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UFC’s Cain Velasquez remains top heavyweight in Times’ MMA rankings

Cain Velasquez is the best heavyweight in the world.
(Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)
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With less than a week to go before his title defense against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Cain Velasquez retains the top spot in The Times’ MMA rankings for May.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Fabricio Werdum

5. Antonio Silva

6. Alistair Overeem

7. Josh Barnett

8. Frank Mir

9. Roy Nelson

10. Travis Browne

Saturday night, Antonio Silva has the opportunity to take the crown as the world’s top heavyweight fighter. Unfortunately for Silva, standing in his way is UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Velasquez’s destruction of Silva a year ago was frightening in its ferocity and it will be an uphill climb for Silva to avenge that loss. Daniel Cormier made his UFC debut and while he wasn’t spectacular, he decisively defeated Frank Mir.

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Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Lyoto Machida

4. Dan Henderson

5. Rashad Evans

6. Phil Davis

7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

8. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

9. Glover Teixeira

10. Ryan Bader

As expected, Jon Jones had little difficulty defeating Chael Sonnen in the main event of UFC 159. Next up for Jones could be the lanky Swede Alexander Gustafsson or a rematch with the karate specialist Lyoto Machida. Phil Davis scored a solid win over Vinny Magalhaes and should be line for tougher opposition the next time around. Meanwhile, UFC 161 in June will feature a pair of significant light heavyweight tilts: Dan Henderson vs. Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chris Weidman

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Chael Sonnen

5. Yushin Okami

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Michael Bisping

8. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

9. Mark Munoz

10. Hector Lombard

Vitor Belfort scored another explosive victory with a first round spinning heel kick knockout of Luke Rockhold in Brazil. However, his recent run of success is tainted by widespread skepticism of the methods he has used to attain it. Belfort, who tested positive for steroids in 2006, began using testosterone replacement therapy. TRT is supposed to help aging athletes retain normal levels of testosterone as they age, but Belfort at 36 now sports a physique that would make Barry Bonds blush. In other monthly action, Michael Bisping returned to the win column by beating Alan Belcher and Ronaldo Souza made an impressive UFC debut in submitting Chris Camozzi.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Demian Maia

4. Carlos Condit

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Jake Ellenberger

7. Jon Fitch

8. Nick Diaz

9. Martin Kampmann

10. Ben Askren

It was an uneventful month in the 170-pound division. Johny Hendricks remains first in line for a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre unless St. Pierre first takes a superfight with middleweight king Anderson Silva.

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Lightweight

1. Ben Henderson

2. Anthony Pettis

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. Gray Maynard

5. Michael Chandler

6. T.J. Grant

7. Donald Cerrone

8. Josh Thomson

9. Nate Diaz

10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Gilbert Melendez gave Ben Henderson all Henderson could handle but lost a close split decision in a UFC lightweight title bout. Henderson’s good fortune with the judges continued as he won his seventh straight decision, many of those very close bouts. But in spite of Melendez’s frustration, there’s no controversy. It was a hard fought bout that could have gone either way. Jim Miller falls out of the top 10 after a loss to Pat Healy that was officially deemed a no contest because Healy tested positive for marijuana. Josh Thomson made a successful UFC return with a TKO victory over Nate Diaz.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Pat Curran

5. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

6. Frank Edgar

7. Cub Swanson

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Erik Koch

10. Dennis Siver

Chad Mendes couldn’t have made much stronger of a case for a title rematch since his loss to Jose Aldo in January of 2012. Since that time the 14-1 Mendes has knocked out all three of his opponents in less than a combined four minutes of time. Mendes may have to win one more fight before he gets another shot, due to the newfound depth of the UFC featherweight division.

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Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Renan Barao

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Brian Bowles

6. Eddie Wineland

7. Bibiano Fernandes

8. Brad Pickett

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Raphael Assuncao

An injury to Renan Barao has put in jeopardy his UFC 161 interim bantamweight title fight with Eddie Wineland. It creates even more chaos for a division still waiting for the return of champion Dominick Cruz and with a thin list of challengers.

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