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Rankings: Shogun's revenge

Editor's note 11/21: Rankings will be updated by the end of the week. Emails asking when the rankings will be updated will not receive a reply.

As soon as the horn sounded on the fifth and final round of Lyoto Machida's UFC light heavyweight title defense against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Los Angeles on Oct. 24, the reporters in attendance were near-unanimous in their verdict. They had Rua as the new champion, putting them on the same page as most of the fans at the Staples Center and those watching at home.

The judges, of course, saw things differently, giving Machida 48-47 scores across the board.

A week later, though, "Shogun" gained a measure of justice, as he became the first fighter in the nearly two-and-a-half years of the Yahoo! Sports reporters' poll voted into the Top 10 after a losing effort. Rua garnered 29 points, enough to put him into a tie for seventh place with former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres.

Rua's performance against Machida, who couldn't figure out a counter for Rua's onslaught of kicks, was his third impressive showing in his personal redemption tour. "Shogun" was ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls in 2007, but fell out after injuries put him on the sidelines for an extended period. The Brazilian TKO'd Mark Coleman in January and knocked out Chuck Liddell in April to earn his title shot.

Machida, meanwhile, dropped from No. 4 to No. 5, with UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn jumping up a spot in his place.

The Yahoo! Sports Top 10 poll features 16 top mixed martial arts reporters from leading sports web sites, newspapers, wire services and blogs. Fighters receive 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, etc., down to one-point for a 10th-place vote. Fighters under suspension for use of illegal drugs or performance-enhancing substances are ineligible for consideration, and fighters who go 12 months without competing are ineligible for consideration until after the completion of their return fight.

For a list of this month's Y! Sports Top 10 poll panel participants, go here.

10. Brock Lesnar
Points: 22
Affiliation: UFC (UFC heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Webster, S.D.
Record: 4-1 (won last four)
Last month's ranking: unranked
Most recent result: def. Frank Mir, R2 TKO, July 11
Analysis: Has sat just outside the top 10 for the past several months. A bit of shuffling among the pollsters put Lesnar a point ahead of Dan Henderson in the standings.

9. Brian Bowles
Points: 26
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: Rumor has Bowles defending his title against Dominic Cruz on a double bill also featuring Miguel Torres' return fight sometime in February.

T7. Miguel Angel Torres
Points: 29
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: No doubt hungry to prove loss to Bowles a fluke.

T7. Mauricio Rua
Points: 29
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 18-4 (lost last one)
Last month's ranking: unranked
Most recent result: lost to Lyoto Machida, unanimous decision, Oct. 24
Analysis: Rua laid out the blueprint for neutralizing Machida's style. The hardest part – finishing Machida – will be the key to the rematch.

6. Mike Brown
Points: 67
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Record: 22-4 (won last 10)
Last month's ranking: 6
Most recent result: def. Urijah Faber, unanimous decision, June 7
Analysis: A convincing win over nasty striker Jose Aldo on Nov. 18 could vault Brown into the top five.

5. Lyoto Machida
Points: 105
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Belem, Brazil
Record: 16-0
Last month's ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Mauricio Rua, unanimous decision, Oct. 24
Analysis: While some of the shine is off Machida's undefeated record, Rua never came close to finishing Machida, so let's not call the Machida Era over before it started.

4. B.J. Penn
Points: 107
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Record: 14-5-1 (won last one)
Last month's ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Kenny Florian, R4 submission, Aug. 8
Analysis: Penn's one-sided loss to welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in February makes it easy to forget that since Penn dropped to 155 two years ago. He's 4-0 with four decisive finishes in his weight class and has barely been challenged along the way.

3. Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 133 (four first-place votes)
Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1 (never lost PRIDE title)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 30-1, one no-contest (won last 10)
Last month's ranking: 3
Most recent result: def. Andrei Arlovski, R1 KO, Jan. 24
Analysis: Since reader feedback on Fedor is split right down the middle, here's a handy form to ease your email experience: "Dear moron, How dare you rank Fedor so [low/high]!!!! Fedor is [nature's most unstoppable force/afraid of Kimbo Slice] and [could kill a great white shark with his bare hands/would get knocked out by Joe Benavidez]!!!! Get your head out of [Dana's/Coker's] backside and put Fedor [No. 1/out of the Top 10] or I'm never clicking on Yahoo! Sports again!!!! Love, [Reader]."

2. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 144 (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: Current chatter has St. Pierre returning from his injury as early as February.

1. Anderson Silva
Points: 150 (eight 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: Manager Ed Soares remains coy about Silva's plans, but by sliding Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin into the Jan. 2 card, UFC took away some of the middleweight champion's negotiating leverage.

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Votes for others: Dan Henderson 21; Urjiah Faber, Quinton Jackson 15; Rashad Evans 12; Gegard Mousasi 5; Shinya Aoki 2; Thiago Alves, Cain Velasquez, Jake Shields 1.

Upcoming matches for ranked fighters: No. 3 Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers, Nov. 7, Hoffman Estates, Ill.; No. 6 Mike Brown vs. Joe Aldo, Nov. 18, Las Vegas.

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