UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC 157

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Despite Ronda Rousey's impressive debut win in the UFC 157 main event against Liz Carmouche, the UFC has not yet released initial rankings for the women's bantamweight division.

The organization does have several 135-pound female fighters under contract now, but it looks as though the promotion will wait until some more fights are contested in the division before having the media vote on rankings for the class. 

One fight that did impact the rankings significantly was a light heavyweight matchup between top contenders Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson. Machida defeated Henderson in a close decision to separate himself as the next fighter in line to meet the winner of an upcoming title fight between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen.

Let's take a look at how the 205-pound rankings changed, along with the ordering of fighters in all other men's UFC divisions.

Pound-for-Pound

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Dan Henderson was the only top-10 pound-for-pound fighter to compete at UFC 157, and he came up short against Lyoto Machida.

Though Henderson pushed forward through most of the three-round bout, he was rarely able to land on the elusive Machida.

As a result, Henderson has fallen from the current list of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.

1. Anderson Silva
2. Jon Jones
3. Georges St-Pierre
4. Jose Aldo
5. Benson Henderson
6. Cain Velasquez
7. Demetrious Johnson
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Renan Barao
10. Frankie Edgar

Dominick Cruz's inactivity is beginning to hurt him in the pound-for-pound rankings. Since the last time the pound-for-pound rankings were published, the bantamweight titleholder dropped one spot and was surpassed by flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, whom Cruz actually holds a win over.

The interim bantamweight champion now sits only one spot behind Cruz with their title-merging bout on the horizon.

Heavyweight

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The only heavyweight bout featured on the UFC 157 fight card was one between TUF runner-up Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson. Schaub controlled Johnson on the ground in that fight, but he still has a long way to go to break into the top-10 UFC heavyweights.

Stefan Struve, meanwhile, will attempt to remain on this heavyweight list at UFC on Fuel TV 8, where he is scheduled to meet veteran striker Mark Hunt.

Champion: Cain Velasquez

1. Junior dos Santos
2. Fabricio Werdum
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Antonio Silva
5. Frank Mir
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Roy Nelson
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Stefan Struve
10. Shane Carwin

The only adjustment made in these rankings from the previous version was a swap in spots between Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Both heavyweights have recent wins over Dave Herman, but Nelson is riding a two-fight winning streak, while Nogueira just got back into the win column.

Light Heavyweight

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Lyoto Machida's win over Dan Henderson made him the light heavyweight division's top contender, but it did not impress all that much. The Brazilian was very defensive and almost exclusively engaged when countering Henderson's desperate rushes toward him.

Nonetheless, Machida is the owner of the most impressive resume of any light heavyweight contenders and will likely be the next opponent for the winner of an April light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen.

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Lyoto Machida
2. Alexander Gustafsson
3. Dan Henderson
4. Glover Teixeira
5. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
6. Mauricio Rua
7. Rashad Evans
8. Phil Davis
9. Ryan Bader
10. Gegard Mousasi

There was a significant amount of shifting that went on here as a result of the UFC 157 bout between Machida and Henderson.

Henderson dropped from No.1 to No. 3, which allowed Machida and Alexander Gustafsson each to move up one spot. Also, Mauricio Rua moved up by one position, dropping Rashad Evans to No. 7 shortly following his disappointing loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Middleweight

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Even though no top middleweights competed at UFC 157, the division's rankings still saw some surprising changes.

Additionally, UFC on Fuel TV 8 will see some fights that should have a significant impact on the 185-pound division. 

The main event will feature Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann, the latter of which plans to return to middleweight following that bout. Also, Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard will fight for a chance to return to title shot consideration.

Champion: Anderson Silva

1. Chris Weidman
2. Vitor Belfort
3. Michael Bisping
4. Yushin Okami
5. Costa Philippou
6. Luke Rockhold
7. Mark Munoz
8. Hector Lombard
9. Chael Sonnen
10. Ronaldo Souza

Chael Sonnen's complaints about his absence from the rankings appears to have made an impact on voters, as he went from being previously unranked to sitting at No. 9 in the middleweight division despite being booked for a light heavyweight fight.

Also, the panel had a change of heart regarding Luke Rockhold, who moved past Mark Munoz into the No. 6 slot in the UFC's 185-pound division.

With Alan Belcher and and Tim Boetsch being bumped out of the top-10 list, Strikeforce import Ronaldo Souza joined Sonnen as one of the new additions to this list. 

Welterweight

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Robbie Lawler shocked a lot of people with his first-round knockout of Josh Koscheck at UFC 157 and now finds himself as a surprising new addition to the top-10 welterweight list.

With the win, Lawler joined Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks as the only fighters to beat Koscheck within the past four years.

Also moving from middleweight to 170 pounds, Court McGee looked good against Josh Neer on Saturday, though he has some more work than Lawler to do in order to be considered a serious contender.

Champion: Georges St-Pierre

1. Johny Hendricks
2. Carlos Condit
3. Nick Diaz
4. Rory MacDonald
5. Demian Maia
6. Jake Ellenberger
7. Martin Kampmann
8. Tarec Saffiedine
9. Josh Koscheck
10. Robbie Lawler

After being released from the UFC roster, Jon Fitch has been removed from these welterweight rankings. Lawler took Fitch's place on the list, though he sits oddly behind Koscheck following his win over the UFC veteran. 

The cut of Fitch and Koscheck's loss also allowed former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine to move from No. 10 to No. 8 in this version of the UFC welterweight rankings.

Lightweight

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There were no major lightweight fights on the UFC 157 fight card, but one important 155-pound bout is nearing.

Following a rough stint in the welterweight division, Diego Sanchez will return to the lightweight division for a fight with Takanori Gomi at UFC on Fuel TV 8. Should he win impressively, Sanchez could make a quick appearance on this list come next week.

Champion: Benson Henderson

1. Gilbert Melendez
2. Anthony Pettis
3. Gray Maynard
4. Nate Diaz
5. Jim Miller
6. Donald Cerrone
7. T.J. Grant
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Joe Lauzon
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

With no top-10 lightweights competing on Saturday, there were no changes made to these rankings from the previous release.

Featherweight

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Though there were no major featherweight bouts on the UFC 157 fight card, some shifting did occur within the division's top-10 rankings.

Dennis Bermudez did best Matt Grice in a great fight on Saturday's preliminary card, but the TUF runner-up is still a ways away from being considered a featherweight contender.

At UFC on Fuel TV 8, Rani Yahya and Mizuto Hirota will try to earn some votes for these rankings, as they are set to meet on the event's main card.

Champion: Jose Aldo

1. Chad Mendes
2. Ricardo Lamas
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Chan-Sung Jung
5. Cub Swanson
6. Dennis Siver
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Nik Lentz
9. Clay Guida
10. Erik Koch

Following his request to continue fighting at featherweight and compete against Cub Swanson, Edgar was moved up one position, surpassing the inactive Chan-Sung Jung.

The voters also seemed to forgive Nik Lentz and Clay Guida for their recent lackluster wins by bumping them each up by one spot and lowering Erik Koch from No. 8 to No. 10.

Bantamweight

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Urijah Faber's win over Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157 didn't boost him in the rankings, but "The California Kid" returned to title shot consideration by getting back on a winning track in such impressive fashion.

Though Faber has lost to champion Dominick Cruz and interim champion Renan Barao, he's still one of the top 135-pound fighters in the world and could be one more win away from another shot at a UFC title.

Champion: Dominick Cruz

1. Renan Barao (interim champion)
2. Urijah Faber 
3. Michael McDonald
4. Eddie Wineland
5. Brad Pickett
6. Rafael Assuncao
7. Scott Jorgensen
8. Brian Bowles
9. Mike Easton
10. Ivan Menjivar

Because his loss to Faber was to be anticipated, Menjivar did not lose his spot among the top-10 UFC bantamweights, though his standing will be in jeopardy until he gets back into the win column.

Inactive for more than one year, Bowles is slipping in the rankings. The voters choose to have Scott Jorgensen surpass him in this edition.

Flyweight

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No 125-pound fighters fought on Saturday, and it's unlikely these rankings will undergo change anytime soon with no flyweights set to fight at UFC on Fuel TV 8 either.

With time, the flyweight division will expand and become more active. However, right now, 125-pound UFC bouts will be sparse.

Champion: Demetrious Johnson

1. Joseph Benavidez
2. John Dodson
3. Ian McCall
4. John Moraga
5. Jussier da Silva
6. Louis Gaudinot
7. Chris Cariaso
8. Darren Uyenoyama
9. John Lineker
10. Tim Elliott

With no flyweights competing on the UFC 157 fight card, there were no changes to the flyweight rankings from the previous release.