MMA rankings: The Korean Zombie slides down the list

Todd Martin takes you around the MMA weight classes with his picks for the top 10 in each division.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Fabricio Werdum

4. Daniel Cormier

5. Antonio Silva

6. Josh Barnett

7. Travis Browne

8. Frank Mir

9. Alistair Overeem

10. Stipe Miocic

In 2007, Alistair Overeem was a respected but not upper echelon light heavyweight who had lost four of his last five fights. When Pride closed its doors, Overeem elected to move up to heavyweight and began one of the most remarkable transformations in MMA history. Adding around 50 pounds of muscle mass, he turned into the dominant “Ubereem.” Overeem went 11-1 (1 NC) outside of Pride and UFC, finishing every opponent but one and winning the K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix kickboxing tournament. But questions remained about the growth of his body and the quality of his competition. When he joined the UFC in 2011, it was time for those questions to be answered. Things started out well with a victory over Brock Lesnar, but then they fell apart. Overeem failed a drug test for an elevated T/E ratio in 2012. He returned from suspension with a body that no longer looked as freaky and was knocked out in consecutive fights by Antonio Silva and Travis Browne. Sadly for the entertaining and charismatic heavyweight, it will be difficult for Overeem to convince any but his biggest supporters that his 2007-2011 run was in hindsight the product of softer competition in a largely non-drug tested environment.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Phil Davis

3. Alexander Gustafsson

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Rashad Evans

6. Dan Henderson

7. Glover Teixeira

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Ryan Bader

10. Chael Sonnen

Phil Davis’ August 3 decision win over Lyoto Machida was controversial, as most felt Machida deserved the win (The Times scored the bout 29-28 Machida). But it was not the robbery some made it out to be. Machida’s style is to grind fights to a screeching halt and limit output on both sides. When only 48 significant strikes land over the course of a 15 minute fight, judging can be unpredictable and takedowns may be counted more by some judges. After being a consistent force in MMA top 10’s since 2005, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua finally falls out. His submission loss to Chael Sonnen was his fourth in the last six fights.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Yushin Okami

5. Luke Rockhold

6. Mark Munoz

7. Michael Bisping

8. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

9. Hector Lombard

10. Costa Philippou

The next big middleweight bout takes place September 4 in Brazil, when Yushin Okami takes on Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Okami’s wrestling will be pitted against Souza’s jiu jitsu and a win by Souza could put him in line for a UFC middleweight title shot.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Demian Maia

4. Carlos Condit

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Jake Ellenberger

7. Ben Askren

8. Nick Diaz

9. Martin Kampmann

10. Matt Brown

“Funky” Ben Askren utilized his unique and elite wrestling game to dominate Andrey Koreshkov and run his MMA record to a perfect 12-0. The Bellator welterweight champion is now a free agent and it will be interesting to see what sort of offer the UFC makes him. Matt Brown continued one of the most improbable rises in MMA history by winning his sixth straight contest with a first round knockout of tough veteran Mike Pyle.

Lightweight

1. Ben Henderson

2. Anthony Pettis

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. T.J. Grant

5. Michael Chandler

6. Donald Cerrone

7. Gray Maynard

8. Josh Thomson

9. Nate Diaz

10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Michael Chandler’s first round knockout of David Rickels at Bellator 97 may have been the most impressive performance of his young career. 12-0 with 5 knockouts and 5 submissions, Chandler will be a factor at 155 pounds for years to come. Next up for Chandler is a rematch with Eddie Alvarez on Bellator’s pay-per-view in November.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Pat Curran

5. Cub Swanson

6. Frank Edgar

7. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Erik Koch

10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

Chan Sung Jung had the biggest opportunity of his career, challenging Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title. Unfortunately for Jung and his fans, he didn’t capitalize on it. Fighting with trepidation and without his usual aggressive style, Jung turned in one of the most listless performances of his career. Next up for Aldo will likely be Ricardo Lamas, Cub Swanson or Chad Mendes.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Renan Barao

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Eddie Wineland

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Brad Pickett

8. Raphael Assuncao

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Iuri Alcantara

A pair of elite bantamweights turned in signature performances Saturday night in Boston. Urijah Faber rebounded from a very difficult start to earn a unanimous decision victory over very game Iuri Alcantara. Meanwhile, Michael McDonald dominated Brad Pickett in the standup and on the ground before securing a triangle choke submission. Faber, McDonald, Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao have created a distinct separation between themselves and the rest of the bantamweight division.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Ian McCall

4. John Dodson

5. Jussier Da Silva

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Sarah Kaufman

4. Miesha Tate

5. Sara McMann