We haven’t looked at the MMA pound-for-pound rankings of best UFC fighters and best MMA fighters since July, so it’s a good time to take a look at them again. Not to spoil the surprise, though, but there is shockingly little change.

The only guy who dropped out of the Top 10 is Jake Shields. He couldn’t bounce back from getting owned by Georges St. Pierre and lost again to Jake Ellenberger in September. Now he has a lot of work to do to repair his reputation and move back into the title fight picture.

Beyond that there is, as you will see, little movement (previous rankings are in brackets):

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1. Georges St-Pierre (1) - I’ve been saying for a long time now that GSP will occupy the top spot in these rankings until he loses. He has won nine fights in a row, and I expect that streak to be extended at the end of October when he faces Carlos Condit at UFC 137. Condit is filling in for the talented but flaky Nick Diaz, and it’s hard to believe that he is of GSP’s caliber.  The problem the UFC has faced with St-Pierre and Silva continues here — it is getting harder and harder to find a worthwhile opponent.

2. Anderson Silva (2) - Silva defended his title for the ninth time in August and he was very impressive in the second-round win over an outmatched Yushin Okami. His incredible last-minute comeback win against Chael Sonnen last year was the fight of the year in the eyes of several publications, and if Sonnen has his way a rematch will come in February. Sonnen called Silva out very boldly after his win at UFC 136, and the trash talk was flowing like only Sonnen can do. Silva is seemingly hesitant to respond to the bravado, but a rematch is too logical not to happen.

3. Jon Jones (3) - Last time around I felt like I may have been a bit premature lifting the new light heavyweight champion all the way into the No. 3 spot. This time around I am very confident he belongs. At UFC 135 Jones didn’t just defend his title against Rampage Jackson. He gave an MMA clinic. It was a wildly-impressive fight from a wildly-impressive fighter. Jones is unquestionably the real deal — the first guy in a long time to have the GSP or Silva immortality potential.

4. Jose Aldo (4) - There was questions about the featherweight champ after a win over Mark Hominick in April that was far from overpowering. Those concerns have been quieted now, though. Aldo was very impressive in beating Kenny Florian at UFC 136 to extend his winning streak to 13 matches. Aldo owns his weight class.

5. Frankie Edgar (5) - I was not impressed with Edgar after his draw with Gray Maynard on New Year’s Day. Needless to say, I’m much more impressed with him now. At UFC 136 Edgar got his revenge over Maynard and earned the knockout of the night for his efforts. It was hard to take Edgar seriously as a champion when he first took the title from B.J. Penn, but the more we see him the more I have to respect him. He’s the real deal.

6. Cain Velasquez (6) - Velasquez hasn’t fought since last October when he took the heavyweight title from Brock Lesnar. It’s hard to drop him down the rankings just because he has been out with injuries. The pressure couldn’t be higher on Velasquez next time out, though. He is the headliner of the first UFC card broadcast for free on Fox on Nov. 12. A win would make him more of a star — especially if he beats Junior Dos Santos impressively. A loss would be a big blow for his career, though.

7. Dominick Cruz (7) - The bantamweight champion defended his title in a very one-sided decision over Demetrious Johnson at the beginning of October. What can you really say about Cruz? He’s a very good fighter without obvious flaws. You may have noticed that all of the top seven fighters in the list are UFC champions. That’s proof of just how impressive the top end of the UFC is right now. It’s the depth that is the issue in a lot of classes, but the champs are universally more than deserving of their hardware.

8. Gilbert Melendez (10) - The only fighter on this list from outside of the UFC, Melendez is the Strikeforce lightweight champion. He hasn’t fought since April, and isn’t due to fight again until December. A Melendez vs. Diaz showdown to unify lightweight titles would really be something to see.

9. Jon Fitch (8) - Fitch isn’t due to fight again until the end of December. He’s just looking to pile up all the wins he can until he earns another shot at GSP and the welterweight title. Their first match in 2008 was a very good one, so I’d be happy to see the rematch — though I would expect the same outcome.

10. No one - There are some fighters I could put in here — Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, and others — but none that really stand out as deserving at this point. Instead of making an argument for a guy I’m not really committed to I’ll just leave it blank until someone steps up to claim it.