Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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December has been a great month for MMA, especially if you like aces pitching shutouts.

At UFC 124 on Dec. 11, Georges St. Pierre retained his UFC welterweight crown and made a stronger case to be considered the sport's pound-for-pound best with another one-sided drubbing. For 25 minutes, St. Pierre pasted rival Josh Koscheck with his jab, breaking his orbital bone almost immediately in the first round and taking him out of the fight. Three 50-45 scorecards were inevitable, as “Rush” dominated yet another elite welterweight from bell-to-bell.

Six days later, at WEC 53, bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz became the first-ever UFC champion at 135 pounds with another slick, dominant display of boxing and wrestling against Scott Jorgensen. The usually aggressive Jorgensen was outgunned and outmatched in the stand-up and in the wrestling department, as Cruz kept him off balance and on the defensive for 25 minutes, taking a dominant win and setting up a potential 2011 clash with Urijah Faber.

However, December still is not done. The Japanese holiday season will bring us more high-stakes MMA, including a brilliant showdown between Marlon Sandro and Hatsu Hioki for the Sengoku Raiden Championship featherweight title, a lightweight bout between Tatsuya Kawajiri and Josh Thomson and a Dream featherweight championship rematch between Bibiano Fernandes and Hiroyuki Takaya.