UFC Featherweight Division Rankings

Top UFC Featherweight Fighter Rankings:

1. Jose Aldo (20-1, 2-0 UFC, 8-0 WEC) – Aldo has lived up the the hype by defeating Kenny Florian and Mark Hominick is his two UFC title defenses as the the first ever UFC Featherweight Champion. The young Brazilian striker has won 13 straight fights and had 7 KOs in his 8 WEC fights. Aldo's third defense of his UFC Featherweight belt will come against Chad Mendes atop the UFC 142 fight card on January 14th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2. Chad Mendes (11-0, 2-0 UFC, 4-0 WEC) – Former NCAA All-American wrestler Chad Mendes is #2 thanks to his undefeated record and pending UFC title shot. Mendes will take a perfect 11-0 record into his fight with Jose Aldo in Brazil and has defeated Michihiro Omigawa Rani Yahya inside the UFC's Octagon, with the win preserving his status as the featherweigh division's #1 contender.

3. Erik Koch (13-1, 2-0 UFC, 3-1 WEC) - Koch's back-to-back KO of the Nights at WEC 52 and UFC 128 have not only lined the youngster's pockets, but also put him on the radar for the Top 5 spots on this list while his win over TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins vaulted him even higher. His lone career loss was to Mendes at WEC 47 and he looks to continue his 4-fight win streak after he heals up from an injury that took him out of a scheduled fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 143.

4. Dustin Poirier (11-1, 3-0 UFC, 1-1 WEC) – Since dropping his WEC debut in August 2010, Poirier has won four straight, including his first three fights for the UFC, to open many eyes across the MMA world. While Poirier was set to fight Erik Koch on the UFC 143 fight card, an injury to Koch resulted in Ricardo Lamas as the replacement.

5. Ricardo Lamas (11-2, 2-0 UFC, 4-2 WEC) – Lamas made a successful UFC debut is scoring a TKO win over Matt Grice and followed that with a submission of Cub Swanson in November. After a respectable 4-2 record in the WEC, Lamas will look to top Poirier at UFC 143 with the winner being close to a title shot.

Jose Aldo (left) defeated Mike Brown (right) by TKO at WEC 44 to win the WEC Featherweight belt.

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6. Diego Nunes (17-2, 2-1 UFC, 4-1 WEC) - Nunes' successful UFC debut win over Mike Brown was followed by a loss to Kenny Florian at UFC 131 in a top contender bout. A win over Manny Gamburyan at UFC 141 goes a long way to help Nunes work his way back up the ladder as he is now 6-2 in 8 career UFC/WEC fights. One interesting thing to note with Nunes is that all 8 of his fights in the UFC & WEC have gone to decision, showing an inability to finish opponents which is something that the bosses and fans of the UFC alike are not a big fan of.

7. Denis Siver (19-8, 8-5 UFC) – After an 8-5 record fighting at 155 pounds, Denis Siver announced in late 2011 that he will be dropping to 145 lbs. The move comes after 7 wins in 9 fights at lightweight and given his resume of recent success, Siver is immediately a Top 10 featherweight in the UFC.

8. Jim Hettes (10-0, 2-0 UFC) – Hettes victory over Alex Caceres was certainly a nice start to his UFC career, but his complete dominance of Nam Phan at UFC 141 put him on the map as a potential force to be reckoned with at 145 pounds.

9. Yuri Alcantara (26-3, 1-0 UFC, 1-0 WEC) – Yuri Alcantara won 24 of 27 career fights before finally making his big show debut and he did not disappoint scoring a 1st round KO of Ricardo Lamas at the WEC's final event, WEC 53. While he fought only once in 2011, a unanimous decision win at UFC 134, Alcantara is scheduled to fight Michihiro Omigawa on the UFC 142 fight card.

10. Tyson Griffin (15-6, 8-6 UFC, 1-0 Strikeforce) – Few fighters in all of MMA have a resume that can compete with that of Tyson Griffin. Prior to his UFC debut Griffin defeated Urijah Faber and Duane "Bang" Ludwig, and he started his UFC career winning 7 of 9 fights. But tough times have come for Griffin, a featherweight prior to his UFC days who returned to 145 pound (well sort of) in 2011. Now 8-6 in the UFC and a loser of 4 of his past 5 fights, Griffin finds himself fighting for his job and no longer a win or two away from being discussed as a title contender.