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Dec 9, 2008 - 7:52:53 PM
Jed I. Goodman, MMATorch Columnist
Goodman's Top Ten Welterweight Rankings:

1. Georges St. Pierre (17-2, 11-2 UFC, 7(T)KOs, 4 Subs) - The 27 year old is the epitome of a mixed martial artist. A well rounded fighter with strong Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai, wrestling and boxing. His last fight against Jon Fitch was one of the fights of the year and yet it was never even close. He is scheduled to fight BJ Penn in a "dream match" next, a rematch of their 2006 fight that St. Pierre won by split decision. If he can get by Penn he also has the young and up coming Thiago Alves as his number one contender and rumors still fly about another potential "dream match" versus Anderson Silva.

Up Next: UFC 94, January 31st vs. BJ Penn.

2. Thiago Alves (16-3, 9-2 UFC, 10(T)KOs, 1 Sub) - Alves looked great against Josh Koscheck and he finally came in at the discussed weight limit. The most intriguing part of the fight was that he prevented the take down from a world class wrestler. If Koscheck can't take him down, will St. Pierre be able to? Since getting knocked out by Jon Fitch two years ago, Alves has been unstoppable. He has beaten top ten contenders Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and most recently Josh Koscheck. Alves is scheduled to fight St. Pierre for the title (provided St. Pierre gets past BJ Penn). Thiago is a big and powerful welterweight and loves using his knees. One flying knee against St. Pierre could send Georges to dream street and crown Alves champion.

Up Next: TBD.

3. Jon Fitch (17-3, 1 No Contest, 8-1 UFC, 4(T)KOs, 5 Subs) - Put up a gallant effort in his loss to St. Pierre, a fight of the year candidate. Fitch started his UFC career 8-0 (if my numbers are correct only Royce Gracie and Anderson Silva have accomplished that same feat). After resolving his contract issues with the UFC Fitch is back and fighting Akihiro Gono in January. With St. Pierre fighting Penn next and the winner of that fighting Alves, Fitch will probably will be out of the title picture for most of 2009.

Up Next: UFC 94, January 31st vs. Akihiro Gono.

4. Jake Shields (22-4-1, 3(T)KOs, 9 Subs) - The UFC has the world's best welterweights already, except for Jake Shields. Since losing a decision four years ago, to Akira Kikuchi, Shields has won eleven in a row including wins over Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit. He destroyed his competition in EliteXC going 4-0 and was their first and last welterweight champion. He has not gone past the first round in six of of his last seven fight and has won by submission or TKO in his last seven. But, enough with the statistics. The dude is awesome. He has excellent wrestling and jiu-jitsu and great kickboxing. When ever it's contractually possible, Dana White will sign him.

Up Next: TBD.

5. Josh Koscheck (11-3, 9-3 UFC, 2(T)KOs, 4 Subs) - He took his last fight, against Thiago Alves, on two weeks notice and looked in great shape as he was already training for his fight with Yoshiyuki Yoshida. He got rocked in the first round, but was able to "clear the cobwebs" and get back into the fight. He clearly lost to Alves, but gained new found respect from many of the Koscheck haters. He fights Yoshida this week and if he gets past him I'd like to see him matched up with Karo Parisyan, one of the few top ten contenders he has yet to face.

Up Next: UFC Fight Night: Fight for the Troops, December 10th vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

6. Matt Hughes (42-7, 15-5 UFC, 15(T)KOs, 18 Subs) - Love him or hate him, he is an icon of the sport. He holds win over a who's who of MMA fighters including Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk and Royce Gracie. He has lost three of his last four and although father time is catching up on him I still think he may have some gas left in the tank. I say this because in his last fight Thiago Alves came in over the weight limit by 4 pounds so Hughes agreed to fight him at a catch weight of 174. Alves didn't come in out of shape like Paulo Filho, he came in jacked, it was like Hughes was fighting a middleweight. So before I jump on the "Hughes must retire" bandwagon I need to see him fight one more time and who better to see him go against next then his heated rival, Matt Serra.

Up Next: (Rumored) UFC 97, April vs. Matt Serra.

7. Diego Sanchez (19-2, 8-2 UFC, 6(T)KOs, 9 Subs) - Along with Forrest Griffin, he was the season one winner of TUF. Sanchez had six wins in a row, including the TUF Finale, to start his UFC career. He then suffered set backs, losing to his nemesis Josh Koscheck, in a rematch from the show and a split decision loss to Jon Fitch. He has won his last two fights decisively, but his opponents, David Bielkheden and Luigi Fioravanti are not what you call top ten contenders. Sanchez recently said he may move down to lightweight, which I think would be a good idea.

Up Next: TBD.

8. Matt Serra (9-5, 6-5 UFC, 1(T)KO, 4 Subs). Serra was somewhat of a "journeyman" fighter before creating his Cinderella story by winning TUF 4: The Comeback. He was promised a title shot and used that opportunity to the fullest by beating Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight belt and shocking the world. He was destroyed in their rematch, but you can never take his win away. He came back to TUF as a coach and who can forget hearing him corner his fighters with that New York accent "you're doing fine, you're breathing, don't forget your foot stomps." Serra is probably better suited now as a coach, but he has at least one fight left in him, against his rival Matt Hughes, tentatively scheduled for April.

Up Next: (Rumored), UFC 97, April vs. Matt Hughes.

9. Carlos Condit (23-4, 5-0 WEC, 10 (T)KOs, 13 Subs)- I mentioned Jake Shields was the only great welterweight the UFC did not have, but I didn't forget about Condit. Condit fights for WEC which, to me, is like fighting for the UFC since they are owned by the same company. Condit is another amazing fighter, all twenty-three of his wins have come by knock out or submission. He has won eight in a row, and is undefeated in his WEC career.

Up Next: TBD.

10. Karo Parisyan (18-5, 8-3 UFC, 9 Subs) - Parisyan can be really fun to watch. Who doesn't like seeing Parisyan work his judo throws into a fight? Karo was promised a title shot several years back, but it never materialized. Will he ever get his shot? Well, he just signed a new eight fight contract, but he will probably have to win several fights in a row before they make that consideration. He is scheduled to fight the undefeated Dong Hyun Kim next.

Up Next: UFC 94, January 31st vs Dong Hyun Kim.

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