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)
- Stipe Miocic (3)
- Josh Barnett (4)
- Alistair Overeem (5)
- Junior dos Santos (6)
- Andrei Arlovski (7)
- Travis Browne (8)
- Mark Hunt (9)
- Ben Rothwell (10)
Eighth-ranked Travis Browne maintained his spot in the rankings with a third-round TKO win over Matt Mitrione at UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston. The fight was marred with multiple eye pokes from Browne, but “Hapa” was able to mount Mitrione and score the finish.
- 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)
- Carlos Condit (3)
- Ben Askren (4)
- Rory MacDonald (5)
- Matt Brown (6)
- Hector Lombard (7)
- Tyron Woodley (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)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (3)
- Donald Cerrone (4)
- Eddie Alvarez (5)
- Anthony Pettis (2)
- Gilbert Melendez (6)
- Will Brooks (7)
- Tony Ferguson (8)
- Nate Diaz (9)
- Justin Gaethje (10)
The fall of former champion Anthony Pettis continued at UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston. Pettis battled former Bellator MMA titleholder Eddie Alvarez for three rounds and the wrestling game of Alvarez proved to be too much for Pettis. Pettis drops to the fifth spot in the rankings, while Alvarez moves up to the fourth spot.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Dominick Cruz (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (1)
- Renan Barão (3)
- Urijah Faber (4)
- Bibiano Fernandes (5)
- Raphael Assuncao (6)
- Marlon Moraes (7)
- Marcos Galvao (8)
- Thomas Almeida (9)
- Aljamain Sterling (10)
The king of the bantamweight division is once again Dominick Cruz. After battling multiple injuries and having to relinquish the UFC title, Cruz outworked T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 81 to capture what was rightfully his. The loss drops Dillashaw to the No. 2 spot, while Cruz regains the No. 1 ranking.
- 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)
- Robbie Lawler (4)
- Daniel Cormier (5)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (6)
- Fabricio Werdum (7)
- Conor McGregor (8)
- Luke Rockhold (9)
- José Aldo (10)
- Dominick Cruz (-)/Rafael dos Anjos (-)
Dropped from the rankings: T.J. Dillashaw (3)
Dominick Cruz’s win over T.J. Dillashaw in Boston allowed him to move back into the top 10, while Dillashaw fell out of the top 10. Also in action this week was Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, who earned yet another first-round knockout in the Invicta FC 15 main event.
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.