MMA rankings: Ronda Rousey’s still the best

A look at Todd Martin’s MMA rankings for August:

Heavyweight

1. Fabricio Werdum
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Junior Dos Santos
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Andrei Arlovski
6. Travis Browne
7. Ben Rothwell
8. Josh Barnett
9. Alistair Overeem
10. Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve moves back into the top 10 with a victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Brazil. The extremely tall Dutch fighter has had a rough couple of years but at age 27 still has plenty of time to grow as a competitor where his rivals skew old. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva also picked up a much needed win over Soa Palelei via TKO.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Anthony Johnson
4. Alexander Gustafsson
5. Rashad Evans
6. Ryan Bader
7. Phil Davis
8. Glover Teixeira
9. Ovince St. Preux
10. Liam McGeary

In the month’s most consequential 205 pound bout, Glover Teixeira came to Ovince St. Preux’s neck of the woods in Tennessee and defeated the former Volunteer football player via technical submission with a rear naked choke. Teixeira is now 35 years old, but appears to have a good amount of gas left in the tank at this stage of his career. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua also scored a decision victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, although he didn’t look terribly impressive in the process.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman
2. Luke Rockhold
3. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
4. Yoel Romero
5. Anderson Silva
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Vitor Belfort
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Tim Kennedy
10. Michael Bisping

UFC 194 in December could be an epic night for the middleweight division if injuries don’t rear their ugly head, as currently scheduled are bouts between champion Chris Weidman and #1 contender Luke Rockhold, plus the next two top contenders squaring off with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Yoel Romero. All four are top of the line athletes and riding impressive winning streaks, making for what could be an incredible night of action.

Welterweight

1. Robbie Lawler
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Rory MacDonald
4. Tyron Woodley
5. Ben Askren
6. Carlos Condit
7. Demian Maia
8. Hector Lombard
9. Dong Hyun Kim
10. Matt Brown

Demian Maia picked up the most impressive victory of the month, submitting Neil Magny to end Magny’s seven fight UFC undefeated streak. Maia showcased his world class jiu jitsu and made Magny look amateurish in comparison on that ground. Maia’s win became even more impressive when Magny returned to action three weeks later and picked up a win over the talented Erick Silva.

Lightweight

1. Rafael Dos Anjos
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Anthony Pettis
4. Donald Cerrone
5. Ben Henderson
6. Eddie Alvarez
7. Gilbert Melendez
8. Tony Ferguson
9. Will Brooks
10. Beneil Dariush

It’s a rough way to fall from the top 10 for Michael Johnson, dropping a decision to Beneil Dariush that most (including the Times) felt should have gone to Johnson. If it were an outright robbery, it would be hard to justify having Dariush pass Johnson in the rankings. But Johnson-Dariush was competitive and the decision justifiable if dubious. So Dariush ekes by Johnson for the tenth spot.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo
2. Conor McGregor
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Chad Mendes
5. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
6. Max Holloway
7. Cub Swanson
8. Ricardo Lamas
9. Charles Oliveira
10. Daniel Straus

Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira, the main event of a Saskatoon card, couldn’t have been more unsatisfying. Oliveira re-aggravated an unfortunate neck injury and the fight had to be called off less than two minutes in.

Bantamweight

1. T.J. Dillashaw
2. Dominick Cruz
3. Renan Barao
4. Urijah Faber
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Michael McDonald
7. Bibiano Fernandes
8. Thomas Almeida
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Marlon Moraes

It was an uneventful month for the floundering bantamweight division. In 2012, UFC decided to create the 125 pound flyweight division. Some of the best bantamweights moved down to flyweight and now, rather than having one relatively strong division UFC has two particularly weak ones. Hopefully the exciting prospective T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz showdown will liven things up.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey
2. Miesha Tate
3. Cat Zingano
4. Alexis Davis
5. Amanda Nunes
6. Sara McMann
7. Jessica Eye
8. Sarah Kaufman
9. Holly Holm
10. Liz Carmouche

Ronda Rousey made quick work of ill equipped Bethe Correia, knocking her out in 34 seconds in the main event of UFC 190. Rousey will move onto more formidable competition in January, taking on undefeated high level striker Holly Holm. The decision to make Holm the next challenger was a surprising one, given Miesha Tate had earned the spot with four wins in a row over high quality opposition. However, Tate has lost twice already to Rousey while Holm is a fresh opponent. The key problem with Holm is that she hasn’t looked impressive thus far in the UFC, even if her natural athleticism and striking give her tools that present problems. Amanda Nunes delivered an excellent performance herself in submitting Sara McMann. Nunes worked her way into the contender mix and could get a shot against Rousey in 2016.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. Jussier Formiga
5. John Moraga

Demetrious Johnson defends his title next against John Dodson on September 5.

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2. Claudia Gadelha
3. Jessica Aguilar
4. Carla Esparza
5. Jessica Penne

Claudia Gadelha won a one-sided fight over Jessica Aguilar in Aguilar’s UFC debut, firmly establishing herself as the top contender to champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Those two fighters have established themselves as a level above the competition in their division and their rematch for the title will be hotly anticipated.