Cain Velasquez's five-round demolition of Junior dos Santos on Dec. 29 won him the UFC heavyweight title and earned him a return trip into the Yahoo! Sports Top 10.
Velasquez checked into the poll at No. 6 in the January rankings after his impressive victory over dos Santos.
Demetrious Johnson was the beneficiary of a high-profile win, jumping up two spots from No. 9 to No. 7 after defeating John Dodson in an exciting flyweight title fight on Fox.
Lightweight champion Benson Henderson jumped up a spot from No. 6 to No. 5, replacing dos Santos, who fell out of the Top 10. Frankie Edgar slipped from No. 7 to No. 8 and Gilbert Melendez dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 to accommodate Johnson's move upward.
With that, let's take a look at the current rankings:
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1. Anderson Silva Points: 208 (19 of 21 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion) Weight class: Middleweight Record: 31-4 Last outing: TKO1 Stephan Bonnar, Oct. 13 Previous ranking: 1 Up next: Nothing scheduled |
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2. Jon Jones Points: 185 (2 of 21 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion) Weight class: Light heavyweight Record: 17-1 Last outing: SUB4 Vitor Belfort, Sept. 22 Previous ranking: 2 Next: Title fight vs. Chael Sonnen |
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3. Georges St-Pierre Points: 173Affiliation: UFC (welterweight champion) Weight class: Welterweight Record: 23-2 Last outing: W5 Carlos Condit on Nov. 17 Previous ranking: 3 Next: Title fight vs. Nick Diaz |
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4. Jose Aldo Points: 141Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion) Weight class: Featherweight Record: 21-1 Last outing: TKO1 Chad Mendes, Jan. 14, 2012 Previous ranking: 4 Next: Title fight vs. No. 8 Frankie Edgar |
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5. Benson Henderson Points: 121Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion) Weight class: Lightweight Record: 17-2 Last outing: W5 Nate Diaz, Dec. 8 Previous ranking: 6 Next: Title fight vs. No. 9 Gilbert Melendez |
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6. Cain Velasquez Points: 81Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion) Weight class: Heavyweight Record: 11-1 Last outing: W5 Junior dos Santos, Dec. 29 Previous ranking: NR Next: Nothing scheduled |
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7. Demetrious Johnson Points: 69Affiliation: UFC (flyweight champion) Weight class: Flyweight Record: 17-2-1 Last outing: W5 John Dodson, Jan. 26 Previous ranking: 9 Next: Nothing scheduled |
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8. Frankie Edgar Points: 62Affiliation: UFC Weight class: Featherweight Record: 14-4-1 Last outing: L5 Benson Henderson, Aug. 11 Previous ranking: 7 Next: Title fight vs. No. 4 Jose Aldo |
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9. Gilbert Melendez Points: 51Affiliation: UFC Weight class: Lightweight Record: 21-2 Last outing: W5 Josh Thomson, May 19 Previous ranking: 8 Next: Title fight vs. No. 5 Benson Henderson |
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10. Renan Barao Points: 20Affiliation: UFC (interim bantamweight champion) Weight class: Bantamweight Record: 29-1 Last outing: W5 Urijah Faber, July 21 Previous ranking: 10 Next: Title fight vs. Michael McDonald |
Voting panel: Elias Cepeda, Cage Potato; Steve Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press; Dave Deibert, Post Media; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/SI.com; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Josh Gross, ESPN.com; Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting; Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun; Steven Marrocco, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Todd Martin, freelance; Franklin McNeil, ESPN.com; Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer/MMA Fighting; John Morgan, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com; Ken Pishna, MMA Weekly; Greg Savage, Sherdog; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com.
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