Georges St-Pierre returned to the UFC with an impressive win over Carlos Condit in a welterweight title unification bout at UFC 154 on Nov. 17. He also returned to his perch near the top of the Yahoo! Sports MMA rankings with the decisive unanimous decision win.
St-Pierre had been ineligible for consideration for the poll because had had been inactive for more than 12 months. Voters proved they hadn't forgotten about him, sliding him back into the rankings at No. 3, behind only UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
[Related: Georges St-Pierre's long-awaited return proves rousing success]
St-Pierre's return prompted a minor shuffle in the ratings, with Condit falling out with his loss. Light heavyweight Dan Henderson, who has been inactive for more than a year, is newly ineligible and dropped out.
Renan Barao, the UFC's interim bantamweight champion, moved into the poll at No. 10.
With that, here is the results of the November Yahoo! Sports MMA poll:
1. Anderson Silva Points: 199 (19 of 20 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion) Weight class: Middleweight Record: 31-4 Last outing: TKO1 Stephan Bonnar, Oct. 13 Previous ranking: 1 Up next: Nothing scheduled |
2. Jon Jones Points: 174 (1 of 20 first-place votes)Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion) Weight class: Light heavyweight Record: 17-1 Last outing: SUB4 Vitor Belfort, Sept. 22 Previous ranking: 2 Next: Title fight vs. Chael Sonnen, April 27 |
3. Georges St-Pierre Points: 165Affiliation: UFC (welterweight champion) Weight class: Welterweight Record: 23-2 Last outing: W5 Carlos Condit on Nov. 17 Previous ranking: NR Next: Nothing scheduled |
4. Jose Aldo Points: 139Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion) Weight class: Featherweight Record: 21-1 Last outing: TKO1 Chad Mendes, Jan. 14 Previous ranking: 3 Next: Title fight vs. Frankie Edgar, Feb. 2 |
5. Junior dos Santos Points: 105Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion) Weight class: Heavyweight Record: 15-1 Last outing: TKO2 Frank Mir, May 26 Previous ranking: 4 Next: Title fight vs. Cain Velasquez, Dec. 29 |
6. Benson Henderson Points: 101Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion) Weight class: Lightweight Record: 16-2 Last outing: W5 Frankie Edgar, Aug. 11 Previous ranking: 5 Next: Title fight vs. Nate Diaz, Dec. 8 |
7. Frankie Edgar Points: 78Affiliation: UFC Weight class: Featherweight Record: 14-4-1 Last outing: L5 Benson Henderson, Aug. 11 Previous ranking: 7 Next: Title fight vs. Jose Aldo, Feb. 2 |
8. Gilbert Melendez Points: 71Affiliation: Strikeforce (lightweight champion) Weight class: Lightweight Record: 21-2 Last outing: W5 Josh Thomson, May 19 Previous ranking: 7 Next:Title fight vs. Pat Healy, Jan. 12 |
9. Demetrious Johnson Points: 68Affiliation: UFC (flyweight champion) Weight class: Flyweight Record: 16-2-1 Last outing: W5 Joseph Benavidez, Sept. 22 Previous ranking: 8 Next: Title fight vs. John Dodson, Jan. 26 |
10. Renan Barao Points: 16Affiliation: UFC (interim bantamweight champion) Weight class: Bantamweight Record: 29-1 Last outing: W5 Urijah Faber, July 21 Previous ranking: NR Up next: Nothing scheduled |
Voting panel:Denny Burkholder, CBSSports.com; Elias Cepeda, Cage Potato; Mike Chiappetta, MMA Fighting and Fight! Magazine; Steve Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/SI.com; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun; Damon Martin, MMA Weekly; Todd Martin, freelance; Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer/MMA Fighting; John Morgan, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com; Ken Pishna, MMA Weekly; Greg Savage, Sherdog; Mike Straka, Spike TV and Sirius/XM; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com.
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