Five years ago, there was a two-headed dragon at the top of the Heavyweight division, as the rating system would’ve had Fedor and Nog in a virtual tie. Fedor did have a decision win over Nog earlier in the year, but Fedor took the easy road for the remainder of 2003, while Nog knocked off Ricco Rodriguez and Mirko Filipovic. Both were top heavyweights at the time of those bouts, and still were at the end of 2003.
Heavyweights – December 20, 2003
| Rank | Fighter | Record | Points | |
| 1 |  Antonio Rodrigo NogueiraLast Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
21-2-1 |
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| 2 |  Fedor EmelianenkoLast Fight: 8/10/2003 [PRIDE] |
15-1-0 |
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| 3 |  Josh BarnettLast Fight: 10/13/2003 [NJPW] |
16-1-0 |
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| 4 | Tim Sylvia Last Fight: 9/26/2003 [UFC] |
18-1-0 |
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| 5 |  Mirko FilipovicLast Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
7-1-2 |
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| 6 | Pedro Rizzo Last Fight: 11/21/2003 [UFC] |
14-5-0 |
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| 7 | Ricco Rodriguez Last Fight: 11/21/2003 [UFC] |
14-4-0 |
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| 8 |  Andrei ArlovskiLast Fight: 9/26/2003 [UFC] |
5-3-0 |
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| 9 | Heath Herring Last Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
21-9-0 |
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| 10 | Mark Coleman Last Fight: 6/8/2003 [PRIDE] |
13-5-0 |
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