UFC's Top Current Fighters: Brazil

"The birthplace of MMA."

Those were the words uttered by Mike Goldberg during the UFC 142 broadcast. Although the sport of MMA isn't a Brazilian creation, the most synonymous name with MMA is Gracie.

Other than the plain old pound-for-pound rankings, you can't find too many ranking systems out there. This system follows the same guidelines but groups the fighters based on their nationality.

I plan on doing multiple pieces on multiple nations and what better way to start off than with country with the richest history in MMA and the UFC.

Honorary Mentions

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: "Shogun" had quite the up and down year in 2011. After being embarrassed by Jon Jones, Rua ran through Forrest Griffin in their rematch. He closed the year by having one of the best fights in MMA history against Dan Henderson. Rua will likely need a lengthy vacation to rest up before returning to the Octagon.

Demian Maia: The jiu-jitsu star lost a close decision in his bout with Mark Munoz. He came back from the loss by giving Jorge Santiago his walking papers. Maia will look to re-insert himself into the UFC title picture but it won't be easy against top prospect, Chris Weidman at UFC on Fox 2.

Thiago Alves: "The Pitbull" saw Rick Story control the Octagon in route to a decision win at UFC 130. Alves greeted UFC newcomer, Papy Abedi at UFC 138 and showed impressive wrestling to go with his jiu-jitsu game.

Gleison Tibau: Tibau has become a forgotten figure in the UFC's lightweight division. The lightweight division is a shark tank of fighters and Tibau simply hasn't made enough "noise" to get people's attention. He has rattled off three consecutive victories and should be fighting top tier opponents in 2012.

Fabricio Werdum

Fabricio Werdum will be making his UFC debut against the popular Roy Nelson.

Werdum's career will likely be remembered for his fight against Fedor Emelianenko. Werdum became the first man to legitimately defeat the Russian and used the win to challenge against Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce title.

Although the fight was relatively unimpressive for both performers, most people forget that Werdum was actually doing very good on the feet against the K-1 champion.

If Werdum can bring those striking skills combined with his jiu-jitsu game, look for "Vai Cavalo" to make a big impact in the UFC in 2012.

Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort may be a "Phenom" but he's been in the MMA game for quite some time.

Belfort didn't start 2011 off in the best way, being on the receiving end of a highlight reel KO by Anderson Silva. But "The Phenom" rebounded in a big way by destroying Yoshihiro Akiyama and choking out Anthony Johnson at UFC 142.

The Brazilian seems to be enjoying this time in his career more so than in previous years, which likely means we will see a focused Belfort in the cage for the rest of his career.

He could be a win or two away from a title shot. But instead of focusing on Belfort's title aspirations, we should be enjoying a hall of fame career moving into its final stages.

Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos has become a dominant force in the heavyweight division. The new UFC heavyweight champion will look to make his first title defense against Alistair Overeem sometime in 2012.

JDS only fought twice in 2011 but he made the most both appearances.

In a title-eliminator, dos Santos demolished Shane Carwin in dominant fashion. Next up for the Brazilian was a showdown with Cain Velasquez for the UFC's debut on Fox.

Dos Santos made quick work of Velasquez, disposing of the former champion in just 64 seconds. With excellent striking and an ever improving ground game, dos Santos looks to reign over the heavyweight division in 2012.

Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo just capped off his third title defense in the UFC against Chad Mendes at UFC 142.

Aldo's first two appearances in the UFC didn't go quite as planned, at least when you consider what Aldo looked like in the WEC. The weight cutting issues, combined with the failed wrestling strategy of Kenny Florian contributed to the lack of explosiveness in Aldo.

But at UFC 142, Aldo showed those killer instincts once again by finishing Mendes in devastating fashion in the final seconds of the first round. Aldo also showed his trademark great take down defense as he fended off Mendes' takedowns with ease.

Aldo is still young in the MMA fight game and has years to build a legacy. Perhaps he set the standards too high with the ways in which he won in the WEC but I have no doubts about Aldo's talents.

 Not every fight will provide a highlight reel knockout and some wins are going to be ugly, but everyone tunes in to Aldo's fights knowing they could witness something special.

Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva just hasn't reigned over the middleweight division, he's embarrassed a number of title contenders.

The year started off with a bang for "The Spider" as he unleashed a beautiful front kick to Vitor Belfort's face. Silva followed that up with a win against Yushin Okami at UFC Rio in August.

It wasn't just the fact Silva won; many fans were picking him anyways. But it was the manner in which Silva won. Standing with his hands at his waist, he dared Okami to throw a strike and Okami simply stood in front of Silva.

There's not too many fighters that intimidate their opponents in the way Silva does. It's because they know the Brazilian will take advantage of the slightest opening to end the fight at any given moment.

Silva isn't done fighting but by the time he retires, his legacy could rival that of some of Brazil's greatest fighters.