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.
- Fabricio Werdum (1)
- Cain Velasquez (2)
- Junior dos Santos (3)
- Josh Barnett (4)
- Stipe Miocic (5)
- Andrei Arlovski (6)
- Travis Browne (7)
- Ben Rothwell (8)
- Mark Hunt (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)
- Yoel Romero (5)
- Vitor Belfort (6)
- Lyoto Machida (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)
- Matt Brown (6)
- Hector Lombard (5)
- Tyron Woodley (7)
- Carlos Condit (8)
- Rousimar Palhares (9)
- Dong Hyun Kim (10)
It’s hard to believe that the legend of Robbie Lawler continues to grow, but the UFC welterweight champion added another chapter to his storied career at UFC 189. “Ruthless” engaged fourth-ranked Rory MacDonald in a fight for the ages, with Lawler earning a TKO in the fifth and final round. It wasn’t just Lawler that brought the violence in Las Vegas on Saturday, as Matt Brown moved into the No. 5 slot in our rankings with a dominant performance against Tim Means.
- Rafael dos Anjos (1)
- Anthony Pettis (2)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Donald Cerrone (4)
- Benson Henderson (5)
- Eddie Alvarez (6)
- Gilbert Melendez (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)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Conor McGregor (4)
- Chad Mendes (2)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Max Holloway (7)
- Cub Swanson (8)
- Urijah Faber (9)
- Charles Oliveira (10)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Dennis Bermudez (6)
While many were disappointed that UFC 189 wasn’t headlined by a Jose Aldo-Conor McGregor title clash, the replacement fight of McGregor and Chad Mendes lived up to the hype. Mendes controlled the majority of the first two rounds, but when McGregor found an opening, he capitalized. The Irishman’s second-round TKO win earned him the interim title and moved him into the third spot in our rankings. Also in action was Dennis Bermudez, who fell to Jeremy Stephens. The loss dropped Bermudez from the top 10.
- 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)
- Henry Cejudo (8)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (9)
- John Moraga (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)
- Chris Weidman (5)
- T.J. Dillashaw (6)
- Robbie Lawler (7)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (8)
- Daniel Cormier (9)
- Fabricio Werdum (10)
While’s Lawler’s big win over MacDonald helped him maintain his seventh spot in the pound-for-pound ranks, Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is just one spot behind after her demolition of Faith Van Duin at Invicta FC 13.
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.