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
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
8 Myles Jury
9 Eddie Alvarez+1
10 Josh Thomson-1
11 Bobby Green
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Al Iaquinta
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
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
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
