Heavyweight:None Ranked.
Light Heavyweight:
8. Keith Jardine (Pictures) (13-4-1) After knocking off Chuck Liddell (Pictures), Jardine had the opportunity to defeat the two greatest light heavyweights in the sport's history when he entered the Octagon for his May 24 bout with Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). Instead, Jardine was brutally dispatched in 36 seconds. He’ll have a chance to bounce back against Brandon Vera (Pictures) on Oct. 18 at UFC 89.
9. Rashad Evans (Pictures) (11-0-1) Evans slid into the biggest fight of his career, a scheduled June 7 clash with Chuck Liddell (Pictures), but he was removed from the card after injuries to Liddell and replacement James Irvin (Pictures). Luckily for Evans, he will get his crack at the former UFC light heavyweight king on Sept. 6 when the UFC heads to Atlanta.
Middleweight:
8. Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) (26-8-2) In June some iffy point deductions by referee Herb Dean (Pictures) put a twist in the comeback road of Nathan Marquardt (Pictures), who dropped a split decision to up-and-comer Thales Leites (Pictures). Now Marquardt will be forced to deal with another young middleweight prospect, Denmark's Martin Kampmann (Pictures), on the main card of UFC 88 on Sept. 6 in Atlanta.
Welterweight:
1. Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) (17-2-0) Against the unquestioned top contender in the division, Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) delivered arguably the finest performance of his career and smashed Jon Fitch (Pictures) over 25 lopsided minutes. With the victory in the books, there's still a major bout with Thiago Alves (Pictures) looming if Alves can beat Diego Sanchez (Pictures) on Oct. 25. But first, "Rush" will renew his rivalry with B.J. Penn (Pictures) in the second chapter to their contentious March 2006 affair. Come this December, the rematch could be the year's biggest bout.
4. Diego Sanchez (Pictures) (19-2-0) If Sanchez needed an impressive performance on June 21 to put himself back into contention at 170 pounds, he got it. He showed off vastly improved standup en route to his sensational third-round stoppage of a tough Luigi Fioravanti (Pictures). Things only pick up from here, though, as the "Nightmare" is penciled in to meet Brazilian dynamo Thiago Alves (Pictures) at UFC 90 on Oct. 25 in Chicago.
10. Carlos Condit (Pictures) (23-4-0) In another great WEC main event, Condit survived a life-and-death affair with an incredibly game Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures) to take a fourth-round stoppage in their taxing WEC title bout. While Condit's struggles may have tempered the enthusiasm for him to head to the UFC, welterweight challenges within the WEC seem all but exhausted for the 24-year-old New Mexico native.
Lightweight:
None Ranked.
Featherweight:
3. Leonard Garcia (Pictures) (11-3) A Greg Jackson protégé, Garcia will look to follow up his major win over Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures) in February with an even bigger victory, as he’s expected to meet former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver (Pictures) at WEC 36 in September.
