MMA rankings: Francis Ngannou earns a bout with Stipe Miocic

A look at the Times’ MMA rankings for December, as compiled by Todd Martin.

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Francis Ngannou

3. Alistair Overeem

4. Fabricio Werdum

5. Cain Velasquez

6. Junior Dos Santos

7. Vitaly Minakov

8. Mark Hunt

9. Derrick Lewis

10. Alexander Volkov

Francis Ngannou scored one of the scariest knockouts in MMA history at UFC 218 in Detroit, knocking out Alistair Overeem with a brutal uppercut and punching his ticket for a UFC title shot against Stipe Miocic. That fight will take place January in Boston at UFC 220 and Ngannou has been installed as the betting favorite.

Light Heavyweight

1. Daniel Cormier

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Ryan Bader

4. Phil Davis

5. Volkan Oezdemir

6. Glover Teixeira

7. Jimi Manuwa

8. Misha Cirkunov

9. King Mo Lawal

10. Nikita Krylov

Glover Teixeira struggled early against Misha Cirkunov as Cirkunov landed some major blows on the feet and appeared to have Teixeira in significant trouble. However, once Teixeira got the fight to the ground he quickly took over. Cirkunov had no answers and the fight was stopped at just 2:45 of the first round.

Middleweight

1. Robert Whittaker

2. Yoel Romero

3. Luke Rockhold

4. Gegard Mousasi

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Chris Weidman

7. Kelvin Gastelum

8. Michael Bisping

9. Derek Brunson

10. David Branch

As expected, Georges St. Pierre vacated the UFC middleweight title without defending it. Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold will compete for the belt next in a competitive showdown in Australia.

Welterweight

1. Tyron Woodley

2. Stephen Thompson

3. Rafael Dos Anjos

4. Robbie Lawler

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Douglas Lima

7. Colby Covington

8. Demian Maia

9. Darren Till

10. Santiago Ponzinibbio

Rafael Dos Anjos continued to roll at welterweight, scoring a unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler and moving one step closer to a title shot. Dos Anjos concluded 2016 at lightweight but in just one year he has moved near the top of his new division. Santiago Ponzinibbio breaks into the top 10 with his sixth straight victory.

Lightweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Tony Ferguson

3. Khabib Nurmagomedov

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Edson Barboza

6. Justin Gaethje

7. Kevin Lee

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Michael Chiesa

10. Beneil Dariush

Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje was expected to be a thrilling bout when it was signed and it absolutely delivered. Alvarez went to war for three rounds before Alvarez finished Gaethje late with a brutal knee to the head. It was the sort of spectacle that has made both fighters popular figures over the courses of their careers.

Featherweight

1. Max Holloway

2. Jose Aldo

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Brian Ortega

5. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

6. Ricardo Lamas

7. Cub Swanson

8. Doo Ho Choi

9. Chan Sung Jung

10. Josh Emmett

No division was busier in the past month than featherweight, where the division was significantly altered after a series of important bouts. Max Holloway retained his featherweight title blowing past Jose Aldo, who doesn’t look quite like the fighter he once was. Brian Ortega put himself in line for a title shot with a guillotine choke submission over Cub Swanson. Finally, Josh Emmett established himself as a factor in the division with a knockout of Ricardo Lamas. Emmett rises up the rankings and Lamas falls, although Lamas is still above Emmett on the basis of a superior overall resume.

Bantamweight

1. T.J. Dillashaw

2. Cody Garbrandt

3. Dominick Cruz

4. Raphael Assuncao

5. Marlon Moraes

6. Jimmie Rivera

7. Bibiano Fernandes

8. John Lineker

9. Darrion Caldwell

10. Aljamain Sterling

Marlon Moraes finally picked up the emphatic UFC win he’d been looking for when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling with a brutal knee. Moraes is now 2-1 in the UFC and has affirmed his status as one of the best in his division.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Valentina Shevchenko

3. Julianna Pena

4. Holly Holm

5. Cat Zingano

6. Raquel Pennington

7. Ketlen Vieira

8. Germaine de Randamie

9. Sara McMann

10. Sarah Kaufman

With a number of key bantamweights moving down to the newly established UFC women’s flyweight division, the ranks of this beleaguered division got even thinner. There just doesn’t appear to be enough upper echelon talent to support all the divisions UFC is creating.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Kyoji Horiguchi

5. Jussier Formiga

6. Sergio Pettis

7. Ray Borg

8. Wilson Reis

9. Brandon Moreno

10. John Moraga

It wasn’t as impressive as some of his recent wins, but Henry Cejudo defeated another difficult foe when he picked up a decision over Sergio Pettis. Cejudo’s wrestling was just too much for his opponent.

Women’s Strawweight

1. Rose Namajunas

2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

3. Jessica Andrade

4. Claudia Gadelha

5. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

6. Tecia Torres

7. Carla Esparza

8. Maryna Moroz

9. Jessica Aguilar

10. Cynthia Calvillo

Tecia Torres continued her momentum with a decision victory over Michelle Waterson. Torres is one of many fighters looking to line themselves up for a title shot in what is a wide open division following Rose Namajunas’ upset of Joanna Jedrzejczyk.