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)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (4)
- Alexander Gustafsson (2)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Rashad Evans (5)
- Ryan Bader (9)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Vitor Belfort (8)
- Ovince Saint Preux (10)
Rumble, young man, rumble. What else can be said about the career resurgence of Anthony Johnson since his UFC return? He completely demolished former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in the UFC on Fox 14 main event and locked up a title shot in the process. Johnson is now locked into the No. 2 position, while Gustafsson slides to No. 3.
The pair weren’t the only top-10 fighters in action in Stockholm, as wrestling stalwarts Ryan Bader and Phil Davis also locked horns. It was an even match on paper, but it was, to be very blunt, a terrible fight. Bader was content to jab Davis on the feet, while Davis telegraphed takedown attempts. The judges rendered a split verdict in Bader’s favor that catapults him into the No. 6 spot, but with a loss to champion Jon Jones on his resume already, it’s hard to see Bader getting a title shot anytime soon. Davis, meanwhile, followed the best performance of his career with one of his worst. With losses to Evans, Bader and Johnson on his record, he’s destined to be a gatekeeper for the foreseeable future.
- Chris Weidman (1)
- Vitor Belfort (2)
- Anderson Silva (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Lyoto Machida (5)
- Luke Rockhold (6)
- Yoel Romero (7)
- Tim Kennedy (8)
- Gegard Mousasi (10)
- Michael Bisping (9)
It wasn’t without controversy, but former Strikeforce titleholder Gegard Mousasi stopped former Strikeforce and Pride champion Dan Henderson in the first round at UFC on Fox 14. The win moved Mousasi into the No. 9 slot in our rankings, dropping Michael Bisping to the No. 10 spot. Mousasi has fallen short twice in his UFC career against top-five opponents, but the win over his former training partner may be what he needs to regain his confidence.
- Robbie Lawler (1)
- Johny Hendricks (2)
- Georges St-Pierre (3)
- Ben Askren (4)
- Rory MacDonald (5)
- Hector Lombard (6)
- Matt Brown (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)
- Donald Cerrone (5)
- Benson Henderson (6)
- Eddie Alvarez (7)
- Will Brooks (8)
- Edson Barboza (9)
- Myles Jury (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Chad Mendes (2)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Cub Swanson (4)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Dennis Bermudez (7)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (8)
- Dustin Poirier (9)
- Pat Curran (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)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- John Dodson (3)
- Ian McCall (4)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Zach Makovsky (6)
- John Lineker (7)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (8)
- John Moraga (9)
- Ali Bagautinov (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- Ronda Rousey (4)
- Cain Velasquez (5)
- Chris Weidman (6)
- Anthony Pettis (7)
- T.J. Dillashaw (8)
- Robbie Lawler (9)
- Anderson Silva (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.