Bleacher Report Men's MMA Rankings for March 2015

Ladies and gentlemen, Bleacher Report MMA is back in the rankings business! Welcome to the first installment of our new MMA rankings series.

Near the start of each month, our panel comprised of Hunter Homistek, Riley Kontek, Nathan McCarter and Steven Rondina will submit ballots for each major men's division. Fighters receive points from each ballot they appear on, and those points are then tallied to determine the top dogs in each weight class.

February was an MMA-filled month, with Bellator putting on two shows, the UFC putting on three and World Series of Fighting putting on one. While there are fewer events slated for March, there is still plenty to look forward to and plenty of big fights to keep an eye on.

So where will things fall in Bleacher Report's first monthly rankings installment? Read on to find out!

Rules and Notes

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Each month, Bleacher Report MMA will deliver monthly top-10 rankings for each major male MMA division. The rankings will typically come out during the first week of each month, but timing will be flexible, depending on where major events fall on the calendar. Bleacher Report's rankings panel consists of department veterans Hunter Homistek, Riley Kontek, Nathan McCarter and Steven Rondina.

Not all fighters are eligible to be ranked in all weight classes, however. Rules are as follows:

• Fighters are ranked in their weight class by each member of the panel, receiving up to 10 points based on where they are placed (the No. 1 fighter receiving 10 points, the No. 2 fighter receiving nine and so on). Ties are left unbroken, and fighters sharing the same number of points are ordered alphabetically.
• Weight classes include 125 pounds, 135 pounds, 145 pounds, 155 pounds, 170 pounds, 185 pounds, 205 pounds and 206 to 265 pounds. Super heavyweight and men's 115 pounds will not be considered.
• Fighters must have fought within the last 18 months and/or have a bout scheduled. If a fighter is removed from the rankings due to inactivity, he will only be readmitted after participating in a sanctioned MMA bout. Retirements and indefinite leaves from the sport are considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Fighters suspended for banned substances are removed from consideration. They are eligible to rejoin the rankings after serving their suspension and competing in a sanctioned MMA bout.
• Fighters are only eligible to be ranked in one weight class, determined at the panel's discretion.

Here are some notes for this month:

• Benson Henderson will continue to be ranked at 155 pounds, despite his recent 170-pound bout opposite Brandon Thatch. However, should he face another welterweight fighter, he will move into the 170-pound fighter pool.
• Urijah Faber, similarly, will remain in consideration at 135 pounds, despite his upcoming bout with Frankie Edgar being scheduled to take place at 145 pounds.
• John Lineker will be ranked at 135 pounds due to his chronic inability to make the flyweight division's weight limit and his apparent desire to move to bantamweight.
• Notable fighters currently ineligible to be ranked due to disciplinary suspensions include Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz, Hector Lombard and Ali Bagautinov.

Flyweight (125 Pounds)

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The flyweight division doesn't get much love from fans, sure, but 125 pounds is deceptively rich with talent. 

Demetrious Johnson is quite possibly the most dominant male champion in the UFC today. John Dodson and Joseph Benavidez are both in top-10 pound-for-pound consideration. Past that is an amorphous swirl of rising veterans and hotshot prospects including Wilson Reis, Kyoji Horiguchi, Zach Makovsky, John Moraga and Dustin Ortiz.

Interestingly, the flyweight division features three ties in our first balloting, with Dodson and Benavidez sharing the No. 2 spot, Jussier da Silva and Ian McCall sharing the No. 4 spot and Horiguchi and Makovsky sharing the No. 7 spot. Three fighters (Dustin Ortiz, Henry Cejudo and Tim Elliott) received points but fell outside the top 10.

Movers and Shakers in February

Former Bellator bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky cemented his place in the flyweight top 10 at UFC Fight Night 60 and quite possibly gave Tim Elliott a one-way ticket to the Resurrection Fighting Alliance. At that same event, Ray Borg continued creeping his way up the division by defeating Chris Kelades.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Sergio Pettis vs. Ryan Benoit (UFC 185)
• Chris Cariaso vs. Henry Cejudo (UFC 185)

Bantamweight (135 Pounds)

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Bantamweight is, arguably, the worst division in the UFC today. The biggest reason for that? A huge amount of elite-level talent exists outside the promotion.

Yes, each member of the panel has UFC fighters holding the top four spots on his ballot. Past that quartet, however, lies Joe Warren of Bellator, Bibiano Fernandes of One FC and Marlon Moraes of WSOF. With so much talent sprinkled around the world, matchups between consensus top-10 talents are rare, making for bunches and bunches of naked squash matches.

Movers and Shakers in February

Longtime fringe contender Iuri Alcantara was on the wrong end of a huge upset at UFC Fight Night 61, getting soundly defeated by the completely unknown Frankie Saenz. Alcantara's excellent physical tools and consistent success against solid competition made him a strong candidate for top-10 status. This loss, however, knocks him way out of contention.

Over in World Series of Fighting, Marlon Moraes continued his success in the promotion, taking a handy win over Josh Hill. That does little for him in terms of moving up the rankings, but his dominant performance against the Canadian lived up to whatever sort of hype fans may have attached to it.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Joe Warren vs. Marcos Galvao (Bellator 135)
• Eduardo Dantas vs. Mike Richman (Bellator 135)

Featherweight (145 Pounds)

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No division has changed over the past 18 months as profoundly as the featherweight division. While former fringe lightweight contenders like Clay Guida, Ross Pearson and Dennis Siver once dominated the featherweight rankings, fresh talent like Conor McGregor and Dennis Bermudez have shown themselves to be among the best 145-pound fighters in the world. 

Meanwhile, an interesting crop of talent has popped up outside the UFC. Bellator sports three particularly strong featherweights in Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, Daniel Straus and Daniel Weichel. World Series of Fighting, meanwhile, has found a solid champion in Lance Palmer.

It is definitely a good time to be a fan of the featherweight division.

Movers and Shakers in November

Former Bellator champion Pat Curran is officially in a career freefall. While the Chicago native has long been a darling for hardcore MMA fans, he turned in a dreadful performance against Daniel Weichel at Bellator 133. While questions regarding his status as an elite(-ish) fighter have swirled since his loss to Daniel Straus in 2013, that chapter of his career is clearly over.

Over in the UFC, Max Holloway continued his impressive winning streak by defeating Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 61. Holloway is 5-0 since a lackluster 3-3 start to his UFC career. If he can get through Cub Swanson in April, look for him to vault deep into the top 10.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

No major fights are scheduled for March.

Lightweight (155 Pounds)

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The lightweight division truly is the best in the sport. The absurd amount of talent that exists outside of the rankings speaks to that.

Despite that observation, a fairly clear hierarchy does exist in the division. All four members of the panel have Anthony Pettis, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rafael dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez ranked in the top six spots. After that, however, is a pile-up of fast-rising prospects, as well as former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. While the panel was fairly decisive in terms of who qualified to be a top-10 fighter (only WSOF champion Justin Gaethje received points but fell outside the top 10), there were plenty of compelling talents to choose from. 

Movers and Shakers in February

Tony Ferguson continues inching his way up the list. El Cucuy picked up a huge first-round win over the gatekeeper-to-the-stars Gleison Tibau. While he doesn't quite make the rankings this month, he is close to elite status.

UFC Fight Night 61 saw two noteworthy shifts. Michael Johnson defeated Edson Barboza, securing Johnson's place in the top 10 while forcing out Barboza. Meanwhile, Rustam Khabilov slipped far, far away from the rankings after getting upset by unknown Brazilian Adriano Martins.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Justin Gaethje vs. Luis Palomino (WSOF 19)
• Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael dos Anjos (UFC 185)

Welterweight (170 Pounds)

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In the dystopian wasteland that is a Georges St-Pierre-less welterweight division, few things are certain. 

Who is Johny Hendricks? Is he the southpaw slugger who ragdolled Carlos Condit? Or is he the man who wheezed his way to a decision loss to Robbie Lawler last year?

Who is Ben Askren? Is he a new Fedor Emelianenko, an elite talent effortlessly dispatching flimsy competition outside the UFC? Or is he the next Alexis Vila, a former Olympian who was exposed as a tertiary consumer that could swallow up small prey but was easy pickings for apex predators?

Who is Robbie Lawler? Tyron Woodley? Rousimar Palhares? Jake Shields?

Few 170-pound fighters are sure things, and that is reflected perfectly in the rankings. 

Movers and Shakers in February

An interesting bout between Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima and former British slugger Paul Daley was scrapped from Bellator 134. That's an unfortunate turn for the Brazilian and denied him the opportunity to strengthen his claim as a top-tier welterweight.

UFC President Dana White was highly critical of Kelvin Gastelum after missing weight at UFC 183, the second time he has done so in his UFC career and the third time he has had troubles at the scales. White "ordered" him to move up to 185 pounds after the event, and while it's unclear if White was serious or just being a blowhard, this is obviously a story to watch.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Johny Hendricks vs. Matt Brown (UFC 185)
• Demian Maia vs. Ryan LaFlare (UFC Fight Night 62)

Middleweight (185 Pounds)

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For whatever reason, absorbing competing promotions pays dividends to the UFC's middleweight division. Luke Rockhold, Tim Kennedy, Yoel Romero and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza have filled in the gaps left by departing WEC alumni like Chael Sonnen, Mark Munoz and Brian Stann. 

However, in addition to those young guns, we have seen numerous seemingly finished veterans start climbing back toward relevance. All in all, it is an interesting time for the middleweight division. Now if only Chris Weidman could stop getting injured all the gosh darn time...

Movers and Shakers in February

Alexander Shlemenko began his climb back to relevance by scoring a huge knockout win over Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 134. While that isn't enough to reassert him as a high-level middleweight, it fixes a little bit of the damage done to his career by Tito Ortiz and Brandon Halsey.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

No major fights are scheduled for March.

Light Heavyweight (205 Pounds)

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Light heavyweight has been MMA's "money" division for more than a decade now. From the days of Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture to Forrest Griffin, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans to Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier, 205 pounds has always had an ideal blend of size and talent.

While the division hit the skids hard in 2013, a fair bit of talent has risen over the last 12 months, making for plenty of compelling potential matchups. While there aren't necessarily too many particularly fearsome challengers for UFC champ Jon Jones, there is enough talent outside the higher tiers that things remain interesting well past the top 10. 

Movers and Shakers in February

The dream is dead. Emanuel Newton, American Hero, has lost the Bellator light heavyweight belt. While you never saw anyone even pretend that The Hardcore Kid was a technically brilliant fighter, he pushed his way onto many top-10 lists with his toughness and spirit alone. Unfortunately, he was unable to overcome an early deficit at Bellator 134 and had his title stolen by Liam McGeary.

Where McGeary stacks up in the rankings is debatable at this point, but he managed to squeak into the No. 9 spot after taking the strap. With an undefeated record and a level of athleticism rarely seen in MMA, he is a strong buy in the imaginary MMA stock market.

At that same event, former Strikeforce champ Muhammed Lawal continued his climb back to top-10 relevance. Officially, he is on a relatively humble three-fight winning streak, but unofficially, each of his Bellator losses can be stamped with an asterisk. It finally seems like he has completely recovered from the life-threatening staph infection that physically drained him early in his Bellator career, and like it or not, if he continues to win, it will be hard to deny him as a top-10 fighter.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Thiago Silva vs. Ronny Markes (WSOF 19)

Heavyweight (206-265 Pounds)

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Is this 2007? 

It must be. Because Mirko Cro Cop is about to join the UFC, Andrei Arlovski is a legitimate player at the top of the division, and most of us are wondering whether or not Brock Lesnar is going to leave professional wrestling to join MMA. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Really, the heavyweight division of today is oddly similar to the one of 2007. Sure, Tim Sylvia and Fedor Emelianenko aren't there, but Josh Barnett is still right in the thick of things. Alistair Overeem is actually in a similar position to where he was back in 2007. The IFL's dynamic duo of Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell are still doing darn well. Heck, even Frank Mir is getting in on the action!

It's a silly time for the division, and it will be fun to see what winds up happening from here (in a schadenfreude kind of way).

Movers and Shakers in February

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva may have finally hit rock bottom. The former EliteXC champion has been in a career freefall since getting mauled by Cain Velasquez at UFC 160. Why is this? Your guess is as good as mine. Either way, his days as an above-average heavyweight seem to be over.

Upcoming Fights to Watch

• Roy Nelson vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC 185)