T.J. Dillashaw (Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)

Combat Press Men’s MMA Rankings: Sept. 1, 2014

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.

Heavyweight
  1. Cain Velasquez
  2. Fabricio Werdum
  3. Junior dos Santos
  4. Travis Browne
  5. Josh Barnett
  6. Stipe Miocic
  7. Mark Hunt
  8. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
  9. Alistair Overeem
  10. Roy Nelson

No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the current rankings come as no surprise.


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Light Heavyweight
  1. Jon Jones
  2. Alexander Gustafsson
  3. Daniel Cormier
  4. Anthony Johnson
  5. Rashad Evans
  6. Glover Teixeira
  7. Phil Davis
  8. Vitor Belfort
  9. Ryan Bader
  10. Jimi Manuwa

It was a fairly quiet August for the 205-pound division, as only No. 9-ranked Ryan Bader was in action. Bader bested Ovince St. Preux to maintain his position.

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

Only No. 9-ranked Michael Bisping was in action recently, handing Cung Le a fourth-round TKO loss at UFC Fight Night 48. Things will pick up soon as No. 4-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza faces No. 8-ranked Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 50.

Welterweight
  1. Johny Hendricks
  2. Robbie Lawler
  3. Georges St-Pierre
  4. Ben Askren
  5. Rory MacDonald
  6. Matt Brown
  7. Hector Lombard
  8. Tyron Woodley
  9. Carlos Condit
  10. Dong Hyun Kim

The 170-pound division was very active recently, with Ben Askren claiming ONE FC gold with a first-round TKO over Nobutatsu Suzuki and Tyron Woodley battering Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 48.

Lightweight
  1. Anthony Pettis
  2. Gilbert Melendez
  3. Khabib Nurmagomedov
  4. Rafael dos Anjos
  5. Eddie Alvarez
  6. Benson Henderson
  7. T.J. Grant
  8. Donald Cerrone
  9. Will Brooks
  10. Bobby Green

The biggest shift in the lightweight division came when Rafael dos Anjos stopped former champion Benson Henderson at UFC Fight Night 49. In a crowded division, Henderson’s loss opens the door for a number of fighters to work their way into title contention.

Featherweight
  1. Jose Aldo
  2. Chad Mendes
  3. Cub Swanson
  4. Frankie Edgar
  5. Ricardo Lamas
  6. Pat Curran
  7. Chan Sung Jung
  8. Dustin Poirier
  9. Dennis Bermudez
  10. Clay Guida

Featherweight has largely been quiet with the Jose Aldo-Chad Mendes rematch being pushed back to UFC 179 in October, but Bellator champion Pat Curran will put his belt on the line against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 123 this week.

Bantamweight
  1. T.J. Dillashaw
  2. Renan Barão
  3. Urijah Faber
  4. Bibiano Fernandes
  5. Michael McDonald
  6. Raphael Assuncao
  7. Takeya Mizugaki
  8. Iuri Alcantara
  9. Eduardo Dantas
  10. Marlon Moraes

The bantamweight division was expected to feature a rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao at UFC 177, but Barao’s inability to make weight left Dillashaw fighting former Bellator titleholder Joe Soto. Soto put up one hell of a fight, but ultimately succumbed to a fifth-round TKO to keep Dillashaw firmly atop the division.

Flyweight
  1. Demetrious Johnson
  2. John Dodson
  3. Joseph Benavidez
  4. Ian McCall
  5. Jussier “Formiga” da Silva
  6. Zach Makovsky
  7. John Lineker
  8. Ali Bagautinov
  9. Brad Pickett
  10. John Moraga

Demetrious Johnson was slated to be in action at UFC 177, but an injury to light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones pushed Johnson’s title clash with Chris Cariaso back to UFC 178 in late September. Brazil’s Jussier “Formiga” da Silva made the biggest statement recently with a decision win over former Bellator MMA champion Zach Makovsky.

Pound-For-Pound
  1. Jose Aldo
  2. Jon Jones
  3. Demetrious Johnson
  4. Ronda Rousey
  5. Cain Velasquez
  6. Chris Weidman
  7. Anthony Pettis
  8. Johny Hendricks
  9. T.J. Dillashaw
  10. Anderson Silva

Only UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has been in action recently, but his successful title defense against Joe Soto was enough to cement his place inside the pound-for-pound top 10.


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