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.
- Stipe Miocic (1)
- Fabricio Werdum (2)
- Cain Velasquez (3)
- Alistair Overeem (4)
- Junior dos Santos (5)
- Ben Rothwell (6)
- Travis Browne (7)
- Andrei Arlovski (8)
- Mark Hunt (9)
- Josh Barnett (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)
- Phil Davis (5)
- Glover Teixeira (6)
- Ryan Bader (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.
- Michael Bisping (7)
- Luke Rockhold (1)
- Chris Weidman (2)
- Yoel Romero (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Vitor Belfort (5)
- Lyoto Machida (6)
- Anderson Silva (8)
- Derek Brunson (9)/Robert Whittaker (9)
- David Branch (10)
The saying that “anything can happen in MMA” is overused, but at UFC 199, England’s Michael Bisping epitomized it. After getting thoroughly beaten in his first meeting with Luke Rockhold, Bisping made sure there would be no repeat performance on Saturday night. The Brit clocked Rockhold with a pair of left hooks that sent him crashing face-first to the canvas. The victory earned Bisping both UFC gold and the top spot in the rankings.
- Robbie Lawler (1)
- Carlos Condit (2)
- Ben Askren (3)
- Rory MacDonald (4)
- Demian Maia (5)
- Matt Brown (6)
- Stephen Thompson (7)
- Johny Hendricks (8)
- Tyron Woodley (9)
- Neil Magny (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)
- Will Brooks (5)
- Tony Ferguson (6)
- Edson Barboza (7)
- Nate Diaz (8)
- Anthony Pettis (9)
- Dustin Poirier (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gilbert Melendez (10)
Since returning to the lightweight division, no fighter has been hotter than Dustin Poirier. After his first-round knockout of Bobby Green at UFC 199, Poirier enters the top 10, bumping former Strikeforce titleholder Gilbert Melendez from the rankings.
- Conor McGregor (1)
- José Aldo (2)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Max Holloway (5)
- Chad Mendes (4)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Cub Swanson (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Daniel Straus (9)
- Patricio Freire (10)/Dennis Bermudez (10)
There is no fighter in the UFC riding a bigger wave of momentum than featherweight Max Holloway. The Hawaiian earned his ninth straight win at UFC 199, cruising past former title challenger Ricardo Lamas. With champion Conor McGregor holding the division hostage, Holloway’s next step will likely be the winner of the José Aldo-Frankie Edgar interim title fight at UFC 200.
- 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)
- Cody Garbrandt (9)
- Bryan Caraway (10)/Thomas Almeida (10)
What can be said about UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz? When he’s healthy, there’s not a single fighter at 135 pounds who can keep up with him. At UFC 199, he completely outclassed Urijah Faber for five rounds, putting on an even more dominant performance than he did in their UFC 132 meeting.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- Ian McCall (3)
- Henry Cejudo (4)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Zach Makovsky (6)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (7)
- John Moraga (8)
- Wilson Reis (9)
- Dustin Ortiz (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)
- Dominick Cruz (7)
- Rafael dos Anjos (8)
- Stipe Miocic (9)
- Conor McGregor (10)
- José Aldo (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Luke Rockhold (6)
Luke Rockhold’s knockout loss caused him to tumble from the rankings. That opened the door for former champion José Aldo to re-enter the rankings. Aldo will seek to overcome a loss of his own in July.
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.