MMA Fighter Rankings for January 2012

A new year is upon us and the MMA community has a tough task at hand to best the year 2011 was. To start off the year right and one up ourselves we offer up first rankings of the year along with the addition of the flyweights (125 lbs.) to the ranks. With the UFC introducing the division early this year and crowning their first ever flyweight champion before the year is out it was only fitting.

Aside from adding the new division, the ranking also saw a great deal of movement based off the results from the month of December. Three top five fighters suffered disappointing losses in December and fell completely out of the rankings, while making way for new fighters to crack the list. It also allowed a few mainstays to jump up a notch and get one step closer to the coveted #1 spot.

January’s marquee matchup will see the featherweight champion Jose Aldo (#1) defend his title against Chad Mendes (#3) at UFC 142. Not far behind it though are two fights on the UFC on FOX 2 card that could drastically alter the ranks heading into February. Former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (#2) will take on Phil Davis and Chael Sonnen (#2) will look to get another shot at Anderson Silva when he takes on Mark Munoz (#5) in a welterweight showdown.

As always the goal here is to give you the best rankings that we can provide you with and of course a spot below for you to disagree and complain. So without further ado here is the latest MMAValor.com fighter Rankings:

Key – [↑] = Moved up, [↓] = Moved Down, [•] = New to the list

Heavyweight (205lbs. – 265lbs.)

1. Junior Dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Frank Mir [•]

Knocking on the door: Josh Barnett, Shane Carwin, Daniel Cormier, Antonio Silva

Light Heavyweight (205lbs.)

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Mauricio Rua
4. Dan Henderson
5. Rampage Jackson

Knocking on the door: Phil Davis, Ryan Jimmo

Middleweight (185lbs.)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Yushin Okami
4. Hector Lombard 
5. Mark Munoz

Knocking on the door: Brian Stann, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, Demian Maia

Welterweight (170lbs.)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Nick Diaz
3. Josh Koscheck [↑]
4. Carlos Condit [↑]
5. Jake Ellenberger [•]

Knocking on the door: Ben Askren, Rory MacDonald, Thiago Alves, Johny Hendricks

Lightweight (155lbs.)

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Ben Henderson
5. Michael Chandler

Knocking on the door: Melvin Guillard, Nate Diaz, Shinya Aoki, Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez

Featherweight (145lbs.)

1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Chad Mendes
4. Pat Curran [↑]
5. Patricio Freire [•]

Knocking on the door:  Joe Warren, Chan Sung Jung, Diego Nunes

Bantamweight (135lbs.)

1. Dominik Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Scott Jorgenson [↑]
4. Zach Makovsky [↑]
5. Renan Barao [•]

Knocking on the door:

Flyweight (125lbs.)

1. Ian McCall [•]
2. Joseph Benavides [•]
3. Yasuhiro Urushitani [•]
4. Jussier Da Silva [•]
5. Demetrious Johnson [•]

Ranks as of 1/4/2012

Tags: Alistair Overeem, Anderson Silva, Bellator, Chad Mendes, Chael Sonnen, Dominick Cruz, Fighter rankings, Frankie Edgar, Georges St. Pierre, Ian McCall, Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, joseph Benavidez, junior Dos Santos, MMA, MMA Rankings, Nick Diaz, Rankings, Rashad Evans, Strikeforce, UFC, UFC 142, UFC on FOX 2, Urijah Faber

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