Sportsnet.ca's mixed martial arts rankings

by (Big Game) James Brydon

as of Jan. 11, 2010

A Sunday night WEC event followed by a rare Monday Nighter for the UFC meant a quick update to the rankings (rather than waiting a week, especially since the next major MMA event isn't until the end of the month).

Ben Henderson, Urijah Faber and Mike Brown were the big winners at the WEC show, but the latter two can't move higher than they already are in the featherweight division. Nor will Rafael Assuncao be punished for losing to Faber in which almost pushed the former champion to the limit.

Meanwhile, the new WEC lightweight champion Henderson still has a ways to appear on that list, considering all the talent currently in the UFC and beyond. On the other hand, Gray Maynard moves up a spot on the 155-pound ladder and looks in great position for a UFC title shot sooner rather than later.

And of course, there were two wins by Canadians. Mark Hominick moves up a couple rungs in the Canadian pound-for-pound ranking as he re-established himself as a force in the 145-pound division. And 20-year-old Rory MacDonald improved his professional MMA record to an even 10-0 in taking out a tough veteran in Mike Guymon. And that earns him the No. 10 spot.

Here you go, the updated rankings:

Pound-for-pound

1. Anderson Silva

2. Georges St. Pierre

3. Fedor Emelianenko

4. B.J. Penn

5. Lyoto Machida

6. Mauricio Rua

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Brock Lesnar

9. Jon Fitch

10. Jose Aldo

Canadian pound-for-pound

1. Georges St. Pierre (St. Isidore, Que.)

2. Patrick Cote (Quebec City)

3. Sam Stout (London, Ont.)

4. Mark Bocek (Toronto)

5. Mark Hominick (Thamesford, Ont.)

6. Denis Kang (Vancouver)

7. Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg)

8. Jason MacDonald (Red Deer, Alta.)

9. T.J. Grant (Cole Harbour, N.S.)

10. Rory MacDonald (Kelowna, B.C.)

Heavyweight

1. Fedor Emelianenko

2. Brock Lesnar

3. Frank Mir

4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

5. Alistair Overeem

6. Shane Carwin

7. Junior Dos Santos

8. Fabricio Werdum

9. Cain Velasquez

10. Josh Barnett

Light heavyweight

1. Lyoto Machida

2. Mauricio Rua

3. Gegard Mousasi

4. Rashad Evans

5. Quinton Jackson

6. Thiago Silva

7. Forrest Griffin

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Rich Franklin

10. Randy Couture

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva

2. Nate Marquardt

3. Dan Henderson

4. Patrick Cote

5. Demian Maia

6. Paulo Filho

7. Vitor Belfort

8. Robbie Lawler

9. Chael Sonnen

10. Michael Bisping

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Jon Fitch

3. Thiago Alves

4. Jake Shields

5. Dan Hardy

6. Josh Koscheck

7. Paulo Thiago

8. Mike Swick

9. Paul Daley

10. Martin Kampmann

Lightweight

1. B.J. Penn

2. Shinya Aoki

3. Kenny Florian

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Diego Sanchez

6. Gilbert Melendez

7. Gray Maynard

8. Joachim Hansen

9. Tatsuya Kawajiri

10. Frank Edgar

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Mike Brown

3. Urijah Faber

4. Hatsu Hioki

5. Wagnney Fabiano

6. Raphael Assuncao

7. Bibiano Fernandes

8. Michihiro Omigawa

9. Josh Grispi

10. Manny Gamburyan

Bantamweight

1. Brian Bowles

2. Miguel Torres

3. Takeya Mizugaki

4. Masakatsu Ueda

5. Dominick Cruz

6. Joseph Benavidez

7. Scott Jorgensen

8, Damacio Page

9. Rani Yahya

10. Will Ribeiro

Previous rankings can be found by clicking here.