
Inside Fights MMA Pound for Pound Rankings
1. Georges St. Pierre
“Even though Jake Shields may have stolen a round or two from GSP in Toronto St. Pierre moves into the number one slot alone after being tied with Anderson Silva on our last poll. His current win streak is nine and the hit list includes many former top 10 stars, plus he remained utterly dominant in every one of those fights. Next up for him is another welterweight from this list as he’ll battle Nick Diaz in Vegas this October.” – Chris Roberts
2. Anderson Silva
“Dana White’s chosen number one has to settle for number 2 on our list mainly because of the quality of his opponents and that massive struggle he had in overcoming Chael Sonnen. He meets a very worthy opponent in Yushin Okami in less than 2 weeks time that will do much to determine his stock.” – Chris Roberts
3. Jose Aldo
“Aldo remains at the top of our list despite fading late against Hominick at UFC 129 and a series of injuries that have slowed this famously fast fighter. His second fight in the UFC will be against the always tricky Kenny Florian and it will be interesting to see if Aldo still has the magic that brought him to the game.” – Chris Roberts
4. Jon Jones
“Having never been challenged in his MMA career the sky seems to be the limit for the current UFC Light Heavyweight champ. There are, of course, questions that surround his ground/defensive game but there very well may be nobody out there good enough to force him into a position to need those skills. He enters UFC 135 next month as a huge favorite over Rampage Jackson.” – Chris Roberts
5. Cain Velasquez
“It will be 14 months between fights for Velasquez by the time he finally returns to the Octagon in December and that will undoubtedly hurt his overall rankings. That said a big performance against Junior dos Santos has the potential to launch him even closer to the top of this list.” – Chris Roberts
6. Dominick Cruz
“He may not get the respect he deserves from the UFC (giving his title fights away on free TV) but he isn’t that far away from cleaning out his smaller division. Last month he schooled the more popular Urijah Faber easily scoring a decision victory and now he is preparing for the 10-1 Demetrious Johnson.” – Chris Roberts
7. Frankie Edgar
“Coming off a loss that happened eight months ago now Edgar will get a chance at redemption in October as Edgar/Maynard III will finally happen. He struggled to control Maynard’s power there and it will be interesting to see if he can make the proper adjustments so as to keep his title and continue on as the king of the UFC’s most competitive division.” – Chris Roberts
8. Gray Maynard
“Gray is highly respected and in possession of a very elusive Lightweight title shot that he hopes to cash in on at UFC 136. He’s never lost though he has knocked himself out and fought to a dramatic draw against Frankie Edgar. His strength sets him apart in the division and he has the potential to dominate it for years to come.” – Chris Roberts
9. Gilbert Melendez
“Melendez has dominated everybody he has crossed paths with recently and has been very focal about moving away from the Strikeforce brand and towards the stiffer competition that the UFC provides. It is not in the immediate future though as he does have a Strikeforce title defense on the docket though him vs. the winner of Edgar/Maynard III is something most fans would leap at.” – Chris Roberts
10. Nick Diaz
“The other Strikeforce champ that is making waves, Diaz has actually done Melendez one better and got himself booked for a highly lucrative, highly anticipated title shot against GSP at UFC 137. He is riding a crazy 10 fight win streak that most recently saw him take Paul Daley’s best shot and come back to know the Brit out.” – Chris Roberts
Others receiving votes: Junior Dos Santos, Jake Shields, Eddie Alvarez, Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua, Dan Henderson