MMA Rankings: Cain Velasquez, Ronda Rousey retain top spots

Todd Martin has released his MMA rankings for February, days before the Ronda Rousey-Sara McMann fight. Will Rousey be able to keep her No. 1 ranking?

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Fabricio Werdum

5. Travis Browne

6. Antonio Silva

7. Josh Barnett

8. Alistair Overeem

9. Stipe Miocic

10. Mark Hunt

Alistair Overeem rebounded from consecutive losses with a workmanlike performance in a clear unanimous decision victory over Frank Mir in New Jersey. He didn’t earn a lot of goodwill from the UFC in the process, as UFC president trashed Overeem’s performance in the fight and then claimed afterwards that Overeem is essentially ducking fellow contender Junior Dos Santos. Stipe Miocic, like Overeem, picked up a win but didn’t do so in the most impressive fashion. Miocic won a decision over Gabriel Gonzaga on Fox with superior striking and speed.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Rashad Evans

4. Phil Davis

5. Glover Teixeira

6. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

7. Ryan Bader

8. Dan Henderson

9. Chael Sonnen

10. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

UFC’s beleaguered light heavyweight division got a boost with the signing of former WSOF fighter Anthony Johnson. Johnson did well in the UFC previously but was cut largely over his repeated struggles to make weight at 170 pounds and then 185 pounds. At 205 pounds, that shouldn’t be a problem. Johnson gets a tough test his first fight in with Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis. Johnson with a win could become an immediate contender, which speaks to the struggles of the division. There are a number of excellent fighters at the top of the division, but the depth beyond that is extremely weak and there are few surging young contenders.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Yushin Okami

9. Tim Kennedy

10. Mark Munoz

Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza took care of business Saturday night in Brazil, solidifying themselves as the top middleweight contenders to the winner of the Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort title fight. Machida won a unanimous decision victory over Gegard Mousasi. The judges scored the fight 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 in favor of Machida, but the fight was closer than those scores indicate. Mousasi outlanded Machida in significant strikes and nearly doubled him in total strikes. The difference for Machida was likely the power behind his shots, as he consistently landed the hardest shots in the contest. Jacare Souza won a unanimous decision of his own over Francis Carmont, using his jiu jitsu to get the better of ground exchanges.

Welterweight

1. Johny Hendricks

2. Carlos Condit

3. Ben Askren

4. Jake Ellenberger

5. Jake Shields

6. Demian Maia

7. Robbie Lawler

8. Rory MacDonald

9. Nick Diaz

10. Martin Kampmann

This Saturday night in one of the featured bouts of UFC 170, Demian Maia and Rory MacDonald will square off in an important rebound fight for both. Maia is coming off a lackluster loss to Jake Shields and MacDonald a lackluster loss to Robbie Lawler. The winner will be back in the contender mix while the loser will lose traction in a crowded division.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Ben Henderson

4. T.J. Grant

5. Eddie Alvarez

6. Michael Chandler

7. Khabib Nurmagomedov

8. Josh Thomson

9. Nate Diaz

10. Rafael Dos Anjos

Many thought Josh Thomson deserved the decision over Benson Henderson in their Fox main event fight, but two of the three judges gave it to Henderson. It continued a run of tremendous luck for Henderson, who has won four of his last six fights via hotly contested decisions. In another noteworthy development, elite UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez signed a multi-fight contract with the rival Bellator outfit. UFC now has the opportunity to match.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Cub Swanson

4. Frank Edgar

5. Ricardo Lamas

6. Daniel Straus

7. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Pat Curran

10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

Jose Aldo’s latest title defense against Ricardo Lamas was a stinker. Aldo, the clearly superior talent, seemed content to coast rather than making an effort to close. For his part, Lamas showed little in the way of desperation despite obviously being well behind for the vast majority of the biggest fight of his career.

Bantamweight

1. Renan Barao

2. Dominick Cruz

3. Urijah Faber

4. Michael McDonald

5. Eddie Wineland

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Raphael Assuncao

8. Brad Pickett

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Takeya Mizugaki

The main event of UFC 169 continued an unfortunate trend for the popular “California Kid” Urijah Faber. Faber won four straight fights to earn a title shot against Renan Barao, but then was stopped via strikes in the first round against the champion. Since the winter of 2008, Faber is 9-0 in non-title fights and 0-6 in title fights. In other action, Eddie Wineland picked up a second round TKO win over Yves Jabouin.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ali Bagautinov

5. Ian McCall

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Jessica Eye

4. Alexis Davis

5. Sara McMann