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)
Former title challenger Glover Teixeira picked up his second straight win, battering wrestling stalwart Patrick Cummins for a second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 77 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As such, Teixeira maintains his No. 7 ranking.
- 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 (9)
- David Branch (10)
Who needs TRT? Despite frequent criticisms for his checkered drug-testing past, Brazilian Vitor Belfort once again stopped fellow legend Dan Henderson with a first-round knockout. The pair met for a third time in the main event of UFC Fight Night 77 in Sao Paulo, and Belfort dropped Henderson with a head kick before swarming with punches. The win kept Belfort firmly inside the top 10.
- 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)
Bellator MMA champion Will Brooks kept his belt at Bellator 145 with a one-sided decision nod over Marcin Held. It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but Brooks stays at No. 8 in our rankings with his win over the submission specialist.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Frankie Edgar (2)
- Conor McGregor (3)
- Chad Mendes (4)
- Max Holloway (5)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Cub Swanson (7)
- Urijah Faber (8)
- Charles Oliveira (9)
- Daniel Straus (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
You would have never known that Daniel Straus had already lost to Brazilian Patricio “Pitbull” Freire twice previously. The pair’s title clash at Bellator 145 was Straus’s most complete performance in the cage. He simply outworked Freire throughout and regained the promotion’s featherweight strap, as well as a spot in the top 10.
- 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)
- Thomas Almeida (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Joe Warren (10)
The most jaw-dropping moment of the weekend came at the hands of unbeaten Brazilian Thomas Almeida. The Muay Thai stylist embarrassed opponent Anthony Birchak with a highlight-reel finish at UFC Fight Night 77. The win put Almeida in the rankings for the first time.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jose Aldo (1)
- Ronda Rousey (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- Jon Jones (4)
- Chris Weidman (5)
- T.J. Dillashaw (6)
- Robbie Lawler (7)
- Daniel Cormier (8)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (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.