As MMA continues to grow its presence with the UFC, Bellator MMA, KSW, PFL 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)
- Cain Velasquez (2)
- Alistair Overeem (3)
- Fabricio Werdum (4)
- Junior dos Santos (5)
- Ben Rothwell (6)
- Josh Barnett (7)
- Mark Hunt (8)
- Francis Ngannou (9)
- Derrick Lewis (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)
- Ryan Bader (6)
- Phil Davis (7)
- Glover Teixeira (8)
- Volkan Oezdemir (10)
- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (9)
- Jimi Manuwa (5)
If there was any doubt who the greatest light heavyweight fighter of all time is, it was cemented at UFC 214. Say what you will about Jon Jones as a person outside of the Octagon, but his skills inside the cage are unmatched. Not only did he defeat Daniel Cormier and recapture the 205-pound title, but he became the first man to finish Cormier with a third-round knockout. Jones remains atop the rankings, with Cormier staying in second place. Also at the Anaheim, Calif., event, Volkan Oezdemir continued his march through the rankings, needing less than a minute to turn out the lights on England’s Jimi Manuwa. Oezdemir climbs to No. 8 with the victory, while Manuwa falls all the way to 10th with the loss.
- Michael Bisping (1)
- Robert Whittaker (2)
- Yoel Romero (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)
- Donald Cerrone (8)
- Rafael dos Anjos (9)
- Douglas Lima (10)/Santiago Ponzinibbio (10)
Tyron Woodley is still the UFC champion after UFC 214. Yet, you’d be hard pressed to find many fans singing his praises at the moment. Woodley executed a perfect game plan, neutralizing the takedown attempts of challenger Demian Maia and avoiding any grappling with the decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. That said, Woodley was conservative with his offense throughout the fight. He stayed at range and peppered Maia with single shots. It led to lots of booing and heavy criticism from UFC President Dana White. Regardless, Woodley is still the champion and the No. 1-ranked welterweight. The event also featured former champion Robbie Lawler against Donald Cerrone. The pair went the distance in an all-out war, but it was Lawler who walked away victorious. All four fighters remain at their previous ranking with the results.
- Conor McGregor (1)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (2)
- Tony Ferguson (3)
- Eddie Alvarez (4)
- Justin Gaethje (5)
- Edson Barboza (6)
- Nate Diaz (7)
- Michael Johnson (8)
- Anthony Pettis (9)
- Dustin Poirier (10)/Kevin Lee (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Max Holloway (1)
- José Aldo (2)
- Frankie Edgar (3)
- Ricardo Lamas (4)
- Cub Swanson (5)
- Bibiano Fernandes (6)
- Charles Oliveira (7)
- Chan Sung Jung (8)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (9)
- Yair Rodriguez (10)
Ricardo Lamas may not get a crack at champion Max Holloway right away, but his performance at UFC 214 was quite the statement. Taking on the surging Jason Knight, Lamas came out firing and quickly overwhelmed his opponent with strikes in the first round. Lamas stays at No. 4 in the rankings, but his case for another title shot continues to grow.
- Cody Garbrandt (1)
- Dominick Cruz (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (3)
- John Lineker (4)
- Raphael Assunção (5)
- Jimmie Rivera (7)
- Marlon Moraes (6)
- Eduardo Dantas (8)
- John Dodson (9)
- Bryan Caraway (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)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (4)
- Wilson Reis (5)
- Ray Borg (6)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (7)
- Brandon Moreno (8)
- Dustin Ortiz (9)/Ben Nguyen (9)
- Tim Elliott (10)
Fourth-ranked Kyoji Horiguchi was in action on Sunday night under the Rizin FF banner against Hideo Tokoro. He scored an impressive first-round knockout, but the bout came at bantamweight. As such, the rankings remain unchanged.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (4)
- Daniel Cormier (3)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (6)
- Stipe Miocic (7)
- Amanda Nunes (8)
- Max Holloway (9)
- Cody Garbrandt (10)
In addition to the Jones/Cormier and Woodley/Maia title clashes, UFC 214 also featured Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino against fellow Invicta titlist Tonya Evinger for the featherweight belt. Evinger showed heart and toughness, surviving to the third round, but Cyborg’s patience and power were too much, earning the TKO victory. Cyborg’s win, coupled with Cormier’s knockout loss, results in the pair flip-flopping the third and fourth spots in the rankings.
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.