MMA Rankings: Tough month for Brock Lesnar, but not for Cain Velasquez

The Times’ MMA rankings for July:

Heavyweight

1. Stipe Miocic

2. Alistair Overeem

3. Fabricio Werdum

4. Cain Velasquez

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Ben Rothwell

7. Andrei Arlovski

8. Vitaly Minakov

9. Travis Browne

10. Derrick Lewis

Brock Lesnar made his triumphant return to MMA, beating Mark Hunt via decision at UFC 200. Unfortunately for Lesnar, the good times only lasted for a little while, as he failed two drug tests and his MMA career is likely over. On that same card, Cain Velasquez was impressive. He ran through Travis Browne in one round, showcasing the skills that have made him one of MMA’s all-time best heavyweights. Derrick Lewis cracks the top ten with a split decision win over respected veteran Roy Nelson.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Daniel Cormier

3. Anthony Johnson

4. Alexander Gustafsson

5. Glover Teixeira

6. Phil Davis

7. Ryan Bader

8. Liam McGeary

9. Ovince St. Preux

10. Mauricio Rua

Jon Jones remains atop the light heavyweight rankings, but it’s unlikely he will for much longer as he failed a drug test that took him out of the UFC 200 main event. Jones is now facing a two-year suspension, yet another lapse in judgment from the troubled fighter. His scheduled opponent Daniel Cormier took on Anderson Silva instead, grounding Silva and taking a clear unanimous decision.

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping

2. Luke Rockhold

3. Chris Weidman

4. Yoel Romero

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Lyoto Machida

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Anderson Silva

9. Robert Whittaker

10. Vitor Belfort

The perpetually underappreciated Gegard Mousasi picked up another solid win, knocking out Thiago Santos in the first round. Mousasi is an exciting fighter to watch but his understated personality has often worked against him. With four wins in his last five fights, Mousasi is due for a fight with a high profile contender.

Welterweight

1. Robbie Lawler

2. Stephen Thompson

3. Carlos Condit

4. Rory MacDonald

5. Demian Maia

6. Tyron Woodley

7. Ben Askren

8. Dong Hyun Kim

9. Neil Magny

10. Andrey Koreshkov

UFC 200 was a sad event for former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. The once elite welterweight looked like a shell of his former self and dropped a lackluster decision to Kelvin Gastelum. At 32, there is still time for Hendricks to turn things around, but it will be a tough road back for Hendricks.

Lightweight

1. Eddie Alvarez

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Rafael Dos Anjos

4. Tony Ferguson

5. Gilbert Melendez

6. Edson Barboza

7. Will Brooks

8. Nate Diaz

9. Anthony Pettis

10. Dustin Poirier

In a year full of major MMA upsets, Eddie Alvarez scored another with a first-round TKO to capture the UFC lightweight title from Rafael Dos Anjos. It will be interesting to see where Alvarez goes from here. He has expressed interest in fighting Conor McGregor, while Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson linger as lightweight challengers. Ferguson nearly fell from that status, almost losing to UFC newcomer Lando Vannata in a thrilling bout. Ferguson recovered to submit Vannata in the second round, but he nearly lost before that and probably would have with a different referee. John McCarthy let the fight continue, as McCarthy is often inconsistent when it comes to stoppages for star fighters. Will Brooks made his UFC debut, winning a competitive decision over Ross Pearson.

Featherweight

1. Conor McGregor

2. Jose Aldo

3. Frankie Edgar

4. Max Holloway

5. Chad Mendes

6. Ricardo Lamas

7. Cub Swanson

8. Daniel Straus

9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

10. Charles Oliveira

Jose Aldo desperately craves a rematch with UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who defeated Aldo in 13 seconds last December. At UFC 200, Aldo put himself in position to get that rematch by halting the momentum of the formerly red hot Frankie Edgar. Edgar just wasn’t able to deal with Aldo’s power, which prevented Edgar from putting on sufficient pressure to take control of the fight. Aldo won the unanimous decision and hopes to get McGregor for his next fight.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. T.J. Dillashaw

3. Bibiano Fernandes

4. Raphael Assuncao

5. Urijah Faber

6. Marlon Moraes

7. Cody Garbrandt

8. John Lineker

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Thomas Almeida

There were two important bantamweight fights this month and they were very different bouts. T.J. Dillashaw turned in a workmanlike performance against Raphael Assuncao, getting the better of the striking in a tactical, often dull contest. John Lineker, on the other hand, brought the action against Michael McDonald. Lineker overwhelmed McDonald with power strikes. McDonald showed perhaps too much heart, repeatedly firing back rather than clinching and trying to regain his composure. Eventually, he could take no more and Lineker scored the most emphatic win of his bantamweight run.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes

2. Miesha Tate

3. Holly Holm

4. Ronda Rousey

5. Julianna Pena

6. Cat Zingano

7. Alexis Davis

8. Sara McMann

9. Valentina Shevchenko

10. Tonya Evinger

In a surprising turn of events, Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes ended up being the main event of the landmark UFC 200 card. It wasn’t the fight that sold the event on pay-per-view, but they closed out the show with an important title fight. Tate turned in the worst performance of her career, looking out of sorts from her entrance on and falling apart under the pressure of her opponent Nunes. Nunes locked up a choke for the finish, capturing the UFC women’s bantamweight title. After Ronda Rousey held the title for an extended period, the title has been a hot potato. Rousey lost to Holly Holm, who lost in her first defense to Tate, who lost in her first defense to Nunes. In other action, Julianna Pena picked up the biggest win of her career on the same card, a come from behind decision over former title challenger Cat Zingano.

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. Jessica Aguilar

4. Carla Esparza

5. Rose Namajunas