Official UFC rankings

[steelcityroller]

The UFC is in a strange spot right now

Chael Sonnen is getting a title shot after losing his last fight

Nick Diaz is getting a title shot after losing his last fight

Frankie Edgar is getting a title shot after losing his last two fights

They have a Flyweight division that only has about a dozen fighters

They have a women's division that is looking like it may consist of Ronda Rousey vs whomever they sign for her to fight for that event

[seahawks509]

The UFC is in a strange spot right now

Chael Sonnen is getting a title shot after losing his last fight

Nick Diaz is getting a title shot after losing his last fight

Frankie Edgar is getting a title shot after losing his last two fights

They have a Flyweight division that only has about a dozen fighters

They have a women's division that is looking like it may consist of Ronda Rousey vs whomever they sign for her to fight for that event

They are growing, which is good. But I am not a huge fan of these guys getting title fights after losing. They want to market off of these "great fights". It almost seems as if you can't win at one weight class they reward you with a title fight in another weight class. What I get kinda upset about is how they are marketing Edgar-Aldo as a superfight. IMO the only superfights are GSP-Silva, Mayweather-Pacquiao, and maybe Silva-Jones.

My knock on Jones is that his resume isn't anywhere close to GSP or Silva. I have trouble calling that a superfight. Sure he has great potential and could someday be there, he's just not there yet....YET. I also think Rory McDonald could soon take over GSP's spot and be the next Jones.

[TopsyTurvy]

The UFC is finally getting talent that can change divisions and succeed. I have no problem with fighters moving around to find their niche and the UFC is crazy if they don't take the fighters they have and market them properly/use them to sell events. Yes it muddies the waters a bit, but it's all for the betterment of the sport.

As for the OT, this is the UFC throwing trusted media and true advocates of the sport a bone by essentially having Dana come out and say "you guys write the words that fans love. We'll give you a vote in a rankings system, and then when it comes time to make fights - Joe Silva and myself MAY take them into consideration." It makes the sport easier to consume for casual fans who may not know why Phil Davis is better/worse than Glover Teixeira, etc. It's really a no-brainer type of move.

[McFlurry]

My knock on Jones is that his resume isn't anywhere close to GSP or Silva. I have trouble calling that a superfight. Sure he has great potential and could someday be there, he's just not there yet....YET. I also think Rory McDonald could soon take over GSP's spot and be the next Jones.

How is his not at least as impressive? Hes 11-1 in the UFC in just over 4 years. Has defended his title 4 times, all in one year, and his only loss was a DQ? Anderson Silva and GSP are amazing but IMO Jones competition is superior. His resume is not as lengthy at this point so I can see Silva and GSP ranked ahead of him, but that will change soon if Jones keeps it up.

[seahawks509]

How is his not at least as impressive? Hes 11-1 in the UFC in just over 4 years. Has defended his title 4 times, all in one year, and his only loss was a DQ? Anderson Silva and GSP are amazing but IMO Jones competition is superior. His resume is not as lengthy at this point so I can see Silva and GSP ranked ahead of him, but that will change soon if Jones keeps it up.

Its amazing but nothing compared to Silva-GSP. It will change, but just isn't yet

[steelcityroller]

These were supposed to roll out today right?

[Knockturnal]

The rankings are out:

Pound-for-Pound

1 Anderson Silva
2 Jon Jones
3 Georges St-Pierre
4 Jose Aldo
5 Benson Henderson
6 Cain Velasquez
7 Dominick Cruz
8 Demetrious Johnson
9 Frankie Edgar
10 Dan Henderson

Flyweight

Champion : Demetrious Johnson

1 Joseph Benavidez
2 John Dodson
3 Ian McCall
4 John Moraga
5 Jussier Da Silva
6 Louis Gaudinot
7 Chris Cariaso
8 John Lineker
9 Darren Uyenoyama
10 Ulysses Gomez

Bantamweight

Champion : Dominick Cruz

1 Renan Barao (Interim Champion)
2 Michael McDonald
3 Urijah Faber
4 Eddie Wineland
5 Brad Pickett
6 Brian Bowles
7 Rafael Assuncao
8 Scott Jorgensen
9 Mike Easton
10 Ivan Menjivar

Featherweight

Champion : Jose Aldo

1 Chad Mendes
2 Ricardo Lamas
3 Chan Sung Jung
4 Frankie Edgar
5 Dennis Siver
6 Cub Swanson
7 Dustin Poirier
8 Nik Lentz
9 Erik Koch
10 Clay Guida

Lightweight

Champion : Benson Henderson

1 Gilbert Melendez
2 Anthony Pettis
3 Gray Maynard
4 Nate Diaz
5 Jim Miller
6 Donald Cerrone
7 TJ Grant
8 Rafael dos Anjos
9 Joe Lauzon
10 Khabib Nurmagomedov

Welterweight

Champion : Georges St-Pierre

1 Johny Hendricks
2 Carlos Condit
3 Nick Diaz
4 Rory MacDonald
5 Demian Maia
6 Jake Ellenberger
7 Martin Kampmann
8 Josh Koscheck
9 Jon Fitch
10 Tarec Saffiedine

Middleweight

Champion : Anderson Silva

1 Chris Weidman
2 Vitor Belfort
3 Michael Bisping
4 Yushin Okami
5 Mark Munoz
6 Constantinos Philippou
7 Luke Rockhold
8 Hector Lombard
9 Alan Belcher
10 Tim Boetsch

Light Heavyweight

Champion : Jon Jones

1 Dan Henderson
2 Lyoto Machida
3 Alexander Gustafsson
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
6 Rashad Evans
7 Mauricio Rua
8 Phil Davis
9 Ryan Bader
10 Gegard Mousasi

Heavyweight

Champion : Cain Velasquez

1 Junior dos Santos
2 Fabricio Werdum
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Antonio Silva
5 Frank Mir
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8 Roy Nelson
9 Stefan Struve
10 Shane Carwin

Panelist voting detail

[Knockturnal]

A few observations:

Right off the bat I noticed Sonnen is nowhere to be found which tells me, these rankings aren't being manipulated by the UFC like it was speculated.

Frankie at 9 (P4P) is a little low. I have him ahead of MM and Cruz.

Jones ahead of GSP (P4P) is interesting. I have GSP ahead of Jones based on longevity, but Jones streak has been so impressive you can make the argument he deserves that spot.

Shane Carwin shouldn't be in the HW rankings, but once Barnett signs, that should changed.

No Women's division?

Overall the rankings look legit.

[SLY WILLIAMS]

I think Cruz and Dan Henderson are too high but other than those I think the p4p are pretty good.

[zn23]

As far as HW's go, not bad.

As far as LHW's go, I'm a Rashad fan but he should be in that 9-10 spot after his performance against Lil Nog. Also Glover Teixeira no.4, are you kidding ?!?! He's good, but he should not be ranked over Shogun. Rashad should be below Shogun as well. I would go hard on Rashad for a loss to Lil Nog. This isn't 2005 Lil Nog we're talking about either.

MW:

Why is Weidman no.1? This is a hype rating. Just because he beat Mark Munoz. A guy who was ranked no.7, jumps up to no.1 with a win over Munoz.

Also Munoz is so overrated he should be in the bottom 9-10. What was his biggest win? A win over Maia, that a was a very close fight, where many thought he lost. If this guy ever fights Lombard he's getting knocked out. Bisping should be shot way down to the 6-7 range after that brutal knockout loss. Also no way should Boetsch be lower than Belcher.

WW rankings are well done.

LW pretty good.

FW: Frankie should automatically be at no.1 after his performance with Aldo. I know he's 0-1, but Mendes got man handled in his fight and he's ranked above Frankie and he's simply not as good.

BW: Pretty solid. Faber > McDonald though

Flyweight: Solid

P4P: Jones as no.2 is something I just don't agree with. Especially after what Jose Aldo's performance against Frankie. Jose Aldo has to be at no.1 or 2 at least. He's the only guy that has had a superfight. He's cleaned out his division, has been a champion for longer than Jon Jones. Jones is the bigger stronger man amongst senior citizens in the LHW division.

[Thumper 88]

I hope Lyoto gets a shot if he beats Hendo since hes #2

[Knockturnal]

I think Cruz and Dan Henderson are too high but other than those I think the p4p are pretty good.

I think Dan and Frankie should be higher. In my opinion, P4P is how a fighters skill would translate into different weight classes. Guys like AS, Hendo and Frankie have proven that their skills are good enough to win in multiple divisions.

As far as LHW's go, I'm a Rashad fan but he should be in that 9-10 spot after his performance against Lil Nog. Also Glover Teixeira no.4, are you kidding ?!?! He's good, but he should not be ranked over Shogun. Rashad should be below Shogun as well. I would go hard on Rashad for a loss to Lil Nog. This isn't 2005 Lil Nog we're talking about either.

Shogun is 2-2 since losing to Jones, while Glover is on 3 fight winning streak. #6 would be a better spot, but 7 isn't a crime. I know you're a huge Shogun fan, but like you said, it isn't 2005 anymore...

Why is Weidman no.1? This is a hype rating. Just because he beat Mark Munoz. A guy who was ranked no.7, jumps up to no.1 with a win over Munoz.

Also Munoz is so overrated he should be in the bottom 9-10. What was his biggest win? A win over Maia, that a was a very close fight, where many thought he lost. If this guy ever fights Lombard he's getting knocked out. Bisping should be shot way down to the 6-7 range after that brutal knockout loss. Also no way should Boetsch be lower than Belcher.

I'm pretty sure you weren't saying Munoz was overrated going into Weidman fight. If I remember correctly, you had Munoz beating Weidman easily. Who deserves the #1 spot if not Weidman?

Bisping just lost and is 1-2 in last 3.

Belcher got his *** handed to him by Okami.

Lombard is 1-1 in the UFC.

Boetsch lost to Costa.

Not that many options left, every contender lost. Weidman is the only one left standing.

FW: Frankie should automatically be at no.1 after his performance with Aldo. I know he's 0-1, but Mendes got man handled in his fight and he's ranked above Frankie and he's simply not as good.

He's 0-1 and just lost to the champ, #4 is more than a fair spot. The #1 spot should be for the next title contender and unless Frankie gets an immediate rematch, he doesn't deserve it.

P4P: Jones as no.2 is something I just don't agree with. Especially after what Jose Aldo's performance against Frankie. Jose Aldo has to be at no.1 or 2 at least. He's the only guy that has had a superfight. He's cleaned out his division, has been a champion for longer than Jon Jones. Jones is the bigger stronger man amongst senior citizens in the LHW division.

P4P is tricky, 2-4 could be interchangeable.

I hope Lyoto gets a shot if he beats Hendo since hes #2

A bit off topic, but look who Machida brought to get him ready for Hendo.

Link

[Thumper 88]

Yeah I seen that.. What do you think about it?

[zn23]

I picked Munoz to beat Weidman because I thought Weidman was more overrated than him. It was a lesser of two evils type of pick. I don't really think either are anything special. I think Weidman proved he's way better than Munoz. Munoz Is going to lose to every one of those guys he faces.

[steelcityroller]

A few observations:

Right off the bat I noticed Sonnen is nowhere to be found which tells me, these rankings aren't being manipulated by the UFC like it was speculated.

Frankie at 9 (P4P) is a little low. I have him ahead of MM and Cruz.

Jones ahead of GSP (P4P) is interesting. I have GSP ahead of Jones based on longevity, but Jones streak has been so impressive you can make the argument he deserves that spot.

Shane Carwin shouldn't be in the HW rankings, but once Barnett signs, that should changed.

No Women's division?

Overall the rankings look legit.

Hard to have a top 10 when you only have like 3 or 4 under contract..... I honestly can see the UFC only having a couple signed long-term and then just signing people to come in and fight for the title. It is the Ronda Rousey division more so than the Women's division.