WKR December 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.

Heavyweights

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

Receiving Votes - Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski

Breakout Fighter: Todd Duffee, Stefan Struve

WKR Analysis: The heavyweight division remained fairly constant November. Dos Santos received more respect from the voters and Frank Mir's first round victory over Cheick Kongo placed him in the three spot.

Light Heavyweight

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

Receiving Votes: Keith Jardine, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin and Luiz Cane

Breakthrough Fighter - Jon Jones, King Mo,

WKR Analysis: Rampage announced the end of his retirement and was rewarded by no longer being punished by the voters. Unfortunately his hiatus hurt his standing as the final vote place him behind Gegard Mousasi. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's first round knockout of victory over Luiz Cane knocked Cane out of the top-ten --which also opened room for Henderson to scratch the top-ten--- and pushed Thiago Silva down. Forrest Griffin's victory over Tito Ortiz caused him to move up one spot.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva (1)
   
2. Nate Marquardt (2)
   
3. Dan Henderson (3)
   
4. Vitor Belfot (4)
5. Demian Maia (5)
   
6. Jake Sheilds (N/A)
   
7. Chael Sonnen (7)
   
8. Yoshihiro Akiyama (8)
9. Robbie Lawler (9)
10. Jorge Santiago (6)

Receiving Votes: Paulo Fliho, Michael Bisping and Yushin Okami.

Breakout Fighter - Wanderlei Silva, Mamed Khalidov

WKR Analysis: The voters finally decided to rank Jake Shields as a middleweight, which in turn hurt his welterweight stock. Jorge Santiago's loss to Mamed Khalidov knocked him back to #10 but Khalidov couldn't translate that victory into a top-ten ranking. Outside of that the division remained fairly similar.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
   
2. Jon Fitch (2)
   
3. Thiago Alves (3)
   
4. Josh Koscheck (5)
   
5. Dan Hardy (N/A) 
6. Paul Daley (9)
7. Jake Shields (4)
8. Mike Swick (6)
9. Paulo Thiago  (10)
10. Marius Zaromskis (N/A)
    

Receiving Votes: Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann and Jay Hieron

Breakout Fighter - Tyrone Woodley, Jay Hieron and Anthony Johnson

WKR Analysis: As stated above, Shields new found middleweight ranking hurt his welterweight stock. Plus Koscheck's victory over Anthony Johnson moved him up one spot. Dan Hardy's victory over Mike Swick and subsequent title shot propelled him into the top-five. Paul Daley benefited from Shields slide and moved up three spots. Paulo Thiago continues to trade off his victory over Josh Koscheck but a rematch will determine if Paulo can remain in the top-ten. The shake up and lack of action from Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann allowed Marius Zaromskis to finally jump into the top-ten.

Lightweight

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

Receiving Votes: Sean Sherk, Gilbert Melendez and Joe Stevenson.

Breakout Fighter - Donald Cerrone, Ben Henderson

WKR Analysis: Diego Sanchez's loss dropped him down allowing Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar to jump him. Kenny Florian remained static with his win over Clay Guida. Look for Josh Thomson's fight with Gilbert Melendez to see if there is a new fighter in the top-ten.