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1.
Fedor Emelianenko
As long as the Last Emperor can devastate Brett Rogers, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum during his stint in Strikeforce, he'll keep his spot at the top, without question. But what happens when there are no more legitimate opponents left? Assuming Fedor will never come to terms with the UFC, he may finally come face-to-face with the end of the road. Will he keep going through the motions (and slowly lose his relevance), or will he retire as a living legend?
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2.
Brock Lesnar
Like it or not, we've now entered the Brock Lesnar Era. His size, power, and athleticism were enough to exact a brutal revenge against Frank Mir, whose jiu-jitsu was completely neutralized during their UFC 100 rematch. Will Shane Carwin be able to give Big Brock a taste of his own medicine when they face off in November, or is the UFC's new heel here to stay?
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3.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Let’s be honest — the Big Nog that showed up against Randy Couture at UFC 102 would have handed Frank Mir his ass. Minotauro proved that he still has a lot of fight left in him, and may be heading for a shot at the UFC heavyweight belt, provided he can win at least one more high-profile fight.
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4.
Frank Mir
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5.
Josh Barnett
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6.
Alistair Overeem
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7.
Shane Carwin
Maybe he would have benefited from having one more fight before challenging for the title, but we’ve always felt that Shane Carwin matches up nicely with Brock Lesnar, and we might as well find out sooner rather than later. Carwin is a tremendously gifted athlete with long arms and lunchbox-fists. Sound like anybody you know?
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8.
Brett Rogers
We see you’re fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce.
Dios mio, man.
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9.
Junior Dos Santos
By now, it's pretty clear that Cigano's thunderous knockout of Fabricio Werdum last October was no fluke. After slashing through Dutch prospect Stefan Struve in just 54 seconds, Dos Santos retired one of the greatest heavyweights in MMA history at UFC 103. Sure, Mirko Cro Cop was just a shell of his former self in that fight, but that's the way of the sport: The old legends are eventually shoved aside to make way for the new blood. Instead of mourning for the past, we'll just look ahead to Junior's next devastating performance.
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10.
Randy Couture
Yes, he can still compete, and most of us want to see him keep fighting. Unfortunately, he hasn't won a match in two years, he's too small to be an elite heavyweight, and he'd likely get eaten up by the UFC's top light-heavies. Where does the Natural go from here?
- See previous rankings (published September 1, 2009)
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