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UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC 174

Sean SmithJun 16, 2014

Demetrious Johnson is quietly turning into one of the most dominant champions in UFC history.

Beating Ali Bagautinov on Saturday gave "Mighty Mouse" a fourth straight title defense, which matches the reigns of legends Chuck Liddell, Pat Miletich and Frank Shamrock. Only Jon Jones and Jose Aldo have longer current reigns than Johnson.

Accordingly, the 125-pound titleholder is becoming recognized as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA. Was a decision win over Bagautinov enough for him to surpass heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez for the No. 3 position among elite pound-for-pound UFC competitors? 

With UFC 174 in the books and multiple events coming up on June 28, here are the latest official UFC rankings via UFC.com, which were voted on by various members of the MMA media.

Pound-for-Pound

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Despite his increasingly long title run, Johnson remains behind Velasquez in the pound-for-pound rankings.

While Velasquez is a two-time champion and has back-to-back title defenses, he probably shouldn't be above Johnson right now. Mighty Mouse has twice the number of title defenses and has already cleared out the five most highly ranked contenders in his division.

No ranked pound-for-pound fighters are scheduled to compete on June 28, but Chris Weidman and Ronda Rousey will both look to strengthen their Top 10 positions at UFC 175.

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
1Jon Jones
2Jose Aldo 
3Cain Velasquez 
4Demetrious Johnson 
5Chris Weidman 
6Anthony Pettis 
7Anderson Silva 
8Renan Barao 
9Johny Hendricks 
10Ronda Rousey
11TJ Dillashaw
12Vitor Belfort
13Benson Henderson
14Alexander Gustafsson
15Gilbert Melendez

Heavyweight

2 of 10

It was an ugly win, but Andrei Arlovski's controversial decision nod over Brendan Schaub moved him into the Top 15 heavyweight rankings.

The heavyweights combined for only 42 significant strikes over 15 minutes. So while many felt Schaub deserved the victory, he didn't exactly prove he belongs in the Top 15 either. 

Moving up to No. 14 in this edition of the rankings, Soa Palelei will have a chance to continue his climb on June 28, when he'll meet Jared Rosholt in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
CCain Velasquez
1Fabricio Werdum
2Junior dos Santos
3Travis Browne
4Antonio Silva
5Josh Barnett
6Stipe Miocic 
7Alistair Overeem 
8Mark Hunt
9Roy Nelson
10Frank Mir
11Gabriel Gonzaga
12Stefan Struve
13Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
14Soa Palelei (+1)
15Andrei Arlovski (NR)

Light Heavyweight

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Ovince Saint Preux and Ryan Bader both scored big wins on Saturday.

In beating Rafael Cavalcante, Bader took the No. 8 position from Mauricio Rua. "Shogun" may be struggling to beat elite competition, but that was a questionable call, as the Brazilian was beating No. 7 Dan Henderson before getting caught in his most recent outing and also brutally stopped No. 14 James Te Huna before then.

Breaking Ryan Jimmo's arm over the weekend, Saint Preux made an even bigger move than Bader in the rankings. The Strikeforce veteran is now a Top 10 light heavyweight and could be closing in on a title shot with a couple of more wins.

Scheduled to meet Nate Marquardt at 185 pounds on June 28, Te Huna could be on his way out of these rankings very soon.

Updated Rankings 

No.Fighters
CJon Jones 
1Alexander Gustafsson 
Daniel Cormier 
Rashad Evans 
Glover Teixeira 
Anthony Johnson 
Phil Davis 
Dan Henderson 
Ryan Bader (+1)
Mauricio Rua (-1)
10 Ovince Saint Preux (+3)
11 Jimi Manuwa 
12 Rafael Cavalcante 
13 Vitor Belfort (+1)
14 James Te Huna (+1)
15 Fabio Maldonado (NR) 

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Middleweight

4 of 10

For a moment, it looked as though Mark Munoz's UFC career could be over. 

With his contract fulfilled, Munoz was recently removed from the UFC rankings. However, he has re-signed with the world's top MMA organization and is now back among the Top 15 middleweights.

On June 28, notables Te Huna and Marquardt will look to sneak into the Top 15. With Te Huna moving down from 205 pounds and Marquardt returning to middleweight from the welterweight class, it will be interesting to see how both men adjust to competing at 185 pounds.

Updated Rankings 

No.Fighters
CChris Weidman
1Anderson Silva
2Vitor Belfort (+1)
3Lyoto Machida (-1)
4Ronaldo Souza
5Luke Rockhold
6Tim Kennedy
7Gegard Mousasi 
8Michael Bisping
9CB Dollaway (+1) 
10Costas Philippou (-1)
11Yoel Romero 
12Francis Carmont
13Mark Munoz (NR)
14Tim Boetsch (-1)
15Brad Tavares (-1)

Welterweight

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With a win over Tyron Woodley on Saturday, Rory MacDonald has put himself right behind Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown as next in line for a shot at the welterweight championship.

The victory didn't improve MacDonald's standing in the 170-pound class, but it did result in Woodley falling to the No. 4 position. Oddly surpassing Woodley was Carlos Condit, who was beaten by the Strikeforce veteran in March.

Competing on June 28, Kelvin Gastelum will attempt to break into the Top 10 by beating Nico Musoke convincingly. 

Updated Rankings 

No.Fighters
CJohny Hendricks
1Robbie Lawler 
2Rory MacDonald 
3Carlos Condit (+1) 
4Tyron Woodley (-1)
5Matt Brown 
6Hector Lombard 
7Jake Ellenberger 
8Demian Maia 
9Dong Hyun Kim 
10Tarec Saffiedine 
11Kelvin Gastelum 
12Mike Pyle 
13Gunnar Nelson 
14Ryan LaFlare 
15Erick Silva 

Lightweight

6 of 10

No ranked lightweights competed at UFC 174, and none are scheduled to appear on June 28.

As expected, no changes were made to the 155-pound rankings. Don't expect any adjustments to occur following the June 28 events either.

In fact, it could be a month until any noteworthy alterations occur. The next fight card scheduled to feature ranked lightweights will be a July 16 event headlined by Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller.

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
CAnthony Pettis
1Benson Henderson 
2Gilbert Melendez 
3Josh Thomson
4Khabib Nurmagomedov
5Rafael dos Anjos 
6Donald Cerrone 
7Jim Miller
8Myles Jury 
9Michael Johnson 
10Gray Maynard 
11Rustam Khabilov
12Edson Barboza
13Bobby Green
14Jorge Masvidal
15Joe Lauzon

Featherweight

7 of 10

While no elite 145-pounders stepped into the Octagon at UFC 174, some changes were made to the division's rankings.

Clay Guida surpassed Dennis Siver, who is still on suspension for a failed drug test. Also, Jeremy Stephens fell below Dennis Bermudez, who has won six in a row.

On June 28 Stephens will have an opportunity to reclaim a Top 10 position. The former lightweight will meet No. 4 featherweight Cub Swanson in San Antonio.

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
CJose Aldo
1Chad Mendes
2Frankie Edgar
3Ricardo Lamas
4Cub Swanson
5Chan Sung Jung
6Dustin Poirier
7Clay Guida (+1)
8Dennis Siver (-1) 
9Nik Lentz
10Dennis Bermudez (+1)
11Jeremy Stephens (-1)
12Darren Elkins
13Conor McGregor
14Tatsuya Kawajiri
15Diego Brandao

Bantamweight

8 of 10

Once a fighter who appeared on his way to the top of the bantamweight division, Mike Easton has now lost four in a row.

At UFC 174 Easton allowed a handful of takedowns and landed fewer significant strikes than Yves Jabouin. As a result, "The Hulk" plummeted in the bantamweight rankings. In a questionable decision, though, Jabouin remains unranked.

No ranked bantamweights are expected to step into the Octagon on June 28. However, Urijah Faber will test Alex Caceres at UFC 175.

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
CTJ Dillashaw
1Renan Barao
2Urijah Faber
3Raphael Assuncao
4Michael McDonald
5Eddie Wineland
6Takeya Mizugaki
7Iuri Alcantara
8Johnny Eduardo (+1)
9Bryan Caraway (+1)
10Francisco Rivera (+1)
11Dominick Cruz (+1)
12Alex Caceres (+1)
13Erik Perez (+1)
14Mike Easton (-6)
15Wilson Reis

Flyweight

9 of 10

Although UFC 174 was headlined by a flyweight championship bout, the main event did not cause any changes in the 125-pound rankings.

One change was made, though. Previously tied with Zach Makovsky at No. 9, Tim Elliott is now in the No. 10 position. With a 2-0 UFC record, Makovsky probably deserves an edge over Elliott, who is 2-3 inside the Octagon.

It could be awhile before any significant changes occur in the 125-pound rankings. A matchup between Dustin Ortiz and Justin Scoggins on July 6 could cause the next shift in the flyweight division.

Updated Rankings

No.Fighters
CDemetrious Johnson
1John Dodson
2Joseph Benavidez 
3Ian McCall
4Ali Bagautinov
5John Moraga
6Jussier Formiga
7John Lineker
8Chris Cariaso
9Zach Makovsky
10Tim Elliott (-1)
11Brad Pickett
12Louis Gaudinot
13Dustin Ortiz
14Kyoji Horiguchi
15Scott Jorgensen

Women's Bantamweight

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Valerie Letourneau picked up a win in her first UFC outing, but she'll need to do more to earn a spot among the Top 15 female bantamweights.

Standing opposite Letourneau, Elizabeth Phillips held her own and left the Canadian with a badly swollen eye. However, it wasn't enough for the 27-year-old to start her own UFC career with a victory.

The next women's bantamweight bout is expected to occur at UFC 175, where Ronda Rousey will defend her championship against Alexis Davis.

Updated Rankings 

No.Fighters
CRonda Rousey
1Cat Zingano
2Alexis Davis
3Miesha Tate
4Sara McMann
5Sarah Kaufman
6Jessica Eye
7Liz Carmouche
8Amanda Nunes
9Jessica Andrade
10Bethe Correia
11Julianna Pena
12Germaine de Randamie
13Raquel Pennington
14Jessamyn Duke
15Jessica Rakoczy
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