Let's shake it up

SPORTSNET.CA's mixed martial arts rankings

by (Big Game) James Brydon

as of Feb. 8, 2010

The past month was a relatively quiet one with just one Strikeforce show and Saturday's "Super" UFC event (not including the smaller Canadian promotions). Accordingly, changes to the rankings were not vast, affecting just two divisions.

Starting with the welterweight class, Paulo Thiago leapfrogs Josh Koscheck (whom he beat a year ago) following his big win over Mike Swick. As for Matt Serra, he's sniffing at a return to the ranking, but not with a victory over a washed-up Frank Trigg.

Nick Diaz, Strikeforce's welterweight champion, moves into the rankings for the first time after he beat a tough and underrated Marius Zaromskis in impressive fashion.

A spot was opened for Diaz as Jake Shields moves from this list over to the middleweight one due to the fact that he holds the organization's title at that weight and will continue to fight in the 185-pound division for the foreseeable future. This is in keeping with my "credo" that a fighter should only be ranked in one division at a time.

Which brings us to the middleweight rankings, which saw the biggest overall shakeup. Chael Sonnen rockets up the list with his dominant win over Nate Marquardt. Demian Maia, another UFC 109 winner, and Robbie Lawler, a victor in the previous week's Strikeforce show, basically stay put as others move down. And as mentioned the Strikeforce belt-holder Jake Shields moves into to this list at No. 7.

Finally, Randy Couture looked very good in his fight against Mark Coleman, but similarly to Serra, he'll have to beat someone better (read: younger) to make any move up the light-heavyweight ladder.

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. Dan Henderson

3. Chael Sonnen

4. Nate Marquardt

5. Demian Maia

6. Vitor Belfort

7. Jake Shields

8. Patrick Cote

9. Robbie Lawler

10. Paulo Filho

Welterweight

1. Georges St-Pierre

2. Jon Fitch

3. Thiago Alves

4. Dan Hardy

5. Paulo Thiago

6. Josh Koscheck

7. Mike Swick

8. Paul Daley

9. Nick Diaz

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.