Jon Jones retains light-heavyweight top spot in MMA rankings

Jon Jones continued his run of dominance with an excellent performance in a decision win over game challenger Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC 172 in Baltimore. Jones retains the light-heavyweight top spot as we unveil this month’s MMA rankings:

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Junior Dos Santos

4. Travis Browne

5. Antonio Silva

6. Josh Barnett

7. Alistair Overeem

8. Stipe Miocic

9. Mark Hunt

10. Roy Nelson

The big UFC heavyweight title showdown between champion Cain Velasquez and number one contender Fabricio Werdum will take place November 15 at UFC’s first ever show in Mexico. Mexico remains one of the MMA markets with the most growth potential. The most significant impending heavyweight fight was cancelled when Junior Dos Santos suffered an injury prior to his May 31 bout with Stipe Miocic. Miocic will now face light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado to headline a card in Sao Paulo.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Rashad Evans

5. Anthony Johnson

6. Phil Davis

7. Glover Teixeira

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Ryan Bader

10. Dan Henderson

There will be no time for Jones to rest on his laurels as a series of challengers are lined up for his title. Alexander Gustafsson is next in a rematch of Jones’ toughest challenge. Daniel Cormier follows if he can defeat Dan Henderson Saturday night in Las Vegas. And Anthony Johnson threw his hat in the cage with an impressive win over Phil Davis in his return to the UFC.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Luke Rockhold

6. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Yushin Okami

9. Tim Kennedy

10. Mark Munoz

Luke Rockhold improved his record to 12-2 with a slick inverted triangle/kimura submission over Tim Boetsch in the first round of their UFC 172 contest. Rockhold remains one of the top challengers for Chris Weidman’s UFC title. In two weekends, contenders Mark Munoz and Gegard Mousasi will battle in Germany attempting to rebound from setbacks against Lyoto Machida.

Welterweight

1. Johny Hendricks

2. Rory MacDonald

3. Jake Ellenberger

4. Tyron Woodley

5. Matt Brown

6. Carlos Condit

7. Robbie Lawler

8. Ben Askren

9. Hector Lombard

10. Jake Shields

10. Dong Hyun Kim

All Matt Brown does these days is win. Once discounted as a limited brawler with a mediocre record, Brown finds himself on the verge of a title shot in arguably the sport’s most talented division. His brutal come from behind TKO win over Erick Silva was his seventh in a row and if he can make it eight in his next fight, that could be enough for a crack at UFC gold.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Ben Henderson

4. Khabib Nurmagomedov

5. T.J. Grant

6. Eddie Alvarez

7. Josh Thomson

8. Nate Diaz

9. Jim Miller

10. Donald Cerrone

Jim Miller won his second fight in a row with a guillotine choke over Yancy Medeiros. He’ll get a more high profile opponent next time out. Michael Chandler falls out of the top 10 with his second straight loss, but few question his talent. Most thought he won both of those fights, against Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks. But the judges felt differently. Now, Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks will fight to crown a Bellator lightweight champion.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Cub Swanson

4. Frank Edgar

5. Pat Curran

6. Dustin Poirier

7. Ricardo Lamas

8. Daniel Straus

9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

10. Dennis Bermudez

UFC’s return to the Staples Center on August 2 will be headlined by a featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and challenger Chad Mendes. Aldo knocked out Mendes in their first fight but Mendes has dominated since. Many if not most in the sport consider Mendes to be Aldo’s most dangerous potential opponent at 145 pounds with Mendes’ mix of striking and wrestling.

Bantamweight

1. Renan Barao

2. Dominick Cruz

3. Urijah Faber

4. Raphael Assuncao

5. Michael McDonald

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Eduardo Dantas

8. T.J. Dillashaw

9. Takeya Mizugaki

10. Eddie Wineland

Eddie Wineland tumbles down the rankings with an emphatic knockout loss to Johnny Eduardo. It’s getting to be a barren landscape at 135 pounds, with a less talented group of fighters than other weight classes and few who haven’t already lost to champion Renan Barao.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Alexis Davis

4. Sarah Kaufman

5. Miesha Tate

6. Sara McMann

7. Jessica Eye

8. Lauren Murphy

9. Jessica Andrade

10. Holly Holm

The next challenger for Ronda Rousey’s title is Alexis Davis. Davis has a solid game and momentum heading into this fight, but few give her much of a chance in her July title opportunity.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ali Bagautinov

5. Ian McCall