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MMA Rankings: What’s next for Conor McGregor?

Conor McGregor reacts after defeating Nate Diaz on Aug. 20.
(Isaac Brekken / Associated Press)
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The Times’ MMA rankings for August:

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Alistair Overeem

3. Fabricio Werdum

4. Cain Velasquez

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Ben Rothwell

7. Andrei Arlovski

8. Vitaly Minakov

9. Travis Browne

10. Derrick Lewis

Stipe Miocic will defend the UFC heavyweight title against Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 in Cleveland September 10. The heavyweight title has been changing hands often, as have many MMA titles in the past couple years, and Miocic will seek to add some stability to the division against the dangerous striker Overeem.

Light Heavyweight

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1. Jon Jones

2. Daniel Cormier

3. Anthony Johnson

4. Phil Davis

5. Alexander Gustafsson

6. Glover Teixeira

7. Ryan Bader

8. Liam McGeary

9. Ovince St. Preux

10. Nikita Krylov

Anthony Johnson showcased his scary power again at UFC 202, knocking out Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds. It was Teixeira’s first knockout loss in 14 years. He will now likely receive a rematch against UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Nikita Krylov cracks the top 10 after his fifth straight stoppage win in the UFC. It’s as much a statement about the light heavyweight division as anything, as Krylov wouldn’t be in the top 10 in just about any other division.

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping

2. Luke Rockhold

3. Chris Weidman

4. Yoel Romero

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Lyoto Machida

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Robert Whittaker

9. Vitor Belfort

10. Thales Leites

Michael Bisping will defend his UFC middleweight title for the first time improbably against Dan Henderson. Henderson doesn’t merit a title shot based on his recent performance in the sport (he has lost six of his last nine fights), but it makes for a nice story with Bisping looking for revenge of his famous knockout loss to Henderson at UFC 100 and Henderson looking to win the title at age 45. Thales Leites cracks the top 10 with a submission win over Chris Camozzi.

Welterweight

1. Tyron Woodley

2. Stephen Thompson

3. Robbie Lawler

4. Rory MacDonald

5. Carlos Condit

6. Demian Maia

7. Ben Askren

8. Dong Hyun Kim

9. Andrey Koreshkov

10. Donald Cerrone

Tyron Woodley upset Robbie Lawler to capture the UFC welterweight title at UFC 201. Without a single defense, Woodley immediately began making demands, wanting a fight with a superstar like Georges St. Pierre or Nick Diaz rather than defending his title against top contender Stephen Thompson. It was a bad look for the new champion, but UFC has created the situation by inexplicably going out of its way to encourage fighters to be their own matchmakers. Donald Cerrone makes it into the welterweight rankings after a long tenure as a top lightweight. He has won all three of his welterweight fights impressively but still has expressed interest in challenging Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title.

Lightweight

1. Eddie Alvarez

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Rafael Dos Anjos

4. Tony Ferguson

5. Edson Barboza

6. Will Brooks

7. Nate Diaz

8. Anthony Pettis

9. Dustin Poirier

10. Justin Gaethje

Edson Barboza scored the biggest lightweight win of the month, taking a unanimous decision over Gilbert Melendez. Melendez has dropped three straight and no longer appears to be an elite fighter.

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Featherweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Jose Aldo

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Max Holloway

5. Ricardo Lamas

6. Cub Swanson

7. Daniel Straus

8. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

9. Charles Oliveira

10. Dennis Bermudez

Conor McGregor successfully avenged his loss to Nate Diaz via majority decision in the incredibly dramatic UFC 202 main event. McGregor had the advantage early but clearly tired and Diaz took over in the middle of the fight. Somehow, McGregor was able to summon up enough energy to win the 4th round, netting him the decision. Now the pressure will be on McGregor to move back to featherweight to defend his title, if he can still make the weight. Chad Mendes falls out of the rankings after receiving a two year suspension for failing a PED test. That opens up a spot for Dennis Bermudez, who took a unanimous decision over Rony Jason in Salt Lake City.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. T.J. Dillashaw

3. Bibiano Fernandes

4. Marlon Moraes

5. Cody Garbrandt

6. Raphael Assuncao

7. John Lineker

8. Urijah Faber

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Thomas Almeida

Cody Garbrandt is quickly rising up the ranks at bantamweight, as he followed up an impressive knockout of formerly undefeated prospect Thomas Almeida with a quick knockout of respected veteran Takeya Mizugaki. He could find himself challenging for the UFC bantamweight title soon. Marlon Moraes was impressive yet again in WSOF, knocking out Josh Hill to retain his WSOF bantamweight title.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Ronda Rousey

3. Miesha Tate

4. Valentina Shevchenko

5. Holly Holm

6. Julianna Pena

7. Cat Zingano

8. Alexis Davis

9. Sara McMann

10. Tonya Evinger

The chaos in the women’s bantamweight division continued, with Valentina Shevchenko scoring an upset decision victory on Fox over Holly Holm. The stars of the division have all suffered major losses, with lesser known fighters rising into the top mix. Next up for the title could be Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena, something that would have seemed impossible just months ago.

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Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Jussier Formiga

5. Kyoji Horiguchi

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

2. Claudia Gadelha

3. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

4. Jessica Aguilar

5. Carla Esparza

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