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As soon as the horn sounded on the fifth and final round of Lyoto Machida's UFC light heavyweight title defense against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Los Angeles on October 24, the reporters in attendance were near-unanimous in their verdict.

They had Rua as the new champion, putting them on the same page as most of the fans at the Staples Center and those watching at home.

The judges, of course, saw things differently, giving Machida 48-47 scores across the board.

A week later, though, "Shogun" gained a measure of justice, as he became the first fighter in the nearly two-and-a-half years of the Yahoo! Sports reporters' poll voted into the Top 10 after a losing effort. Rua garnered 29 points, enough to put him into a tie for seventh place with former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres.

Rua's performance against Machida, who couldn't figure out a counter for Rua's onslaught of kicks, was his third impressive showing in his personal redemption tour. "Shogun" was ranked as high as number two in the polls in 2007, but fell out after injuries put him on the sidelines for an extended period. The Brazilian TKO'd Mark Coleman in January and knocked out Chuck Liddell in April to earn his title shot.

Machida, meanwhile, dropped from number four to number five, with UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn jumping up a spot in his place.

The Yahoo! Sports Top 10 poll features 16 top mixed martial arts reporters from leading sports web sites, newspapers, wire services and blogs. Fighters receive 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, etc., down to one-point for a 10th-place vote. Fighters under suspension for use of illegal drugs or performance-enhancing substances are ineligible for consideration, and fighters who go 12 months without competing are ineligible for consideration until after the completion of their return fight.

10. Brock Lesnar

Points: 22

Affiliation: UFC (UFC heavyweight champion)

Weight class: Heavyweight

Hometown:Webster, S.D.

Record: 4-1 (won last four)

Last month's ranking: unranked

Most recent result: def. Frank Mir, R2 TKO, July 11

Analysis: Has sat just outside the top 10 for the past several months. A bit of shuffling among the pollsters put Lesnar a point ahead of Dan Henderson in the standings.

9. Brian Bowles

Points: 26

Affiliation: WEC

Weight class: Bantamweight (WEC bantamweight champion)

Hometown: Athens, Ga.

Record: 8-0 (won last eight)

Last month's ranking: 9

Most recent result: def. Miguel Torres, R1 TKO, August 9

Analysis: Rumor has Bowles defending his title against Dominic Cruz on a double bill also featuring Miguel Torres' return fight sometime in February.

T7. Miguel Angel Torres

Points: 29

Affiliation: WEC

Weight class: Bantamweight

Hometown: East Chicago, Ind.

Record: 36-2 (lost past one)

Last month's ranking: 8

Most recent result: lost to Brian Bowles, R1 TKO, August 9

Analysis: No doubt hungry to prove loss to Bowles a fluke.

T7. Mauricio Rua

Points: 29

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Light heavyweight

Hometown:Curitiba, Brazil

Record: 18-4 (lost last one)

Last month's ranking: unranked

Most recent result: lost to Lyoto Machida, unanimous decision, October 24

Analysis: Rua laid out the blueprint for neutralizing Machida's style. The hardest part finishing Machida will be the key to the rematch.

6. Mike Brown

Points: 67

Affiliation: WEC

Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)

Hometown: Portland, Maine

Record: 22-4 (won last 10)

Last month's ranking: 6

Most recent result: def. Urijah Faber, unanimous decision, June 7

Analysis: A convincing win over nasty striker Jose Aldo on November 18 could vault Brown into the top five.

5. Lyoto Machida

Points: 105

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Light heavyweight

Hometown: Belem, Brazil

Record: 16-0

Last month's ranking: 4

Most recent result: def. Mauricio Rua, unanimous decision, October 24

Analysis: While some of the shine is off Machida's undefeated record, Rua never came close to finishing Machida, so let's not call the Machida Era over before it started.

4. B.J. Penn

Points: 107

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)

Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii

Record: 14-5-1 (won past one)

Last month's ranking: 4

Most recent result: def. Kenny Florian, R4 submission, August 8

Analysis: Penn's one-sided loss to welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in February makes it easy to forget that since Penn dropped to 155 two years ago. He's 4-0 with four decisive finishes in his weight class and has barely been challenged along the way.

3. Fedor Emelianenko

Points: 133 (four first-place votes)

Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1 (never lost PRIDE title)

Weight class: Heavyweight

Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia

Record: 30-1, one no-contest (won past 10)

Last month's ranking: 3

Most recent result: def. Andrei Arlovski, R1 KO, January 24

Analysis: Since reader feedback on Fedor is split right down the middle, here's a handy form to ease your email experience: "Dear moron, How dare you rank Fedor so (low/high)!!!! Fedor is (nature's most unstoppable force/afraid of Kimbo Slice) and (could kill a great white shark with his bare hands/would get knocked out by Joe Benavidez)!!!! Get your head out of (Dana's/Coker's) backside and put Fedor (number one/out of the Top 10) or I'm never clicking on Yahoo! Sports again!!!! Love, (Reader)."

2. Georges St. Pierre

Points: 144 (four first-place votes)

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)

Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec

Record: 19-2 (won past six)

Last month's ranking: 2

Most recent result: def. Thiago Alves, unanimous decision, July 11

Analysis: Current chatter has St. Pierre returning from his injury as early as February.

1. Anderson Silva

Points: 150 (eight first-place votes)

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)

Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil

Record: 24-4 (won past 10)

Last month's ranking: 1

Most recent result: def. Forrest Griffin, R1 KO, August 8

Analysis: Manager Ed Soares remains coy about Silva's plans, but by sliding Brock Lesnar - Shane Carwin into the January 2 card, UFC took away some of the middleweight champion's negotiating leverage.

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Votes for others: Dan Henderson 21, Urjiah Faber, Quinton Jackson 15, Rashad Evans 12, Gegard Mousasi 5, Shinya Aoki 2, Thiago Alves, Cain Velasquez, Jake Shields 1.

Upcoming matches for ranked fighters: Number three 3 Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers, November 7, Hoffman Estates, Ill.; No. X Mike Brown vs. Joe Aldo, November 18, Las Vegas.

Dave Doyle, Yahoo! Sports / Eurosport