Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

1. Anderson Silva (23-4-0)
Silva's perfunctory title defense against Patrick Cote was supposed to be an easy addition to the Brazilian's highlight reel. Instead the middleweight ruler turned in a puzzlingly passive performance until Cote suffered a knee injury in the third round, which has created many more hot topics than the usual "Who's next for Silva?"

2. Rich Franklin (24-3-0, 1 NC)
Franklin was dominant in returning to light heavyweight against Matt Hamill in September. Now, the former UFC middleweight champ will look to take a leap into 205-pound contention when he meets Dan Henderson in a 205-pound headliner at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.

3. Robbie Lawler (16-4-0, 1 NC)
Slated to defend his EliteXC middleweight title against Joey Villasenor, Lawler has been left in no man's land after EliteXC ceased operations. Now attention turns to where the "Ruthless" middleweight will end up in a post-EliteXC world.

4. Yushin Okami (22-4-0)
Okami was forced to watch Patrick Cote take his title shot against Anderson Silva on Oct. 25. However, with his broken hand mended, Okami will have a chance to wrap up his title opportunity Dec. 27 when he takes on Dean Lister at UFC 92.

5. Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1)
In a year filled with breakout fighters, Mousasi may have gained the most of any. A sterling 6-0 on the year, the 23-year-old needed less than a combined four minutes to dispatch Melvin Manhoef and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and become Dream's middleweight ruler. The wins marked his arrival as one of the division's elite.

6. Nate Marquardt (27-8-2)
After point deductions led to a souring split decision loss to Thales Leites in June, the usually passive Marquardt vowed to fight more aggressively and finish his foes. Unlike most fighters who make such comments, Marquardt made good on his promise with a stirring 82-second destruction of the talented Martin Kampmann at UFC 88.

7. Dan Henderson (23-7-0)
Henderson announced his return to middleweight triumphantly in September with a well-appointed decision over a very tough Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares. Now the former Pride 205-pound champ will make an unexpected return to 205 pounds to meet Rich Franklin in a high-stakes headliner in Dublin, Ireland, for UFC 93.

8. Thales Leites (14-1-0)
At UFC 90, Leites was supposed to meet undefeated Croat Goran Reljic in a high-stakes middleweight affair. Unfortunately, injury forced Reljic from the card. However, Leites was still able to pick up a win, as he took a textbook submission over late-replacement in just 78 seconds.

9. Jorge Santiago (20-7-0)
After his inconsistency ousted him from the UFC, Santiago has ripped off eight straight stoppage victories. The wins include last November's one-night Strikeforce tournament, and Sengoku's middleweight tournament, which concluded Nov. 1 with Santiago taking out Siyar Bahadurzada and Kazuhiro Nakamura.

10. Chael Sonnen (21-9-1)
It may not have been for the WEC title and it may have been horrific to watch, but Sonnen avenged his controversial loss last December to Paulo Filho, strolling to a unanimous decision in a bout that was as bizarre as it was boring. Nonetheless, the victory over the previously unbeaten Filho, in addition to a strong run over the last two years, sees Sonnen debut in these rankings.

*With formerly second-ranked Paulo Filho's loss to previously unranked Chael Sonnen, and Jorge Santiago's Nov. 1 victories over Siyar Bahadurzada and Kazuhiro Nakamura, Filho tumbles out of the rankings and formerly 10th-ranked Frank Trigg is also edged out of the top 10.