing someone like Okami or Maia above Belfort being that Maia just got bounced in seconds by Marquardt and Okami’s last defeat was at the hands of the previously noted Rich Franklin.

5. Yushin Okami: Wins over guys like and Jason MacDonald aren’t going to push Okami much higher than the #5 spot on this list. I personally feel like Okami is a bit overrated, and will continue to think so until I see him defeat a legit, top flight middleweight. Regardless, these rankings have nothing to do with personal feelings, and as such, Okami can have the middle spot for now.

6. Demian Maia: The only reason Maia is as low as #6 on this list is because of the way he got blown out in his last fight. On top of the fight with Marquardt not even being close, I feel like Demian revealed a huge chink in his armor that night. However, one loss to a guy like Marquardt definitely doesn’t cancel out Maia’s accomplishment in the Octagon entirely by any means.

7. Nick Diaz: Outside of the TKO due to cuts at the fists of KJ Noons and a 2002 TKO via Jeremy Jackson, Nick Diaz hasn’t been dominated by anyone in the fight game during the course of his professional career. If you take a look at the names on his resume, Nick’s ability to avoid being embarrassed by anyone he has faced is quite astounding. Although recent wins over guys like Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith were legit, this pick was more based on overall talent level more than anything else.

8. Jake Shields: Shields is one of those funky characters that will end up ranked in two weight classes based on the fact that his last two fights have been at both welterweight and middleweight. Although one win over Robbie Lawler wouldn’t normally justify a fighter a spot in the top ten, Shields background in the sport makes this an easy choice to make.

9. Jorge Santiago: I’m a little surprised to have the same guy that got clipped by Chris Leben and kicked in the mug by Alan Belcher on this top ten list, but Santiago has done a fantastic job of reinventing himself since those back to back defeats in 2006, putting together nine consecutive wins over top level middleweights.

10. Michael Bisping: Sure, Bisping received a spanking at the hands of Dan Henderson, but three prior consecutive wins at the weight class, and previous victories at 205 pounds over guys like Matt Hamill and Red Schafer leave Bisping on the very edge of the top ten at 185 pounds.

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

Welterweight

1. Georges St-Pierre: With wins over Fitch, Alves, Koscheck, and Hughes, GSP has basically cleaned out the welterweight division. It could end up being a long time before we see anyone else occupy this top spot at 170.

2. Jon Fitch: Fitch has a single defeat to GSP in his last eighteen bouts with wins over guys like Brock Larson, Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez and Paulo Thiago along the way.

3. Thiago Alves: Impressive victories over top ten fighters such as Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, with his only recent defeats coming to the men in the number one and two spots make Alves a lock for third.

4. Jake Shields: The only thing holding Jake back on these rankings has been his inability to square off with any of the top guys recently, due to most of the top guys being with the UFC. Shields has put together a dozen consecutive victories over dangerous opposition, with past wins over the likes of Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit and Paul Daley.

5. Josh Koscheck: Wins over men like Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle, Dustin Hazelett, and most recently Frank Trigg make a case for Kos to be placed much lower than fifth a tough one to present.

6. Matt Hughes: In Hughes’ last twenty five fights competing at the highest level imaginable, he as only lost to three men, Georges St-Pierre, Thiago Alves and B.J. Penn (a fight he avenged). During that time he has compiled wins over fighters like Frank Trigg, GSP, Chris Lytle, and most recently Matt Serra.

7. Mike Swick: Swick is undefeated since moving down to welterweight following a decision loss to Yushin Okami at middleweight. He has gone on to notch wins over Josh Burkman, Marcus Davis, Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders since his arrival in the division.

8. Dan Hardy: Undefeated since his arrival in the UFC, Hardy has recent wins over Akihiro Gono, Rory Markham and Marcus Davis in the Octagon. A win over Mike Swick at UFC 105 could jump him up in the rankings, along with earning the Brit an instant title shot.

9. Carlos Condit: Condit has gone 9-1 in his last ten, with his only defeat being a razor thin split decision to Martin Kampmann at UFC Fight Night 18. During that time “The Natural Born Killer” has put together wins over John Alessio, Brock Larson, Carlo Prater, and most recently Jake Ellenberger in a wild, back and forth affair.

10. Dustin Hazelett: “McLovin” has won five of his last six with the UFC, with the sole defeat coming at the hands of Josh Koscheck in March of 2008.

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

Lightweight

1. B.J. Penn: Penn’s recent submission of Kenny Florian following consecutive victories over Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk make him the only choice for the number one spot.

2. Kenny Florian: Easily one of the most well rounded and dangerous fighters in the division, prior to his most recent defeat at the hands of Penn during UFC 101, Kenflo put together a string of six consecutive victories in the Octagon. His victims include Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta and Joe Lauzon.

3. Gray Maynard: Undefeated in nine professional bouts, with six wins in the UFC, Maynard holds victories over highly regarded lightweights such as Frankie Edgar, Jim Miller and Roger Huerta.

4. Frankie Edgar: Outside of a unanimous decision loss to the guy in the number three spot, Edgar has gone unblemished during his professional fighting career, with notable wins over Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca, Spencer Fisher, Tyson Griffin and Jim Miller.

5. Sean Sherk: Outside of losses to Penn and Edgar, Sherk holds wins over top rated fighters like Kenny Florian, Hermes Franca and Tyson Griffin during his stint at lightweight.

6. Tyson Griffin: Griffin has consistently performed well against some of the very best fighters 155 pounds has to offer. His only losses coming to Sherk and Edgar, Griffin has bested some of the most dangerous lightweights in the world, including Thiago Tavares, Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau, and most recently, Hermes Franca.

7. Diego Sanchez: While Sanchez has only been at home in the lightweight division for two fights now, notching wins over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida, the combination of Diego’s size, striking and submission defense make it hard to visualize a fighter as one dimensional as Shinya Aoki being able to take care of “The Nightmare”.

8. Shinya Aoki: Brace yourself but I feel like Shinya being considerably lower than you will find him in other polls deserves a thorough explanation.

Aoki is commonly ranked near the very top of his weight class by many of the other rankings from respected sources, but he will receive no such love here. It’s nothing personal against the “Tobikan Judan”, but wins over guys like Joachim Hansen, Eddie Alvarez and “JZ” Calvancante don’t justify being listed anywhere near the number two spot.

Hansen is a beast, but honestly, who does he hold a recent win over, other than Shinya Aoki, that could seriously rationalize him being listed over some of the fighters on the honorable mentions list? I’ll save you the trip to google his record and tell you…. nobody! But he beat Aoki.

Alvarez? Another really exciting fighter that I would always pay to watch, but who has he beat? I’ll tell you who: Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri. I’ve already said what I’d had to say about “Hellboy”, but the last time Kawajiri fought anyone world class other than Alvarez and Calvancante he was outclassed by Gilbert Melendez via unanimous decision.

Don’t even get me started on “JZ”. The dude is a talent, no question about it, but top ten material? No way. The biggest win over his career is….. I guess it’s Caol Uno three years ago. With that mindset, Spencer Fisher automatically jumps up to like seven or eight.

However, Aoki is amazingly gifted and it will be fascinating to see how his somewhat one dimensional style of submission fighting would do against the fighters in the United States who are allowed the use of elbows, combined with coming in at an average of ten to twenty pounds heavier than the majority of the opponents in his past.

I could use Hermes Franca as an example as to why I feel like Aoki is granted a little too much respect because it just so happens to be the sexy pick. Franca, while suffering losses to top fighters like Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar and Tyson Griffin, at least he’s in there fighting the top guys so I can guage where his skill level is at a lot better. In Hermes’ case, the question begs to be asked whether wins over fighters like Jamie Varner, Nathan Diaz, Spencer Fisher and Marcus Aurelio should be so easily overshadowed by wins over Hansen, Alvarez and Calvancante.

Ask yourself a question, does Aoki beat Varner, Diaz, Fisher and Aurelio? You sure about that?

9. Eddie Alvarez: With his sole defeat at lightweight coming to Aoki, Alvarez has racked up impressive wins over the likes of Tatsuya Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen, including recently being crowned as the Bellator lightweight tournament champion with a rear-naked choke victory over Toby Imada in the finals.

10. Joachim Hansen: Hansen is one of the most experienced and dangerous lightweights in the sport. Holding a recent victory over Shinya Aoki, along with one of the most well rounded arsenals in the game, Hansen would be a handful for anyone on this list.

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: Sitting at the top of the mountain in the most stacked featherweight division in the sport, WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown has earned his spot at the top of the rankings with wins over Jeff Curran, Leonard Garcia and a pair of victories over Urijah Faber.

2. Urijah Faber: If it wasn’t for Mike Brown it would be easy to make a case for Faber at the number one spot. “The California Kid” holds wins over the likes of Jens Pulver, Jeff Curran and Bibiano Fernandes to name a few.

3. Jose Aldo: A walking highlight reel known for knocking his opponents senseless, perhaps the scariest thing about Aldo is the fact that his ground game is rumored to be better than his stand-up. Aldo holds a big win over Alexandre Franca Nogueira, with his most recent win coming in the form of an Ong Bak flying knee knockout over Cub Swanson.

4. Hatsu Hioki: Sporting a career record of 20-3-2, Hioki has recently made a name for himself under the Sengoku banner where he has put together victories over Chris Manuel, Ronnie Mann and Masanori Kanehara. Other notable wins in his career include Rumina Sato, Jeff Curran and Mark Hominick.

5. Bibiano Fernandes: A former Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and current DREAM featherweight champion, Fernandes currently holds consecutive wins over Masakazu Imanari, Joe Warren and Hiroyuki Takaya.

6. Joe Soto: With an unblemished record of 8-0, this twenty-two year old rising force was recently crowned the Bellator FC featherweight champion following wins over Ben Greer, Wilson Reis and Yahir Reyes. Soto’s most recent victory came in the form of a gogoplata over Mike Christensen on October 8.

7. Leonard Garcia: Outside of a defeat to Mike Brown at WEC 39, Garcia has gone undefeated in the featherweight division with victories over highly respected fighters Hiroyuki Takaya, Jens Pulver and Jameel Massouh.

8. Raphael Assuncao: Holding an impressive career record of 14-1, Assuncao is a dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with recent WEC wins over Jameel Massouh and Yves Jabouin. Raphael also holds a 2006 submission win over Joe Lauzon.

9. Mackens Semerzier: It’s amazing what tapping out a top rated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in the first round can do for your career. Semerzier is currently reaping the rewards of his WEC 42 triangle choke shocker over the highly regarded Wagnney Fabiano. At just 4-0, time will tell whether the victory was a one hit wonder or not.

10. Wagnney Fabiano: Before his recent upset defeat to Semerzier, I would have had no problem placing Fabiano near the # 5 spot. Wagnney holds wins over Fredson Paixao and L.C. Davis.

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

Bantamweight

1. Brian Bowles: The combination of his unblemished record and the way he handled longtime king of the bantamweight mountain, Miguel Torres, make a case for Bowles any lower than #1 a hard one to make.

2. Miguel Torres: One loss in his last eighteen fights isn’t going to drop Torres that far down in the bantamweight totem poll. Torres is without question one of the most gifted fighters currently competing in the sport.

3. Takeya Mizugaki: A recent win over Jeff Curran and more importantly, a majority decision loss to Miguel Torres that could have gone either way, make Mizugaki a handful for anyone he faces at 135 pounds in the future.

4. Dominick Cruz: Outside of a single defeat at the hands of Urijah Faber during WEC 26, Cruz has gone undefeated in his fifteen bout professional fighting career, with his most recent victory coming in the form of a unanimous decision over Joseph Benavidez at WEC 42.

5. Joseph Benavidez: With back to back wins over Danny Martinez and Jeff Curran in the WEC, Benavidez looked prime for his title shot before running into a wall in the form of Dominick Cruz at WEC 42.

6. Masakatsu Ueda: Although undefeated in twelve bouts, a draw against Marcos Galvao gives me a good measuring stick as to where Ueda is in the current 135 pound weight class. He could easily jump up in the ranks with a decisive win over anyone in the top ten.

7. Damacio Page: With his sole defeat in the last three years coming at the hands of WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles, Page has recently notched up wins over the likes of Scott Jorgensen and Marcos Galvao.

8. Rani Yahya: With his last defeat coming from Kid Yamamoto in 2007, Yahya has bounced back with three consecutive first round submission victories under the WEC banner.

9. Akitoshi Tamura: Recent wins over Rumina Sato and Manny Tapia have thrust this on and off Shooto veteran into the top ten.

10. Marcos Galvao: Although suffering defeats at the hands of Brian Bowles and Damacio Page, A victory over Fredson Paixao and a draw with the undefeated Masakatsu Ueda keep Galvao relevant at bantamweight.

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