James Brydon

December has been a rough month for top Canadian fighters.

While Georges St. Pierre basks in the glory of being named Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year, his fellow countrymen who entered the ring or Octagon this month are now dealing with bruised bodies -- and egos.

The first three weeks of the month saw two Canadian-born fighters compete on UFC cards. They both lost, and in quick and convincing fashion.

Jonathan (The Road Warrior) Goulet was knocked out by Mike Swick a mere 33 ticks into his Fight for the Troops bout. Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald, who was one of the headlining fights at The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 finale, lasted a little longer. He was floored by a brutal left from Wilson Gouveia and then bloodied into submission by some vicious elbows after two minutes and 18 seconds.

Two of the top six from Sportsnet.ca's first Top 10 Canadian pound-for-pound ranking went down. And that wasn't the end of it.

Early December's MFC event had a Canuck on each of its two co-main events. John (The Natural) Alessio was TKO'd in the second round by Paul (Semtex) Daley in one of MFC 19's featured fights. It was a disappointing debut in the Edmonton-based promotion for the former WEC fighter.

And to make matters worse, up-and-comer Roger Hollett had a chance to make more of his name for himself -- and move into SN.ca's Top 10 while he's at it -- but he put on a lacklustre performance in his first MFC belt defence, relinquishing his title to Emanuel Newton in the headliner. It will now take some work for the Halifax native to get back into contention.

The final month of 2008 wasn't all bad for those carrying the Maple Leaf. Former TKO and IFL competitor Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski, who was born in Poland but raised in Winnipeg, broke into the UFC with a bang -- and a crank -- as he secured a submission-of-the-night-worthy kimura on Shane Primm in the TUF finale, ostensibly earning himself a spot in the big show. And as I'm sure he'd be happy to learn, this also earns himself a spot in Monday's updated Canadian Top 10.

Speaking of which, the time since the first such snapshot was released (on Oct. 13) saw things go south for others from the Great White North. Sam Stout lost a second straight bout, falling in England to local fighter Terry Etim. Meanwhile Patrick Cote lost in his middleweight championship challenge of Anderson Silva.

On the other hand, Denis Kang beat Marvin Eastman at a Raw Combat event in October (and subsequently signed a deal with the UFC). And Mark Bocek evened his UFC record at 2-2-2 by beating Alvin Robinson in November.

I still consider Sam Stout to be the better lightweight at this point so he remains ranked above Bocek. And MacDonald simply got caught by a heavy-handed striker who came in overweight while Cote lost as a result of a freak injury against the world's best middleweight.

All this to say the year-end ranking of Canadians will see no change in the Top 4, while Kang and Bocek make big jumps, the others shift down and Soszynski replaces idle Chris Horodecki to round out the list.

The new Sportsnet.ca Top 10 Canadian Pound-for-Pound:

10. Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg)

No Canadians are competing in this Saturday's blockbuster UFC 92 card, aptly named "The Ultimate 2008." But you can bet there will be plenty of lists that will be affected (pound-for-pound, heavyweight, light-heavyweight, middleweight). Thus, next week, look for final year-end rankings in all other divisions. (This will also include the bantamweights, which were originally scheduled to be posted two weeks ago -- sorry about that.)

Instead of appearing on Monday, they will arrive on Jan. 1, so as to take into account any notable results from the FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 New Year's Eve card overseas. (And New Year's Day seems an appropriate time to reveal new Top 10 rankings as 2009 begins!)

Until then, Happy Holidays, enjoy Saturday's fights, and let's hope 2009 will be a banner year for Canada's flag.