Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Heavyweight

1. Brock Lesnar (4-1)
While we do not know exactly how Lesnar will look in his return to the cage after his bout with diverticulitis, we do know his foe. Come July 3, he will take on Shane Carwin to unify both halves of the UFC heavyweight mantle in what should be a blockbuster match for the promotion.

2. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
Werdum improbably seized the biggest moment of his career on June 26. It took the grappling star just 69 seconds to end Fedor Emelianenko’s seven-plus-year reign over the heavyweight division. Whether Werdum’s next bout is a rematch against Emelianenko or former victim Alistair Overeem, his victory will remain a massive moment in MMA history.

3. Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 NC)
All good things come to an end. It was March 2003 when Emelianenko upset Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to take MMA’s heavyweight mantle, and 87 months later, it took Fabricio Werdum just 69 seconds to force “The Last Emperor” to tap and concede that top spot. The next step for Emelianenko remains unclear, but the heavyweight landscape has definitely changed.

4. Cain Velasquez (8-0)
Whether one wants to call it a passing of the torch or a coming-out party, Velasquez’s performance against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 was short and brutal. In less than half a round, Velasquez destroyed one of MMA’s most historically outstanding heavyweights in easily his most impressive performance to date.

5. Shane Carwin (12-0)
It took almost four minutes -- an eternity by his usual standards -- but at UFC 111 in Newark, N.J., Carwin blew off Frank Mir’s doors in the first round to claim the UFC interim heavyweight title. However, the real championship will be contested July 3, when Carwin meets Brock Lesnar.

6. Frank Mir (13-5)
Mir entered his March 27 bout with Shane Carwin as a slight betting favorite. However, he looked none the part in the cage, as Carwin bashed him with left hands in the clinch and decimated the former UFC champion to take the promotion’s interim title. With it, he took Mir’s chance for a rubber match with Brock Lesnar.

7. Junior dos Santos (11-1)
With five stoppages in five bouts inside the Octagon, dos Santos has put himself right in the UFC heavyweight title mix. “Cigano” might cinch a title shot for the latter stages of 2010 at UFC 117 on Aug. 7, when he meets “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson in what should be an entertaining heavyweight tilt.

8. Alistair Overeem (33-11, 1 NC)
The next significant bout for Overeem became obscured in just 69 seconds. Originally thought to be the most attractive opponent for Fedor Emelianenko, the shocking defeat of “The Last Emperor” and his potential rematch with Fabricio Werdum leaves no clear path for Overeem.

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 NC)
“Minotauro” had an army of backers who felt the former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion would put on a vintage performance against Cain Velasquez at UFC 110. However, post-fight discussion centered on whether or not Nogueira still has the physical tools to hang with young, elite heavyweights after Velasquez polished him off in a little more than two minutes.

10. Antonio Silva (14-2)
Ever since he ran roughshod over heavyweights in Europe back in 2005, onlookers expected heavyweight greatness from Silva. On May 15, “Bigfoot” finally took a step toward those expectations, soundly outboxing Andrei Arlovski to a unanimous decision and recording the most important win of his career.

Other contenders: Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Roy Nelson, Brett Rogers, Ben Rothwell.