1: Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: 2011 was nothing if not the start of the ‘Bones Era’. Two years ago Jones was a great prospect…now, he’s a legend in the making. Ryan Bader, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans Vitor Belfort and now Chael Sonnen have all fell victim to MMA’s newest golden boy.
2: Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida: The post-Machida-era has not been kind to its namesake. ‘The Dragon’ managed only one defence of his 205lb title, and has struggled to put together a consistent run of results since, going 3-3 inside the octagon over his past six fights. That said, victories over Randy Couture, Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson could see the karate master granted another bite at the cherry.
3: Alexander Gustafsson: Following a tough loss to Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson has been on a tear through the middle tier of UFC light heavyweights. Six 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. He has since picked up another win over former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua which has many talking about a future title shot.
4: 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’. A four-fight winning streak over the likes of Fedor Emelianenko and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was brought to an end by Lyoto Machida last time out.
5: Glover Teixeira: Some would say his position in the rankings is a product of a number of falling stars but you can’t deny his eighteen fight winning streak is an impressive one. Three-fights inside the octagon against Kyle Kingsbury, Fabio Maldonado and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have seen him pick up three wins and one more could see him granted a shot at the title.
6: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: A former PRIDE veteran now coming good inside the octagon after a few years bedding in. Many people were questioning the smaller Nogueira brother after losing back-to-back fights to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis in 2010/11 but the answer to his critics has been a definitive one. Since then former champions, Tito Ortiz and more impressively Rashad Evans have fallen foul of the Brazilian all-rounder.
7: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua: Another fighter who has failed to live up to his hype and his undoubted talent. The Brazilian has gone 4-4 in his last eight fights, a far cry from the 12-1 run he had under the PRIDE banner earlier in his career. He was last seen in action on the UFC on FOX 5 card in December when he was defeated by Alexander Gustafsson via unanimous decision.
8: ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans: A long-time top three ranked light heavyweight, the wheels have seemingly fallen off the man dubbed “Suga” of late. Personal problems and a lack of motivation have seen the former champion lose his last two bouts to Jon Jones and more importantly, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Will he make a comeback in 2013 or does his future lie behind a desk in the FOX studios?
9: Phil Davis: One loss doesn’t un-maketh the man and that’s exactly how we feel about ‘Mr. Wonderful’. Let’s face it, he was facing perhaps the number two guy in the division and although he lost every round he wasn’t pounded into the dirt. Wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexander Gustafsson make him a very dangerous prospect for anyone to face. He was last seen inside the octagon on the UFC 159 card, defeating Vinny Magalhaes via unanimous decision.
10: Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader: An impressive performance against ‘Rampage’ puts Bader back in the hunt, but a devastating loss Lyoto Machida stopped him from moving higher up the rankings. He did however get back to winning ways last time out when he earned a fifty second submission win over veteran, Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC on FOX 6.
(Updated May 1st, 2013)
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