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)
- Ben Rothwell (10)
- Alistair Overeem (5)
- Junior dos Santos (6)
- Andrei Arlovski (7)
- Travis Browne (8)
- Josh Barnett (4)
- Mark Hunt (9)
Welcome to title contention, Ben Rothwell. The Wisconsin heavyweight became the first fighter to coerce a tap due to submission from noted grappler Josh Barnett in the UFC on Fox 18 co-main event. Rothwell has now won four straight to climb to No. 4 in our rankings. Barnett, meanwhile, drops from fourth to ninth with the loss.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Daniel Cormier (2)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)
- Alexander Gustafsson (4)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Ryan Bader (5)
- Ovince Saint Preux (8)
- Liam McGeary (9)
- Jimi Manuwa (10)
If there was any doubt who deserves first crack at the Daniel Cormier-Jon Jones winner, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson erased it on Saturday night. He easily derailed Ryan Bader’s climb toward contention with another first-round knockout at UFC on Fox 18. Johnson’s only defeat in the past four years came against Cormier last May. With Bader’s five-fight winning streak a thing of the past, he falls to the No. 7 spot in the rankings.
- 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 (2)
- Donald Cerrone (3)
- Eddie Alvarez (4)
- Anthony Pettis (5)
- Gilbert Melendez (6)
- Will Brooks (7)
- Tony Ferguson (8)
- Nate Diaz (9)
- Justin Gaethje (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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 (1)
- T.J. Dillashaw (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)
- Robbie Lawler (3)
- Daniel Cormier (4)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (5)
- Fabricio Werdum (6)
- Conor McGregor (7)
- Luke Rockhold (8)
- José Aldo (9)
- Dominick Cruz (10)/Rafael dos Anjos (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.