Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Heavyweight

1. Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 NC)
It was already known that Emelianenko’s next bout would come against unbeaten heavyweight Brett Rogers. However, the man who has ruled the heavyweight division for six years and counting will get an even richer opportunity, as the bout will serve as the main event of Strikeforce’s first network television card, airing live on CBS on Nov. 7.

2. Brock Lesnar (4-1)
Following victories over Randy Couture and Frank Mir, many want to see how Lesnar would deal with a fighter who can match his mammoth size. They will now get their wish, as Lesnar’s next title defense will come at UFC 106 in November, when he takes on fellow hulking heavyweight Shane Carwin.

3. Josh Barnett (24-5)
Barnett had the chance to vie for the sport’s heavyweight mantle in his slated Aug. 1 bout with Emelianenko. Instead, another positive steroid test for Barnett destroyed the matchup, put the final nail in the coffin of Affliction’s promotional wing and marred the former UFC champion’s career.

4. Frank Mir (12-4)
Most of the attention Mir has received lately has stemmed from talks of a super fight with middleweight ace Anderson Silva. However, the real next fight for Mir will come at UFC 107 in December, when he takes on French hitter Cheick Kongo.

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1, 1 NC)
Through his first three outings in the UFC, Nogueira looked like a shell of the fighter who became one of MMA’s greatest over the course of this decade. Nearly 25 pounds lighter, the 33-year-old Nogueira was in vintage form at UFC 102, however. He took an exciting unanimous verdict over Randy Couture, thrust himself back in the UFC title mix and put himself in a much better place in the minds of fans and critics.

6. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers finally has a date for the biggest bout of his career. “The Grim” will vie for MMA’s heavyweight mantle on Nov. 7 when he takes on Fedor Emelianenko. Better still, he will do so on network television on CBS.

7. Andrei Arlovski (15-7)
He knocked off the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson in the recent past, but those accomplishments now seem like distant memories for Arlovski. “The Pitbull” has been brutally smashed in his last two outings against Emelianenko and Rogers, and conversation now centers on the fragile chin that has betrayed him again.

8. Junior dos Santos (9-1)
In the most significant fight of his young career, dos Santos seized the moment and dominated longtime heavyweight star Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic for 12 minutes, eventually forcing the Croatian to quit after a brutal right uppercut struck his left eye. The win will move “Cigano” along considerably in the increasingly competitive UFC heavyweight division.

9. Randy Couture (16-10)
Coming off his game decision loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in August, Couture signed a six-fight deal that will allow “The Natural” to end his career in the Octagon. The first fight on that deal will come Nov. 14, when he moves back to the 205-pound division to meet Brandon Vera in the UFC 105 headliner in Manchester, England.

10. Shane Carwin (11-0)
Originally expected to meet fellow undefeated prospect Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 in October, Carwin was part of Zuffa reshuffling its heavyweight deck. Now the potent-punching Colorado native will take on Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight crown at UFC 106 in November.

Other contenders: Aleksander Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum.

* With his Sept. 12 loss to Pedro Rizzo, Jeff Monson falls off of the contenders list, and unbeaten heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez enters.