Featherweight

1. Mike Thomas Brown (22-4)
It was no secret that Brown’s featherweight mantle would be at stake against hot-shot Brazilian prospect Jose Aldo; the question was simply when. Now we know: WEC 44 on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas.

2. Urijah Faber (22-3)
One of MMA's most exciting commodities, Faber has been on the shelf since June due to the broken hand he sustained in his rematch with Mike Thomas Brown. Healthy again, "The California Kid" is set to return in front of a partisan Sacramento crowd at WEC 46 on Jan. 10, meeting once-beaten prospect Raphael Assuncao.

3. Jose Aldo (15-1)
Aldo was already official as Mike Thomas Brown’s next challenger for the WEC title. Now a date has been set for the biggest fight of the 23-year-old Brazilian’s career. He will tangle with Brown at WEC 44 on Nov. 18.

4. Leonard Garcia (13-4)
His split decision win over Jameel Massouh in August was hardly enthusing, and a better performance will be hard to come by as Garcia’s next outing will see him take on “The Ultimate Fighter 5” finalist Manny Gamburyan at WEC 44 on Nov. 18.

5. Bibiano Fernandes (7-2)
The former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion has finally arrived in mixed martial arts. At Dream 11, Fernandes quickly armbarred former Greco-Roman world champion Joe Warren before toughing out a split decision over Hiroyuki Takaya in the grand prix final. With that, he became Dream’s first featherweight champion.

6. Raphael Assuncao (14-1)
Assuncao has long been considered a "can't miss" prospect, and he now has the chance to prove he is one of the featherweight elite. In the co-feature of WEC 46 on Jan. 10, he'll take on former WEC 145-pound champion Urijah Faber in the former king's Sacramento stomping grounds.

7. Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1)
It was another ill-received split decision for Michihiro Omigawa, but the Hidehiko Yoshida pupil got the biggest win of his career against Hatsu Hioki on Nov. 7. After beginning his career a woeful 4-7, Omigawa is now 4-1-1 as a featherweight. He will have the chance to avenge his lone divisional loss on Dec. 31, when he will likely rematch Masanori Kanehara for Sengoku's title.

8. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2)
Though most seem to think Hioki deserved the nod in his Nov. 7 split decision loss to Michihiro Omigawa, the bout was another exhibition of Hioki's staggering lack of strategy and consistency that have undermined him in the past.

9. Mackens Semerzier (4-0)
In making one of the most brilliant big show debuts in recent memory by submitting Wagnney Fabiano, Semerzier showed he can grapple. However, in order to convince the MMA world he's not a one-hit wonder, he'll need to defeat Deividas Taurosevicius on Jan. 10 on the main card of WEC 46.

10. Wagnney Fabiano (12-2)
Before his Oct. 10 bout with Mackens Semerzier, discussion about Fabiano centered on what would happen if his Nova Uniao teammate, Jose Aldo, defeated Mike Thomas Brown in November, causing a logjam at the top of the WEC 145-pound class. However, with Semerzier’s remarkable upset, discussion has now turned to how exactly Fabiano was tapped by the unknown Semerzier and where he goes next in the red-hot WEC featherweight division.

Other contenders: Josh Grispi, Takeshi Inoue, Masanori Kanehara, Marlon Sandro, Joe Soto.

*With the entry of Michihiro Omigawa, formerly 10th-ranked Takeshi Inoue falls onto the contenders list.