Official December MMA Rankings

Updated as of: 1/13/13

Heavyweight: 1) Cain Velazquez
2) Junior dos Santos
3) Alistair Overeem
4) Fabricio Werdum
5) Daniel Cormier
6) Frank Mir
7) Antonio Silva
8) Stefan Struve
9) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
10) Josh Barnett

Contenders: Mark Hunt, Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo, Mike Russow, Gabriel Gonzaga.
Name(s) to Watch: Stipe Miocic, Travis Browne, Alexander Volkov

Light Heavyweight: 1) Jon Jones
2) Rashad Evans
3) Dan Henderson
4) Lyoto Machida
5) Alexander Gustafsson
6) Shogun Rua
7) Phil Davis
8) Ryan Bader
9) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
10) Rampage Jackson

Contenders: Gegard Mousasi, Glover Teixeira, Anthony Johnson, Forrest Griffin.
Name(s) to Watch: James Te Huna

Middleweight: 1) Anderson Silva
2) Chris Weidman
3) Vitor Belfort
4) Chael Sonnen
5) Michael Bisping

6) Luke Rockhold

7) Mark Munoz
8) Yushin Okami
9) Brian Stann
10) Alan Belcher

Contenders: Costa Philippou, Tim Boetsch, Hector Lombard, Jake Shields, Cung Le, Ronaldo Souza.
Name(s) to Watch: Ronny Markes

Welterweight: 1) Georges St. Pierre
2) Johny Hendricks
3) Carlos Condit
4) Nick Diaz
5) Rory MacDonald
6) Jon Fitch
7) Martin Kampmann
8) Jake Ellenberger
9) Tarec Saffiedine
10) Ben Askren

Contenders: Demian Maia, Nate Marquardt, Josh Koscheck, Mike Pierce, Matt Brown.
Name(s) to Watch: Karl Amoussou, Tarec Saffiedine, Erick Silva.

Lightweight: 1) Ben Henderson
2) Frankie Edgar
3) Gray Maynard
4) Nate Diaz
5) Gilbert Melendez
6) Donald Cerrone
7) Anthony Pettis
8) Jim Miller
9) Michael Chandler
10) Clay Guida

Contenders: Joe Lauzon, Jamie Varner, Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, TJ Grant, Matt Wiman.
Name(s) to Watch: Tim Means, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Marcin Held.

Featherweight: 1) Jose Aldo
2) Chad Mendes
3) Pat Curran
4) Ricardo Lamas
5) Chan Sung Jung
6) Dennis Siver
7) Hatsu Hioki
8) Cub Swanson
9) Nik Lentz
10) Erik Koch

Contenders: Dustin Poirier, Hacran Dias, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Daniel Straus, Darren Elkins.
Name(s) to Watch: Marcus Brimage, Dennis Bermudez, Max Holloway.

Bantamweight: 1) Dominick Cruz
2) Renan Barao
3) Urijah Faber
4) Michael McDonald
5) Eddie Wineland
6) Brian Bowles
7) Brad Pickett
8) Bibiano Fernandes
9) Scott Jorgensen
10) Raphael Assuncao

Contenders: Tyson Nam, Mike Easton, Eduardo Dantas, Marcos Galvao, Takeya Mizugaki, Yuri Alcantara.
Name(s) to Watch: Erik Perez, Francisco Rivera, Alex Caceres.

Flyweight: 1) Demetrious Johnson
2) Joseph Benavidez
3) John Dodson
4) Ian McCall
5) Darrel Montague
6) John Moraga
7) Jussier Formiga
8) John Lineker
9) Chris Cariaso
10) Darren Uyenoyama

Contenders: Louis Gaudinot, Mitsuhisa Sunabe, Mamoru Yamaguchi, Will Campuano, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Kentaro Watanabe.
Name(s) to Watch: Sean Santella, Josh Sampo, Tim Elliot, Sergio Pettis.

Women's Featherweight: 1) Cris Cyborg
2) Marloes Coenen
3) Milana Dudieva
4) Germaine de Randamie
5) Ediane Gomes
6) Elaina Maxwell
7) Julia Budd
8) Yana Kunitskaya
9) Romy Ruyssen
10) Hiroko Yamanaka

Contenders: Lauren Taylor, Ashley Sanchez, Fiona Maxwell.
Name(s) to Watch: Randi Miller, Veronica Rothenhausler.

Women's Bantamweight: 1) Ronda Rousey
2) Miesha Tate
3) Sara McMann
4) Alexis Davis
5) Sarah Kaufman
6) Liz Carmouche
7) Shayna Baszler
8) Sarah D’Alelio
9) Cat Zingano
10) Amanda Nunes

Contenders: Hitomi Akano, Leslie Smith, Shana Nelson.
Name(s) to Watch: Jessamyn Duke, Holly Holm

Women's Flyweight: 1) Rosi Sexton
2) Jessica Eye
3) Vanessa Porto
4) Barb Honchak
5) Zoila Gurgel
6) Sheila Gaff
7) Michelle Ould
8) Tara LaRosa
9) Munah Holland
10) Tonya Evinger

Contenders: Reyna Cordoba, Takayo Hashi, Kalindra Carvalho Faria.
Name(s) to Watch: Jocelyn Lybarger, Sarah Maloy.

Women's Strawweight: 1) Jessica Aguilar
2) Megumi Fujii
3) Carla Esparza
4) Ayaka Hamasaki
5) Katja Kankaanpaa
6) Joanne Calderwood
7) Seo Hee Ham
8) Claudia Gadelha
9) Felice Herrig
10) Aisling Daly

Contenders: Mei Yamaguchi, Bec Hyatt, Yuki Tsuji, Ashley Cummins, Patricia Vidonic.
Name(s) to Watch: Tecia Torres.

Women's Atomweight: 1) Jessica Penne
2) Naho Sugiyama
3) Kikuyo Ishiwaka
4) Michelle Waterson
5) Cassie Rodish
6) Yasuko Tamada
7) Lisa Ellis
8) Lacey Schuckman
9) Misaki Takimoto
10) Nicdali Rivera-Calonic

Contenders: Satomi Akano, Stephanie Frausto Liz McCarthy, Amy Davis.
Name(s) to Watch: Laura Marcusse.

Let us know what you guys think. Tell us in the comments or on Twitter @Champion_Rounds.

MMA Welterweight Rankings: September Edition

As we at CR continue our rankings, we make our way to the wrestling dominated welterweight division. Let's get to it!
 

          Ben Askren (Photo by Bellator)

10. Ben Askren – Askren is one of the best wrestlers to ever come to MMA and he has proven that to be true by wrestling his way to a 10-0 record. Askren has beaten some good competition but until he faces off with some guys in the UFC, we won’t be able to truly determine where he rates against the top 9 on this list.

     Nate Marquardt (Photo by MMAjunkie)

 9. Nate Marquardt – After a disappointing and bizarre end to his UFC career, he moved on to Strikeforce where he took of undefeated Tyron Woodley. Nate dominated the fight and ended up KOing Woodley and winning the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship. 

 Rory MacDonald (Photo by MMAjunkie)

8. Rory MacDonald - Rory is arguably the most exciting prospect in MMA today. He is only 23 years old but already has dominating wins against Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle. He has one of the brightest futures in the UFC and his next fight against BJ Penn of the Fox 5 card will show us just how successful he will be.

Jon Fitch (Photo by MMAjunkie)

7. Jon Fitch - Fitch has not fought since December 2011 where he was absolutely demolished in 12 seconds by Johny Hendricks. This was a huge loss for Fitch and brought him down from 2^nd place to 7^th. The welterweight division is a stacked one and a loss like that is devastating. His next opponent won’t be an easy one either as he takes on Erick Silva at UFC 153 in October.

 Jake Ellenberger (Photo by MMAjunkie)

 6. Jake Ellenberger – Ellenberger is coming off of a very disappointing loss to #5 Martin Kampmann in June. He was dominating but was caught flush with a knee to the chin. Before that fight, Ellenberger had won 6 straight with 4 of those coming by way of KO or TKO. The set back was big for him but he has the ability to turn it around when he faces Jay Hieron at UFC on FX 5 in October.

Martin Kampmann (Photo by Fight!)

5. Martin Kampmann – Kampmann could very well be the most exciting fighter in the UFC today. His last two come-from-behind wins over Thiago Alves and Jake Ellenberger were two Fight of the Year candidates. Kampmann is going to fight #4 Johny Hendricks in a fight that should be nothing short of amazing.

Johny Hendricks (Photo by MMAjunkie)

4. Johny Hendricks - The monster from OSU has been on a tear, taking out top competition since entering the UFC. He is coming off of wins against Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. Hendricks is scheduled to take on #5 Martin Kampmann in a fight that will determine who fights the winner of GSP vs. Carlos Condit.

Nick Diaz (Photo by MMAjunkie)

3. Nick Diaz - Diaz is many things. But mainly a mess and a brilliant fighter. He tested positive for marijuana and was suspended for a year starting of February 4^th, 2012, by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. So, until then Diaz will be inactive.

Carlos Condit (MMAjunkie)

2. Carlos Condit – Currently the UFC Interim Welterweight Champion. Had to beat #3 Nick Diaz to win it. Condit has evolved into a very technical and calculated “Killer”. He has learned to use his reach incredibly well and has added a significant amount of power to his striking as well. He will soon be in the fight of his life against GSP and if he can somehow beat the champ, he will be the best in the world at 170.

GSP (Photo by MMAjunkie)

1. Georges St. Pierre – Has been the perennial UFC Welterweight Champion for many years. He won the title back at UFC 83. It has been that long since he has shown any type of weakness. The guy can be considered one of the top athletes alive in any sport. He will be fighting Carlos Condit in November at UFC 154 to unify the titles.

Exciting times at 170! So what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments on what you either agreed on or disagreed on.