MMA rankings: Holly Holm’s grave miscalculation costs her

Heavyweight

1. Fabricio Werdum
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Ben Rothwell
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Junior Dos Santos
7. Andrei Arlovski
8. Travis Browne
9. Vitaly Minakov
10. Josh Barnett

There’s plenty of significant heavyweight action coming over the next couple months. April 10, #4 Ben Rothwell will look to continue his momentum and potentially earn a title shot when he takes on #6 Junior Dos Santos in a main event in Zagreb, Croatia. May 8, it will be #5 Alistair Overeem and #7 Andrei Arlovski competing in Rotterdam, Netherlands in a battle of two of the heavyweight division’s most well-known all-time competitors. Then on May 14, UFC champion Fabricio Werdum will defend his title against #3 Stipe Miocic. The winner will have plenty of future challengers to consider.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Anthony Johnson
4. Alexander Gustafsson
5. Ryan Bader
6. Phil Davis
7. Glover Teixeira
8. Rashad Evans
9. Liam McGeary
10. Ovince St. Preux

Jon Jones will finally have the opportunity to regain the UFC light heavyweight title from

Daniel Cormier at UFC 197 in April. Jones was stripped of the title following a hit-and-run incident but has a previous win over Cormier and is the favorite over the champion in the rematch.

Middleweight

1. Luke Rockhold
2. Chris Weidman
3. Yoel Romero
4. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
5. Michael Bisping
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Anderson Silva
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Vitor Belfort
10. Tim Kennedy

Michael Bisping scored the crowning achievement of his career, winning a tough decision over the legendary Anderson Silva in his native England. Bisping is now a top contender for the UFC middleweight championship. The problem for Bisping is the champion is Luke Rockhold and Rockhold holds a one-sided victory over Bisping. Gegard Mousasi also picked up a solid win, a decision over Thales Leites. Mousasi showed some uncharacteristic personality after the fight, grumpy with fans and a perceived lack of respect.

Welterweight

1. Robbie Lawler
2. Carlos Condit
3. Rory MacDonald
4. Tyron Woodley
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Demian Maia
7. Ben Askren
8. Johny Hendricks
9. Dong Hyun Kim
10. Matt Brown

Hector Lombard fell out of the welterweight rankings with a loss to Neil Magny. Lombard as usual was extremely dangerous early and nearly finished Magny in the first round, but he ran out of gas and Magny eventually scored a TKO over the exhausted Lombard.

Lightweight

1. Rafael Dos Anjos
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Tony Ferguson
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Anthony Pettis
6. Donald Cerrone
7. Gilbert Melendez
8. Will Brooks
9. Nate Diaz

10. Beneil Dariush

Nate Diaz scored the showcase win of his career, submitting featherweight champion Conor McGregor in a welterweight bout. McGregor was getting the best of the exchanges early but Diaz turned the tide in the middle of the second round, battering McGregor and setting up the desperation takedown that led to the submission. Now it looks like Diaz will get a second massive payday in a rematch with McGregor at UFC 200.

Featherweight

1. Conor McGregor
2. Jose Aldo
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Max Holloway
5. Chad Mendes
6. Ricardo Lamas
7. Cub Swanson
8. Daniel Straus
9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
10. Charles Oliveira

McGregor suffered a humbling defeat moving up in weight against Nate Diaz, but he handled the loss well. By addressing the fans and media straight on and accepting his loss in a respectful manner, he went a long way in presenting the sort of massive backlash that might be expected following all the trash he talked on his way to the top.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Renan Barao
4. Urijah Faber
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Bibiano Fernandes
7. Michael McDonald
8. Marlon Moraes
9. Thomas Almeida
10. Aljamain Sterling

In a disappointing decision, UFC announced that Urijah Faber will be the next challenger for champion Dominick Cruz rather than T.J. Dillashaw. Dillashaw gave Cruz all he could handle in an extremely competitive fight while the popular Faber appears to be a declining fighter at 36 and has lost six straight title fights. In more positive news, UFC announced a May show will be headlined by a showdown between undefeated prospects Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt. The winner will move into the top mix at 135 pounds.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Miesha Tate
2. Holly Holm
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Cat Zingano
5. Amanda Nunes
6. Alexis Davis
7. Sara McMann
8. Julianna Pena
9. Jessica Eye
10. Valentina Shevchenko

After her shocking upset of Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm did not want to wait to get back into the Octagon. She lobbied for a quick return to defend the UFC women’s bantamweight title and she got it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a grave miscalculation. Miesha Tate choked out Holm in the fifth round of their fight to capture Holm’s title and now it is Tate in line for the massive money that will come with being Rousey’s return opponent. In other action, Amanda Nunes won her third fight in a row over Valentina Shevchenko to establish herself as a top championship contender.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. Henry Cejudo
5. Jussier Formiga

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2. Claudia Gadelha
3. Jessica Aguilar
4. Carla Esparza
5. Karolina Kowalkiewicz