Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo (16-1)
Since making his WEC debut in June 2008, Aldo has gone from little-known Brazilian prospect to king of the featherweight division with his domination of former WEC champion Mike Thomas Brown on Nov. 18. The impressive victory was Aldo's fourth knockout of 2009, making him a candidate to nab "Fighter of the Year" honors across the board.

2. Mike Thomas Brown (22-5)
Brown's road to recovery following his Nov. 18 defeat to Jose Aldo will begin in January. At WEC 46 in Sacramento, he will return to action against surging Philadelphian Anthony Morrison in hopes of erasing memories of his one-sided November loss.

3. Urijah Faber (22-3)
One of MMA's most exciting commodities, Faber has been on the shelf since June due to the broken hand he sustained in his rematch with Mike Thomas Brown. Healthy again, "The California Kid" is set to return in front of a partisan Sacramento crowd at WEC 46 on Jan. 10, meeting once-beaten prospect Raphael Assuncao.

4. Bibiano Fernandes (7-2)
The former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion has finally arrived in mixed martial arts. At Dream 11, Fernandes quickly armbarred former Greco-Roman world champion Joe Warren before toughing out a split decision over Hiroyuki Takaya in the grand prix final. With that, he became Dream’s first featherweight champion.

5. Raphael Assuncao (14-1)
Assuncao has long been considered a "can't miss" prospect, and he now has the chance to prove he is one of the featherweight elite. In the co-feature of WEC 46 on Jan. 10, he'll take on former WEC 145-pound champion Urijah Faber in the former king's Sacramento stomping grounds.

6. Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1)
Omigawa will have the opportunity to cap a brilliant 2009 campaign in style on New Year's Eve. At K-1's annual Dynamite card, he will meet Dream grand prix runner-up Hiroyuki Takaya in a clash of two of Japan's top featherweights.

7. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2)
Though most seem to think Hioki deserved the nod in his Nov. 7 split decision loss to Michihiro Omigawa, the bout was another exhibition of Hioki's staggering lack of strategy and consistency that have undermined him in the past.

8. Mackens Semerzier (5-0)
In making one of the most brilliant big show debuts in recent memory by submitting Wagnney Fabiano, Semerzier showed he can grapple. However, in order to convince the MMA world he's not a one-hit wonder, he'll need to defeat Deividas Taurosevicius on Jan. 10 on the main card of WEC 46.

9. Wagnney Fabiano (12-2)
Following his devastating upset to Mackens Semerzier and the rise of his Nova Uniao teammate Jose Aldo atop the featherweight division, Fabiano has set his sights on 135 pounds. He will make his divisional debut at WEC 46 on Jan. 10, taking on Greg Jackson product Frank Gomez.

10. Manny Gamburyan (10-4)
At WEC 44, Gamburyan pushed his featherweight mark to 2-0, as he took a competitive but clear unanimous verdict over former WEC featherweight title challenger Leonard Garcia. The win figures to move the former "Ultimate Fighter" runner-up into the upper echelon of the promotion's red-hot 145-pound division.

Other contenders: Leonard Garcia, Josh Grispi, Takeshi Inoue, Masanori Kanehara, Marlon Sandro.