Jon Jones rises to no.2 pound-for-pound in Yahoo poll

1. Anderson Silva, 199 points (19 first-place votes)

2. Jon Jones, 171 (1)

3. Georges St-Pierre, 166

4. Frankie Edgar, 131

5. Jose Aldo, 127

6. Dominick Cruz, 102

7. Junior Dos Santos, 63

8. Gilbert Melendez, 43

9. Jon Fitch, 32

10. Dan Henderson, 21

At this time last year, Jon Jones was considered a bright prospect, but one who still had a ways to go before he could be considered a truly elite fighter. In the December 2010 Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound Top 10 poll, Jones fell squarely in the “votes for others” category, with just four points.

Little did we know what 2011 would bring. Jones had what many have argued is the single finest year a UFC fighter has ever accomplished. Jones went 4-0 this year. He first defeated Ryan Bader in February, came back seven weeks later to capture the UFC light heavyweight title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a stunning beatdown, then followed with wins in September over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and in December over Lyoto Machida, both former champs.

With the submission victory over Machida, Jones has broken the chokehold that Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre have had on the Nos. 1 and 2 spots since 2009. Silva, the UFC middleweight champ, keeps the top spot with 199 points from this month’s 20 voters. Jones takes second with 171, and welterweight champ St. Pierre, who was ranked No. 1 as recently as January, drops to No. 3.