Ronda Rousey remains atop the women’s MMA rankings

Josh Barnett and Anthony Pettis shoot up in the latest MMA rankings, while Ronda Rousey continues to lead the women. A look at the rankings for each weight class:

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Fabricio Werdum

4. Daniel Cormier

5. Josh Barnett

6. Antonio Silva

7. Travis Browne

8. Alistair Overeem

9. Frank Mir

10. Stipe Miocic

Josh Barnett’s long awaited return to the UFC was a fruitful one, as he stopped Frank Mir in the first round via TKO. Some criticized the referee stoppage as premature, but Barnett rocked Mir badly with a knee and was in position to do some heavy additional damage if the bout were not called off at that moment.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Phil Davis

3. Alexander Gustafsson

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Glover Teixeira

6. Rashad Evans

7. Dan Henderson

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Ryan Bader

10. Chael Sonnen

Glover Teixeira scored the most important win of his career on FS1, knocking out Ryan Bader in the first round. While Teixeira struggled a little bit prior to the knockout, the win puts him in position to challenge the winner of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson Saturday night at UFC 165. Few give Gustafsson or Teixeira much of a chance to upset Jones, but that speaks more to the complete dominance that Jones has displayed throughout his MMA career than to flaws in their respective games.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

5. Yushin Okami

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Mark Munoz

8. Michael Bisping

9. Hector Lombard

10. Costa Philippou

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza couldn’t have looked more impressive in dispatching perennial contender Yushin Okami via first round TKO. Jacare possesses top of the line jiu jitsu and has added excellent striking, making him a tough challenge for anyone in the middleweight division. He ought to receive the next middleweight title shot at either Chris Weidman or Anderson Silva, given the stink that permeates from Vitor Belfort’s remarkable physical “development” at the age of 36 with the help of testosterone replacement therapy.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Demian Maia

4. Carlos Condit

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Jake Ellenberger

7. Ben Askren

8. Nick Diaz

9. Martin Kampmann

10. Matt Brown

Carlos Condit registered a key comeback win over Martin Kampmann to headline UFC’s second FS1 card. Condit had lost two straight, albeit to the top two welterweights in the world, and needed a win to establish his continuing status as a top contender. Demian Maia and Rory MacDonald are most likely to receive the next title shot, while Bellator welterweight champion and free agent Ben Askren lingers as well.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Ben Henderson

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. T.J. Grant

5. Michael Chandler

6. Gray Maynard

7. Josh Thomson

8. Nate Diaz

9. Khabib Nurmagomedov

10. Eddie Alvarez

When Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson fought for the first time, Pettis inched past Henderson by the narrowest of margins. The second time, Pettis didn’t leave any doubt. He hammered Henderson with devastating kicks to the body early in the contest. When Henderson responded with a takedown, Pettis locked in an armbar for a first round verbal submission win. It was the biggest win thus far in the career of Pettis and the sky is the limit for the young Milwaukee product. Pettis and Henderson’s former WEC compatriot Donald Cerrone tumbles from the ranking with a listless loss to Rafael Dos Anjos.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Pat Curran

5. Cub Swanson

6. Frank Edgar

7. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

10. Erik Koch

The featherweight division has stealthily become one of the deepest and most competitive in the entire sport of MMA. UFC champion Jose Aldo is one of the pound for pound best. Chad Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, Cub Swanson and Frank Edgar all have solid claims for future title shots. In Bellator, Pat Curran and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire have distinguished themselves as elite. And even outside the top 10 lurk the likes of Darren Elkins and Nik Lentz.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Renan Barao

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Eddie Wineland

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Brad Pickett

8. Raphael Assuncao

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Iuri Alcantara

Not much happened in the past month in the bantamweight division. Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland will fight Saturday night in Toronto to decide the UFC interim bantamweight champion and hopefully Dominick Cruz will be able to return to fight the winner next.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Ian McCall

4. John Dodson

5. John Moraga

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Sarah Kaufman

4. Miesha Tate

5. Sara McMann