Sherdog.com’s Pound-for-Pound Top 10

Welcome back, Mr. Rua. We weren’t expecting your arrival, but we do have a spot open for you.

Though the vast majority of the mixed martial arts world believed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua won his UFC title bout with Lyoto Machida in October, Machida remained the favorite when the Brazilian pair met again on May 8 in Montreal. Instead, Rua looked like the man who was MMA’s consensus 2005 “Fighter of the Year,” as he walloped Machida in less than four minutes, taking the UFC light heavyweight crown, the 205-pound mantle and a spot on this list.

When Sherdog.com began publishing its pound-for-pound rankings in August 2007, Rua appeared as high as number two on the list, due mostly to his outstanding 2005 run in which he trampled four top 10 opponents in a little more than six months and won the Pride Fighting Championships 205-pound grand prix. Rua remains a long way away from having a resume that strong again. However, he will certainly have the chance to climb, with a healthy list of potential bouts against well-accomplished fighters: Rashad Evans and respective rematches with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Forrest Griffin.

On the topic of sequels, second tilts will be formative for these rankings in the coming months. Four entrants on this list are now lined up for rematches -- five if one includes the edged-out Thiago Alves, who falls to the figurative 11th spot with Rua’s re-entry.

A month after the fact, the hysteria that surrounded Silva following his dubious domination of Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi has subsided. Attention has now turned to the next fight for the middleweight kingpin, as “The Spider” will risk his 185-pound mantle against outspoken Republican-stroke-fighter Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on Aug. 7 in Oakland, Calif. With his recent string of victories over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, Sonnen has emerged as an accomplished, deserving challenger. However, the biggest factor in making the fight a blockbuster will center on Sonnen’s infamous trash talking and whether it can inspire Silva to fight from bell to bell.

The story remains the same for St. Pierre. Coming off a dominant title performance against Dan Hardy in March, he has been positioned for a rematch with yet another elite welterweight in Josh Koscheck, courtesy of the former NCAA national wrestling champion’s May 8 win over Paul Daley. They met previously in August 2007, with St. Pierre winning a unanimous decision. Now, when they collide three-plus years later, it will be on the heels of the 12th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which figures to build the second GSP-Koscheck bout with an easy and obvious face-heel dynamic.

The good news: Emelianenko’s Strikeforce contract has, at least for now, been ameliorated, allowing “The Last Emperor” to meet Fabricio Werdum on June 26 when the promotion returns to San Jose, Calif. The bad news: many MMA observers have grown skeptical of Emelianenko’s run of opponents, and following Alistair Overeem’s May 15 destruction of Brett Rogers, Werdum appears far from the most appealing non-UFC heavyweight opponent for Emelianenko. A showdown with “The Demolition Man” has quickly become the premier fight for Emelianenko heading into the second half of 2010.

Aldo entered his April 24 showdown with Urijah Faber as a favorite, but many expected “The California Kid” to offer the Brazilian dynamo a real test. Instead, Aldo crushed and demoralized Faber in front of his fans in Sacramento, Calif. For five lopsided rounds, Aldo smashed Faber with low kicks, hobbling him into helplessness inside the cage. With the victory, Aldo appears all but untouchable in the featherweight division, despite only two outstanding wins -- Mike Thomas Brown and Faber -- on his docket. With the perception of his dominance reinforced, Aldo figures to be a considerable favorite over likely next challenger Manny Gamburyan whenever they meet later this year.

With a straightforward and prosaic fighting style, Fitch does not appear to be as close to another crack at the UFC welterweight title as he would like. However, the former Purdue University wrestling captain still sports a staggering 12-1 record in the UFC, having compiled it in one of MMA’s greatest divisions. Unfortunately, Fitch’s rematch with Thiago Alves has been canceled twice already, and the third iteration of the bout was hit with another delay. Zuffa officials pushed the date from UFC 115 on June 12 to UFC 117 on Aug. 7 to ensure Alves’ full health. Let us hope it happens this time. Holding the title of the undisputed second banana at 170 pounds remains a great MMA accomplishment.

At UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Edgar scored one of the most significant wins of 2010, as he dethroned lightweight kingpin B.J. Penn and took the UFC 155-pound title. Though it was not exactly a popular decision, Edgar took all three judges’ scorecards on the back of his aggressive combination punching and stellar movement. However, the surprise champion will have to replicate his feat in order to earn unanimous consideration as the sport’s top lightweight, as he has signed on for an August rematch with Penn in Boston.

From one controversy to another, Penn lost his UFC lightweight title and MMA’s 155-pound mantle on April 12 with his shocking upset to Frankie Edgar. While debate still rages over the bout’s outcome, Penn has started his book tour to promote his eye-opening biography. The book has drawn the particular ire of UFC President Dana White over its anecdotes on the Hawaiian’s past dealings with the company. Brouhahas notwithstanding, “The Prodigy” will get his chance for redemption and the opportunity to regain top status at 155 pounds in August, when he meets Edgar for a second time at UFC 118 in Boston.

With questions swirling about what would happen if his rematch with Lyoto Machida went to the judges, Rua made sure the script played out differently from their controversial first bout, as he clobbered “The Dragon” less than four minutes into their May 8 meeting. Rua’s current resume remains a far cry from where it was in 2005, when he tore through four top 10 opponents in half a year. However, with a forthcoming title eliminator between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans and the UFC’s strong grip on elite 205-pound talent, Rua will have the opportunity to carve out a brilliant hit list in a strong division -- the backbone of any pound-for-pound resume.

There was a time just a few short years ago when Shields was reviled for being one of MMA’s most loathsome fighters to watch. However, during the last five years, the Cesar Gracie protégé has transformed himself from a drab, peripheral contender to one of the sport’s elite fighters. With his dominant April 17 upset over Dan Henderson, the Strikeforce middleweight champion now boasts a 14-bout winning streak and top-five credentials in two separate divisions. The serious question surrounding Shields now centers on whether he will remain a Strikeforce commodity or choose a future in the Octagon against a deeper roster of competition.

The majority of the MMA world felt Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was the better man in his first meeting with Machida in October. In their May 8 rematch, Machida certainly looked like the lesser man. The Belem, Brazil, native was polished off in less than four minutes -- a far cry from the supposedly untouchable fighter who took the title from Rashad Evans just a year earlier. However, criticisms at this point seem too sharp. Lost in the post-fight absolutes was the fact that it was not that long ago when Machida blew away strong competition in a deep division, crushing both Evans and Thiago Silva in his 2009 campaign.

* With the entry of Mauricio Rua, previously 10th-ranked Thiago Alves falls outside the pound-for-pound top-10.