1. Georges St. Pierre
“While both himself and challenger Josh Koscheck appear weekly on The Ultimate Fighter, George St. Pierre’s focus will have already turned to preparing for a hometown defense of his UFC welterweight title against the last man to win a round against him. With Koscheck boasting the best wrestling credentials of anybody in the division, he may have the skills to force St. Pierre out of his comfort zone. ” – Will Cooling
2. Anderson Silva
“With Chael Sonnen out of action due to testing positive for steroids, Anderson Silva now moves towards a February showdown with fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort. With both fighters famed for their destructive powers standing this should prove to be one of the more exciting fights of Silva’s long reign at the top of the 185Ibs division”. – Will Cooling
3. Jose Aldo
“Jose Aldo cemented himself as the best of the rest, with his victory over Manny Gamburyan showing not only devastating knockout power but also superior shot selection and ringmanship. It’s not yet clear who he will next defend his WEC featherweight title against and the relative lack of challenges is only adding to the calls for him to move up to 155Ibs.
4. Frankie Edgar
“If there were any doubts about who was the best lightweight in the world, then there can be none now with Frankie Edgar having dominated BJ Penn like no lightweight has ever done before at UFC 118. He now moves forward to defend his UFC lightweight title against the only man to ever defeat him in Gray Maynard.” – Will Cooling
5. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
“Shogun’s recent career resurgence has stalled as soon as it started, with his knee problems once again requiring him to take a significant amount of time off. When he returns in 2011 he is expected to face Rashad Evans, with the number one contender determined to wait until the champion is healed” – Will Cooling
6. Brock Lesnar
“Despite all the hype it’s easy to overlook how impressive Brock Lesnar’s recent string of victories truly is, with the inexperienced champion having bulldozed through two former world champions (Couture and Mir), a long-standing division gatekeeper (Herring) and a unbeaten behemoth (Carwin). Should he overcome the technical skills and speed of Cain Velasquez on October 23rd, Lesnar will surely have a strong claim to be the greatest UFC heavyweight champion of all time” – Will Cooling
7. Jon Fitch
“With Dana White publicly considering Jake Shields as the next welterweight title challenger, Jon Fitch has had to play damage limitation, talking about facing the winner of Shields-Kampmann or moving up to middleweight instead of preparing for the world title match he thought he had earned at UFC 117” – Will Cooling
8. Jake Shields
“Dana White’s announcement that a victory at UFC 121 will secure Jake Shields a UFC welterweight title shot has raised the stakes for his organizational debut against Martin Kampmann. Should he win he’ll be one victory away from completing an unique hat-trick of championships while if he was to lose the doubts about his all round game would appear vindicated” – Will Cooling
9. Cain Velasquez
“With the hype operating at full capacity, the quiet, mild-mannered Mexican-American heavyweight moves into the eye of the storm as UFC 121 nears. Ever since Cain Velasquez entered the UFC he has been talked of as a future champion but to fulfill this destiny he’ll have to overcome the size and power of Brock Lesnar” – Will Cooling
10. Lyoto Machida
“His unbeatable aura may have been dented by Shogun at UFC 104 but it was thoroughly smashed at UFC 113 with Lyoto Machida unable to make it out of the first round. Machida will begin his comeback after a difficult twelve months against Quinton Jackson at UFC 123.” – Will Cooling
Also received votes: Dominick Cruz, Fedor Emelianenko, Rashad Evans, Gilbert Melendez
