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)
- Brock Lesnar (6)
- Ben Rothwell (7)
- Travis Browne (8)
- Andrei Arlovski (9)
- Mark Hunt (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 (1)
- Luke Rockhold (2)
- Chris Weidman (3)
- Yoel Romero (4)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (5)
- Vitor Belfort (6)
- Lyoto Machida (7)
- Anderson Silva (8)
- Derek Brunson (9)/Robert Whittaker (9)
- David Branch (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Tyron Woodley (1)
- Robbie Lawler (2)
- Demian Maia (6)
- Carlos Condit (3)
- Ben Askren (4)
- Stephen Thompson (5)
- Rory MacDonald (7)
- Kelvin Gastelum (8)
- Jake Ellenberger (9)
- Donald Cerrone (10)/Dong Hyun Kim (10)
The biggest move of the week came from Brazilian Demian Maia. The former middleweight title challenger made a strong case for a welterweight title shot by demolishing former interim champion Carlos Condit at UFC on Fox 21 in Vancouver. Maia needed less than a round to take Condit’s back and sink in a fight-finishing rear-naked choke. The impressive win vaults Maia up to the No. 3 spot in our rankings.
- Eddie Alvarez (1)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (2)
- Rafael dos Anjos (3)
- Donald Cerrone (4)
- Will Brooks (5)
- Tony Ferguson (6)
- Edson Barboza (7)
- Nate Diaz (8)
- Dustin Poirier (10)
- Justin Gaethje (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Anthony Pettis (9)
The changes in the lightweight division result from former champion Anthony Pettis making a move to the featherweight division. That opened the door for World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje to enter the rankings at No. 10.
- Conor McGregor (1)
- José Aldo (2)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Max Holloway (4)
- Chad Mendes (5)
- Anthony Pettis (-)
- Ricardo Lamas (6)
- Cub Swanson (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Daniel Straus (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Patricio Freire (10)/Dennis Bermudez (10)
The featherweight rankings saw movement as former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis made his 145-pound debut at UFC on Fox 21 in Vancouver. Pettis quickly made a statement in the division by submitting Brazilian Charles Oliveira by guillotine choke. The win slots Pettis in at No. 6 in our rankings, while Oliveira slides to No. 9 with the loss. Pettis also bumps former Bellator MMA titleholder Patricio Freire from the rankings. The Brazilian was in action this week at Bellator 160, but it was at lightweight. He suffered a broken leg against Benson Henderson and will be out of action for the foreseeable future.
- Dominick Cruz (1)
- T.J. Dillashaw (2)
- Renan Barão (3)
- Urijah Faber (4)
- Bibiano Fernandes (5)
- Cody Garbrandt (6)
- Marlon Moraes (7)
- Raphael Assuncao (8)
- Eduardo Dantas (9)
- John Lineker (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- Henry Cejudo (3)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (4)
- Zach Makovsky (5)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (6)
- Wilson Reis (7)
- Dustin Ortiz (8)
- Matheus Nicolau (9)
- Louis Smolka (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (4)
- Dominick Cruz (5)
- Stipe Miocic (6)
- Conor McGregor (7)
- José Aldo (8)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (9)
- Eddie Alvarez (10)/Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (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.