UFC Rankings Report: Arlovski Steamrolls To No. 4

In the fallout of this past Saturday’s (May 23, 2015) blockbuster UFC 187 pay-per-view (PPV), the official UFC rankings have received quite the shakeup.

Starting with the pound-for-pound rankings, new light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier made his debut at no. 9 after his impressive second round submission over Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson in UFC 187’s man event. Anderson Silva, Anthony Pettis, and Renan Barao all dropped one spot, Fabricio Werdum and Johny Hendricks dropped two, and Frankie Edgar actually rose one spot as a result.

In the lower weight classes, rising Olympic gold medalist wrestler Henry Cejudo took over the number 7 spot, rising one notch and overtaking recent title contender Koji Horiguchi. At bantamweight, Johnny Eduardo somehow overtook Aljamain Sterling despite having been out of action for over a whole year with a shoulder injury while Sterling has won two fights by finish in that span. I suppose Eduardo did get cleared to resume training.

Featherweight was rather uneventful, as Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz traded the nos. 8 and 9 spots heading into their co-main event bout at UFC Fight Night 67 this Saturday from Brazil. At lightweight, surging title contender Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone moved into a surprising tie at no. 2 with injured challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov.

At welterweight, Dong Hyun Kim overtook Tarec Saffiedine, moving up one spot to no. 7 after his decision win over Josh Burkman at UFC 187. Middleweight saw a small switch near the top, with Lyoto Machida regaining the no. 3 spot from Vitor Belfort after ‘The Phenom’ suffered a first round TKO loss to champion Chris Weidman.

Light heavyweight saw a ton of movement now that a new champ has been crowned, with Ryan Bader moving up two spots to no. 3, presumably for his brash callout of Cormier at the UFC 187 press conference. Most of the Top 15 also moved up at least a spot except for ‘Rampage’ Jackson, with Rafael Cavalcante advancing two spots and Jan Blachowicz moving up three to no. 12. Fabio Maldonado moved down one spot, and Gian Villante made his debut on the rankings at no. 15.

Heavyweight got a new look after UFC 187, with Andrei Arlovski moving up four spots to no. 4 for his thrilling knockout of Travis Browne in their classic one-round bout. Browne shot down two spots to no. 5, while Stipe Miocic rose one spot to the no. 3 position. Josh Barnett, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, and Ben Rothwell all moved down one spot, and Frank Mir moved up one.

Finally, the women’s divisions didn’t see all that much movement, with Maryna Moroz taking Paige VanZant’s no. 7 spot at strawweight and no one advancing or falling at women’s bantamweight. Here are the full updated official rankings:

POUND-FOR-POUND

1          Jose Aldo

2          Demetrious Johnson

3          Chris Weidman

4          Cain Velasquez

5          Ronda Rousey

6          TJ Dillashaw

7          Rafael dos Anjos

8          Robbie Lawler

9          Daniel Cormier *NR

10       Anderson Silva-1

11       Anthony Pettis-1

12       Renan Barao-1

13       Frankie Edgar+2

14       Fabricio Werdum-2

15       Johny Hendricks-2

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Demetrious Johnson

1          John Dodson

2          Joseph Benavidez

3          Ian McCall

4          Jussier Formiga

5          John Moraga

6          John Lineker

7          Henry Cejudo+1

8          Kyoji Horiguchi-1

9          Zach Makovsky

10       Chris Cariaso

11       Dustin Ortiz+1

12       Wilson Reis-1

13       Timothy Elliott

14       Chico Camus

15       Brad Pickett

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: TJ Dillashaw

1          Renan Barao

2          Dominick Cruz

3          Raphael Assuncao

4          Urijah Faber

5          Michael McDonald

6          Eddie Wineland

7          Takeya Mizugaki

8          Johnny Eduardo+1

9          Aljamain Sterling-1

10       Bryan Caraway

11       Francisco Rivera

12       Iuri Alcantara

13       Frankie Saenz

14       Thomas Almeida

15       Erik Perez

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Jose Aldo

1          Chad Mendes

2          Frankie Edgar

3          Conor McGregor

4          Ricardo Lamas

5          Max Holloway

6          Cub Swanson

7          Dennis Bermudez

8          Charles Oliveira+1

9          Nik Lentz-1

10       Clay Guida

11       Jeremy Stephens

12       Dennis Siver

13       Darren Elkins

14       Hacran Dias

15       Dustin Poirier

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Rafael dos Anjos

1          Anthony Pettis

2          Khabib Nurmagomedov

2          Donald Cerrone+1

4          Gilbert Melendez

5          Michael Johnson

6          Benson Henderson-1

7          Edson Barboza

8          Myles Jury

9          Eddie Alvarez+1

10       Josh Thomson-1

11       Bobby Green

12       Tony Ferguson

13       Al Iaquinta

14       Beneil Dariush

15       Jorge Masvidal

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Robbie Lawler

1          Johny Hendricks

2          Rory MacDonald

3          Tyron Woodley

4          Carlos Condit

5          Matt Brown

6          Demian Maia

7          Dong Hyun Kim+1

8          Tarec Saffiedine-1

9          Jake Ellenberger

10       Kelvin Gastelum

11       Rick Story

12       Thiago Alves

13       Neil Magny

14       Gunnar Nelson

15       Ryan LaFlare

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Chris Weidman

1         Luke Rockhold

2         Jacare Souza

3         Lyoto Machida+1

4         Vitor Belfort-1

5         Anderson Silva

6         Yoel Romero

7         Gegard Mousasi

8         Tim Kennedy

9         Michael Bisping

10       Thales Leites

11       CB Dollaway

12       Costas Philippou

13       Tim Boetsch

14       Robert Whittaker

15       Roan Carneiro

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Daniel Cormier

1          Anthony Johnson

2          Alexander Gustafsson

3          Ryan Bader+2

4          Rashad Evans

5          Glover Teixeira+1

6          Ovince Saint Preux+1

7          Jimi Manuwa+1

8          Mauricio Rua+1

9          Rafael Cavalcante+2

10        Rampage Jackson+2

11        Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

12        Jan Blachowicz+3

13        Patrick Cummins+1

14        Fabio Maldonado-1

15        Gian Villante *NR

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Cain Velasquez

1          Fabricio Werdum (Interim Champion)

2          Junior Dos Santos

3          Stipe Miocic+1

4          Andrei Arlovski+4

5          Travis Browne-2

6          Josh Barnett-1

7          Mark Hunt-1

8          Alistair Overeem-1

9          Frank Mir+1

10        Ben Rothwell-1

11        Roy Nelson

12        Matt Mitrione

13        Antonio Silva

14        Stefan Struve

15        Alexey Oliynyk *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

1          Carla Esparza

2          Claudia Gadelha

3          Jessica Penne

4          Rose Namajunas

5          Tecia Torres

6          Randa Markos

7          Maryna Moroz+1

8          Paige VanZant-1

9          Joanne Calderwood

10        Felice Herrig

11        Aisling Daly

12        Heather Clark

13        Juliana Lima

14        Valerie Letourneau

15        Angela Hill

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Ronda Rousey

1          Cat Zingano

2          Miesha Tate

3          Alexis Davis

4          Sara McMann

5          Jessica Eye

6          Sarah Kaufman

7          Bethe Correia

8          Amanda Nunes

9          Liz Carmouche

10        Holly Holm

11        Marion Reneau

12        Julianna Pena

13        Jessica Andrade

14        Germaine de Randamie

15        Raquel Pennington

Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports