Originally, I wanted to post this by Monday. However, because of the next JFC event and pending Team GP coming up this weekend, the individual and team rankings took first priority.
There are a total of 29 participants in the debut of the UFC Champions Challenge. The contest is quite simple. You will score points by the "confidence" lock you assigned each pick. If you predicted that Brock Lesnar will be the heavyweight champion and assigned a "4" confidence lock, you will score 4 points if you are correct. If anyone other than Brock Lesnar is the heavyweight champion, you will not score any points for that pick.
One competitor (whom I shall not name) gave a "contingent" pick in the event a specific fighter is signed to the UFC by the end of the year. Only his main pick will be honored. The contingent pick will not be honored.
First, I'll give some analysis of the picks. Then I'll list the actual picks themselves.
It was no surprise that the most popular pick was Anderson Silva to be the UFC Middleweight champion at the end of the year (26 votes). The average confidence lock for Silva was 4.73. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the least picked current champion was Rashad Evans. He was picked by only 3 people.
The most popular "non-champion" was Kenny Florian. He garnered 12 votes to be the UFC Lightweight champion at the end of 2009. However, he had the lowest average confidence lock of any fighter garnering at least 5 votes (1.75) And speaking of the UFC Lightweight champion, BJ Penn was picked by 15 people to still have that belt at the end of the year. Of those 15 people, only 2 of them predicted him to also hold the UFC Welterweight title.
UFC fighters garnering 5 votes or fewer include Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk, Thiago Alves, Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, Randy Couture, and Gabriel Gonzaga.
Without further delay, here is the complete list of picks:
JFC Fighter - LW Champion - Lock
DougDrex - Kenny Florian - 2
promma - BJ Penn - 3
SheerTerror - Kenny Florian - 3
superfan - BJ Penn - 4
AnarchyElbows - BJ Penn - 3
Gordon - Kenny Florian - 3
dublindevil83 - BJ Penn - 4
smarty - Kenny Florian - 1
Bombstriker - Kenny Florian - 1
icanthear - BJ Penn - 4
AdamChance - Kenny Florian - 2
Juniper - BJ Penn - 4
pillman4 - BJ Penn - 3
iceman22 - Kenny Florian - 2
DanielsanFTW - Kenny Florian - 1
EnderWiggin - BJ Penn - 5
mouthbuster - Kenny Florian - 1
Tai_Mai_Shu - BJ Penn - 3
Showdown - BJ Penn - 5
FloStylez - Kenny Florian - 1
elfudge35 - BJ Penn - 2
Sessoms - Kenny Florian - 3
Koos - Diego Sanchez - 2
Tobikan-Judan - BJ Penn - 4
J-ROC - Kenny Florian - 1
buffaloblue - Sean Sherk - 1
Mutation - BJ Penn - 1
ArcArsenal - BJ Penn - 4
doctorbadasscoffee - BJ Penn - 2
JFC Fighter - WW Champion - Lock
DougDrex - BJ Penn - 3
promma - Thiago Alves - 2
SheerTerror - BJ Penn - 1
superfan - Thiago Alves - 1
AnarchyElbows - Georges St. Pierre - 2
Gordon - Georges St. Pierre - 2
dublindevil83 - BJ Penn - 1
smarty - BJ Penn - 3
Bombstriker - Georges St. Pierre - 3
icanthear - Georges St. Pierre - 3
AdamChance - Georges St. Pierre - 3
Juniper - Georges St. Pierre - 3
pillman4 - Georges St. Pierre - 4
iceman22 - Georges St. Pierre - 4
DanielsanFTW - Thiago Alves - 2
EnderWiggin - Thiago Alves - 3
mouthbuster - Georges St. Pierre - 4
Tai_Mai_Shu - Georges St. Pierre - 4
Showdown - Georges St. Pierre - 3
FloStylez - Georges St. Pierre - 4
elfudge35 - BJ Penn - 3
Sessoms - Georges St. Pierre - 4
Koos - BJ Penn - 4
Tobikan-Judan - Georges St. Pierre - 3
J-ROC - Georges St. Pierre - 5
buffaloblue - BJ Penn - 2
Mutation - Georges St. Pierre - 5
ArcArsenal - Georges St. Pierre - 3
doctorbadasscoffee - Thiago Alves - 1
JFC Fighter - MW Champion - Lock
DougDrex - Anderson Silva - 5
promma - Anderson Silva - 5
SheerTerror - Anderson Silva - 5
superfan - Anderson Silva - 5
AnarchyElbows - Anderson Silva - 5
Gordon - Anderson Silva - 4
dublindevil83 - Anderson Silva - 5
smarty - Anderson Silva - 5
Bombstriker - Anderson Silva - 4
icanthear - Anderson Silva - 5
AdamChance - Anderson Silva - 5
Juniper - Anderson Silva - 5
pillman4 - Anderson Silva - 5
iceman22 - Anderson Silva - 5
DanielsanFTW - Anderson Silva - 5
EnderWiggin - Anderson Silva - 4
mouthbuster - Anderson Silva - 5
Tai_Mai_Shu - Yushin Okami - 1
Showdown - Anderson Silva - 4
FloStylez - Anderson Silva - 5
elfudge35 - Anderson Silva - 4
Sessoms - Anderson Silva - 5
Koos - Nate Marquardt - 1
Tobikan-Judan - Anderson Silva - 5
J-ROC - Demian Maia - 2
buffaloblue - Anderson Silva - 5
Mutation - Anderson Silva - 3
ArcArsenal - Anderson Silva - 5
doctorbadasscoffee - Anderson Silva - 5
JFC Fighter - LHW Champion - Lock
DougDrex - Quinton Jackson - 1
promma - Lyoto Machida - 1
SheerTerror - Quinton Jackson - 4
superfan - Lyoto Machida - 2
AnarchyElbows - Lyoto Machida - 4
Gordon - Quinton Jackson - 1
dublindevil83 - Lyoto Machida - 3
smarty - Lyoto Machida - 4
Bombstriker - Quinton Jackson - 2
icanthear - Quinton Jackson - 1
AdamChance - Lyoto Machida - 4
Juniper - Mauricio Rua - 2
pillman4 - Quinton Jackson - 2
iceman22 - Quinton Jackson - 3
DanielsanFTW - Lyoto Machida - 3
EnderWiggin - Rashad Evans - 2
mouthbuster - Quinton Jackson - 3
Tai_Mai_Shu - Lyoto Machida - 5
Showdown - Quinton Jackson - 1
FloStylez - Rashad Evans - 3
elfudge35 - Lyoto Machida - 1
Sessoms - Lyoto Machida - 2
Koos - Lyoto Machida - 3
Tobikan-Judan - Quinton Jackson - 2
J-ROC - Quinton Jackson - 4
buffaloblue - Mauricio Rua - 4
Mutation - Rashad Evans - 4
ArcArsenal - Mauricio Rua - 1
doctorbadasscoffee - Quinton Jackson - 3
JFC Fighter - HW Champion - Lock
DougDrex - Frank Mir - 4
promma - Brock Lesnar - 4
SheerTerror - Frank Mir - 2
superfan - Frank Mir - 3
AnarchyElbows - Brock Lesnar - 1
Gordon - Brock Lesnar - 5
dublindevil83 - Brock Lesnar - 2
smarty - Shane Carwin - 2
Bombstriker - Brock Lesnar - 5
icanthear - Frank Mir - 2
AdamChance - Shane Carwin - 1
Juniper - Shane Carwin - 1
pillman4 - Brock Lesnar - 1
iceman22 - Randy Couture - 1
DanielsanFTW - Brock Lesnar - 4
EnderWiggin - Brock Lesnar - 1
mouthbuster - Frank Mir - 2
Tai_Mai_Shu - Brock Lesnar - 2
Showdown - Brock Lesnar - 2
FloStylez - Brock Lesnar - 2
elfudge35 - Brock Lesnar - 5
Sessoms - Shane Carwin - 1
Koos - Brock Lesnar - 5
Tobikan-Judan - Gabriel Gonzaga - 1
J-ROC - Frank Mir - 3
buffaloblue - Brock Lesnar - 3
Mutation - Brock Lesnar - 2
ArcArsenal - Brock Lesnar - 4
doctorbadasscoffee - Brock Lesnar - 4