With the Gray Maynard Saga behind him, Frankie Edgar has his work cut out for him if he wants to get out of 2012 with his belt in tow. The UFC’s deepest, most volatile, and most talent-rich division is filled with fighters he hasn’t faced, including Anthony Pettis and Joe Lauzon, who will face off at UFC 144, the same event where Edgar will face Ben Henderson. After a month that saw three Top 15 fighters in action, the month of February puts four in the rotation, as well as the former PRIDE standout Takanori Gomi. In addition, five new entrants are hoping to swim in this shark tank without getting turned into chum. In no time at all, the bottom of the Top 10 could turn into the bottom of the Top 20, with surging lightweights Thiago Tavares, Edson Barboza, Paul Sass, Tony Ferguson, and Jacob Volkmann nipping at the heels of the top tier, and each fighter one big win from breaking through. The inactive former champion Sean Sherk continues to free fall, as his disputed win over Evan Dunham becomes a more and more distant memory. The line between contender and pretender is thin and easy to cross, and it is unlikely that next month’s rankings bear any resemblance to this one.
* key
C = Champion
N = New to the Promotion
R = Retired
S = Suspended, or recently returning from suspension
W = New to the Weight Class
Note that these are not the official MMA Ratings divisional rankings. These UFC Power Rankings are intended to indicate where UFC fighters in each division rank in relation to one another. Taking into account wins, losses, quality of opposition, nature of wins/losses, and the recency of those wins/losses, it is meant to illustrate who fits where in each division, and which fighters’ stocks are rising and falling.
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You must be a Lauzon fan or you've forgotten his losses to Stout by convincing decision and Sotiropoulos by sub. No way he should be above Miller, Guida, Diaz, or Pettis.
You have a point about Lauzon. He probably should be ranked below Miller, though I think that the win over Guillard trumps anything that Guida, Diaz, or Pettis has done recently. However, all could potentially leapfrog Lauzon if they win their next fights. Especially Diaz and Pettis.