Ronda Rousey (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Combat Press Men’s MMA Rankings: Aug. 3, 2015

As MMA continues to grow its presence with the UFC, Bellator MMA, WSOF and ONE FC, fighters are constantly jockeying for position in the eyes (and rankings) of the media.

Every week, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to flyweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings (including both genders).

Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from last week.


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Heavyweight
  1. Fabricio Werdum (1)
  2. Cain Velasquez (2)
  3. Junior dos Santos (3)
  4. Josh Barnett (4)
  5. Stipe Miocic (5)
  6. Andrei Arlovski (6)
  7. Travis Browne (7)
  8. Ben Rothwell (8)
  9. Mark Hunt (9)
  10. Alistair Overeem (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Light Heavyweight
  1. Jon Jones (1)
  2. Daniel Cormier (2)
  3. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)
  4. Alexander Gustafsson (4)
  5. Ryan Bader (5)
  6. Phil Davis (6)
  7. Glover Teixeira (7)
  8. Ovince Saint Preux (8)
  9. Liam McGeary (9)
  10. Jimi Manuwa (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Middleweight
  1. Chris Weidman (1)
  2. Anderson Silva (2)
  3. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (3)
  4. Luke Rockhold (4)
  5. Yoel Romero (5)
  6. Vitor Belfort (6)
  7. Lyoto Machida (7)
  8. Tim Kennedy (8)
  9. Gegard Mousasi (9)
  10. Michael Bisping (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Welterweight
  1. Robbie Lawler (1)
  2. Johny Hendricks (2)
  3. Ben Askren (3)
  4. Rory MacDonald (4)
  5. Matt Brown (5)
  6. Hector Lombard (6)
  7. Tyron Woodley (7)
  8. Carlos Condit (8)
  9. Rousimar Palhares (9)
  10. Demian Maia (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Dong Hyun Kim (10)

Like so many of his performances, ninth-ranked Rousimar Palhares generated plenty of controversy with his submission win over Jake Shields at World Series of Fighting 22. The Brazilian repeatedly gouged the eyes of Shields and then when he was able to coerce a tap from the veteran with a kimura, he refused to release the hold. Saturday night wasn’t all bad for grappling fans, however. Multiple-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Demian Maia re-enters the top 10 after putting on a BJJ clinic against Neil Magny at UFC 190.

Lightweight
  1. Rafael dos Anjos (1)
  2. Anthony Pettis (2)
  3. Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
  4. Donald Cerrone (4)
  5. Benson Henderson (5)
  6. Eddie Alvarez (6)
  7. Gilbert Melendez (7)
  8. Will Brooks (8)
  9. Myles Jury (9)
  10. Tony Ferguson (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Featherweight
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Frankie Edgar (2)
  3. Conor McGregor (3)
  4. Chad Mendes (4)
  5. Ricardo Lamas (5)
  6. Max Holloway (6)
  7. Cub Swanson (7)
  8. Urijah Faber (8)
  9. Charles Oliveira (9)
  10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Bantamweight
  1. T.J. Dillashaw (1)
  2. Dominick Cruz (2)
  3. Renan Barão (3)
  4. Urijah Faber (4)
  5. Bibiano Fernandes (5)
  6. Raphael Assuncao (6)
  7. Michael McDonald (7)
  8. Marlon Moraes (8)
  9. Marcos Galvao (9)
  10. Eduardo Dantas (10)

It was the least talked about title fight of the weekend, but WSOF bantamweight kingpin Marlon Moraes continued his domination of the promotion’s 135-pound ranks, besting Sheymon Moraes via third-round submission. Marlon was methodical with his striking attack and overwhelmed his previously unbeaten namesake.

Flyweight
  1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
  2. Joseph Benavidez (2)
  3. John Dodson (3)
  4. John Lineker (4)
  5. Ian McCall (5)
  6. Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (6)
  7. Zach Makovsky (7)
  8. Henry Cejudo (8)
  9. Kyoji Horiguchi (9)
  10. John Moraga (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Pound-For-Pound
  1. Jose Aldo (1)
  2. Ronda Rousey (4)
  3. Demetrious Johnson (3)
  4. Jon Jones (2)
  5. Chris Weidman (5)
  6. T.J. Dillashaw (6)
  7. Robbie Lawler (7)
  8. Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (8)
  9. Daniel Cormier (9)
  10. Fabricio Werdum (10)

What else can you say about UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey? Everyone knows about her judo and ability to armbar any opponent, but the term “knockout artist” is now an accurate descriptor of “Rowdy.” At UFC 190, Rousey needed just 34 seconds to stop Bethe Correia with punches and earn her third finish via strikes in her last four appearances. As such, Rousey has vaulted into the No. 2 spot in our pound-for-pound rankings.


Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed in their new division.


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