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)
- Ben Rothwell (8)
- Andrei Arlovski (9)
- Roy Nelson (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Alexander Gustafsson (2)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (4)
- Rashad Evans (5)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Vitor Belfort (8)
- Ryan Bader (9)
- Ovince Saint Preux (-)
Dropped out of the rankings: Jimi Manuwa (10)
It didn’t shake up the entire top 10, but Ovince Saint Preux’s stunning, 34-second TKO win over former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC Fight Night 56 was the biggest statement of the weekend. The former Tennessee football player picked up the biggest win of his career, halting any hope of the Brazilian Rua returning to contention.
- Chris Weidman (1)
- Vitor Belfort (2)
- Anderson Silva (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Luke Rockhold (6)
- Lyoto Machida (5)
- Yoel Romero (7)
- Tim Kennedy (8)
- Michael Bisping (9)
- Gegard Mousasi (10)
Although he entered the fight as the favorite, former Strikeforce title holder Luke Rockhold took care of business at UFC Fight Night 55 and submitted perennial gatekeeper Michael Bisping. The win saw Rockhold slide ahead of former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Despite the loss, Bisping maintained his No. 9 ranking.
- 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 this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Anthony Pettis (1)
- Gilbert Melendez (2)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Rafael dos Anjos (4)
- Benson Henderson (5)
- Donald Cerrone (6)
- Eddie Alvarez (7)
- T.J. Grant (8)
- Will Brooks (9)
- Bobby Green (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Chad Mendes (2)
- Cub Swanson (3)
- Frankie Edgar (4)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Dennis Bermudez (6)
- Conor McGregor (7)
- Chan Sung Jung (8)
- Dustin Poirier (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- T.J. Dillashaw (1)
- Renan Barão (2)
- Dominick Cruz (3)
- Urijah Faber (4)
- Bibiano Fernandes (5)
- Raphael Assuncao (6)
- Michael McDonald (7)
- Iuri Alcantara (8)
- Marlon Moraes (9)
- Joe Warren (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action 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 (9)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (10)
The flyweight division was poised for the most important fight of the weekend as Ian McCall was expected to battle John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 56. Unfortunately McCall came down with a blood infection and was forced out the day before the fight.
- 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 this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.