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.
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from last week
- Cain Velasquez (1)
- Fabricio Werdum (2)
- Junior dos Santos (3)
- Travis Browne (4)
- Josh Barnett (5)
- Stipe Miocic (6)
- Mark Hunt (7)
- Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (8)
- Roy Nelson (10)
- Ben Rothwell (-)
Dropped out of the rankings: Alistair Overeem (9)
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem’s fall from grace continued at UFC Fight Night 50 on Friday, Sept. 5. Overeem succumbed to his third knockout in his last four fights, courtesy of Ben Rothwell. Rothwell’s win saw him move into the No. 10 spot in the rankings, while Overeem falls out of the top 10.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Alexander Gustafsson (2)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (4)
- Rashad Evans (5)
- Glover Teixeira (6)
- Phil Davis (7)
- Vitor Belfort (8)
- Ryan Bader (9)
- Jimi Manuwa (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Chris Weidman (1)
- Vitor Belfort (2)
- Anderson Silva (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Lyoto Machida (5)
- Luke Rockhold (6)
- Tim Kennedy (7)
- Michael Bisping (9)
- Gegard Mousasi (8)
- Yushin Okami (10)
Brazil’s Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza may have locked up the next title shot at middleweight with a dominant performance against Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 50. Souza avenged his prior loss to Mousasi with the submission win. As a result, Jacare remains planted in the No. 4 ranking, while Mousasi falls to No. 9.
- Johny Hendricks (1)
- Robbie Lawler (2)
- Georges St-Pierre (3)
- Ben Askren (4)
- Rory MacDonald (5)
- Matt Brown (6)
- Hector Lombard (7)
- Tyron Woodley (8)
- Carlos Condit (9)
- Dong Hyun Kim (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Anthony Pettis (1)
- Gilbert Melendez (2)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Rafael dos Anjos (4)
- Eddie Alvarez (5)
- Benson Henderson (6)
- T.J. Grant (7)
- Donald Cerrone (8)
- Will Brooks (9)
- Bobby Green (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Chad Mendes (2)
- Cub Swanson (3)
- Frankie Edgar (4)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Dustin Poirier (8)
- Dennis Bermudez (9)
- Chan Sung Jung (7)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (-)
- Clay Guida (10)
Dropped out of the rankings: Pat Curran (6)
The biggest change this week took place at Bellator 123 when Brazilian Patricio “Pitbull” Freire dethroned featherweight champion Pat Curran. The new champion vaults into the No. 9 spot this week, while Curran falls out of the top 10 with the loss.
- T.J. Dillashaw (1)
- Renan Barão (2)
- Urijah Faber (3)
- Bibiano Fernandes (4)
- Michael McDonald (5)
- Raphael Assuncao (6)
- Takeya Mizugaki (7)
- Iuri Alcantara (8)
- Eduardo Dantas (9)
- Marlon Moraes (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- John Dodson (2)
- Joseph Benavidez (3)
- Ian McCall (4)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Zach Makovsky (6)
- John Lineker (7)
- Ali Bagautinov (8)
- John Moraga (10)
- Brad Pickett (9)
Former title challenger John Moraga moved up a spot in the rankings with his submission win over Justin Scoggins at UFC Fight Night 50, bumping England’s Brad Pickett to the No. 10 spot.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- Ronda Rousey (4)
- Cain Velasquez (5)
- Chris Weidman (6)
- Anthony Pettis (7)
- Johny Hendricks (8)
- T.J. Dillashaw (9)
- Anderson Silva (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.