Others receiving votes: Jason Miller (5), Michael Bisping (5), Kazuo Misaki (3), Chael Sonnen (3), Matt Lindland (2), Chris Leben (1)
WELTERWEIGHT
1. Georges St. Pierre (60)
2. Jon Fitch (51)
3. Thiago Alves (42)
4. Jake Shields (39)
5. Josh Koscheck (35)
6. Mike Swick (21)
7. Matt Hughes (16)
8.(tie) Paul Daley (12)
8.(tie) Carlos Condit (12)
10. Nick Diaz (11)
Others receiving votes: Martin Kampmann (10), Brock Larson (7), Paulo Thiago (7), Dan Hardy (4), Jay Hieron (2), Mike Pierce (1)
LIGHTWEIGHT
1. BJ Penn (60)
2. Shinya Aoki (48)
3. Eddie Alvarez (40)
4. Diego Sanchez (30)
5. Kenny Florian (29)
6. Frankie Edgar (25)
7. Gray Maynard (24)
8. Joachim Hansen (20)
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (16)
10. Gilbert Melendez (8)
Voters: Jamie Penick, Frank Hyden, Alex Williams, Matt Pelkey, Rich Boles, Bjorn Hansen
Pelkey's Analysis: We added a couple new voters this week and it did a pretty good job of shaking up the rankings. Big winners since last time were Vitor Belfort and Paul Daley, while the losers were Martin Kampmann and Brock Larson dropped out of the welterweight top-10. Diego Sanchez backers should be satisfied. He's gone from unranked all the way up to #4 without even having to fight. Strange. Same goes for Matt Hughes, who I thought was gone for good, only to reappear despite not having fought in months.
Lightweight continues to be the deepest division around, with 18 fighters total receiving votes. Light-heavyweight is the most top-heavy with a near consensus top-10. For people who complain about the UFC's title shots being handed out without rhyme or reason, the middleweight division seems to have set up a nice little mini-tournament, right down to the 1 seed facing the 4, the 2 vs. the 3, and the winners of the two fights assuredly meeting to crown one true champion. It won't change the fact that Anderson Silva is beyond unbeatable at 185, but it sure looks nice on paper. If you have any other questions or comments about the rankings, let me know at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Fedor art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]
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STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
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Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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