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It's a matter of opinion, of course, but there are certainly no lack of quality candidates for the title of UFC Fighter of the Year.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (pictured) took over the top spot in the Yahoo! Sports monthly pound-for-pound poll in January and has stayed there since on the back of his UFC record nine-fight win streak.

'The Spider' is the stand-out fighter of the year; here's who we believe follow the Brazilian middleweight at the end of another wonderful 12 months.

1. Anderson Silva (3-0 in 2008): Victories over Dan Henderson, James Irwin and Patrick Cote ran his winning streak to a record nine, although the impressive and clinical nature of his move up to light-heavyweight to defeat Irvin was somewhat tempered by the strangely defensive and unsatisfying win over Cote. His talk of upcoming retirement will spur the UFC into some mega-bouts for Silva in 2009, when his greatness will be futher put to the test.

2. Thiago Alves (3-0): Alves burst into the upper echelons of the UFC with three excellent wins in 2008. An early victory over Karo Parisyan was followed up by a breakthrough win over future hall-of-famer Matt Hughes in London. It was a victory made all the more memorable due to the highlight-reel flying knee that ended it, although the fact that Alves failed to make the 170-lb limit for the fight must count against him. Alves continued to swell his reputation with a decision over Josh Koscheck, who took the fight on short notice when Diego Sanchez withdrew injured.

3. Kenny Florian (3-0): Florian made it six fights unbeaten with three fine wins in 2008, climbing to the top of the list of challengers to BJ Penn's lightweight crown. A fight-of-the-night TKO win over Joe Lauzon in February was followed by a unanimous decision against the much-vaunted, unbeaten-in-four-years Roger Huerta in September. A stunning year was completed with his submission win over fellow contender Joe Stevenson at UFC 91 in November - although, frustratingly, Florian may have to wait for a crack at Penn, who is currently concerned with matters at welterweight.

4. B.J. Penn (2-0): The much-loved Penn continued his renaissance with a pair of one-sided wins this year, the first being his lightweight title victory over Joe Stevenson and the second his three-round destruction of Sean Sherk. Although there still looks to be challengers at lightweight, Penn remains as ambitious as ever and will challenge GSP for his welterweight belt in 2009.

5. Georges St. Pierre (2-0): St. Pierre ended 2007 by beating Matt Hughes for the interim welterweight title on December 29, and kept the belt after beating Matt Serra for the real 170-lb crown in April. GSP then defended his title against top contender Jon Fitch in August in one of the most one-sided five-round title fights in UFC history. Like Silva and Penn, 2009 could be the year that he becomes a legend of the sport.

6. Michael Bisping (3-0): Lancastrian Bisping decided 2008 should be the year he finally dropped down to middleweight, and three very solid victories proved it a well-founded decision. Looking sharper and more explosive at 185lb, he earned two spectacular TKOs in the space of seven weeks between April and June when he stopped Charles McCarthy and Jason Day in London and Montreal respectively. Bisping then took apart Chris Leben in a clinical, one-sided bout in October to keep the momentum rolling. 2009 begins with him coaching on The Ultimate Fighter before potential bouts against some world-class opposition.

7. Josh Koscheck (3-1): Stung by a heavy three-round defeat at the hands of GSP at the end of 2007, Koscheck rebounded with a fine 2008. Already without doubt one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, Koscheck continued to develop his all-round game and can now be considered almost as dangerous on his feet as he is in the mount. A January TKO of Dustin Hazelett was followed by a unanimous decision win over Chris Lytle in May. His loss to Alves in October was comprehensive, but it should be remembered that he took the fight on only two weeks notice, and then responded with a highlight-reel KO of Yoshiyuki Yoshida just seven weeks later.

8. Brock Lesnar (2-1): Lesnar's first year in the UFC started with a spectacular submission loss to Frank Mir in February after Lesnar had twice knocked his opponent to the mat inside the first 90 seconds - it was a defeat that undoubtedly made him a better fighter. Spurred to work even harder on his ground-game, Lesnar responded with a solid decision win over Heath Herring in August before being handed an early title chance against the returning Randy Couture - which he took with a second-round TKO. His title-shot might have been premature, but he grabbed his chance with both (giant) hands.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport