Another one down. 26 valid ballots for this one. Here's what we thought the 205 pound landscape actually looks like...
1. Shogun Rua
2. Rashad Evans
3. Rampage Jackson
4. Lyoto Machida (sorry OJ)
5. Jon Jones
8. Thiago Silva
9. Ryan Bader
10. Phil Davis
Also receiving votes: Randy Couture, Gegard Mousasi, Lil Nog, Matt Hamill, Rich Franklin, King Mo Lawal, Feijao Cavalcante
Some interesting notes about the voting...
- Jon Jones finished 5th, despite being the only person to prevent Shogun from attaining a unanimous first place vote (Bones was #1 on 2 ballots, one of which had Shogun at #3)
- Lyoto Machida either finished above or below both Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson, never in between the two
- Rampage Jackson and Jon Jones were separated by 15 points total
- Randy Couture finished in 11th place by 1 point behind Phil Davis
- Wingblade had an incredibly bizarre ballot (no criticism, it was just a huge anomaly). His ballot included the highest ranking for both Dan Henderson and Forrest Griffin, the lowest ranking for Rampage Jackson, the second highest ranking for both Randy Couture and Matt Hamill, and the second lowest ranking for Jon Jones
- Thank you to those of you that included Rich Franklin on your ballots; it made me feel better about myself.
On to the Middleweights. Same rules apply as previous, only include those CURRENTLY participating in that weight class. As much as I'd love to see Rich drop back down, he's a 205er right now, so don't include him in your ballots. Anyways, here goes nothing. This is my ballot.
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Yushin Okami
6. Jacare Souza
7. Demian Maia
10. Robbie Lawler (so close to putting Wandy here)
Alright guys, your turn...