Stipe Miocic is still the top heavyweight, but for how long?

The Times’ MMA rankings for April, as compiled by Todd Martin:

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Cain Velasquez

4. Alistair Overeem

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Derrick Lewis

7. Ben Rothwell

8. Vitaly Minakov

9. Francis Ngannou

10. Travis Browne

The UFC heavyweight title will be on the line on May 13 in Dallas when Stipe Miocic defends against Junior Dos Santos. Dos Santos defeated Miocic in a highly competitive bout in 2014. The heavyweight division is dominated by an older crop of competitors than most of the lighter divisions in the sport. One exception is Alexander Volkov, the 28-year-old Russian who won his second straight UFC fight against Roy Nelson on Fox.

Light Heavyweight

1. Daniel Cormier

2. Phil Davis

3. Alexander Gustafsson

4. Glover Teixeira

5. Ryan Bader

6. Jimi Manuwa

7. Liam McGeary

8. Misha Cirkunov

9. Ovince St. Preux

10. Mauricio Rua

The struggling light-heavyweight division suffered another blow when Anthony “Rumble” Johnson announced his retirement following a title defeat to Daniel Cormier. Johnson approached the fight with a baffling strategy, instigating a clinch game with the master in Cormier. Luckily, things should pick up with the return of all-time great Jon Jones. Ovince St. Preux returns to the top 10 with a solid submission win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping

2. Yoel Romero

3. Luke Rockhold

4. Gegard Mousasi

5. Robert Whittaker

6. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

7. Chris Weidman

8. Kelvin Gastelum

9. Krzysztof Jotko

10. David Branch

It was an eventful month in the stacked middleweight division with a pair of fighters entering into the title mix. Gegard Mousasi picked up one of the most high profile wins of his career, a controversial TKO over former champion Chris Weidman. Robert Whittaker then scored an upset rout of top contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Whittaker’s speed was just too much for Souza. Mousasi, Whittaker and Yoel Romero all deserve a title shot at Michael Bisping but will likely have to wait for Bisping’s showdown with the great Georges St. Pierre.

Welterweight

1. Tyron Woodley

2. Demian Maia

3. Robbie Lawler

4. Stephen Thompson

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Ben Askren

7. Carlos Condit

8. Dong Hyun Kim

9. Neil Magny

10. Jorge Masvidal

One of the biggest upcoming welterweight bouts will take place in Bellator May 19 in London, as Rory MacDonald makes his Bellator debut against knockout artist Paul Daley. MacDonald is seeking to reestablish himself as one of the best fighters in the world at 170 pounds. Demian Maia has a challenge on his hands as well at UFC 211 when he takes on the surging Jorge Masvidal. It’s a compelling style matchup as Maia looks for a long awaited UFC welterweight title shot.

Lightweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Tony Ferguson

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Rafael Dos Anjos

6. Edson Barboza

7. Nate Diaz

8. Justin Gaethje

9. Michael Chiesa

10. Beneil Dariush

The depth of the lightweight division was evident again this month with a trio of impressive performances from fighters not even in the top 10. Charles Oliveira showcased his dangerous ground game with a quick submission over former Bellator champion Will Brooks, the first submission loss of Brooks’ career. Rashid Magomedov improved to 20-2 via decision over the underrated Bobby Green, his fifth win in six UFC fights. Meanwhile, Al Iaquinta made a triumphant return to the UFC, destroying Diego Sanchez with punches in less than two minutes for his fifth straight win. That none of these fighters can crack the top 10 speaks to the division’s depth.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Max Holloway

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Cub Swanson

5. Ricardo Lamas

6. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

7. Daniel Straus

8. Anthony Pettis

9. Doo Ho Choi

10. Chan Sung Jung

Cub Swanson made it hard on himself against Artem Lobov, mostly contesting the fight on the feet where Lobov is most dangerous. Still, Swanson consistently got the best of the exchanges and took an easy unanimous decision victory. Jeremy Stephens falls out of the top 10 after a split decision loss to Renato Moicano. Myles Jury was impressive in his return to action against Mike De La Torre and could crack the top 10 with similar performances in the near future.

Bantamweight

1. Cody Garbrandt

2. Dominick Cruz

3. T.J. Dillashaw

4. Marlon Moraes

5. Raphael Assuncao

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. John Lineker

8. Eduardo Dantas

9. Jimmie Rivera

10. Thomas Almeida

John Dodson and Aljamain Sterling are looking to break into the top 10. Dodson’s speed was too much in a win over Eddie Wineland while Sterling got a closely contested win over Augusto Mendes.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Valentina Shevchenko

3. Julianna Pena

4. Cat Zingano

5. Sara McMann

6. Raquel Pennington

7. Alexis Davis

8. Tonya Evinger

9. Sarah Kaufman

10. Liz Carmouche

It wasn’t pretty but Alexis Davis did just enough to pick up a decision victory over UFC newcomer Cindy Dandois. Davis is looking to work her way back towards another title shot in a division that remains pretty open.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Kyoji Horiguchi

5. Ray Borg

6. Jussier Formiga

7. Wilson Reis

8. Brandon Moreno

9. Ian McCall

10. Sergio Pettis

Demetrious Johnson dominated Wilson Reis for his 10^th UFC flyweight title defense. Reis had no answers for Johnson anywhere. Brandon Moreno turned in another exciting performance, choking Dustin Ortiz out. Moreno looks like a potential force in the division as he gets more experience.

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

2. Claudia Gadelha

3. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

4. Jessica Andrade

5. Jessica Aguilar

6. Rose Namajunas

7. Tecia Torres

8. Carla Esparza

9. Maryna Moroz

10. Joanne Calderwood

Rose Namajunas was impressive again in her fight with Michelle Waterson, submitting the “Karate Hottie” with a rear naked choke. Namajunas has a very good chance of receiving the next UFC women’s strawweight title shot against the winner of Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Andrade.