1: Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: 2011 was nothing if not the start of the ‘Bones Era’. 12 months ago Jones was a great prospect…now, he’s a legend in the making. Ryan Bader, ‘Shogun’ Rua, ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans all fell victim to MMA’s newest golden boy. Only Dan Henderson and Alexander Gustafsson stand between Jones and the complete obliteration of the 205 pound division.

2: Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson: Dan Henderson has not only stepped out of the shadow of former Team Quest partner Randy Couture, he may be on the way to surpassing the legend of ‘The Natural’. While Couture lasted into his 40’s by fighting smart, Hendo is still ploughing through top opposition with reckless abandon. Can anything stop the ‘H-Bomb’?

3: ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans: The de-facto number one contender since May 2010, Rashad Evans finally found himself with an actual date with destiny. After a confident 5-round routing of Phil Davis last month, ‘Suga’ took on Jon Jones in April for the light heavyweight title but came up short. Evans will now be looking to move back up the light heavyweight divisions ladder and secure himself another title shot.

4: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua: As good as he undoubtedly is, ‘Shogun’ Rua has blown hot and cold since his UFC debut. Still, the Brazilian dynamo has only lost to the cream of the crop, and has been involved in some of the sport’s most epic battles along the way. His loss in one of MMA’s all time great bouts against Dan Henderson will have done little to harm his reputation, but Shogun will need to win big next time out of he is to make another run at the UFC gold.

5: Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson: Rumours of injury, TRT and weight cutting issues aside, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Rampage we’re seeing step into the Octagon in 2012 is far removed from the Rampage of old. A floundering performance against fringe top-10 light heavyweight Ryan Bader has all but put hopes of another title run to bed for Jackson, and retirement may not be too far from the former champion’s mind.

6: Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida: The post-Machida has not been kind to its namesake. ‘The Dragon’ managed only one defence of his 205lb title, and has gone an abysmal 1-3 since. A rumoured bout with Dan Henderson could make or break the Karate stylist’s tenure as a top-ranked light heavyweight.

7: Alexander Gustafsson: Following a tough loss to Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson has been on a tear through the middle tier of UFC light heavyweights. Four wins, four stoppages, each more brutal than the last, saw the young Swede rocket into the top ten. A victory over Thiago Silva when the Octagon visited his home nation in April cemented him as one of the world’s top 205’lbers.

8: Antonio Rogerio ‘Minotouro’ Nogueira: You win some, you lose some. Nogueira has certainly not had it easy, coming off the back of two very close and contentious decision losses to a pair of ‘super prospects’ in Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, before steamrolling Tito Ortiz late last year. Still, injuries and age are catching up with ‘Little Nog’; does he have enough left in the tank to handle a young, hungry Alexander Gustafsson? Only time will tell.

9: Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader: An impressive performance against ‘Rampage’ puts Bader back in the hunt, but his two devastating losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz stop him from leapfrogging Jackson – a rare exception in the MMABay Rankings. Still, Bader has his best years ahead of him, and another win or two under his belt could see the TUF winner steaming past the likes of the floundering Machida, Rampage and Nogueira.

10: Phil ‘Mr Wonderful’ Davis: Phil Davis is the latest ‘super prospect’ to roll off the conveyor belt and into the UFC. He’s barely reached double-figures in terms of fight experience, but he’s a world class athlete with top shelf wrestling and a suffocating ground game; the blueprint upon which many MMA greats have been built. Unfortunately, the step up in competition he faced with Rashad Evans proved to be too much, too soon.

(Updated May 1^st, 2012)

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