MMA rankings: Stipe Miocic remains atop the heavyweight division

The Times’ MMA rankings for February, as complied by Todd Martin:

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Cain Velasquez

4. Alistair Overeem

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Derrick Lewis

7. Ben Rothwell

8. Vitaly Minakov

9. Francis Ngannou

10. Travis Browne

There was some question as to who Stipe Miocic would fight next for the UFC heavyweight crown. The answer turns out to be former champion Junior Dos Santos, who handed Miocic one of his only two losses in MMA competition. Dos Santos will have the opportunity to regain his title at UFC 211 in May. Derrick Lewis surges up the rankings with another gutsy knockout win, this time over Travis Browne. Francis Ngannou cracks the top 10 after cracking Andrei Arlovski with punches in a first round TKO victory.

Light Heavyweight

1. Daniel Cormier

2. Anthony Johnson

3. Phil Davis

4. Alexander Gustafsson

5. Glover Teixeira

6. Ryan Bader

7. Jimi Manuwa

8. Liam McGeary

9. Misha Cirkunov

10. Nikita Krylov

The UFC’s light heavyweight division continues to suffer. Ryan Bader follows Phil Davis in leaving the company for Bellator, while the company cut ties with rising stars Misha Cirkunov and Nikita Krylov. There isn’t a lot of quality young talent in the division in general, leaving the once prestigious division precariously thin. It wasn’t always pretty, but Glover Teixeira exposed serious vulnerabilities in Jared Cannonier’s ground game and picked up a one sided decision win in their fight at UFC 208.

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping

2. Yoel Romero

3. Luke Rockhold

4. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

5. Chris Weidman

6. Gegard Mousasi

7. Robert Whittaker

8. Kelvin Gastelum

9. Krzysztof Jotko

10. David Branch

While Yoel Romero was in line to receive the next title shot against Michael Bisping, a new potential challenger is in the mix as UFC announced the legendary Georges St. Pierre’s return to the fold. St. Pierre could receive a shot at Bisping’s middleweight title next, although middleweight is a questionable division for St. Pierre given how much size he gives up compared to the likes of Romero and Luke Rockhold. Derek Brunson took a tough decision loss against Anderson Silva at UFC 208. The vast majority of observers felt Brunson won the fight.

Welterweight

1. Tyron Woodley

2. Demian Maia

3. Stephen Thompson

4. Robbie Lawler

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Ben Askren

7. Carlos Condit

8. Dong Hyun Kim

9. Neil Magny

10. Jorge Masvidal

Jorge Masvidal displaces Donald Cerrone in the top 10 after knocking Cerrone out in Colorado. Masvidal has long been one of the most underappreciated figures in the sport and he is finally starting to get rightfully deserved credit for his skill and toughness.

Lightweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Tony Ferguson

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Rafael Dos Anjos

6. Edson Barboza

7. Nate Diaz

8. Justin Gaethje

9. Michael Chiesa

10. Beneil Dariush

Dustin Poirier, barely outside the top 10, picked up his fifth win in his last six fights against Jim Miller. Poirier battled through a serious leg injury to score a majority decision victory. The biggest fight on the horizon at lightweight is Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson in the co-feature at UFC 209.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Max Holloway

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Cub Swanson

5. Ricardo Lamas

6. Daniel Straus

7. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

8. Jeremy Stephens

9. Anthony Pettis

10. Doo Ho Choi

“Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung made a successful return to MMA after a three-year-plus hiatus to serve in the South Korean military. Jung defeated Dennis Bermudez via knockout and is likely to receive additional high profile fights in the near future after his main event against Bermudez was a big ratings success.

Bantamweight

1. Cody Garbrandt

2. Dominick Cruz

3. T.J. Dillashaw

4. Marlon Moraes

5. Raphael Assuncao

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. John Lineker

8. Eduardo Dantas

9. Jimmie Rivera

10. Thomas Almeida

UFC could be poised to make a major bantamweight acquisition, as they are close to signing longtime WSOF champion Marlon Moraes. Moraes would immediately be in the top mix for his new promotion. Raphael Assuncao rebounded from a loss to T.J. Dillashaw with a split decision win over Aljamain Sterling in an extremely close contest.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Valentina Shevchenko

3. Julianna Pena

4. Cat Zingano

5. Sara McMann

6. Raquel Pennington

7. Alexis Davis

8. Sarah Kaufman

9. Tonya Evinger

10. Liz Carmouche

It has been a turbulent few months for the women’s bantamweight division. Ronda Rousey appears to be moving on to new ventures, Holly Holm moved to featherweight and Miesha Tate retired. Valentina Shevchenko earned the next shot at champion Amanda Nunes with her submission of Julianna Pena but things remain extremely unsettled from there. Sara McMann was impressive in submitting Gina Mazany in the first round and is emerging as a contender again.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Kyoji Horiguchi

5. Jussier Formiga

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

2. Claudia Gadelha

3. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

4. Jessica Andrade

5. Jessica Aguilar

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston