1: Jose ‘Scarface’ Aldo: The undoubted king of the featherweight ranks, Aldo has extended his unbeaten streak to fifteen fights on the local circuit, in the WEC cage and inside the octagon. The challenges just seem to be getting bigger and bigger for the Brazilian of late, beating back the likes of Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar. He’ll go one-on-one with Anthony Pettis next time out inside the octagon.
2: Chad ‘Money’ Mendes: Former NCAA Division 1 wrestling standout could very well be the pretender to the throne after winning thirteen of fourteen professional mixed martial arts fights. His only defeat was at the hands of Jose Aldo and he has since bounced back with first round knockout wins over Cody McKenzie, Yaotzin Meza and Darren Elkins.
3: Ricardo Lamas: Lamas has secured a worthy top three position after putting together a four-fight winning streak inside the octagon against a string of tough opponents such as Cub Swanson, Hatsu Hioki and Erik Koch. He’ll face Chan Sung Jung in July with a possible shot at the title for either man hanging in the balance.
4: Frankie Edgar: The former lightweight champion has decided to make 145 pounds his home, at least for the time being. Edgar lost his opening bout at the new weight to champion, Jose Aldo and will be desperate to snap the three-fight losing streak (all title fights) when he faces Charles Oliveira in the month of July.
5: Pat Curran: A former lightweight and now the Bellator featherweight champion, Curran is riding a five-fight winning streak after defeating the likes of Ronnie Mann, Marlon Sandro and Joe Warren. The powerhouse wrestler has dominated inside the cage of late and seems to be a revelation at 145 pounds. He’ll defend his title next in April.
6: Chan Sung Jung ‘The Korean Zombie’: Jung is one of the most popular fighters at 145 pounds after showing heart, knockout power and a tricky submission game to say the least. He’s finally found a little consistency as well after putting together a three-fight winning streak inside the octagon against Leonard Garcia, Mark Hominick and Dustin Poirier.
7: Cub Swanson: If it wasn’t for a number of fighters run of good form the Greg Jackson trained fighter would undoubtedly be ranked higher this month. Swanson has put together an impressive four-fight winning streak inside the octagon, defeating the likes of Ross Pearson and Dustin Poirier on his way. This was a far cry from the stuttering form he showed whilst fighting under the WEC banner.
8: Dennis Siver: Taking advantage of a dip in form of a number of other featherweights, Siver has slipped into a top ten position with only two fights under his belt at 145 pounds against relatively low level opposition. He opened his term at featherweight with a unanimous decision win over Diego Nunes and repeated the result when he fought Nam Phan in December.
9: Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier: Slipping down the ranks is “The Diamond” after losing two of his last three fights inside the octagon. A sole win over Jonathan Brookins was sandwiched between defeats to Chan Sung Jung and Cub Swanson. It could very well be octagon career on the line in his very next fight.
10: Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida: Back-to-back defeats to round out his lightweight career shouldn’t detract from Guida’s potential to make an impact at 145 pounds. Guida opened his featherweight run with a tight split decision win over Japanese submission ace, Hatsu Hioki back in January. He was due to return to the cage just a few months later but injury has forced him onto the shelf.
(Updated May 1st, 2013)
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