UFC Rankings: Chad Mendes Returns – But Is It High Enough?
The official UFC rankings have been updated following last weekend’s (Sat., July 14, 2018) UFC Fight Night 133 from the CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho.
Although Junior dos Santos headlined the event with an uneventful decision win over debuting heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov (for which “JDS” rose one spot to No. 7), perhaps a more significant change on the rankings was the return of former three-time featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes, who re-debuted on the rankings at No. 7 following his first-round technical knockout over Myles Jury in his long-awaited return from a two-year USADA suspension.
“Money” may have a Top 10 spot, yet it may not be enough considering how dominant he looked in his return against a veteran over two-and-a-half years out of the cage. True, he may have lost back-to-back fights versus Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar – and the time off probably did him some good – but the Team Alpha Male star brings it every time out and has only lost to true legends of the featherweight division. With another win, he should find himself in the top five and above soon.
Also at featherweight, rising prospect Alexander Volkanovski made his debut at No. 11 after beating previous No. 10 Darren Elkins, who fell to No. 13.
Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Max Holloway
4 Conor McGregor -1
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Tyron Woodley +1
8 Stipe Miocic -1
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Henry Cejudo
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz +1
9 Brandon Moreno
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz +1
10 Cody Stamann -1
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez +1
13 Thomas Almeida -1
14 Brett Johns
15 Douglas Silva de Andrade *NR
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Josh Emmett
7 Chad Mendes *NR
8 Mirsad Bektic -1
9 Chan Sung Jung -1
10 Renato Moicano -1
11 Alexander Volkanovski *NR
12 Ricardo Lamas -1
13 Darren Elkins -3
14 Zabit Magomedsharipov -1
15 Yair Rodriguez
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Tony Ferguson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Nate Diaz -1
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Uriah Hall
13 Thiago Santos
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Ilir Latifi
5 Jan Blachowicz
6 Jimi Manuwa
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Corey Anderson
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Dominick Reyes
12 Patrick Cummins
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
15 Sam Alvey
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos +1
8 Mark Hunt -1
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Cortney Casey
11 Alexa Grasso
12 Randa Markos
13 Nina Ansaroff
14 Joanne Calderwood
15 Angela Hill
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Alexis Davis
4 Liz Carmouche +3
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Lauren Murphy -1
7 Katlyn Chookagian -1
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa +1
15 Paige VanZant -1
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany
