UFC Rankings Update: Two Cards Provide Surprisingly Little Shakeup
Despite the fact that there were two UFC events this last week, the official rankings didn’t reflect that in a big way when they were updated today.
Starting with the pound-for-pound list, heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum broke out of his tie with bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw at No. 5, sending ‘The Viper’ down to No. 6 heading into his pivotal rematch with Renan Barao at this weekend’s (Sat., July 25, 2015) UFC on FOX 16 from Chicago, Illinois. Welterweight champ Robbie Lawler rose to No. 7, sending injured lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos own to No. 8.
Continuing their strange swap back-and-forth in the rankings, former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis once again rose two spots to No. 11 while former middleweight champion Anderson Silva dropped two spots to No. 13 despite neither of them fighting nor even having a fight lined up. I’m sure ‘The Spider’ will be back at No. 11 next week.
At lightweight, rising star Tony Ferguson swapped places with Josh Thomson, moving up to No. 9 while sending ‘Punk’ down to No. 11 after defeating him in in a brutal co-main event war at last Wednesday’s (July 15, 2015) UFC Fight Night 71 from San Diego.
Neil Magny continued his rise up the welterweight rankings, moving two spots up to No. 12 by forcing Jake Ellenberger and Thiago Alves down a spot, respectively.
In the women’s strawweight division, former Invicta standout Michelle Waterson rose two spots to No 10 following her dominant third round submission win over Angela Magana at UFC Fight Night 71. At women’s bantamweight, touted prospect Holly Holm moved up one spot to No. 9 for her dominant-yet-cautious unanimous decision win over Marion Reneau at UFC Fight Night 71.
Here the fully updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com:
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jose Aldo
2 Chris Weidman
3 Demetrious Johnson
4 Ronda Rousey
5 Fabricio Werdum
6 TJ Dillashaw -1
7 Robbie Lawler +1
8 Rafael dos Anjos -1
9 Cain Velasquez
10 Daniel Cormier
11 Anthony Pettis +2
12 Renan Barao
13 Anderson Silva -2
14 Conor McGregor
15 Frankie Edgar
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 John Dodson
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Jussier Formiga
4 Ian McCall
5 Henry Cejudo
6 John Moraga
7 Kyoji Horiguchi +1
8 John Lineker -1
9 Zach Makovsky
10 Chris Cariaso
11 Dustin Ortiz
12 Wilson Reis
13 Chico Camus
14 Ray Borg
15 Justin Scoggins
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Renan Barao
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Urijah Faber
5 Michael McDonald
6 Eddie Wineland
7 Aljamain Sterling
8 Takeya Mizugaki
9 Johnny Eduardo
10 Francisco Rivera +1
11 Thomas Almeida -1
12 Bryan Caraway
13 Iuri Alcantara
14 Frankie Saenz
15 Erik Perez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Jose Aldo
1 Conor McGregor (Interim Champion)
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes
4 Ricardo Lamas
5 Max Holloway
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Dennis Bermudez
10 Nik Lentz
11 Clay Guida
12 Hacran Dias
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Darren Elkins
15 Dennis Siver
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael dos Anjos
1 Anthony Pettis
2 Donald Cerrone
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Michael Johnson
6 Benson Henderson
7 Edson Barboza
8 Myles Jury
9 Tony Ferguson +2
10 Bobby Green
11 Josh Thomson -2
12 Al Iaquinta
13 Beneil Dariush
14 Nate Diaz
15 Dustin Poirier
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
8 Tarec Saffiedine
9 Stephen Thompson
10 Rick Story
11 Gunnar Nelson
12 Neil Magny +2
13 Jake Ellenberger -1
14 Thiago Alves -1
15 Ryan LaFlare *NR
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Chris Weidman
1 Luke Rockhold
2 Jacare Souza
3 Yoel Romero
4 Vitor Belfort
5 Lyoto Machida
6 Anderson Silva
7 Gegard Mousasi
8 Tim Kennedy
9 Michael Bisping
10 Thales Leites
11 CB Dollaway
12 Dan Henderson
13 Robert Whittaker
14 Roan Carneiro
15 Derek Brunson
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Anthony Johnson
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Ryan Bader
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Rashad Evans
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Jimi Manuwa
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Rampage Jackson
10 Rafael Cavalcante
11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
12 Jan Blachowicz
13 Fabio Maldonado
14 Patrick Cummins
15 Gian Villante
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Junior Dos Santos
3 Stipe Miocic
4 Andrei Arlovski
5 Travis Browne
6 Josh Barnett
7 Ben Rothwell
8 Mark Hunt
9 Alistair Overeem
10 Frank Mir
11 Roy Nelson
12 Antonio Silva
13 Matt Mitrione
14 Alexey Oliynyk
15 Stefan Struve
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Carla Esparza
2 Claudia Gadelha
3 Jessica Penne
4 Rose Namajunas -1
5 Tecia Torres
6 Randa Markos
7 Maryna Moroz
8 Paige VanZant
9 Joanne Calderwood
10 Michelle Waterson +2
11 Felice Herrig -1
12 Juliana Lima -1
13 Aisling Daly
14 Heather Clark
15 Valerie Letourneau
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 Holly Holm +1
10 Liz Carmouche -1
11 Marion Reneau
12 Julianna Pena
13 Jessica Andrade
14 Germaine de Randamie
15 Lauren Murphy