UFC Rankings Update: Junior Dos Santos Moves Up After ‘Big Ben’ Win
As expected there was a decent amount of shakeup in the official UFC rankings following last Sunday’s (April 10, 2016 UFC Fight Night 86 from the Zagreb Arena in Zagreb, Croatia, and the biggest shift was former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos’ move back up the rankings for his dominantly one-sided win over previously rising Ben Rothwell.
For his much-needed statement win, dos Santos moved up from No. 5 to No. 4 in the 265-pound rankings. Andrei Arlovski moved up to No. 5 as a result, and ‘Big’ Ben dropped to No. 6 for his first loss in his last five fights.
Also at heavyweight, monstrous power slugger Derrick Lewis cracked the Top 15 at No. 13 for his first round knockout win over veteran Gabriel Gonzaga. Former champion Frank Mir was also flagged for a potential USADA violation, and it may have played a part in his move down one spot to No. 11, allowing Roy Nelson to claim the No. 10 spot.
In the lighter weight classes, there was somehow a decent number of surprising shifts even though no specific fights caused them to happen in any way. For example, Renan Barao rose two spots in the bantamweight ranks to No. 2 despite the fact that he will move up to featherweight to battle Jeremy Stephens on May 29, moving title contender Urijah Faber and Raphael Assuncao down a spot.
In a similar move, Donald Cerrone rose 3 spots in in the lightweight ranks to No. 6 despite the fact that he will face Patrick Cote at welterweight in the co-main event of the UFC’s Ottawa debut on June 18.
Women’s bantamweight saw a sizeable shakeup for a different reason, as former No. 10-ranked Sarah Kaufman’s removal from the rankings due to her not having a contract caused Valentina Shevchenko, Raquel Pennington, Germaine de Randamie, Lauren Murphy, and Marion Reneau to move up a spot each, while Ashlee Evans-Smith debuted at No. 15 as a result.
Check out the full updated official rankings via the UFC’s website here:
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jon Jones
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Fabricio Werdum
5 Dominick Cruz
6 Rafael Dos Anjos
7 Robbie Lawler
8 Conor McGregor
9 Daniel Cormier
10 Jose Aldo
11 Chris Weidman
12 Frankie Edgar
13 TJ Dillashaw
14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
15 Miesha Tate
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 John Dodson
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Ian McCall
6 Kyoji Horiguchi
7 John Moraga
8 Zach Makovsky
9 Wilson Reis
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Ali Bagautinov
12 Justin Scoggins
13 Louis Smolka
14 Ray Borg
15 Sergio Pettis
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Renan Barao +2
3 Urijah Faber -1
4 Raphael Assuncao -1
5 Aljamain Sterling -1
6 Michael McDonald
7 Thomas Almeida
8 Bryan Caraway
9 Takeya Mizugaki
10 Johnny Eduardo
11 Frankie Saenz +2
12 John Lineker
13 Jimmie Rivera -2
14 Eddie Wineland
15 Cody Garbrandt
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes
4 Max Holloway
5 Ricardo Lamas
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Dennis Bermudez
9 Jeremy Stephens
10 Hacran Dias
11 Darren Elkins
12 Brian Ortega
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Clay Guida +1
15 Mirsad Bektic *NR
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael Dos Anjos
1 Eddie Alvarez
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Anthony Pettis
4 Tony Ferguson
5 Nate Diaz
6 Donald Cerrone +3
7 Michael Johnson -1
7 Beneil Dariush
9 Edson Barboza -1
10 Dustin Poirier
11 Al Iaquinta
12 Bobby Green
13 Evan Dunham
14 Michael Chiesa
15 Rashid Magomedov
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Robbie Lawler
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Carlos Condit
5 Johny Hendricks
6 Demian Maia
7 Neil Magny
8 Matt Brown
9 Dong Hyun Kim
10 Tarec Saffiedine
11 Rick Story
12 Kelvin Gastelum
13 Albert Tumenov
14 Hector Lombard
15 Thiago Alves
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Luke Rockhold
1 Chris Weidman
2 Jacare Souza
3 Vitor Belfort
4 Michael Bisping
5 Lyoto Machida
6 Anderson Silva
7 Robert Whittaker
8 Gegard Mousasi
9 Tim Kennedy
10 Uriah Hall
11 Derek Brunson
12 Thales Leites
13 Rafael Natal
14 Dan Henderson
15 CB Dollaway
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Jon Jones
2 Anthony Johnson
3 Alexander Gustafsson
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Ryan Bader
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Rashad Evans
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Jimi Manuwa
10 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Corey Anderson
13 Ilir Latifi
14 Nikita Krylov
15 Gian Villante
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Stipe Miocic
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Junior Dos Santos +1
5 Andrei Arlovski +1
6 Ben Rothwell -2
7 Travis Browne
8 Mark Hunt
9 Josh Barnett
10 Roy Nelson +1
11 Frank Mir -1
12 Antonio Silva
13 Derrick Lewis *NR
14 Ruslan Magomedov -1
15 Alexey Oliynyk -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Carla Esparza
3 Rose Namajunas
4 Tecia Torres
5 Jessica Penne
6 Valerie Letourneau
7 Paige VanZant
8 Maryna Moroz +1
9 Michelle Waterson -1
10 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
11 Joanne Calderwood
12 Randa Markos
13 Jessica Aguilar
14 Juliana Lima
15 Justine Kish
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Miesha Tate
1 Holly Holm
2 Ronda Rousey
3 Cat Zingano
4 Amanda Nunes
5 Julianna Pena
6 Sara McMann
7 Jessica Eye
8 Bethe Correia
9 Liz Carmouche
10 Valentina Shevchenko +1
11 Raquel Pennington +1
12 Germaine de Randamie +1
13 Lauren Murphy +1
14 Marion Reneau +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR
