1: Jose ‘Scarface’ Aldo: The hype surrounding Jose Aldo had somewhat cooled off following two humanising performances since his switch to the UFC. If there were any doubts creeping in, Aldo erased them last month in Rio with a stunning KO of top-ranked contender Chad Mendez, capping off the victory with one of the most memorable celebrations in UFC history. The message was clear: Jose Aldo is here to stay.

2: Chad ‘Money’ Mendes: Former NCAA Division 1 wrestling standout Chad Mendes was tabbed as the ‘next generation’ Urijah Faber and a future featherweight champ. While that may indeed be the case, he didn’t fare much better than the actual Faber against Jose Also. While Mendez may be thankful that he didn’t have to endure 25 mins of brutal leg kicks, the knee to the chin that ended his night with just a second to go in the first round wasn’t the consolation prize he was looking for.

3: Hatsu ‘The Shooto Child’ Hioki: One of the all time greats in the ranks of Japan’s sprawling Shooto league, Hioki was carrying the weight of Japanese MMA on his shoulders in his UFC debut in October. Unfortunately, much like Japanese MMA, he was uncharacteristically muted in his performance. The second best featherweight in the world he may be, but Hioki will need to crank it up a notch if that’s where he is to remain.

4: Pat Curran: Pat Curran, younger brother of MMA veteran Jeff, exploded on the MMA scene in 2010 with his debut in Bellator. He’s since gone 6-1, losing only to Eddie Alvarez, and capturing both lightweight and most recently featherweight tournament titles with the promotion. His recent 145lb run was punctuated with a massive head kick KO over Marlon Sandro, earning Curran his spot in the MMABay top ten.

5: Deigo ‘The Gun’ Nunes: After a spirited loss to Kenny Florian killed him momentum, Nunes jumped straight back on the wagon with a well-deserved decision victory over suffocating grappler Manny Gamburyan late last year. A winner in four of his last five fights, Nunes could shoot right back up into contenders status with a win over Dennis Siver in April.

6: Dustin ‘The Diamond’  Poireir: A real ‘Diamond’ in the rough, Poireir burst onto the scene with an upset victory over then number one contender Josh Grispi at UFC 125. With multiple cancelled fights since, it’s been a rough few months for ‘The Diamond’. He’ll get the chance to rebuild some of that lost momentum when he faces unbeaten Max Holloway in early February.

7: Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire: With his nemesis Joe Warren’s recent inactivity and KO loss (at 135), ‘Pitbull’s Bellator tournament win see’s him rocket into the featherweight top ten. Having improved his record to an impressive 17-1 with three big wins in 2011, Freire will get a shot at redemption when his faces former foe Warren for the Bellator 145lb title next year.

8: Marlon ‘The Monster’ Sandro: Nova Uniao’s Marlon Sandro solidified his reputation as one of MMA’s premier face-smashers in Japan’s Sengoku promotion. After losing via a shock head-kick KO to Pat Curran, ‘The Monster’ will attempt to navigate the next Bellator featherweight tournament in search of redemption.

9: Bart ‘Bartimus’ Palaszewski: After years of toil, ‘Bartimus’ finally arrived with the biggest win of his career against Tyson Griffin last year. The well-travelled veteran will find that it’s not easy at the top though, as he faces top-ranked featherweight Hatsu Hioki at UFC Japan later this month in a fight that will make or break his career.

10: Mark ‘The Machine’ Hominick: Hanging on to his spot in the top ten by the tiniest of threads, Mark Hominick will be hoping for a much better year in 2012. A gutsy loss to champion Jose Aldo last year did nothing to harm his standing, but a 7 second KO at the hands of the Korean Zombie leaves ‘The Machine’ in desperate need of a big win if he is to stay afloat at 145.

Note: Kenny Florian has been removed from the rankings due to his move back up to the 155lb division. He will be re-ranked at 155 as soon as he fights in that weight class.

(Updated February 1^st, 2012)

Why not tell us what you think about this story and get your thoughts featured in this week’s edition of MMABay Radio? Email Mailbag@mmabay.co.uk, start the subject with the word ‘RADIO MAILBAG’ and we’ll talk about our favourites on the next show.