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)
- Josh Barnett (4)
- Stipe Miocic (5)
- Andrei Arlovski (6)
- Alistair Overeem (10)
- Junior dos Santos (3)
- Travis Browne (7)
- Mark Hunt (8)
- Ben Rothwell (9)
In short, the heavyweight ranks are a bit of a mess. The UFC’s shallowest division was shuffled once again at UFC on Fox 17 when former Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem knocked out former UFC champion Junior dos Santos. It was Overeem’s fourth win in his last five fights, but he’s also been knocked out by fellow top-10 fighters Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell. Dos Santos, meanwhile, was coming off a win over Stipe Miocic, but falling to Overeem and his pair of losses to Cain Velasquez essentially leave the Brazilian in no-man’s land in the heavyweight title picture.
- 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.
- Luke Rockhold (1)
- Chris Weidman (2)
- Yoel Romero (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Anderson Silva (5)
- Vitor Belfort (6)
- Lyoto Machida (7)
- Tim Kennedy (8)
- Michael Bisping (9)
- David Branch (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 (5)
- Hector Lombard (6)
- Tyron Woodley (7)
- Carlos Condit (8)
- Demian Maia (9)
- Rousimar Palhares (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)
- Eddie Alvarez (5)
- Gilbert Melendez (6)
- Will Brooks (7)
- Tony Ferguson (9)
- Nate Diaz (-)
- Justin Gaethje (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Myles Jury (8), Michael Johnson (10)
It was a very busy week for the 155-pound division. UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos cemented himself as the best fighter in the division with a 66-second destruction of fourth-ranked Donald Cerrone. The loss snapped an eight-fight winning streak for the challenger. But the pair weren’t the only ranked fighters in action at UFC on Fox 17. Previously ranked Myles Jury made his featherweight debut and was promptly submitted by Charles Oliveira. Michael Johnson saw his own run of success come to a crashing halt when he was outboxed by former title challenger Nate Diaz. Diaz’s performance earned him a spot in the top 10, while Johnson slipped outside the rankings. Jury’s departure also opened the door for World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje to enter the rankings for the first time.
- Conor McGregor (1)
- José Aldo (2)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Chad Mendes (4)
- Max Holloway (5)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Cub Swanson (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Daniel Straus (9)
- Patricio Freire (10)
Despite missing weight yet again, Brazilian Charles Oliveira showcased why he’s the most dangerous submission threat in the division by spoiling the featherweight debut of Myles Jury. The guillotine choke finish marked his fifth win in his last sixth and his fourth by tapout.
- 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)
- Thomas Almeida (9)
- Aljamain Sterling (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)
- Ian McCall (4)
- Henry Cejudo (5)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (6)
- Zach Makovsky (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.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (3)
- Robbie Lawler (4)
- Daniel Cormier (5)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (6)
- Fabricio Werdum (7)
- Conor McGregor (8)
- Luke Rockhold (9)
- José Aldo (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.