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)
- Derrick Lewis (9)
- Francis Ngannou (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)
- Jimi Manuwa (5)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Ryan Bader (8)
- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (9)
- Volkan Oezdemir (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Michael Bisping (1)
- Yoel Romero (2)
- Robert Whittaker (3)
- Luke Rockhold (4)
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (5)
- Gegard Mousasi (6)
- Chris Weidman (7)
- Anderson Silva (8)
- Mamed Khalidov (9)
- Ben Askren (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)
- Rory MacDonald (6)
- Jorge Masvidal (7)
- Gunnar Nelson (8)
- Donald Cerrone (9)
- Dong Hyun Kim (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
- Michael Chandler (9)
- Michael Johnson (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Max Holloway (3)
- José Aldo (1)
- Frankie Edgar (2)
- Ricardo Lamas (5)
- Cub Swanson (6)
- Bibiano Fernandes (-)
- Anthony Pettis (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Chan Sung Jung (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Chad Mendes (4)
Hawaii’s Max Holloway changed the shape of the featherweight division at UFC 212, becoming just the second man to beat Brazilian José Aldo in the UFC or WEC. The third-round TKO win and his impressive 11-fight winning streak vaults Holloway into the top spot, while Aldo slides to No 2. This month also led to some housecleaning in the rankings. Previously ranked Chad Mendes drops out of the top 10 after 18 months of inactivity due to suspension. As such, ONE Championship titleholder Bibiano Fernandes returns to the 145-pound rankings since the Asian promotion shifted all of its weight classes up one division.
- Cody Garbrandt (1)
- Dominick Cruz (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (3)
- John Lineker (6)
- Raphael Assunção (9)
- Marlon Moraes (4)
- Jimmie Rivera (7)
- Eduardo Dantas (10)
- John Dodson (-)
- Bryan Caraway (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Bibiano Fernandes (5), Urijah Faber (8)
UFC 212 marked the promotional debut of former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes. He battled fellow Brazilian Raphael Assunção, but came up short on the scorecards in a bout that he arguably won. Moraes slides to sixth in the rankings, while Assunção moves into the top five after winning nine of his last 10. With Bibiano Fernandes joining the featherweight rankings and former WEC champion Urijah Faber off enjoying retirement, the door opened for both John Dodson and Bryan Caraway to enter the top 10.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- Henry Cejudo (3)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (4)
- Tim Elliott (5)
- Wilson Reis (6)
- Ray Borg (7)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (8)
- Brandon Moreno (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)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (4)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (6)
- Stipe Miocic (7)
- Amanda Nunes (9)
- Max Holloway (-)
- Cody Garbrandt (10)
Dropped from the rankings: José Aldo (8)
It’s impossible to predict what the future holds for former pound-for-pound great José Aldo, but his loss at UFC 212 sends him tumbling out of the top 10, whereas the man who defeated him, Max Holloway, enters the rankings at No. 9 after his 11th straight victory inside the Octagon.
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.