As MMA continues to grow its presence with the UFC, Bellator MMA, WSOF and ONE Championship, 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 all 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)
- Josh Barnett (7)
- Mark Hunt (8)
- Travis Browne (9)
- Derrick Lewis (10)/Francis Ngannou (-)
There’s a new face in the heavyweight rankings. France’s Francis Ngannou climbed into a tie for 10th place with his violent, first-round knockout of former champion Andrei Arlovski at UFC on Fox 23 in Denver.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Daniel Cormier (2)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)
- Alexander Gustafsson (4)
- Phil Davis (5)
- Glover Teixeira (6)
- Ryan Bader (7)
- Jimi Manuwa (8)
- Ovince Saint Preux (9)
- Liam McGeary (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Michael Bisping (1)
- Yoel Romero (2)
- Luke Rockhold (3)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)
- Chris Weidman (5)
- Lyoto Machida (6)
- Gegard Mousasi (7)
- Robert Whittaker (8)
- Derek Brunson (9)
- Anderson Silva (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Tyron Woodley (1)
- Stephen Thompson (2)
- Robbie Lawler (3)
- Demian Maia (4)
- Carlos Condit (5)
- Ben Askren (6)
- Rory MacDonald (7)
- Jorge Masvidal (-)
- Donald Cerrone (8)
- Dong Hyun Kim (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Kelvin Gastelum (9)
Jorge Masvidal went into his opponent’s hometown at UFC on Fox 23 and came out with a second-round TKO victory over Donald Cerrone. Masvidal backed up everything he said in the lead-up to the fight and relished in the boos from the Denver crowd. The win moved Masvidal one spot ahead of Cerrone at No. 8, while Kelvin Gastelum fell out of the top 10 with his continued struggles to make the 170-pound weight limit.
- Conor McGregor (1)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (2)
- Tony Ferguson (3)
- Eddie Alvarez (4)
- Rafael dos Anjos (5)
- Edson Barboza (6)
- Nate Diaz (7)
- Justin Gaethje (8)
- Will Brooks (9)
- Michael Chandler (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- José Aldo (1)
- Max Holloway (3)
- Frankie Edgar (2)
- Chad Mendes (4)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Cub Swanson (6)
- Anthony Pettis (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Daniel Straus (9)
- Patricio Freire (10)/Yair Rodriguez (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Cody Garbrandt (1)
- Dominick Cruz (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (3)
- Marlon Moraes (4)
- Bibiano Fernandes (5)
- John Lineker (6)
- Jimmie Rivera (7)
- Urijah Faber (8)
- Raphael Assuncao (9)
- Eduardo Dantas (10)
It wasn’t pretty, but ninth-ranked Raphael Assuncao got a win at UFC on Fox 23 over talented prospect Aljamain Sterling. The fight was a slow, technical chess match, but it was the Brazilian’s power punching that earned him the split decision win and kept him inside the top 10.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- Henry Cejudo (3)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (4)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Wilson Reis (6)
- Dustin Ortiz (7)
- Zach Makovsky (8)
- Tim Elliott (9)
- Matheus Nicolau (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)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (6)
- Stipe Miocic (7)
- José Aldo (8)
- Amanda Nunes (9)
- 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.