1.
Anderson Silvadef. Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson
Analysis
: Pollsters become more enamored with St. Pierre with each passing month, but Silva has a golden opportunity to prove he deserves the top spot when he takes on No. 7 Dan Henderson on March 1 and goes for his seventh consecutive victory.
2.
Georges St. Pierre
Def. Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra
Analysis
: St. Pierre edged closer to Silva’s top spot, narrowing the gap from 13 points last month to four. If St. Pierre puts on another show when he faces Matt Serra under the pressure of fighting in his hometown on April 19, voters will have a tough choice for the top spot.
3.
Fedor Emelianenko
Defeated Hong Man-Choi, Round 1 submission, Dec. 31.
Analysis
: Former K-1 star Bob Sapp recently said he’d like a crack at Fedor. Such a match would no doubt excite those who like to spend their weekend nights in their basement blogging about Japanese network television ratings. But for the 99.99 percent or so of MMA fans who watch the sport because they want to see the best fight the best, it would make for yet another underwhelming Fedor show.
4.
B.J. Penn
def. Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk
Penn jumped three spots in the rankings after his dominant win over Stevenson in England. To contend for the top spot, Penn is going to need to prove he can sustain excellence over a period of time and not revert to his less-motivated ways.
5.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
def. Dan Henderson
One of the downsides of
The Ultimate Fighter is that when a major name films the Spike TV show, they’re taken out of the fight mix for months. Jackson is expected to defend his title against Forrest Griffin in July, which would be a 10-month break between fights.
