St-Pierre in the UFC. Photo by Josh Hedges
You can push them, you can punch them, but they won’t leave the top. With the exception of a chubby Russian who looks bored and a Canadian with a French name, Americans and Brazilians fight are neck and neck in leading the worldwide MMA rankings.
The proof is in the rankings published at the end of November on the websites of USA Today newspaper and SB Nation, which scoured the lists published on 20 American MMA websites, to come up with a thorough MMA ranking.
GRACIEMAG.com compiled the top ten in each weight group. What sticks out right off the bat is the presence of Anderson Silva in two different categories, and Will Ribeiro in the top-ten bantamweight list, despite the motorcycle accident he suffered, which he is overcoming valiantly. There’s also the fact that WEC champion Jose Aldo is under his victim Mike Brown – proof that the ranking needs to be updated, and quick!
Other than that, does the list look fair to you, reader? If not, who should be there? Leave your comment below and participate.
Heavyweight
1 Fedor Emelianenko M-1 Global/Strikeforce
2 Brock Lesnar UFC
3 Rodrigo Minotauro UFC
4 Frank Mir UFC
5 Junior Cigano UFC
6 Josh Barnett WVR
7 Cain Velasquez UFC
8 Brett Rogers Strikeforce
9 Shane Carwin UFC
10 Fabricio Werdum Strikeforce
Light heavyweight
1 Lyoto Machida UFC
2 Mauricio Shogun UFC
3 Rashad Evans UFC
4 Quinton Jackson UFC
5 Forrest Griffin UFC
6 Gegard Mousasi Strikeforce
7 Thiago Silva UFC
8 Anderson Silva UFC
9 Rogerio Minotouro UFC
10 Luiz Arthur Banha UFC
Middleweight
1 Anderson Silva UFC
2 Nate Marquardt UFC
3 Dan Henderson Free Agent
4 Demian Maia UFC
5 Vitor Belfort UFC
6 Chael Sonnen UFC
7 Jake Shields Strikeforce
8 Jorge Santiago WVR
9 Yushin Okami UFC
10 Yoshihiro Akiyama UFC
Welterweight
1 Georges Saint-Pierre UFC
2 Jon Fitch UFC
3 Thiago Pitbull UFC
4 Josh Koscheck UFC
5 Mike Swick UFC
6 Matt Hughes UFC
7 Paulo Thiago UFC
8 Carlos Condit UFC
9 Jake Shields Strikeforce
10 Paul Daley UFC
Lightweight
1 BJ Penn UFC
2 Shinya Aoki Dream
3 Eddie Alvarez Bellator/Dream
4 Kenny Florian UFC
5 Frank Edgar UFC
6 Gray Maynard UFC
7 Diego Sanchez UFC
8 Sean Sherk UFC
9 Tatsuya Kawajiri Dream
10 Joachim Hansen Dream
Featherweight
1 Mike Brown WEC
2 Urijah Faber WEC
3 Jose Aldo WEC
4 Bibiano Fernandes Dream
5 Hatsu Hioki WVR
6 Leonard Garcia WEC
7 Rafael Assuncao WEC
8 Marlon Sandro WVR
9 Michihiro Omigawa WVR
10 Mackens Semerzier WEC
Bantamweight
1 Brian Bowles WEC
2 Miguel Torres WEC
3 Dominick Cruz WEC
4 Masakatsu Ueda Shooto
5 Takeya Mizugaki WEC
6 Joseph Benavidez WEC
7 Rani Yahya WEC
8 Akitoshi Tamura WEC
9 Damacio Page WEC
10 Will Ribeiro WEC
For the complete rankings, with the top 20 in each category, according to USA Today and SB Nation, click here: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/rankings .