Power Ranking the Top 5 UFC Contenders in Each Weight Class

Every weight class is full of contenders.

Every weight class has a contender—or five—who could potentially take down the champion.

And of course, with every division, even in the top echelon, there is a contender who you can just look at and say "no way."

So here we go, power ranking the top five contenders in each division in the UFC.

Bantamweight

For the foreseeable future, the bantamweight division is run by Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz, who has a professional record of 19-1. Cruz has also beaten all five of the contenders in the division.

1. Joseph Benavidez- 15-2 professional MMA record, both losses have come at the hands of Cruz. First was at WEC 42, second was at WEC 50 with the bantamweight title on the line.

2. Urijah Faber- former WEC featherweight champion, holds a win over Dominick Cruz at WEC 26, Cruz avenged the loss in the first defense of his UFC bantamweight title at UFC 132. Will fight Brian Bowles at UFC 139.

3. Brian Bowles- former WEC bantamweight champion, lost the title to Dominick Cruz at WEC 47, two-fight winning streak since then, will face Urijah Faber at UFC 139.

4. Scott Jorgensen- 13-4 professional MMA record, lost to Dominick Cruz at WEC 53, with the final WEC bantamweight title, and the first UFC bantamweight title on the line. On a two-fight winning streak since the loss.

5. Demetrious Johnson- 9-2 professional MMA record, lost to Dominick Cruz at UFC Live 6 with the UFC bantamweight title on the line. 4-2 record in the WEC and UFC combined.

Featherweight

Another title that may not change hands for awhile is the featherweight title, where Jose Aldo has been handling his competition since 2009. Aldo has beaten one of the five top contenders.

1. Chad Mendes- 11-0 professional record, 6-0 in the UFC and WEC combined. Was originally going to fight Jose Aldo before Kenny Florian at UFC 136, but the timing didn't work out. Will likely fight Aldo in 2012.

2. Hatsu Hioki- Recently made his UFC debut at UFC 137, where he defeated George Roop via split decision. Will likely get the next shot at the featherweight title after Chad Mendes. Has a 25-4-2 professional record, including two victories over Mark Hominick.

3. Erik Koch- Erik Koch is a fast rising prospect with a 13-1 professional record, 5-1 UFC and WEC record combined and two knockout of the night awards. Koch will likely fight a top contender in his next fight.

4. Mark Hominick- 20-9 professional record, with a 6-3 combined UFC and WEC record. Fought Jose Aldo at UFC 129 and lost a unanimous decision, despite dominating the fifth round. Has one fight of the night award.

5. Dustin Poirier- 10-1 professional record, with a 3-1 UFC and WEC record and a 2-0 record at featherweight. Fought and dominated Josh Grispi at UFC 125 after Grispi was supposed to fight for the title. Will face Pablo Garza at UFC on Fox 1.

Lightweight

The lightweight belt is currently held by Frankie Edgar, but Edgar is the champ of one of the deepest divisions, so one can only wonder how long he'll be able to hold onto the belt. Edgar has beaten one of the five top contenders.

1. Ben Henderson- 14-2 professional record, one loss came at the hands of Anthony Pettis for the final WEC lightweight title. 7-1 combined UFC and WEC record, with the only loss coming from Pettis. Henderson holds two victories over Donald Cerrone and fights Clay Guida at UFC on Fox 1.

2. Clay Guida- 29-11 professional record, holds a win over Anthony Pettis. Is currently on only the second four-fight win streak of his career, and has three finishes and two submission of the night awards during that time. Will fight Ben Henderson at UFC on Fox 1.

3. Donald Cerrone- 17-3 [1 NC] professional record, is currently 4-0 this year, with three finishes, and one knockout of the night, one submission of the night and one fight of the night award. Was last seen at UFC 137, where he was able to rock Dennis Siver and set up the fight ending submission. Will fight Nate Diaz at UFC 141.

4. Jim Miller- 20-3 professional record, 9-2 in the UFC. Of Miller's three losses, all have come to top fighters, Gray Maynard, Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar. The loss to Edgar was the first of Miller's career, and came in a regional show, Reality Fighting. No fight has been announced for Miller since his loss to Henderson.

5. Anthony Pettis- 12-2 professional record, 6-2 in the UFC and WEC. Was the final WEC lightweight champion, a title which he won at WEC 53 when he defeated Ben Henderson by unanimous decision and landed the "Showtime kick." Pettis last fought at UFC 136 where he defeated Jeremy Stephens by split decision.

Welterweight

Many should know that the welterweight division is run by none other than Georges "Rush" St-Pierre. St-Pierre has a professional record of 22-2 and currently has six straight title defenses. St-Pierre has defeated one of the contenders on this list.

1. Nick Diaz- 26-7 professional record, 7-3 UFC record, 1-0 in his return to the UFC. Diaz was last seen in action at UFC 137 where he defeated a legend, BJ Penn, by unanimous decision. His post-fight antics earned him a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, which is likely to take place on Super Bowl weekend.

2. Jon Fitch- Finally, Jon Fitch cannot unanimously be called the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division. Fitch has a professional record of 23-3-1 [1 NC] and is 13-1-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming to St-Pierre and his draw against BJ Penn. Fitch was defeated by GSP by unanimous decision at UFC 87. Fitch is fighting Johny Hendricks at UFC 141.

3. Carlos Condit- Condit is the former and final WEC welterweight champion and has a professional record of 27-5, with a combined UFC and WEC record of 9-1. Condit was going to fight St-Pierre at UFC 137, but after the injury to GSP and Nick Diaz' calling out the champ, Condit stepped aside and will now fight an unannounced opponent on Super Bowl weekend.

4. Jake Ellenberger- 26-5 professional record, 6-1 UFC record, with one knockout of the night award. Lone UFC loss came at the hands of Carlos Condit. In Ellenberger's last fight, he knocked out Jake Shields in under a minute, in the headlining fight of UFC Fight Night 25. Ellenberger will likely fight Diego Sanchez in his next fight.

5. Rory MacDonald- 12-1 professional record, 3-1 UFC record with one fight of the night award. In his last fight, he TKO'd Mike Pyle in under four minutes, and before that, won a unanimous decision over Nate Diaz. MacDonald has been called "GSP 2.0" by GSP himself. That's some pretty high praise. MacDonald's only loss came at the hands of Carlos Condit.

Middleweight

The middleweight division is ruled by the best fighter in the world, Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Silva is on an incredible 14-fight winning streak in the UFC, with nine straight title defenses. His next defense will hopefully be against Chael Sonnen. Silva has beaten three of the five top contenders.

1. Chael Sonnen- 26-11-1 professional record, 8-5 UFC and WEC combined record. Sonnen fought Silva at UFC 117, where Sonnen overwhelmingly dominated the fight until he was caught with a triangle-armbar in the fifth round and lost. He recently made his return after a suspension and defeated Brian Stann via second-round arm-triangle choke. He is looking for a rematch with Silva in February.

2. Yushin Okami- 29-6 professional record, 10-3 UFC record, with all three losses coming to top fighters. In Okami's last fight at UFC 134, he lost via second-round TKO to Anderson Silva, and Silva avenged the DQ loss from earlier in his career. Okami does not have another fight announced.

3. Brian Stann- Former WEC light heavyweight champion, 11-3 professional record, 10-4 UFC and WEC record, with two fight of the night awards. In addition, Stann is 3-1 since dropping to middleweight. In his last fight, he lost via second-round submission to Chael Sonnen, after posting a three-fight winning streak with three finishes. His next fight has not been announced

4. Vitor Belfort- 20-9 professional record, 9-5 UFC record. Belfort is the former UFC light heavyweight champion, a title he won at UFC 46 by defeating Randy Couture due to a cut. Belfort fought for the middleweight title against Anderson Silva at UFC 126 and was knocked out in the first round. After that, he defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama via first-round knockout at UFC 133. He is looking to fight at UFC 141.

5. Mark Munoz- 11-2 professional record, 8-2 UFC and WEC record. 7-1 record at middleweight, with the lone loss coming via split decision at the hands of Yushin Okami at UFC Live on Versus 2. Munoz won the fight of the night award one time, for his second-round TKO over Kendall Grove. Munoz will headline UFC 138 opposite Chris Leben.

Light Heavyweight

Jon Jones has proven his doubters wrong, and he won the UFC light heavyweight title, thereby becoming the youngest champion in UFC history. Jones is 14-1 in his career, with the lone loss being a DQ. He has defeated one of the top five contenders so far.

1. Rashad Evans- 16-1-1 professional record, 11-1-1 in the UFC. Evans is the former light heavyweight champion and should have received a second shot at the title a long time ago. Unfortunately, injuries and bad timing have forced Evans to keep waiting for his shot. Evans will likely—maybe—fight the winner of the Jones-Machida match at UFC 141.

2. Lyoto Machida- 17-2 professional record, 9-2 in the UFC. Machida is another former light heavyweight champion and lucked into a second shot at the belt. Machida is a three-time recipient of the knockout of the night award, and he earned it in his last fight at UFC 129 where he front-kicked Randy Couture into retirement.

3. Dan Henderson- 28-8 professional record, 5-2 in the UFC. Henderson makes his return to the UFC at UFC 139 where he will take on Mauricio Rua. Henderson is one of the most decorated fighters in MMA, and he comes back to the UFC as the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. Henderson is a one-time knockout of the night winner.

4. Shogun Rua- 20-5 professional record, 4-3 in the UFC. Shogun is the third former UFC light heavyweight champion on this list, and with a win over Henderson, he will likely get a second shot at the light heavyweight title. Shogun is a two-time knockout of the night winner and one-time fight of the night winner.

5. Phil Davis- 9-0 professional record, 5-0 in the UFC. Davis is pegged by many as the only man who will be able to challenge Jon Jones for the foreseeable future. Davis has the best wrestling pedigree of almost anyone in the light heavyweight division, and he has used that pedigree to maintain his perfect record. Davis will likely fight a top contender for his next fight.

Heavyweight

And now we come to Cain Velasquez, and the UFC heavyweight division. Velasquez won the heavyweight title at UFC 121, but a torn rotator cuff has kept him out of action since. He makes his return at UFC on Fox 1 against Junior dos Santos. Velasquez has defeated one of the five top contenders already.

1. Junior dos Santos- 13-1 professional record, 7-0 in the UFC. dos Santos has the best chance of anyone on this list of dethroning Velasquez, and nobody is really sure who's going to come out on top in their fight. dos Santos is one of the best, and most powerful, strikers in the heavyweight division, and five of his UFC bouts have been stopped due to strikes, two of which earned him knockout of the night.

2. Brock Lesnar- 5-2 professional record, 4-2 in the UFC. Lesnar may have already lost to Velasquez, but he is without doubt, one of the top fighters in the heavyweight division, as he holds wins over No. 4 and No. 5 on this list. Lesnar will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 141, where he'll be taking on the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

3. Alistair Overeem- 35-11-1 professional record and is the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion. For the past several years, Overeem has largely fought subpar competition, but he'll get a chance to prove his worth as one of the best in the world at UFC 141 where he'll face Brock Lesnar with the No. 1 contender spot on the line.

4. Shane Carwin- 12-2 professional record, 4-2 in the UFC. Carwin is the former UFC interim heavyweight champion, a title which he earned by defeating Frank Mir via first-round knockout at UFC 111. In addition to the title, he also won knockout of the night. Carwin is currently on a two-fight losing streak, both of those fights being against top contenders, Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos.

5. Frank Mir- 15-5 professional record, 13-5 in the UFC. Mir is the former UFC heavyweight champion and former interim heavyweight champion. Mir originally won the title in 2004, but a motorcycle injury rendered him unable to defend the title, and he was therefore stripped of it. He is currently on a two-fight winning streak and will face Minotauro Nogueira at UFC 140, in a rematch of their 2008 fight.