Written by: Kevin Early

1.     George St. Pierre
People rag on George St. Pierre because he has a ton of decision victories. They say he does not have the killer instinct. I disagree. I love finishes but George St. Pierre is one of the best game-planners in all of MMA. He is well-conditioned and loves to find people's weaknesses. Josh Koscheck is a wrestler so St. Pierre out-strikes him. Dan Hardy is a striker so St. Pierre takes him down. You get the idea. He is undoubtedly the #2 p4p fighter in the world and to top it off, he is a nice guy.

2.     Carlos Condit
Coming off wins over Rory MacDonald, Jake Ellenberger and Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit has propelled himself to the number one contender (for the second time). I am with out a doubt a Carlos Condit fan and have been for a while. He recently lost to St. Pierre. Since he is the only fighter to even put St. Pierre in a bad spot, he stays as my number two welterweight.

3.     Jake Ellenberger
Take away Ellenberger’s loss to Carlos Condit and “The Juggernaut” has been running through everyone. Look for him to face my number 4, Johny Hendricks, for a shot at the winner of Condit-St. Pierre.

4.     Johny Hendricks
Where the hell did this guy come from? He went 4-0 in the UFC but lost to Rick Story. Since then he has been on a tear. By far his most impressive win is his one-punch knockout of Jon Fitch. He has some serious power and a very serious beard.

5.     Jon Fitch
Although he suffered a devastating loss to Johny Hendricks, Jon Fitch is still one of the best fighters in the welterweight division. He only has two losses in the UFC and one of those is to the current champion. The UFC did not want a rematch and he has stayed as the number two welterweight for a long time until now.

6.     Nick Diaz
Nick Diaz has always been one of my least favorite personalities in the UFC (notice how I did not say fighters). His whining and generally bad attitude has prevented me from becoming a fan but that does not mean he is not one hell of a fighter. With more time (if he doesn’t retire) he could move up this list.

7.     Josh Koscheck
Josh Koscheck is a poor man’s Jon Fitch. He will never be a title holder as long as St. Pierre is around. I do not know if he will ever get a shot but he does have some significant wins and has improved tons since his ultimate fighter days.

8.     Jake Shields
Keep in mind that I had never seen Jake Shields fight before he got to the UFC.  I was extremely unimpressed with his first three performances. I did not think he deserved a title fight by a long shot. Luckily for him, people considered him to be one of the best fighters not in the UFC (which makes a great case for the UFC being by far the best MMA promotion) and still believe he is a great fighter. He picked up a recent win over “Sexyama” but he has been on a four-fight losing streak.

9.     Rory Macdonald
Rory Macdonald only has one loss in his MMA career. That loss is to Carlos Condit, whose wins get more and more impressive as  this list goes on.  He is expected to face Che Mills at UFC 145. If he can keep this up, he will quickly move up into title contender status.

10.  Diego Sanchez
Diego Sanchez’s career has been a bumpy ride. Once thought to be a true contender, he has since lost to a lot of people on this list. Sanchez cannot seem to keep a win streak going and needs to rethink his strategy. If not, he will never be a top five welterweight.

UFC Middleweight Rankings 2012

UFC Light-Heavyweight Rankings 2012

UFC Heavyweight Rankings 2012