Stipe Miocic, Michael Bisping, remain atop Times’ MMA rankings for October

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Cain Velasquez

4. Alistair Overeem

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Ben Rothwell

7. Vitaly Minakov

8. Josh Barnett

9. Andrei Arlovski

10. Travis Browne

Stipe Miocic successfully defended the UFC heavyweight title in his hometown of Cleveland in a strange affair against Alistair Overeem. Miocic finished Overeem with punches on the ground. On the same card, Fabricio Werdum got a decision win over Travis Browne and lobbied for a rematch with Miocic for the title. Werdum was less impressive against Browne than Cain Velasquez was at UFC 200 so the next title challenger isn’t entirely clear. Josh Barnett also picked up a key win with a submission over fellow longtime top heavyweight Andrei Arlovski.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Daniel Cormier

3. Anthony Johnson

4. Phil Davis

5. Alexander Gustafsson

6. Glover Teixeira

7. Ryan Bader

8. Liam McGeary

9. Jimi Manuwa

10. Nikita Krylov

Ryan Bader picked up his first finish in years, knocking out Ilir Latifi in spectacular fashion. The nature of the win should create more interest in the longtime contender. Alexander Gustafsson was more workmanlike in a decision win over Jan Blachowicz as he looks to work back into contender status. Jimi Manuwa also moved into the top 10 with a knockout over Ovince St. Preux.

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping

2. Luke Rockhold

3. Chris Weidman

4. Yoel Romero

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Gegard Mousasi

7. Lyoto Machida

8. Robert Whittaker

9. Derek Brunson

10. Thales Leites

Michael Bisping successfully defended his UFC middleweight title against Dan Henderson in Manchester. Bisping survived a pair of brutal knockdowns to pick up a decision win over his long term rival. Bisping will now wait for Luke Rockhold to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Chris Weidman to fight Yoel Romero. Those two fights will hopefully establish a clear next contender for Bisping. In other action, Gegard Mousasi knocked Vitor Belfort out of the top 10 with a second round TKO win over the 39-year-old Brazilian. Derek Brunson also picked up his fifth straight win with a knockout of Uriah Hall.

Welterweight

1. Tyron Woodley

2. Stephen Thompson

3. Robbie Lawler

4. Rory MacDonald

5. Demian Maia

6. Ben Askren

7. Carlos Condit

8. Dong Hyun Kim

9. Andrey Koreshkov

10. Donald Cerrone

Demian Maia emphatically made his claim for a welterweight title shot with his impressive submission victory over Carlos Condit in Vancouver. That was Maia’s sixth straight win and he should definitely receive the next title shot after the Tyron Woodley-Stephen Thompson fight at UFC 205 in New York.

Lightweight

1. Eddie Alvarez

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Rafael Dos Anjos

4. Tony Ferguson

5. Edson Barboza

6. Nate Diaz

7. Justin Gaethje

8. Michael Johnson

9. Michael Chiesa

10. Will Brooks

Eddie Alvarez’s next title defense will come at Madison Square Garden against Conor McGregor. It surely frustrated many in both the lightweight and featherweight divisions but it is the biggest money option. Michael Johnson picked up an impressive victory to move back into the top 10, knocking out Dustin Poirier in less than two minutes. Johnson is talented but needs to find greater consistency.

Featherweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Jose Aldo

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Max Holloway

5. Ricardo Lamas

6. Anthony Pettis

7. Cub Swanson

8. Daniel Straus

9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

10. Charles Oliveira

Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis made an impressive UFC featherweight debut, submitting Charles Oliveira in the third round. He’s likely to move right into the title picture given his impressive career resume with wins over many of the best fighters in what is generally perceived to be a tougher weight class. Meanwhile, former bantamweight champion Renan Barao scored his second win at featherweight. Unlike Pettis, Barao has not been impressive at his new weight class and picked up a decision win over journeyman Phillipe Nover.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. T.J. Dillashaw

3. Bibiano Fernandes

4. John Lineker

5. Marlon Moraes

6. Cody Garbrandt

7. Raphael Assuncao

8. Jimmie Rivera

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Urijah Faber

It was a mixed bag for John Lineker when he main evented a recent card in Portland, Oregon. On the positive side, he picked up another big win when he bested John Dodson by decision. Lineker chased down Dodson for the better part of 25 minutes, averting Dodson’s best efforts to turn the competition from fight to a track meet. On the downside, Lineker missed weight yet again (five times now in the UFC) and drew year low ratings for his fight. Jimmie Rivera cracks the top 10 following his biggest career win to date over Urijah Faber.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Ronda Rousey

3. Miesha Tate

4. Valentina Shevchenko

5. Holly Holm

6. Julianna Pena

7. Cat Zingano

8. Alexis Davis

9. Sara McMann

10. Tonya Evinger

Ronda Rousey’s hiatus from the Octagon won’t last much longer. Rousey, out of action since her shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm in November 2015, will return to the UFC before the end of the year. UFC president Dana White said her return fight will be a title showdown with Amanda Nunes on December 30.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Jussier Formiga

5. Kyoji Horiguchi

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

2. Claudia Gadelha

3. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

4. Jessica Aguilar

5. Jessica Andrade