WKR October Rankings

Here at Watch Kalib Run we thought it would be a great idea to expand our MMA coverage by offering monthly rankings. Don't confuse these with USA Today/SB Nation's Consensus Rankings, which reflect the views from the entire MMA community. Plus those are attached to USA Today and newspapers don't like us.

These rankings are an attempt to inform our readers what the WKR writers are thinking when it comes to each division so when we make outrageous claims you will now know what we are "thinking".

All of WKR writers submitted their top-ten list as well as potential "Breakout fighters" who could be breaking in to the top-ten in the next year.

Note: Each fighter's ranking from last month can be seen in parentheses.

Heavyweight

1. Fedor Emilianenko (1)
   
2. Brock Lesnar (2)
   
3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (3)
4. Frank Mir (4)
   
5. Shane Carwin (5)
   
6. Cain Velasquez (7)
   
7. Brett Rogers (8)
   
8. Randy Couture (6)
   
9. Josh Barnett (9)
   
10. Junior dos Santos (N/A)
    

Receiving Votes: Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovksi.

Breakout Fighter: Todd Duffee

WKR Analysis - The top five of the heavyweight division stayed unchanged from the month of September. Randy Couture's loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102 dropped him from #6 to #8. Josh Barnett continues to get votes for the top of the division but once again some writers didn't even place him in the top-ten due to his steroid test. Junior dos Santos rode his victory over Mirko Filipovic at UFC 103 into a top-ten ranking.

Light Heavyweight

1. Lyoto Machida (1)
   
2. Rashad Evans (3)
3. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (2)
   
4. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (5)
5. Anderson Silva (4)
   
6. Gegard Mousasi (6)
   
7. Thiago Silva (8)
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (9)
9. Luiz Cane (10)
   
10. Forrest Griffin (10)
    

Receiving Votes -Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin

Breakout Fighters - Jon Jones

WKR Analysis - Not a lot of actual fighting occurred in the light heavyweight division during the month of September yet their was a lot of subtle shifts. Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans traded the #2 and #3 spots, most likely due to Jackson's sudden retirement announcement. Mauricio Rua jumped Anderson Silva though neither fighter fought last month. Rua is preparing to fight Lyoto Machida so perhaps the writers reevaluated the former Pride fighter. Thiago UFC 102 victory over Keith Jardine to the #7 position. Rich Franklin's loss to Vitor Belfort, which was at a catch-weight, at UFC 103 caused him to drop out of the top-ten and stabilize the last two positions. Silva rode his

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva (1)
   
2. Nate Marquardt (2)
   
3. Dan Henderson (3)
   
4. Vitor Belfot (5)
5. Yushin Okami (4)
   
6. Demian Maia (6)
   
7. Jorge Santiago (7)
   
8. Yoshihiro Akiyama (8)
9. Robbie Lawler (9)
10. Paulo Filho  (10)
    

Receiving Votes - Chael Sonnen

Breakout Fighter - Hector Lombard, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields

WKR Analysis - The middleweight division stayed constant in the month of September except for Vitor Belfort moving up one spot due to his win over Rich Franklin. Belfort will likely jump Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt and fight Anderson Silva for the title at UFC 108. Also the voters don't quite know what to do with Jake Shields. Shields is really a welterweight fighter but in Strikeforce he has competed mostly at 185lbs. Still at WKR he is ranked very high in the lighter division.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
   
2. Jon Fitch (2)
   
3. Thiago Alves (3)
   
4. Jake Shields (4)
   
5. Josh Koscheck (6) 
6. Mike Swick (7)
7. Carlos Condit (9) 
8. Martin Kampmann (5)
9. Paul Daley (N/A)
   
10. Matt Hughes (8)
    

Receiving Votes - Marius Zaromskis, Dan Hardy

Breakout Fighter - Dong Hyun Kim, Dustin Hazelett, Marius Zaromskis

WKR Analysis - There was a lot of action in the welterweight division during September. Josh Koscheck took care of business against Frank Trigg and now Koscheck finds himself in the top-five. Mike Swick may have been injured but due to Martin Kampmann's upset loss to Paul Daley, Swick moved up one spot. Kampmann's loss sent him back three spots from #5 to #8. The man who defeated Kampmann, Paul Daley, couldn't jump the Dane, but the British Daley is now ranked in the top-ten. Due to all the reshuffling the inactive Matt Hughes took a back slide. 

Lightweight

1. B.J. Penn (1)
   
2. Shinya Aoki (2)
   
3. Eddie Alvarez (3)
   
4. Kenny Florian (4)
   
5. Diego Sanchez (5)
   
6. Gray Maynard (6)
   
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (7) 
8. Frankie Edgar (8)
   
9. Joachim Hansen (9)
10. Josh Thomson (10)
    

Receiving Votes - Gilbert Melendez, Sean Sherk

Breakout Fighter - Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner

WKR Analysis - Little action in the lightweight division this past month and the rankings reflect the inaction in the division.