Johny Hendricks has fought his way into the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings.
The two-time NCAA wrestling champion from Oklahoma State is making his debut in the Top 10 after defeating Carlos Condit at UFC 158 on March 16 in a thrilling three-round match. It was the sixth win in a row for Hendricks, during which time he has beaten elite fighters such as Condit, Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Mike Pierce and T.J. Waldburger.
Hendricks will have a chance to move up the rankings when he faces No. 3 Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title sometime later this year.
With that, let's take a look at the current rankings:
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1. Anderson Silva Points: 228 (21 of 23 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion) Weight class: Middleweight Record: 31-4 Last fight: TKO1 Stephan Bonnar, Oct. 13 Previous ranking: 1 Up next: Title fight vs. Chris Weidman |
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2. Jon Jones Points: 201 (2 of 23 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion) Weight class: Light heavyweight Record: 17-1 Last fight: SUB4 Vitor Belfort, Sept. 22 Previous ranking: 2 Next: Title fight vs. Chael Sonnen |
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3. Georges St-Pierre Points: 190Affiliation: UFC (welterweight champion) Weight class: Welterweight Record: 24-2 Last fight: W5 Nick Diaz, March 16 Previous ranking: 3 Next: Nothing scheduled |
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4. Jose Aldo Points: 158Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion) Weight class: Featherweight Record: 21-1 Last fight: W5 Frankie Edgar, Feb. 2 Previous ranking: 4 Next: Title fight vs. Anthony Pettis |
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5. Benson Henderson Points: 133Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion) Weight class: Lightweight Record: 17-2 Last fight: W5 Nate Diaz, Dec. 8 Previous ranking: 5 Next: Title fight vs. Gilbert Melendez |
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6. Cain Velasquez Points:102Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion) Weight class: Heavyweight Record: 11-1 Last fight: W5 Junior dos Santos, Dec. 29 Previous ranking: 5 Next: Title fight vs. Antonio Silva |
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7. Demetrious Johnson Points:83Affiliation: UFC (flyweight champion) Weight class: Flyweight Record: 17-2-1 Last fight: W5 John Dodson, Jan. 26 Previous ranking: 7 Next: Injured, nothing scheduled |
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8. Renan Barao Points: 60Affiliation: UFC (interim bantamweight champion) Weight class: Bantamweight Record: 30-1 Last fight: SUB4 Michael McDonald, Feb. 16 Previous ranking: 10 Up next: Title fight vs. Eddie Wineland |
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9. Gilbert Melendez Points:49Affiliation: UFC Weight class: Lightweight Record: 21-2 Last fight: W5 Josh Thomson, May 19 Previous ranking: 8 Next: Title fight vs. Benson Henderson |
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10. Johny Hendricks Points: 62Affiliation: UFC Weight class:Welterweight Record: 15-1 Last fight: W3 Carlos Condit, March 16 Previous ranking: NR Next: Title fight vs. Georges St-Pierre |
Others receiving votes: Ronda Rousey 14; Frankie Edgar 11; Daniel Cormier 7; Junior dos Santos 3; Anthony Pettis 2; Joseph Benavidez 1; Michael Chandler 1; Lyoto Machida 1. Ineligible: Dominick Cruz (inactive more than 12 months).
Voting panel:Denny Burkholder, CBS Sports.com; Elias Cepeda, Cage Potato; Steve Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press; Dave Deibert, Post Media; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/Yahoo! Sports; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Josh Gross, ESPN.com; Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting; Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Mark La Monica, Newsday; Damon Martin, Bleacher Report; 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; Mike Straka, Sirius/XM; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com.
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