UFC Rankings Shakeup: Matt Brown Leapfrogs Hector Lombard After Wild Weekend

It’s Monday, and the official UFC rankings have been updated following last Saturday night’s (May 10, 2014) UFC Fight Night 40 from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. With a ton of knockouts and big wins, some of the divisions got quite a shakeup today.

There wasn’t much going on in the pound-for-pound list, with Alexander Gustafsson moving up to No. 13, trading spots with scheduled lightweight title challenger Gilbert Melendez.

Starting at heavyweight, Soa Palelei found a spot on the Top 15. “The Hulk” came in at No. 15 following his first round knockout over former EFC Africa heavyweight champion Ruan Potts, his eleventh victory in a row.

Light heavyweight stayed roughly the same, with the only movement of note being Rafael Cavalcante moving up one spot to No. 12.

At middleweight, Costas Philippou, who was previously ranked at No. 12 following two losses, moved up two spots thanks to his impressive first round knockout of touted striker Lorenz Larkin. Also of note at 185 pounds, former 205-pound champion Lyoto Machida moved up to the No. 2 spot heading into his UFC 175 main event against champion Chris Weidman, unseating Vitor Belfort, who has yet to be cleared to fight in Las Vegas.

Welterweight obviously saw the latest of Matt Brown’s incredible seven-fight win streak, as “The Immortal” weathered a brutal early storm to come back and finish Erick Silva in the third. Brown traded spots with the man many feel he should fight next, former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard. Ranked at No. 14 heading into UFC Fight Night 40, Silva moved down to No. 15 for the loss.

Lightweight saw a ton of activity, as Donald Cerrone, Rafael dos Anjos, Jim Miller, Gray Maynard, Michael Johnson, and Jorge Masvidal all moved up one spot to land at the Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, & 14 spots, respectively. Myles Jury went up two spots to sit tied with Maynard at No. 8, while Rustam Khabilov did the most moving, shooting up three spots to No. 11 heading into his upcoming UFC Fight Night 42 bout with former champion and current No. 2-ranked Benson Henderson on June 7.

Featherweight saw some moving and shaking as well, with Chan Sung Jung, Clay Guida, and Dennis Bermudez all moving up one spot while Dustin Poirier, Dennis Siver, and Jeremy Stephens dropped a spot without fighting. Strange.

Bantamweight title challenger TJ Dillashaw, who will face off with surging champion Renan Barao in the main event of May 24’s UFC 73, moved up one spot to No. 4 at bantamweight. Eddie Wineland only dropped one spot to No. 5 after his devastating knockout loss to previously unranked Johnny Eduardo, who debuts on the list at No. 12.

UFC 174 flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov leapfrogged John Moraga, who will face John Dodson at UFC Fight Night 42, to land at the No. 4 spot, while Chris Cariaso moved up two slots to No. 8 following his impressive UFC Fight Night 40 decision win over previously undefeated prospect Louis Smolka. Kyoji Horiguchi also made his debut on the rankings after winning an impressive decision over Darrell Motague.

All told, it was quite the busy week. Check out the full rankings courtesy of UFC.com:

Pound-for-Pound?

1. Jon Jones?

2. Jose Aldo?

3. Renan Barao?

4. Cain Velasquez?

5. Demetrious Johnson?

6. Chris Weidman?

7. Anderson Silva?

8. Anthony Pettis?

9. Johny Hendricks?

10. Ronda Rousey?

11. Vitor Belfort?

12. Benson Henderson?

13. Alexander Gustafsson +1?

14. Gilbert Melendez -1?

15. Urijah Faber

Flyweight?

Champion: Demetrious Johnson?

1. John Dodson?

2. Joseph Benavidez?

3. Ian McCall?

4. Ali Bagautinov +1?

5. John Moraga -1?

6. Jussier Formiga?

7. John Lineker?

8. Chris Cariaso +2?

9. Zach Makovsky ?

10. Tim Elliot -2?

11. Brad Pickett?

12. Louis Gaudinot?

13. Dustin Ortiz?

14. Kyoji Horiguchi *NR?

15. Scott Jorgensen -1

Bantamweight?

Champion: Renan Barao?

1. Urijah Faber?

2. Raphael Assuncao?

3. Michael McDonald?

4. TJ Dillashaw +1?

5. Eddie Wineland -1?

6. Takeya Mizugaki?

7. Iuri Alcantara?

8. Mike Easton?

9. Dominick Cruz?

10. Francisco Rivera +1?

11. Erik Perez -1?

12. Johnny Eduardo *NR?

13. Alex Caceres -1?

14. Bryan Caraway -1?

15. Wilson Reis -1

Featherweight?

Champion: Jose Aldo?

1. Chad Mendes?

2. Frankie Edgar?

3. Ricardo Lamas?

4. Cub Swanson?

5. Chan Sung Jung +1?

6. Dustin Poirier -1?

7. Clay Guida +1?

8. Dennis Siver -1?

9. Nik Lentz?

10. Dennis Bermudez +1?

11. Jeremy Stephens -1?

12. Darren Elkins?

13. Conor McGregor?

14. Tatsuya Kawajiri?

15. Erik Koch

Lightweight?

Champion: Anthony Pettis?

1. Gilbert Melendez ?

2. Benson Henderson ?

3. Josh Thomson ?

4. Khabib Nurmagomedov ?

5. Donald Cerrone +1?

6. Rafael dos Anjos +1?

7. Jim Miller +1?

8. Myles Jury +2?

8. Gray Maynard +1?

10. Michael Johnson +1?

11. Rustam Khabilov +3?

12. Edson Barboza ?

13. Bobby Green ?

14. Jorge Masvidal +1?

15. Joe Lauzon *NR

Welterweight?

Champion: Johny Hendricks?

1. Robbie Lawler

2. Rory MacDonald?

3. Tyron Woodley?

4. Carlos Condit?

5. Jake Ellenberger?

6. Matt Brown +1?

7. Hector Lombard -1

8. Demian Maia?

9. Dong Hyun Kim?

10. Tarec Saffiedine?

11. Kelvin Gastelum?

12. Mike Pyle?

13. Gunnar Nelson?

14. Ryan LaFlare +1?

15. Erick Silva -1

Middleweight?

Champion: Chris Weidman?

1. Anderson Silva?

2. Lyoto Machida +1?

3. Vitor Belfort -1?

4. Ronaldo Souza?

5. Luke Rockhold?

6. Tim Kennedy?

7. Mark Munoz?

8. Michael Bisping?

9. Francis Carmont?

10. Costas Philippou +2?

11. Gegard Mousasi -1?

12. Yoel Romero -1?

13. Tim Boetsch?

14. Thales Leites?

15. Brad Tavares

Light Heavyweight?

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Alexander Gustafsson ?

2. Rashad Evans?

3. Glover Teixeira?

4. Daniel Cormier?

5. Anthony Johnson?

6. Dan Henderson ?

7. Phil Davis?

8. Mauricio Rua ?

9. Chael Sonnen ?

10. Ryan Bader?

11. Jimi Manuwa?

12. Rafael Cavalcante +1?

13. Vitor Belfort -1?

14. Ovince Saint Preux?

15. James Te Huna

Heavyweight?

Champion: Cain Velasquez?

1. Fabricio Werdum ?

2. Junior dos Santos ?

3. Travis Browne?

4. Antonio Silva?

5. Josh Barnett?

6. Alistair Overeem?

7. Stipe Miocic?

8. Mark Hunt?

9. Roy Nelson?

10. Frank Mir

11. Gabriel Gonzaga?

12. Stefan Struve?

13. Brendan Schaub +1?

14. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -1?

15. Soa Palelei *NR

Women’s Bantamweight?

Champion: Ronda Rousey?

1. Cat Zingano?

2. Alexis Davis?

3. Miesha Tate?

4. Sara McMann?

5. Sarah Kaufman?

6. Jessica Eye?

7. Liz Carmouche?

8. Amanda Nunes?

9. Jessica Andrade?

10. Bethe Correia?

11. Julianna Pena?

11. Germaine de Randamie?

13. Raquel Pennington?

14. Jessamyn Duke?

15. Jessica Rakoczy

Photo: Joseph Malorana for USA TODAY Sports