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)
The “Warmaster” was on the attack at UFC Fight Night 75, as fourth-ranked Josh Barnett battered the iron-chinned Roy Nelson for five rounds. Barnett threw everything but the kitchen sink at Nelson, but couldn’t find the finish. Nevertheless, it was a dominant performance from the 37-year-old, who re-enters the contender pool in the shallow heavyweight ranks.
- 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)
- Michael Bisping (10)
- David Branch (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gegard Mousasi (9)
The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 75 produced an upset, as The Ultimate Fighter alum Uriah Hall finished former Strikeforce titleholder Gegard Mousasi with a violent onslaught in round two. The loss for Mousasi caused him to fall out of the top 10, which opened the door for World Series of Fighting’s David Branch to climb into the rankings.
- Robbie Lawler (1)
- Johny Hendricks (2)
- Ben Askren (3)
- Rory MacDonald (4)
- Matt Brown (5)
- Hector Lombard (6)
- Tyron Woodley (7)
- Carlos Condit (8)
- Rousimar Palhares (9)
- Demian Maia (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
- Tony Ferguson (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Frankie Edgar (2)
- Conor McGregor (3)
- Chad Mendes (4)
- Max Holloway (6)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Cub Swanson (7)
- Urijah Faber (8)
- Charles Oliveira (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)
- Dominick Cruz (2)
- Renan Barão (3)
- Urijah Faber (4)
- Bibiano Fernandes (5)
- Raphael Assuncao (6)
- Marlon Moraes (7)
- Marcos Galvao (8)
- Eduardo Dantas (9)
- Joe Warren (10)
It was a vintage performance from 10th-ranked Joe Warren at Bellator 143. The wrestling stalwart used his strength to neutralize opponent L.C. Davis and earn himself yet another shot at Bellator gold.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- John Dodson (3)
- Ian McCall (4)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Zach Makovsky (6)
- Henry Cejudo (7)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (8)
- John Moraga (9)
- Ray Borg (10)
Former title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi put on a show in his home country, outclassing opponent Chico Camus at UFC Fight Night 75 in Japan. Horiguchi came close to finishing the durable Camus on multiple occasions, but settled for the clear-cut decision win.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Ronda Rousey (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- Jon Jones (4)
- Chris Weidman (5)
- T.J. Dillashaw (6)
- Robbie Lawler (7)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (8)
- Daniel Cormier (9)
- Fabricio Werdum (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.