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.
- 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)
- Alistair Overeem (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (2)
- Alexander Gustafsson (3)
- Daniel Cormier (4)
- Rashad Evans (5)
- Ryan Bader (6)
- Phil Davis (7)
- Glover Teixeira (8)
- Ovince Saint Preux (10)
- Vitor Belfort (9)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
- Gegard Mousasi (9)
- Michael Bisping (10)
England’s Michael Bisping held onto his No. 10-slot with a decision win over C.B. Dollaway at UFC 186 on Saturday night. Bisping continued his trend of alternating wins and losses, and further established himself as the true gatekeeper for the middleweight ranks.
- Robbie Lawler (1)
- Johny Hendricks (2)
- Ben Askren (3)
- Rory MacDonald (4)
- Hector Lombard (5)
- Matt Brown (6)
- Tyron Woodley (7)
- Carlos Condit (8)
- Rousimar Palhares (9)
- Demian Maia (10)
In the weekend’s most unfortunate (and bizarre) result, ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren fought Luis “Sapo” Santos to a no-contest after an accidental eye poke. Prior to that, however, Askren did not look as dominant as he did in his previous two appearances with the promotion. He keeps his No. 3-ranking for now, but he’ll need to showcase something different in a potential rematch with Santos if he wants to remain among the 170-pound elite.
- Rafael dos Anjos (1)
- Anthony Pettis (2)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Gilbert Melendez (4)
- Donald Cerrone (5)
- Benson Henderson (6)
- Eddie Alvarez (7)
- Will Brooks (8)
- Myles Jury (9)
- Michael Johnson (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)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Dennis Bermudez (7)
- Max Holloway (9)
- Cub Swanson (4)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (8)
- Charles Oliveira (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)
- Marlon Moraes (8)
- Marcos Galvao (9)
- Eduardo Dantas (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)
- John Lineker (4)
- Ian McCall (5)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (6)
- Zach Makovsky (7)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (8)
- John Moraga (9)
- Henry Cejudo (10)
What else can be said about UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson? At UFC 186 he put on a technical clinic against Kyoji Horiguchi and then finished it off with the latest finish in UFC history. Horiguchi showcased his toughness, so he doesn’t fall in the rankings, but like so many fighters before him, the Japanese fighter became just another victim of the champ.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (4)
- Ronda Rousey (3)
- Cain Velasquez (5)
- Chris Weidman (6)
- T.J. Dillashaw (7)
- Robbie Lawler (8)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (9)
- Johny Hendricks (10)
There’s a reason that UFC commentator Joe Rogan sings the praises of the aforementioned Johnson: he’s clearly one of the best fighters in the world. “Mighty Mouse” has slid back ahead of women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in our pound-for-pound rankings, but the top four fighters are so close, they could conceivably be interchangeable.
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.