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 month, 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 the previous rankings.
- 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 month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Daniel Cormier (2)
- Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)
- Alexander Gustafsson (4)
- Ryan Bader (5)
- Phil Davis (6)
- Glover Teixeira (8)
- Volkan Oezdemir (8)
- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (9)
- Jimi Manuwa (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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 month, 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
Lightweight kingpin Conor McGregor fought in August, but it was in the boxing ring, not a cage. The Irishman was stopped by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the pair’s headlining bout. The loss has no impact on the rankings.
- 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)
Only ONE Championship titleholder Bibiano Fernandes was in action in August. He submitted Andrew Leone in under two minutes at Kings and Conquerors in China. The Brazilian remains in the No. 6 spot with the dominant performance.
- 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 month, 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)
- Sergio Pettis (8)
- Brandon Moreno (9)
- Dustin Ortiz (10)
UFC Fight Night 114 in Mexico City had a big impact on the flyweight rankings. In the night’s main event, Sergio Pettis used a diverse striking arsenal to outpoint Brandon Moreno over the course of five rounds. The victory catapults Pettis into the No. 8 spot in the rankings, one spot ahead of Moreno. Also in action at the event was Dustin Ortiz, who needed just 15 seconds to knock out Hector Sandoval. However, with Ortiz’s previous submission loss to Moreno, he remains one spot behind the Mexican fighter in the rankings.
- Demetrious Johnson (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (3)
- Daniel Cormier (4)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (6)
- Stipe Miocic (7)
- Amanda Nunes (8)
- Max Holloway (9)
- Cody Garbrandt (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, 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 twice in their new division.