UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC Fight Night 50
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is on a mission to bring the middleweight championship back to Brazil.
On Friday, the former Strikeforce titleholder submitted Gegard Mousasi. The victory improved Jacare's UFC record to 4-0, putting him at the front of the line for a shot at the winner of a December championship bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
Sitting at No. 4 among 185-pound contenders heading into UFC Fight Night 50, Souza did his best to improve his positioning. Was it enough to surpass fellow Brazilians Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida or Belfort, though?
Pound-for-Pound
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| 1 | Jon Jones |
| 2 | Jose Aldo |
| 3 | Cain Velasquez |
| 4 | Demetrious Johnson |
| 5 | Chris Weidman (-1) |
| 6 | Anthony Pettis |
| 7 | Anderson Silva |
| 8 | Ronda Rousey |
| 9 | Renan Barao |
| 10 | Johny Hendricks |
| 11 | T.J. Dillashaw |
| 12 | Vitor Belfort |
| 13 | Alexander Gustafsson |
| 14 | Daniel Cormier |
| 15 | Gilbert Melendez |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
With multiple wins over former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman is definitely one of the best in the world. However, he does only have two successful title defenses.
Meanwhile, Demetrious Johnson has already defended his flyweight championship four times. He's much closer to cleaning out the 125-pound class than Weidman is to proving his dominance over the middleweight division.
Although title defenses shouldn't be the only factor in determining pound-for-pound rankings, they are the easiest way to compare champions in different divisions. Until Weidman closes the gap in that category, he should probably be ranked behind Mighty Mouse rather than tied with him.
Bad Call
No bad calls were made in this edition of the pound-for-pound rankings.
Heavyweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Cain Velasquez |
| 1 | Fabricio Werdum |
| 2 | Junior dos Santos |
| 3 | Travis Browne |
| 4 | Antonio Silva |
| 5 | Stipe Miocic (+1) |
| 6 | Josh Barnett (-1) |
| 7 | Mark Hunt (+1) |
| 8 | Roy Nelson (+1) |
| 9 | Ben Rothwell (NR) |
| 10 | Alistair Overeem (-3) |
| 11 | Frank Mir (-1) |
| 12 | Gabriel Gonzaga (-1) |
| 13 | Stefan Struve |
| 14 | Andrei Arlovski |
| 15 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (-3) |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
With losses in three of his past four fights, Alistair Overeem deserved a sharp decline in the rankings.
The rankings panel got it right by dropping The Reem three spots on the heavyweight ladder. It was a fair penalty considering Overeem's recent struggles, and he still sits above Frank Mir, who he defeated via decision in February.
It's also refreshing to see Ben Rothwell immediately ranked above Overeem following his knockout win over the former Strikeforce champion on Friday. Recently, there have been multiple instances of fighters being ranked below opponents they defeated convincingly, which isn't very logical.
Bad Call
He may not be getting much attention recently, but Gabriel Gonzaga should still be ranked above Rothwell in the heavyweight standings.
In January 2013, Gonzaga defeated Rothwell, submitting the IFL veteran in the second round. Since then, Gonzaga has only lost to Top Five heavyweights Travis Browne and Stipe Miocic, and he went the distance with the latter.
Placing Gonzaga at No. 9 would give the Brazilian credit for his win over Rothwell while still keeping him below Browne and Miocic in the rankings.
Light Heavyweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jon Jones |
| 1 | Alexander Gustafsson |
| 2 | Daniel Cormier |
| 3 | Rashad Evans |
| 4 | Glover Teixeira (-1) |
| 5 | Anthony Johnson |
| 6 | Phil Davis |
| 7 | Dan Henderson |
| 8 | Ryan Bader |
| 9 | Mauricio Rua |
| 10 | Ovince Saint Preux |
| 11 | Jimi Manuwa |
| 12 | Rafael Cavalcante |
| 13 | Vitor Belfort |
| 14 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira |
| 15 | Fabio Maldonado |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No good calls were made in this edition of the light heavyweight rankings.
Bad Call
There's no doubt Rashad Evans and Glover Teixeira have pretty comparable resumes. However, I do believe the Brazilian should be ranked more highly right now.
Since losing to No. 14 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Evans has only beaten one currently ranked light heavyweight, that being Dan Henderson in a split decision. Meanwhile, Teixeira stopped Ryan Bader, who sits only one position below Henderson, in the first round.
If those recent outcomes don't give Teixeira an edge, the fact that he's only lost to Jon Jones inside the Octagon should.
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Middleweight
4 of 10
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Anderson Silva |
| 2 | Ronaldo Souza (+2) |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida (-2) |
| 5 | Luke Rockhold |
| 6 | Tim Kennedy |
| 7 | Gegard Mousasi |
| 7 | Michael Bisping (+1) |
| 9 | CB Dollaway |
| 10 | Yoel Romero |
| 11 | Costas Philippou |
| 12 | Thales Leites |
| 13 | Tim Boetsch |
| 13 | Mark Munoz (+1) |
| 15 | Francis Carmont |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
With a submission win over Mousasi, Souza did enough to surpass Machida in the 185-pound rankings.
Machida also has a recent victory over Mousasi. However, The Dragon was not able to stop Mousasi in February. Additionally, Machida's only other UFC middleweight win came against Mark Munoz, as he only recently moved down from the light heavyweight class.
Even more dominant against Mousasi and having a longer track record in the middleweight division, Souza should be ranked above Machida.
Bad Call
Although Souza did do enough to move above Machida, he shouldn't have moved above Belfort and into the No. 2 position.
Belfort's only loss as a UFC middleweight came against the great Anderson Silva. The Phenom also scored a knockout win over Luke Rockhold, who defeated Souza under the Strikeforce banner.
That win over Rockhold should be enough to keep Belfort higher than Souza in the 185-pound rankings right now.
Welterweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Johny Hendricks |
| 1 | Robbie Lawler |
| 2 | Rory MacDonald |
| 3 | Tyron Woodley |
| 4 | Carlos Condit |
| 5 | Matt Brown |
| 6 | Hector Lombard |
| 7 | Demian Maia |
| 8 | Jake Ellenberger |
| 9 | Tarec Saffiedine |
| 10 | Dong Hyun Kim |
| 11 | Kelvin Gastelum |
| 12 | Gunnar Nelson |
| 13 | Jordan Mein |
| 14 | Ryan LaFlare |
| 15 | Mike Pyle |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No changes were made in this edition of the welterweight rankings.
Bad Call
No changes were made in this edition of the welterweight rankings.
Lightweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Anthony Pettis |
| 1 | Gilbert Melendez |
| 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov |
| 3 | Rafael dos Anjos |
| 4 | Benson Henderson |
| 5 | Donald Cerrone |
| 6 | Josh Thomson |
| 7 | Bobby Green |
| 8 | Jim Miller |
| 9 | Myles Jury |
| 10 | Michael Johnson |
| 11 | Edson Barboza |
| 12 | Rustam Khabilov |
| 13 | Jorge Masvidal |
| 14 | Eddie Alvarez (NR) |
| 15 | Ross Pearson (-1) |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No good calls were made in this edition of the lightweight rankings.
Bad Call
Former Bellator MMA champion Eddie Alvarez deserves to be ranked in the UFC lightweight division, but it may have made more sense to wait until after his upcoming bout with Donald Cerrone.
A fighter with wins over some of the best competing outside the Octagon, Alvarez is probably a Top 10 lightweight. However, it's tough to determine where he really belongs before he's matched up with a UFC lightweight like Cowboy.
Once that meeting goes down, Alvarez's spot in the 155-pound class should become more clear.
Featherweight
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| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jose Aldo |
| 1 | Chad Mendes |
| 2 | Cub Swanson |
| 3 | Frankie Edgar |
| 4 | Ricardo Lamas |
| 5 | Dustin Poirier |
| 6 | Chan Sung Jung |
| 7 | Dennis Bermudez |
| 8 | Nik Lentz |
| 9 | Conor McGregor |
| 10 | Dennis Siver |
| 11 | Jeremy Stephens |
| 12 | Clay Guida |
| 13 | Darren Elkins |
| 14 | Charles Oliveira |
| 15 | Tatsuya Kawajiri |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No changes were made in this edition of the featherweight rankings.
Bad Call
No changes were made in this edition of the featherweight rankings.
Bantamweight
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| No. | Fighter |
| C | T.J. Dillashaw |
| 1 | Renan Barao |
| 2 | Urijah Faber |
| 3 | Raphael Assuncao |
| 4 | Michael McDonald |
| 5 | Eddie Wineland |
| 6 | Takeya Mizugaki |
| 7 | Iuri Alcantara |
| 8 | Bryan Caraway (+1) |
| 9 | Johnny Eduardo (-1) |
| 10 | Alex Caceres |
| 11 | Francisco Rivera |
| 12 | Dominick Cruz |
| 13 | Erik Perez |
| 14 | Mike Easton |
| 14 | Joe Soto (+1) |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
Mike Easton may be struggling, but Joe Soto shouldn't be even with The Hulk in the bantamweight rankings.
Soto impressed in a short-notice meeting with 135-pound champion T.J. Dillashaw, but he ultimately lost. He was stopped in the fifth round and hasn't won inside the Octagon.
Having gone the distance against Dillashaw and beaten multiple UFC opponents, Easton should not be tied with Soto on the 135-pound ladder.
Bad Call
With a win over Eddie Wineland, Johnny Eduardo could arguably be ranked among the Top Five bantamweights already. He has certainly earned a spot above Bryan Caraway.
Caraway has won two in a row, including a submission victory over No. 13 Erik Perez, but he hasn't beaten an opponent like Wineland. When Caraway meets Raphael Assuncao on October 4, he'll have a good chance to change this opinion, though.
Still, right now, Eduardo has the stronger record and deserves the No. 8 position.
Flyweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | Jussier Formiga |
| 5 | John Moraga |
| 6 | John Lineker |
| 7 | Ali Bagautinov |
| 8 | Chris Cariaso |
| 9 | Zach Makovsky (+1) |
| 10 | Tim Elliott (-1) |
| 11 | Brad Pickett |
| 12 | Dustin Ortiz |
| 13 | Louis Gaudinot |
| 14 | Kyoji Horiguchi |
| 15 | Scott Jorgensen |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No bad calls were made in this edition of the flyweight rankings.
Bad Call
Zach Makovsky has a higher ceiling in the 125-pound class than Tim Elliott, but he hasn't accomplished as much in the flyweight division.
Makovsky's biggest win at 125 pounds came against No. 15 Scott Jorgensen, while Elliott owns a win over No. 13 Louis Gaudinot.
It might not last long, but Elliott should be ranked above Makovsky and Pickett right now.
Women's Bantamweight
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Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Ronda Rousey |
| 1 | Cat Zingano |
| 2 | Miesha Tate |
| 3 | Sara McMann |
| 4 | Alexis Davis |
| 5 | Sarah Kaufman |
| 6 | Jessica Eye |
| 7 | Liz Carmouche |
| 8 | Amanda Nunes |
| 9 | Bethe Correia |
| 10 | Jessica Andrade |
| 11 | Julianna Pena |
| 12 | Germaine de Randamie |
| 13 | Leslie Smith |
| 14 | Raquel Pennington |
| 15 | Lauren Murphy |
Rankings Analysis
Good Call
No changes were made in this edition of the women's bantamweight rankings.
Bad Call
No changes were made in this edition of the women's bantamweight rankings.
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