1: Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: When we added Jon Jones to the P4P list in late-2010, we predicted that within a year he’d be challenging for a top five spot. Here we are less 12 months later and ‘Bones’ has defeated fellow ‘super prospect’ Ryan Bader and battered one of the all time greats into submission to win the 205lb title. Since then he’s not only defeated former champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson,  karate master, Lyoto Machida but his close fried and training partner, Rashad Evans as well. Has any combat sports athlete ever ran through a division in a twelve month period like “Bones” has? We don’t think so… The big question however is would a 205 pound Anderson Silva withstand the ground and pound attack of Jones??? The answer to that one is also no

2: Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva: Current and former champions, along with a string of legitimate number one contenders, have all fallen in ‘The Spider’s’ wake. You have to go back to December 2004, nearly five and half years and 14 fights ago, to find the last time that another man actually beat him in the ring. Dismayed by a perceived lack of challenges at 185lbs, Silva has moved up to 205 on two occasions, wreaking havoc like only he can. A late, late win over Chael Sonnen, a spectacular first round knockout of Vitor Belfort and a battering of Yushin Okami have only reaffirmed the Brazilian as the number one fighter in the world.

3: Jose ‘Scarface’ Aldo: Mark Hominick may have made Jose Aldo look human in their UFC 129 classic, but ultimately Aldo showed one of the most important qualities of an all time great: The heart of a champion. The young Brazilian is the most devastating striker at 145; a fact made even scarier when you consider that his primary background is Jiu Jitsu. With Hominick, Florian and now Mendes behind him, it’s tough to see anyone troubling Aldo at 145, or anywhere else.

4: Georges ‘Rush’ St. Pierre: Matt Serra’s anvil-like fists are the only thing keeping GSP off the top spot. Had the diminutive New Yorker not pulled off the biggest shock since the Virgin Mary told Joseph “You better start putting those carpentry skills to use on a cot”, it’s likely that St. Pierre would be sitting pretty at the top of the P4P rankings. He may have recently lost his claim of not having lost a round in four years, but until someone finds a way to take at least three of them from the Canadian superstar in one night, he’ll remain a P4P great.

5: Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson: Not only is Dan Henderson one of MMA’s true legends, he’s also still competing with the best the sport has to offer and shows no signs of slowing down. After solid runs at both middleweight and light heavyweight in recent years, Hendo recently moved back to heavyweight for the first time since 2002, knocking out heavyweight G.O.A.T. Fedor Emelianenko. All that’s missing from the trophy case is a UFC title; a win against ‘Shogun’ Rua later this year could bring him within touching distance.

6: Junior Dos Santos: If the heavyweight champion of the world can’t make the ‘pound for pound’ list, then who can? Since his UFC debut as a massive underdog against Fabricio Werdum, Dos Santos has taken the sport by storm. His 90-second beasting of former ‘P4P’ ranked Cain Velasquez in November sees him take the former champion’s spot…if he can topple the winner of December’s Overeem vs Lesnar superfight, he could well break the top five.

7: Dominick ‘Dominator’ Cruz: Dominic Cruz may have earned the nickname ‘The Irritator’ from Urijah Faber for his inability to finish recent foes, but his ability to confound and confuse foes while dishing out a steady stream of punishment has seen Cruz develop into one of the most unbeatable fighters in MMA. After avenging his only loss to the aforementioned Faber at UFC 132 and outworking Demetrious Johnson in September, Cruz has solidified his spot in the pound for pound rankings.

8: Ben ‘Smooth’ Henderson: Despite losing his WEC title in his final fight for the promotion, Ben Henderson has excelled since jumping into the deep waters of the UFC lightweight division. Increasingly impressive performances against Mark Bocek, Jim Miller and Clay Guida earned ‘Smooth’ a title shot, and Henderson took full advantage. Still, the result was contentious, and we may be heading for our third consecutive lightweight title rematch. Until then, Henderson can soak up the limelight as the world’s number one lightweight.

9: Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall: Despite only competing at Flyweight for a year, Ian McCall’s 125lb debut upset of then number 1 ranked Jussier da Silva rocketed the former WEC fighter to the top of the divisional rankings. ‘Uncle Creepy’ kept up his momentum with wins over Dustin Ortiz and Darrell Montague to capture the TPF Flyweight title, before fighting to a controversial draw in his UFC debut against Demetrious Johnson. A rematch will determine who fights Joe Benavidez for the UFC’s newest title, and the number 1 spot in the flyweight rankings.

10: Chael Sonnen: He’s baaaaack! Talk about emphatic returns; Chael Sonnen stepped back into the Octagon after nearly a year on the sidelines and steamrolled highly-regarded contender Brian Stann inside two rounds. After an 11^th hour change of opponent saw him facing Michael Bisping instead of Mark Munoz, Sonnen persevered to take razor-thin decision and with it, the official number one contender status at 185.

(Updated May 1^st, 2012)

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