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)
- Josh Barnett (4)
- Stipe Miocic (5)
- Andrei Arlovski (6)
- Travis Browne (7)
- Mark Hunt (8)
- Ben Rothwell (9)
- Alistair Overeem (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Daniel Cormier (2)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)
- Alexander Gustafsson (4)
- Ryan Bader (5)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Ovince Saint Preux (8)
- Liam McGeary (9)
- Jimi Manuwa (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Chris Weidman (1)
- Anderson Silva (2)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (3)
- Luke Rockhold (4)
- Lyoto Machida (5)
- Vitor Belfort (6)
- Yoel Romero (7)
- Tim Kennedy (8)
- Gegard Mousasi (9)
- Michael Bisping (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
- Dong Hyun Kim (10)
If you were going to make an “All-Violence” team for the sport of MMA, then you’d be hard pressed not to include eighth-ranked Carlos Condit on the list. Returning from ACL surgery, the former UFC interim champion dismantled former title challenger Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 67 with a barrage of elbows, kicks and knee strikes that left Alves bloodied and battered. Condit quickly put himself make in the mix for title contention at 170 pounds with the win.
- Rafael dos Anjos (1)
- Anthony Pettis (2)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Donald Cerrone (4)
- Gilbert Melendez (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 (4)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Dennis Bermudez (6)
- Max Holloway (7)
- Cub Swanson (8)
- Urijah Faber (9)
- Charles Oliveira (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
Has there ever been a boring fight involving Brazilian Charles Oliveira? The 25-year-old picked up his seventh career submission inside the Octagon by choking out Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night 67. The pair had met previously four years ago, but Oliveira’s “win” was changed to a no-contest after an illegal knee led to the finish. This time, however, there was no doubt about the outcome. “Do Bronx” is clearly an elite featherweight and is only getting better with each fight.
- 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)
“Formiga” the striker? After watching Jussier da Silva drop his opponent, Wilson Reis, multiple times at UFC Fight Night 67, it’s easy to see the evolution that the BJJ ace has made with his stand-up game. Formiga may have losses to Joseph Benavidez, John Dodson and Ian McCall on his resume, but in a division desperate for title challengers, his three-fight winning streak may be enough to earn him a crack at the belt.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- Ronda Rousey (4)
- Cain Velasquez (5)
- Chris Weidman (6)
- T.J. Dillashaw (7)
- Robbie Lawler (8)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (9)
- Johny Hendricks (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
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.