New sherdog top 10 MMA list has just come out:

Top 10 Heavyweights

1. Fedor Emelianenko (28-1-0, 1 NC)

If there has been one criticism of MMA's premier heavyweight, it's that Emelianenko hasn't met the best of his contemporaries over the last three years. He responded with a 36-second thrashing of Tim Sylvia in July, and he will look to further prove his supremacy over the division on Jan. 24 when he takes on another former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski, in the headliner of the second Affliction bill.

2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1, 1 NC)

The consensus favorite in his December UFC interim heavyweight title scrap with Frank Mir, the TUF 8 coach will have a tall task ahead of him should he emerge victorious. Nogueira's prize for defeating Mir will be the chance to unify the UFC heavyweight crown with upstart Brock Lesnar in 2009, in what would make for an enormous heavyweight clash.

3. Andrei Arlovski (14-5-0)

2008 offered Arlovski a great opportunity to rebuild himself, and he did so brilliantly. With his knockouts of Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson, he has earned himself the biggest fight of his career -- a meeting with the sport's finest heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, in the main event of Affliction's sophomore effort on Jan. 24.

4. Josh Barnett (23-5-0)

Barnett's management nixed hopes of him facing Fedor Emelianenko in January as the headliner for Affliction's second event. Unfortunately, Barnett's proposed participation on the Nov. 1 Sengoku card didn't come to fruition either.

5. Brock Lesnar (3-1-0)

Now perhaps MMA's most polarizing athlete, it took Lesnar but 17 months and four bouts to wear UFC gold. His high-profile smashing of Randy Couture has validated the enormous hype surrounding the former D1 wrestling champ. Now, Lesnar will have the chance to become the UFC's undisputed heavyweight king in the new year, as he awaits the winner of December's Nogueira-Mir clash.

6. Randy Couture (16-9-0)

Couture's post-retirement run came to a screeching halt in his first post-resignation bout. He returned to the Octagon for the first time in 15 months and was knocked out by Brock Lesnar in the second round, leaving questions as to what "The Natural" has left in the tank.

7. Tim Sylvia (24-5-0)

In the biggest fight of his career, Sylvia was summarily smashed by Fedor Emelianenko in a humbling 36 seconds. Although his missteps have come against the top heavyweights in the world, Sylvia has lost three of his last four and he is a year removed from his last win in a suddenly active heavyweight division.

8. Ben Rothwell (29-6-0)

Unfortunately for the Miletich heavyweight, a bout with Pedro Rizzo for Affliction's January card didn't develop. However, the former IFL standout will still get some action, as he'll take a tune-up bout against the relatively anonymous Chris Guillen at the Dec. 11 Adrenaline MMA card.

9. Alistair Overeem (29-11-0, 1 NC)

While the flying Dutchman has his fingers crossed for a chance to settle unfinished business with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic on New Year's Eve, he won an easy tune-up bout in his native Netherlands on Nov. 9 by routinely submitting worn veteran Gary Goodridge in the first round.

10. Junior dos Santos (7-1-0)

After causing a stir in the blogosphere with some nasty mittwork leading up to UFC 90, Junior dos Santos used Fabricio Werdum's face as a focus mitt in one of the year's bigger upsets. Whether or not the young protégé of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is legitimately one of the best heavyweights in the world remains to be seen, but for now, no one can take his nasty knockout of Werdum away from him.

Top 10 Light Heavyweights

1. Forrest Griffin (16-4-0)

The sport's unlikely 205-pound king will make the first defense of his UFC title against fellow “Ultimate Fighter” winner Rashad Evans at UFC 92 on Dec. 27. While a fight against Chuck Liddell may have been promotionally more appealing, the Evans matchup has given a previously unthinkable validation to the UFC and the TUF brand as a whole.

2. Quinton Jackson (28-7-0)

While his legal troubles are not completely over yet, the former UFC champ is moving on and in a major way. No tune-up fights are in order for Jackson, who will return Dec. 27 at UFC 92 for a third meeting with archrival Wanderlei Silva, who has brutally stopped the Memphis native twice.

3. Rashad Evans (12-0-1)

There is little left to be said for Evans' thrilling knockout of Chuck Liddell. Evans has successfully vaulted himself to elite light heavyweight status with what may be the KO of 2008, and he will now get his chance to challenge for the UFC 205-pound title against Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 on Dec. 27.

4. Lyoto Machida (13-0-0)

Unfortunately, Machida's slated October bout with Thiago Silva fell apart due to Silva injuring his back. However, Machida will have his big chance to convince all doubters and UFC brass that he is the undisputed top challenger to the light heavyweight title on an even bigger stage. He'll meet Silva on Super Bowl weekend in Vegas at UFC 94.

5. Chuck Liddell (21-6-0)

While still a dangerous and bankable fighter, Liddell's planned run to a second UFC light heavyweight championship was brutally thwarted by Rashad Evans in their Sept. 6 encounter. Liddell still has considerable superfight potential, but he may never get another chance to be UFC light heavyweight king.

6. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1, 1 NC)

Silva has two vicious stoppages of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on his resume. However, if "The Axe Murderer" wants to restore his status as a top-of-the-heap light heavyweight, he'll need to get a third victory over his rival on Dec. 27 when they meet again at UFC 92.

7. Keith Jardine (14-4-1)

After an up-and-down UFC tenure, "The Dean of Mean" was in a do-or-die scenario Oct. 18 against Brandon Vera. Jardine took a razor-thin split decision and avoided being pushed any farther down the ladder in a stacked UFC light heavyweight division.

8. Thiago Silva (13-0-0)

A back injury postponed an October bout with Lyoto Machida, but fortunately the battle of undefeated fighters is still a go. In the biggest fight of his career, Silva will have a massive stage when he meets his fellow Brazilian at UFC 94 on Jan. 31.

9. Luis Arthur Cane (9-1-0)

MMA's pool of young and talented light heavyweights just got deeper. Cane's Oct. 18 stoppage of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou gave the Brazilian banger his ninth stoppage in nine victories and thrust him into the mix in one of MMA's richest divisions.

10. Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3-0)

After injury threatened to retire him, Matyushenko has resuscitated his career in a major way. The 37-year-old Belarusian has put together eight straight wins in a late career surge, and he will look to make it nine against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on January's rescheduled Affliction card.

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