Welterweight 4-5-09

Rank

Fighter

Comments

1.

Georges St. Pierre

Vaseline bullshit aside, GSP made a case for himself as the second-greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world with his thrashing of BJ Penn at UFC 94. But let's face it — Penn was never meant to be a 170-pounder. How St. Pierre does against the notoriously large-for-a-welterweight Thiago Alves at UFC 100 could turn out to be an even more impressive test of his abilities.

2.

Thiago Alves

 

3.

Jon Fitch

 

4.

Jake Shields

 

5.

Diego Sanchez

Just as he was charging back up the ranks as a welterweight, the Nightmare decided to go on a Stevia-aided diet and re-invent himself as a 155’er. His lightweight debut against Joe Stevenson was a promising success, and he’s slated to face the resurgent Clay Guida in June — at which point he might be hopping off this list to another one.

6.

Nick Thompson

 

7.

Josh Koscheck

I don’t want to tell Kos how to do his job, but it may be time to start wrestling again. In his quest to become a more exciting (and less-hated) fighter, he has now lost two out of his last three fights. Against Thiago Alves, he faced a superior striker and was dominated. Against Paulo Thiago, he faced an awful striker and still managed to get knocked out. Pull it together, buddy.

8.

Matt Hughes

When the former UFC welterweight champ steps into the cage against Matt Serra at UFC 98 in May, it’ll be his first fight in 11 months. If he loses, his career is pretty much D.O.A. — the victim of age and an unwillingness to learn new skills. And even if he wins, taking another shot at GSP (or Thiago Alves) isn’t exactly in his best interest. Best-case scenario: He beats the Terror, retires during the post-fight interview, and exits the Octagon as a living legend.

9.

Hayato Sakurai

Shinya Aoki thought he was slick enough to hang at welterweight, and Sakurai smashed him. (Does that make Mach the Japanese GSP?) We predict Sakurai will slice through the generally-weak DREAM welterweight GP and add another credit to his near-legendary resume.

10.

Carlos Condit