MMA Top 10 Welterweights: Nick Diaz Proves He's for Real

By Michael David Smith - Lead Blogger

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Nick Diaz finally returned to his natural weight class of 170 pounds on Saturday night at Strikeforce Miami, and he put on a show. Diaz easily dominated Dream welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis, winning the Strikeforce welterweight belt and showing that he's one of the best in the world at his weight class.

In fact, I think he's the one welterweight in all of MMA who would give Georges St. Pierre a real run for his money. Unfortunately, as long as Diaz is in Strikeforce and GSP is in the UFC, we won't get to see that match-up. But as you'll see in my rankings of the top 10 welterweights below, Diaz is in elite territory.

(Editor's note: The individual fighter's ranking the last time we did welterweights are in parentheses)

1. Georges St. Pierre (1): After he fights Dan Hardy in March, he'll have just about run out of challengers in the UFC.

2. Jon Fitch (2): He's won enough fights that he deserves to be considered the No. 2 welterweight in the world, but he got whipped when he got his chance against GSP.

3. Thiago Alves (3): He'll get a chance to move up to No. 2 when he fights Fitch in March, but after GSP dominated him at UFC 100, he has no real chance of being No. 1.

4. Nick Diaz (9): Strikeforce will have an extremely tough time giving Diaz tough competition. A likely title defense against Hayoto Sakurai should be a cakewalk for Diaz.

5. Josh Koscheck (4): He's got a tough test against Paul Daley in May.

6. Dan Hardy (5): He can shock the world when he gets his chance against GSP in March, but it's hard to see any way he wins.

7. Matt Hughes (6): Shouldn't have any trouble beating Renzo Gracie in April.

8. Mike Swick (7): Looking to bounce back from his loss to Hardy when he faces Paulo Thiago at UFC 109.

9. Paulo Thiago (8): Some MMA fans think Thiago got lucky when a referee handed him a TKO win against Koscheck, but if he can beat Swick, no one can dispute that he's an elite welterweight.

10. Jay Hieron (10): He ought to get the next shot at Diaz in Strikeforce, but he's now a free agent who could end up going elsewhere -- and making it that much tougher for Strikeforce to find good competition for Diaz.

Check out our last welterweight rankings here.

Read More: Dan Hardy (MMA), Georges St. Pierre (MMA), Jay Hieron (MMA), Jon Fitch (MMA), Josh Koscheck (MMA), Matt Hughes (MMA), Mike Swick (MMA), Nick Diaz (MMA), Paulo Thiago (MMA), Thiago Alves (MMA)

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