1. George St. Pierre
There's a constant argument in the MMA world as to who is the true Number 1 pound for pound between Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre. We're giving it to GSP due to his lack of vulnerability at any given range of fighting. He has no weaknesses and you never know what he's going to bring into the cage, as exemplified by his boxing jab clinic against Josh Koscheck. His inabliity to commit and finish is his only downside. GSP has an intriguing influx of new challengers, starting with a showdown with Nick Diaz which is rumored to be set for Superbowl Weekend.
2. Anderson Silva
In this, the first Golden Age of MMA, he is the most polarizing of figures and possibly the first great champion. From his exasperating toying with Thales Leities, Patrick Cote, and Demian Maia, to his absolutely briilliant knockouts and last minute victories, Silva shows no signs of slowing down despite being closer to 40 than 30. Everyone is awaiting his rematch with Chael Sonnen who exploited Silva's biggest weakness: takedown defense.
3. Jon Jones
We may see this wunderkind top this list very shortly if he clears his entire division out in dominating fashion the way he has done so far. He still has to prove he can take on the rest of the best at Light Heavyweight, but so far so good. Next up, former champ and Karateka extraordinaire Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on December 10.
4. Jose Aldo
Other than the final round in his title fight against Mark Hominick where he was rumored to have been dealing with some kind of infection that sapped his stamina, Aldo has seen unstoppable. He recenlty took a unanimous decision from two time lightweight challenger Kenny Florian. Next stop: January 14th in his home country of Brazil, where he will face off with surging wrestler and Team Alpha Male representative, Chad Mendes.
5. Frankie Edgar
Edgar defines the heart of a champion. His comebacks from the verge of knockout against Gray Maynard gained him much admiration and respect from the MMA world. He is the only UFC champion who isn't seen as a resounding favorite in his fights. It doesn't get any easier as he faces former WEC champ Ben Henderson on February 26th in Japan.
6. Dominick Cruz
Cruz mixed it up on Oct 1 to take a unanimous decision from Demetrius "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, using his usual herky jerky standup combined with takedowns to slow the lighting fast challenger. Cruz will put the UFC belt on the line again in a trilogy completing rubber match against arch rival Uriah Faber at a yet to be determined date.
7. Junior Dos Santos
"Cigano" knocked out Cain Velazquez in less than half a round in an MMA groundbreaking fight on Fox to win the UFC Heavyweight Title. His reign will be challenged by the winner of the Alistair Overreem-Brock Lesnar tilt on December 30 at UFC 141. Dos Santos is looking to become the first UFC Heavyweight champion to defend the strap since Lesnar did it against Frank Mir and Shane Carwin in 2010, although Mir and Carwin were technically interim champions.
8. Dan Henderson
"Hendo" has been on a surge after taking yet another major promotional title last year by winning the Strikeforce Llght Heavyweight strap. He followed that with a win over Russian Heavyweight great and former Pride champion Fedor Emelianko and his recent unanimous decision over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The 41 year old Greco-Roman wrestler appears to be losing some stamina, but there are a number of big money fights for this legend to add his resume.
9. John Fitch
Fitch has done everything in the UFC welterweight divsion other than win the title. That being said, just as GSP has new challengers, Fitch is looking at new high level opponents starting with Johnny Hendricks on Decemember 30.
10. Gilbert Melendez
"El Nino" will be entering the UFC ranks shortly where we'll see how good he really he is. Until then, he has to defend the Strikeforce title against Jorge Masvidal on December 17 which will, in all liklihood, be his last under the Strikeforce banner.
In the Hunt: Nick Diaz, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Rashad Evans