The Yahoo! Sports Top 10 poll features 21 top mixed martial arts reporters from leading sports web sites, newspapers, wire services and blogs.
Using the same formula for the monthly poll’s tabulation, with 10 points for a first-place finish; nine for a second; etc., the cumulutive scores for 2009 show the top MMA fighters to be Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko.
Here's how Yahoo! Sports rounded out the list:
Henderson
10. Dan Henderson
Points: 25
Affiliation: Strikeforce
Weight class: Middleweight/Light heavyweight
Hometown: Murrieta, Calif.
Record: 25-7 (won past three)
Last month’s ranking: 10
Most recent result: def. Michael Bisping, R2 KO, July 11
Analysis: A rumored Strikeforce debut against Jake Shields in April will serve more as a test of whether Shields is truly an elite fighter.
Torres
9. Miguel Angel Torres
Points: 39
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Bantamweight
Hometown: East Chicago, Ind.
Record: 36-2 (lost last one)
Last month’s ranking: 8
Most recent result: lost to Brian Bowles, R1 TKO, Aug. 9
Analysis: Gets back into the cage on March 6 against a TBD opponent.
Bowles
8. Brian Bowles
Points: 41
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Bantamweight (WEC bantamweight champion)
Hometown: Athens, Ga.
Record: 8-0
Last month’s ranking: 9
Most recent result: def. Miguel Torres, R1 TKO, Aug. 9
Analysis: Has to get through a March 6 defense against Dominic Cruz before we get to see the Torres rematch.
Rua
7. Mauricio Rua
Points: 53
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 18-4 (lost last one)
Last month’s ranking: T7
Most recent result: lost to Lyoto Machida, unanimous decision, Oct. 24
Analysis: Biding him time until he gets his second shot at “The Dragon.”
Aldo
6. Jose Aldo
Points: 83
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Record: 16-1 (won last nine)
Last month’s ranking: 6
Most recent result: def. Mike Brown, R2 TKO, Nov. 18
Analysis: All you need to know about Aldo is that the featherweight is already being talked about as the man who might be the one who gives Penn a match at lightweight.
Machida
5. Lyoto Machida
Points: 122
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Belem, Brazil
Record: 16-0 (won last 16)
Last month’s ranking: 5
Most recent result: def. Mauricio Rua, unanimous decision, Oct. 24
Analysis: Healing a hand injury before he begins training for Rua.
Penn
4. B.J. Penn
Points: 149 (one first-place vote)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Record: 15-5-1 (won last two)
Last month’s ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Diego Sanchez, R5 TKO, Dec. 12
Analysis: Thanks for playing, Diego. Next …
Emelianenko
3. Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 182 (six first-place votes)
Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1 (never lost PRIDE title)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 31-1, one no-contest (won last 11)
Last month’s ranking: 3
Most recent result: def. Brett Rogers, R2 KO, Nov. 7
Analysis: If Emelianenko really is fighting Fabricio Werdum in April as is rumored, expect Werdum’s KO loss to Junior dos Santos to be aired on Spike TV approximately 12,455,201 times.
St. Pierre
2. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 185 (four first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 19-2 (won last six)
Last month’s ranking: 2
Most recent result: def. Thiago Alves, unanimous decision, July 11
Analysis: Here’s guessing that even if Dan Hardy isn’t considered a threat to beat St. Pierre, come March 27, people will buy UFC 11 just because they want to see someone shut Hardy’s mouth.
Silva
1. Anderson Silva
Points: 196 (10 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 24-4 (won last 10)
Last month’s ranking: 1
Most recent result: def. Forrest Griffin, R1 KO, Aug. 8
Analysis: Silva says his elbow is healing nicely. Which means next week his agent will probably say he’s suffered a setback. And on it goes.
For the full story on Yahoo! Sports, click here.
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