Welterweight
1. Georges St. Pierre (24-2)
GSP made good on his well-publicized promise to put a beating on Nick Diaz at UFC 158, neutralizing the Californian’s boxing with relentless takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound across 25 minutes. While it’s too early to forecast a date for St. Pierre’s next UFC title defense, it is all but certain that his next challenger will be brick-fisted wrestler Johny Hendricks.
2. Johny Hendricks (15-1)
Hendricks never could put away the notoriously durable Carlos Condit during their 15-minute encounter at UFC 158, but the former Oklahoma State wrestling stud landed more than enough of his trademark left hands to secure a unanimous decision. The win puts Hendricks next in line for a shot at champ George St. Pierre, though the “Bigg Rigg” may have to wait for his damaged left paw to heal.
3. Carlos Condit (28-7)
Condit weathered some vicious offense from Johny Hendricks and even came back to win the third round of their UFC 158 bout, but it was not enough to stave off his second consecutive loss. Though the “Natural Born Killer” remains one of the 170-pound division’s elite, it could be a while before he is back in title contention.
4. Nick Diaz (26-9, 1 ND)
The 29-year-old from Stockton, Calif., had plenty of words for Georges St. Pierre before UFC 158 but precious few answers for the welterweight champion’s wrestling attack once they got in the Octagon. After dropping a lopsided five-round decision, Diaz announced in-cage that he was likely finished with MMA and then, minutes later, declared he would like a rematch with GSP -- a scenario which seems very unlikely at the moment.
5. Demian Maia (18-4)
Suffice it to say, Maia could be a problem for the rest of the welterweight division. The former middleweight standout is now 3-0 at 170 pounds after running a grappling clinic on perennial top 10 entrant Jon Fitch en route to a unanimous decision at UFC 156.
6. Jon Fitch (24-5-1, 1 NC)
Fitch was the most visible and controversial fighter to be released during a recent 16-fighter purge by the UFC. Though the former Purdue Boilermaker has just one victory in his last four outings, he remains one of the toughest outs in the world in his weight class. Fitch has signed with another Las Vegas-based MMA promotion -- the World Series of Fighting.
7. Martin Kampmann (20-6)
After 12 months spent clawing his way into contention with three straight wins over quality welterweights, Kampmann’s title hopes were dashed in less than a minute at UFC 154. The heavy left hand of Johny Hendricks dealt the Danish “Hitman” his first clean knockout loss and sent Kampmann back down the 170-pound ladder for the time being.
8. Jake Ellenberger (29-6)
Ellenberger gave former UFC middleweight contender and Strikeforce welterweight titlist Nate Marquardt a rude welcome in Marquardt’s return to the Octagon, disposing of “The Great” with a brutal barrage of punches in exactly three minutes at UFC 158. The Nebraskan has now won eight of his last nine starts and figures to be working his way back into title contention.
9. Ben Askren (11-0)
Askren quieted some of his critics on Jan. 24 by finally finishing a challenger to his Bellator title inside the scheduled five rounds. The “Funky” wrestler from the University of Missouri spent three rounds grounding, pounding and battering Karl Amoussou before the cageside physician put an end to the Frenchman’s suffering. Next up for Askren will be an as-yet-unscheduled defense against seventh-season tournament winner Andrey Koreshkov.
10. Rory MacDonald (14-1)
Revenge will have to wait. Fresh off a shellacking of B.J. Penn at UFC on Fox 5 in December, MacDonald lobbied for -- and was eventually granted -- a rematch with Carlos Condit on his home soil. However, a neck injury forced “Ares” off the UFC 158 bill, leaving his UFC 115 loss to Condit unavenged, at least for now.
Other contenders: Josh Koscheck, Robbie Lawler, Nate Marquardt, Mike Pierce, Tarec Saffiedine.
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